ASSESSMENT AND MAPPING OF WATER QUALITY INDEX OF GROUNDWATER IN RENIGUNTA NEAR TIRUPATI, ANDHRA PRADESH USING GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS.

The present work is aimed at assessing the quality of groundwater in renigunta by water quality index (WQI). For this, groundwater samples were collected from 12 sampling stations and subjected to physico-chemical analysis of 16 parameters includepH, total dissolved solids, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, sulphate, bicarbonate, chloride, nitrate and fluoride, and heavy metals such as iron, copper, chromium and cadmium. From the analyzed data, water quality index has been calculated. The topographic map covering renigunta, was obtained from Survey of India (SOI) and sampling locations have been taken using GPS in order to prepare the contour map showing distribution of water quality index. The result of the work is presented in the form of map which gives better understanding of the present water quality scenario of the study area.