CHENNAI: The high quality of groundwater from localities nearer to the shore in Chennai such as Injambakkam and Besant Nagar is inferior, although the grade in core areas such as Adyar, Choolaimedu and suburbs such as Ramapuram has been shown to be excellent.
This was shown through an IIT-Madras team which has begun gathering information as part of a pilot project to map the standard of Chennai’s groundwater in affiliation with the state authorities.
While that has been based on samples collected in March, the investigators stated the caliber of groundwater will deteriorate in June with water levels falling.
Since the grade of water flow, the project intends to collect enough information to ensure ground water quality could be predict.
The International Centre for Water (ICCW) has developed an instrument to evaluate different water quality parameters to the place and upload the information to some cloud server.
It intends to accumulate enough information which may help in the prediction in town at any given time of the year in the click of a switch.
The group has collected samples and analyzed them in 39 areas and intends to expand it into 60 more places.
“Water quality varies even in a 50 to 100 m space.
We cannot speak about water quality in a particular area by only 1 parameter in almost any town, where accelerated urbanisation has occurred.
However, general, Chennai’s water quality remains fair.
We’ve got enough water and enough great water.
However, we must preserve it,” explained Prof T Pradeep, professor-in-charge, ICCW.
Water quality indicator is quantified dependent on several parameters such as ethanol, total hardness, sodium, nitrate, turbidity, ammonia, alkalinity is deemed bad as it’s between 100 and 200, great if it’s between 50-100 and great if it’s between zero and 50.
The researchers stated many things help determine the town’s groundwater quality such as the speed of withdrawaland closeness to the sea coast, pollution from sewage lines, quantity of rain recharge and industrial effluents.
“Typically groundwater levels will decrease between March and June and continue to return until monsoons begin in October.
So in comparison to March the grade could have dropped in June,” said E Nandakumar, ceo, ICCW-IIT-M.
ICCW, that gathered data with the support of pupils in the Stella Maris College, will shortly cover yet another 60 places in town.
To collect information immediately, the group has developed an apparatus with detectors which could evaluate the a variety of water quality parameters, and create a reading and move the exact same into your cloud server via a cell phone.