Comprehensive understanding of groundwater quality and hydrogeochemistry for the sustainable development of suburban area of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

The focus of the present article is on evaluation of drinking and industrial water quality, and groundwater chemistry in a suburban area of Visakhapatnam, India, to promote sustainable development of this area. Water quality index categorized 27% and 23% of the groundwater samples into poor water quality type for drinking and industrial purposes. Piper diagram classified 73% of the groundwater samples into Ca2+-HCO type, and the rest (27%) into mixed type. Gibbs diagrams demonstrated the majority of groundwater samples (70%) fall in the rock domain and the rest (30%) in the zone of evaporation due to gradual increase of Na+ and Clions. The bivariate diagrams expressed the reverse ion exchange as the dominating process, following ion exchange and mineral dissolution, which controlled the groundwater geochemistry. The principal component analysis (PCA) yielded PC1, PC2, and PC3, which are influenced by soil CO2, weathering and dissolution of plagioclase feldspars, and ferromagnesium minerals, and human activities on the aquifer chemistry, representing the processes of pollution, hardness and alkalinity, respectively. The distribution of positive PC scores identified the influences of processes on the groundwater specific area, which is an effective tool to implement the management strategies for sustainable development of urban area.