GIS BASED GROUND WATER ASSESSMENT OF NILAKKOTTAI TALUK, TAMIL NADU, INDIA: HYDROGEOCHEMISTRY AND STATISTICAL PERSPECTIVE

Water quality is imperative for drinking and agriculture purposes in order to meet the increasing requirements for water. The systematic assessment of groundwater quality in Nilakkottai Taluk, Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu, was performed. In order to ascertain the quality of the study area's groundwater, various water quality indices, spatial distribution maps, multivariate statistical analysis, and hydrofacies diagrams have been contemplated. 40 samples were collected and analysed for 20 water quality parameters, using the standard techniques. The quality results of the irrigation analysis showed that the groundwater samples were satisfactory for agricultural use. The deduction of four principal components denotes that hydrogeochemical processes and anthropogenic inputs were the main controlling factors. The durov plot demonstrated the dominance of Ca-HCO3 type groundwater, indicating a weathering process through fresh water recharge. This study insisted that majority of the samples satisfactory for crop yield and need to be protected from further contamination.