Predictive Modelling to Assess Groundwater Pollution and Integration with Water Quality Index
Ratika Agarwal1, Preeti Chhabra2, Aparna Prashant Goyal3, Sanjay Srivastava4
1Ms. Ratika Agarwal (Assistant Professor, MRIIRS)
2Dr. Preeti Chhabra (Assistant Professor, MRIIRS)
3Dr. Aparna Prashant Goyal (Professor & Dean, MRIIRS)
4Dr. Sanjay Srivastava (Professor & Vice Chancellor, MRIIRS)
Manuscript received on 18 June 2019 | Revised Manuscript received on 25 June 2019 | Manuscript published on 30 June 2019 | PP: 1076-1084 | Volume-8 Issue-5, June 2019 | Retrieval Number: E7204068519/19©BEIESP
Open Access | Ethics and Policies | Cite | Mendeley | Indexing and Abstracting
© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: Groundwater is one of the essential elements of the environment which is vital for sustaining life. The versatile use of this precious asset has its importance but with its continuous withdrawal for ages, its availability may reach the threshold level and its quality might get affected (Ghosh, 2014). It is estimated that almost half of the world’s population depend on groundwater for survival. Across the globe, groundwater plays an important role in meeting water related requirements in agricultural, industrial and domestic sectors, as almost 69%, 23% and 8% of available water resource gets consumed by these sectors respectively (Natraj, 2017). Water is considered to be the most precious natural resource on our planet. Also, it is called the principal constituent of all the living things. It acts as a critical factor while conditioning the earth for existence of human beings and influencing the process of civilization. It constitutes approximately two-thirds of the earth’s surface as well as the human body. The total surface area of earth comprises land and water and extends to about 510 million km 2 . Water occupies approximately 361 million km2 of the surface area and contributes to 71% of the global surface area, and 29% of the geographical surface area of 149 million km 2 is occupied by land (Winter et al., 1998). Northern hemisphere holds 39% of the total land area of earth and extends to 100 million km2 , while Southern Hemisphere occupies 19% of land area of 49 million km2 . Similarly, the area occupied by water in the Northern hemisphere is 155 million km2 i.e. 61% of the total water area, while it occupies 206 million km2 in the southern hemisphere i.e. 81% of the total water area. However, despite being so abundant, only a small proportion is available as ‘fresh water’ for direct consumption. The remaining large proportion of total water is found in the oceans as ‘salt water’ as it contains salt and other minerals and is thus not potable and fit for human consumption. The global water resource is not evenly distributed over the entire globe. About 60 % of the freshwater resources are available in less than ten countries collectively, i.e., China, Brazil, Canada, Russia, India, Columbia, Indonesia, United States, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This further leaves us with the responsibility of taking care of our water resources.
Keywords: Predictive Modelling, Pollution and Integration, Environmental Engineering
Scope of the Article: Environmental Engineering