Asian Journal of Research in Chemistry

Fifteen ground water samples (S-1 to S-15) were collected from handpumps of different sampling sites of Imphal East district of Manipur during pre-monsoon period (May) of 2017. They were analyzed for physicochemical parameters such as temperature, pH, TDS (total dissolved solids), electrical conductivity (EC), total alkalinity (TA) (and hence CO₃^2- and HCO₃⁻), total hardness (TH), Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺ and Cl⁻. Based on the experimental results, it is found that the ground waters represented by S-1 to S-14 are found to be fit for drinking purpose in absence of alternate sources. All of them are fit for other domestic purposes as their TDS values are less than 1000 mg/L. However, some suitable treatments are necessary so as to keep pH for S-15, total alkalinity for S-1 to S-15, total hardness for S-1 to S-5, S-8, S-10, S-12 to S-15, and concentration of Mg²⁺ for S-4 below/within corresponding acceptable limits of BIS standard for drinking water as well as that of WHO. Based on RSC (residual sodium carbonate) and SAR (sodium adsorption ratio) values, all the fifteen ground waters are found to be fit for irrigation purpose. Regarding correlation co-efficient (r) values, TDS shows strong positive correlation with HCO₃⁻ but moderately strong positive correlations with Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺ and Cl⁻showing that moderately high values of TDS for different ground waters, are due to the presence of dissolved bicarbonates of Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺ and K⁺; and chlorides of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺. Moderately high values of total alkalinity for different ground waters may be mainly attributed to the presence of dissolved NaHCO₃, KHCO₃, CaHCO₃ and MgHCO₃ as are evident from moderately strong positive correlations of both total alkalinity and HCO₃⁻ with Na⁺, K⁺ and Ca²⁺ but weak correlations with Mg²⁺. Further, total hardness shows strong positive correlations with Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ showing that the hardness of such ground waters, are due to the presence of dissolved salts of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺.