Ground water quality of bogole mandal, s.p.s.r.nellore district, Andhra Pradesh, India

Water is the mirror of life and is essential for drinking purpose. Protected water supply is very essential for population. In the present study, pH, chlorides, total alkalinity, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, total dissolved solids, fluoride, nitrate and phosphates were assessed to note the chemistry and quality of bore well water in Bogole mandal, Nellore district. The pH of J.P. Gudur was 5.5 and Nagulavaram 6.0 mg/L which is below the permissible limits given by WHO (1984) and BIS (1983). These waters are acidic and cannot be used for drinking purpose. Extremely high amounts of total alkalinity and chlorides were recorded. The housewife complained of scale formation in the cooking vessels and white precipitate formation in the buckets. Highest Calcium concentration of 422.44 mg/L was seen in Nagulavaram which is double the limits given by WHO. Total Dissolved Solids in Bogole was 3600 mg/L which was 2 – 3 times more than the permissible limits given by WHO and BIS. Based on Bruvold et.al., 1966, T.D.S of Nagulavaram and Talluru fall into good category. A.B.K falls into fair category, Kovurupalli, J.P. Gudur, S.G.V.K falls under poor category and V.N.R pet and Bogole into unaccepatable category. Highest phosphate concentration was seen in Bogole which was 208 times more than the limits given by BIS which may be due to use of artificial fertilizers in this region. High chlorides and total alkalinity in these ground waters forced people to buy mineral plant water for drinking purpose. This problem can be solved by simple techniques which are economically feasible among the consumers. Individual environmental awareness has to be created among the public to boil and to use ground water to protect their health.