Determination of Land Use Stress on Drinking Water Quality in Tiruchirappalli, India Using Derived Indices

Drinking Water Quality is a powerful environmental determinant of human health, especially for children. The present study is undertaken to assess the drinking water quality in schools of Tiruchirappalli region and to estimate the impact of land use stress on water quality. Drinking water samples have been collected from 102 schools of Tiruchirappalli during October 2011. The physico-chemical and microbial parameters of the drinking water were analyzed. The drinking Water Quality Index has been derived for the estimated parameters and the water is assessed as Excellent, Good, Medium, Poor, and Very Poor. The estimated DWQI shows that more samples fall under very poor (68) and bad category (22) and one infers that around 83 percent of the water samples were unsuitable for drinking purposes, 12 percent of the samples shows moderate water quality and only 5 percent of samples was observed to be suitable for drinking purposes. Based on the derived DWQI a unique symbol map was prepared. Land use/land cover map was derived for the study area using IRS LISS III images acquired during 2009. The DWQI map was superimposed on the land use/land cover map to identify the problem areas and the extent of deterioration. Through this study the land use stress on water quality can be quantified and appropriate recommendations may be suggested to the school authorities for the proper management of water quality so as to sustain a healthy life of the children.