Impact of anthropogenic and land use pattern change on spatio-temporal variations of groundwater quality in Odisha, India

The groundwater physicochemical parameters were studied to understand their spatiotemporal variations and groundwater quality, using the statistical and entropy weights methods. Out of ten parameters that were considered, F-, TDS, and Cl- appear to be the major contributors influencing the quality of groundwater. The Principal Component Analysis (PC1, PC2) indicates that the majority of ions are derived from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Studies of saturation indices of gypsum, Halite, dolomite, and calcite indicate that dissolution of these salts also affects groundwater salinization. In coastal areas, a few of the water samples also appear to be contaminated by the mixing of seawater. The entropy weights, which are free from subjective biases were used to estimate the water quality index. The entropy-based water quality index (EWQI) varies from excellent to good quality for the year 2012-13, and appears to degrade after 2015 onwards. For the year 2018-19 and 2021-22, 71.42% and 68.42% of the study areas show excellent water quality, followed by 25.33% and 24.33% (good), 2.54% and 3.54% (average), 0.7% and 3.7% study area shows as poor quality respectively. The groundwater quality, particularly in the western, central, northern, and eastern parts of the region, appears to be average, poor, and very poor in several small patches, respectively. Industrial developments, mining activities, irrigation, changing land use patterns, agricultural activities, and increased anthropogenic activities may be contributing to the degradation of the water quality.