IOSR Journal of Environmental Science, Toxicology and Food Technology (IOSR-JESTFT)

e-ISSN: 2319-2402,p- ISSN: 2319-2399.Volume 8, Issue 9 Ver. II (Sep. 2014), PP 37-40

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Water Quality Analysis in Acharya Nagarjuna University Region,

Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
Sudhakar Gummad1, Swarnalatha G2, P.Brahmaji Rao3, V. Venkataratnamma 4
1&2
Research Scholar, Dept of Environmental Sciences, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur
2
Assistant Professor, Dept of Environmental Sciences, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur
3
Assistant Professor, Dept of Zoology, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur

Abstract: Groundwater systems are dynamic and that is not available and not suitable for drinking purpose in
all regions of the world, so it is very precious, the ground water samples are collected from different locations
in Acharya Nagarjuna University, Nagarjuna Nagar, Guntur, and Andhra Pradesh, India. The water samples
were analyzed to determine the concentration of physico chemical parameters to assess groundwater quality,
the samples were collected and analyzed The analysis of different parameters such as pH, Electrical
conductivity, TDS, Sulphate, Sodium, Magnesium, Nitrate, Chloride, Fluorides, Total Alkalinity, Total hardness,
and Iron were carried out as per standard methods in the laboratory . Results showed that Electrical
conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS) sodium (Na+), magnesium (Mg2+), Flouried (F-) concentrations are
very high and chloride (Cl), Total hardness are slightly damage the groundwater. The analysis reveals that the
groundwater needs treatment before consumption for drinking and domestic purpose.
Keywords: Consumption, Ground water, Physico- chemical, Standards,

I. Introduction
Water is the most important natural resource, which forms the core of ecological system. Recently
there has been overall development in various fields such as agriculture, industry and urbanization in India. This
has lead to increase in the demand of water supply which is met mostly from exploitation of groundwater
resources.
Ground water quality has become an important water resources issue due to rapid increase of
population, rapid industrialization, unplanned urbanization, flow of pollution from upland to lowland, and too
much use of fertilizers, pesticides in agriculture (Joarder et al, 2008). Groundwater quality depends on the
quality of recharged water, atmospheric precipitation, inland surface water, and on sub-surface geochemical
processes. (Vasanthavigar et al 2010).
The drinking water quality depends on many physicochemical parameters and their
concentrations, which are derived from laboratory tests on water samples.(Mohammad et al, 2013), Hydro
chemical study is a useful tool to identify the suitability of the groundwater. The physical parameters taken into
consideration in the present study are color, odor, turbidity and temperature. The chemical parameters taken into
consideration are hydrogen ion concentration (pH), specific conductance (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS),
total hardness (TH) and all major cations and anions. Various workers in our country had carried out extensive
studies on water quality have studied groundwater (Selvam et al, 2013)
The differences in the water quality can be attributed to the problems associated during the
conveyance and distributions. Groundwater quality depends on the type of polluting sources in the
surroundings and hence changes from location to location.( Ramakrishna-2014),
The physico-chemical parameters of groundwater such as pH, Chlorides, Sodium, Calcium,
Magnesium, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Electrical Conductivity (EC), Fluoride etc subsequently
varies from location to location (Ramakrishna 2011)
Hence, evaluation of groundwater quantity and quality is important for the development of further
civilization and to establish database for planning future water resources development strategies (Vasanthavigar
et al 2010)

II. Materials And Methods

2.1 Study area
Acharya Nagarjuna University is one of the lush green region and situated between the cities of
Vijayawada and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, at a distance of 12 km from Guntur and 19 km from Vijayawada,
Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, and on Calcutta and Chennai National high way (NH-5), lies within the
latitude -16 0.48 North and the longitude-80 0.17 East. Its campus is spread over an area of 293 acres; its
affiliation jurisdiction extends over two districts of Guntur and Prakasam in Andhra Pradesh, India (Fig 1).

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 Water Quality Analysis in Acharya Nagarjuna University Region, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India

The University has successfully overcome most of the initial problems and is moving forward with
determination, enthusiasm and hope. At present offers post-graduation in 45 courses and 5 Graduate courses in
the campus and having 13 (boys and girls) hostels and 48 departments along with Engineering and Pharmacy
colleges for graduate and post graduation courses. The students, research scholars, teaching and non teaching
staff depend on surface and ground water for drinking and domestic purpose and also use the water for
laboratory purpose in various departments. So drinking water is very important in this region. Seven sampling
stations were selected for the collection of ground water for this study in the March, 2014.
Fig 1: Study area Acharya Nagarjuna University

1.2 Sample Collection and Method of Analysis

The drinking water quality depends on many physico-chemical parameters and their
concentrations, which are derived from laboratory tests of water samples. Water samples were collected in clean
polyethylene bottles from different sources by using standard techniques (WHO, 2004, APHA 1995)
Twelve parameters for the estimation of drinking water characteristics are adopted such as: pH,
electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), total hardness (TH) Magnesium (Mg2+), Sulphate
(SO42-), Nitrates (NO3-), Sodium (Na+), Fluoride (F-), Chlorides (Cl-), Iron (Fe), and Total alkalinity by using
standard the techniques (WHO 1996, APHA, 1998). The temperature of the water Samples is in the range 25-
30C. (Mohammad et al, 2013)
The suitability of groundwater for drinking and other purposes may be assessed by comparing physical
and chemical parameters of the study area with the guidelines recommended by World Health Organization
(WHO, 2004). BIS and USPH. The perusal of the results revealed that the water is safe for drinking and
domestic purposes in selected sampling regions.
The samples were analyzed in the laboratory methods that are pH, Electrical conductivity (EC), and
total dissolved solids (TDS) were measured by Water Quality Analyzer. Magnesium (Mg) was determined
titrimetrically using standard EDTA. Chloride (Cl -) was determined by standard AgNO3 titration, Sodium (Na+)
by flame photometry. Sulfate (SO42-), was determined by spectrophotometer. Nitrate (NO3-) and fluoride (F-)
were analyzed by using ion-sensitive electrode.

III. Results & Discursion

The results of the hydrochemical analysis of the groundwater samples taken from the study area are
shown in Table 1.The pH was slightly alkaline in all stations. It was within the permissible limit as per BIS
standards (Ramakrishnaiah et al, 2009). The Electrical conductivity range from 480 mg/l to 4550 mg/l, when
compared with standards EC level is very high in all samples (Table 1 & 2), Comparison of hydrochemical data
with drinking water standards (WHO 1984),The TDS is one of the important parameter for the use of drinking
water, the water with high TDS value indicates that water is highly mineralized, (Sudhakar & Swarna Latha,
2013, Kumar .M & Kumar R, 2012) minimum range is 307 mg/ l in Sample5 remaining all samples are
exceeding the standard levels (WHO/BIS/USPH-500 mg/l).
The sodium concentration is high in all samples the range from 98 to 260 mg/l, magnesium range in
water samples 139 to 280 mg/l but the standard level is 30 mg/l (table 2). Chloride level is significant range
except sample number 3 that the maximum level is 900 mg/l, high chloride concentration indicates organic
pollutants in the water (Tripathi et al, 1989). According to WHO and BIS standards the limit of fluoride is 1.0
to 1.5 mg/L (Table 2). Table-1 showed that the concentration of F-lies between 1 to 3.3 mg/L. If the F
concentration is between 0.9 to 1.2 mg/L then dental fluorosis is started and F - exceeds the level of 3 mg/L then
skeletal fluorosis is started in living beings. (Kalwale & Savale 2012). Alkalinity is the water is measure of its

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 Water Quality Analysis in Acharya Nagarjuna University Region, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India

neutralize acids this is due to salt of weak acids of strong base, the carbonates and bicarbonates represents the
measure of alkalinity (Sudhakar & Swarna Latha, 2013), the values lies between 244-348 mg/l it indicated in
Table 1.the total hardness range between 124-1124 mg/ l, and the guidelines value is 300 mg/l, the table 1
showed that sample 2 and sample 3 exceeding the standard level. Permanent hardness is caused by the presence
of calcium, magnesium chlorides, and sulfates and can be cured only with ion exchange processes.
(Vasanthavigar et al 2010). The Iron concentration is slightly high level in sample3.
The important physico-chemical characteristics of analyzed water samples viz., Min, Max, Mean, And
Standard Deviation (SD), have been presented in Table 2 and the values are compared with standard parameters
in Table 3.
The correlation study is useful to find a predictable relationship which can be exploited in practices;
correlation is a broad class of statistical relationship between two or more variables. It is used for the
measurement of the strength and statistical significance of the relation between two are more water quality
(Mehta, K.V., 2010), in the correlation of the water samples

IV. Figures And Tables

Table1: Physicochemical parameters of drinking water at studied region
Samples pH EC TDS SO4 Na Mg Cl NO3 F TA TH Fe
S1 7.98 810 518 32 260 189 90 20 1.7 284 200 0
S2 7.88 1540 986 56 124 280 180 12 3.3 264 360 0
S3 8.05 4550 2912 180 101 139 900 15 3.2 320 1124 1
S4 7.92 1125 720 44 120 170 120 0 2.1 300 280 0
S5 8.25 480 307 16 105 153 80 24 1 348 124 0
S6 7.96 890 570 28 98 200 120 10 1.6 300 216 0
S7 7.64 1180 755 42 218 142 150 15 2.6 244 296 0

Table2: Drinking Water standards recommending Agencies and unit weights. (All values except pH and
Electrical Conductivity are in mg/L)
S/No Parameters Standards Recommended Agency
1 pH 6.5-8.5 WHO/BIS/USPH
2 EC 300 WHO/USPH
3 TDS 500 WHO/BIS/USPH
4 Sulphates 200 WHO/BIS/USPH
5 Na 50-60 WHO
6 Magnesium 30 WHO/BIS/USPH
7 Nitrates 45 WHO/BIS
8 Chlorides 250 WHO/BIS/USPH
9 Flouried 1-1.5 ppm WHO/BIS
10 Total alkalanity -- ---
11 Total Hardness 300 WHO/BIS/USPH
12 Iron 0.1 WHO/BIS

Table 3: Descriptive statistics of the groundwater samples in study region

Parameters Units Min Max Mean SD SE Variance Skewness kurtosis
pH - 7.64 8.25 7.954 0.183 0.069 0.0337 -0.109 -0.808
EC S/cm 480 4550 1510.71 1380.51 521.785 1.905 1.428 0.417
TDS mg/l 307 2912 966.85 883.56 333.957 78069 1.427 0.416
SO4 mg/l 16 180 56.85 55.78 21.084 3111.8 1.4437 0.45
Na mg/l 98 260 146.57 64.99 24.566 4224.6 0.786 -1.357
Mg mg/l 139 280 181.85 49.008 18.523 2401.8 0.951 -0.536
NO3 mg/l 0 24 13.71 7.67 2.9 58.904 -0.409 -1.01
Cl mg/l 80 900 234.28 295.51 111.694 87328 1.575 0.705
F mg/l 1 3.3 2.21 0.85 0.324 0.738 0.03 -1.756
TA mg/l 244 348 294.28 34.55 13.059 1193.9 0.056 -1.395
TH mg/l 124 1124 371.42 340.41 128.66 1158 1.452 0.468
Fe mg/l 0 1 0.14 0.37 0.142 0.142 1.619 0.795

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 Water Quality Analysis in Acharya Nagarjuna University Region, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India

Table 4: correlation coefficient in Ground water

pH EC TDS SO4 Na Mg Cl NO3 F TA TH Fe
pH 1
EC 0.052 1
TDS 0.052 1 1
SO4 0.066 0.998 0.99 1
Na -0.472 -0.297 -0.295 -0.277 1
Mg -0.124 -0.236 -0.236 -0.254 -0.087 1
Cl 0.147 0.99 0.99 0.990 -0.316 -0.319 1
NO3 0.413 -0.062 -0.062 -0.058 0.301 -0.191 0.024 1
F -0.505 0.693 0.693 0.682 -0.05 0.279 0.597 -0.302 1
TA 0.943 0.139 0.139 0.152 -0.586 -0.36 0.243 0.256 -0.511 1
TH 0.056 0.999 0.999 0.999 -0.29 -0.261 0.992 -0.057 0.68 0.149 1
Fe 0.229 0.97 0.97 0.9734 -0.309 -0.385 0.993 0.073 0.505 0.328 0.974 1
Strong: 13, moderate: 6, Weak: 17, Negative: 26

V. Conclusion
The quality of groundwater sample collected from seven different locations of Acharya
Nagarjuna University, Guntur, On the basis of these analytical findings, the following conclusions can be
drawn. The pH of the entire water sample is well within permissible limits. The TDS and Total hardness
values of all the water samples are not within permissible limits. Total alkalinity values for all the
samples are within permissible limit. Sodium and Magnesium content for all samples has high value above
permissible limits. Chlorides content in sample-3 high range but remaining all samples are permissible limits.
Sulphate and Nitrate content for all samples is within permissible limits. The fluoride content is very high in all
samples except Sample-5, it is effect to the bones and teeth, The general observation is that the samples of
water from Acharya Nagarjuna University is required to treatment before consumption. In the university the
water treatment plant is treat the water but the parameters are not maintained within the permissible range.
Hence, rapid and reliable monitoring measures are essential for keeping a close watch on water quality and
health environment. In the correlation regression study, we can conclude that all the parameters are more or less
correlated with each other. The linear correlation is very useful to get fairly accurate idea of quality of the
groundwater by determining a few parameters experimentally.

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