EVALUATION OF SHALLOW GROUNDWATER QUALITY IN ZHENGZHOU AREA (CHINA) USING WATER QUALITY INDEX MODEL

Civil

Abstract

Water shortage and pollution are serious problems which are limiting sustainable development of the society and economy in Zhengzhou area. Due to its importance the Water Quality Index (WQI) model was used to classify groundwater in Zhengzhou according to its most beneficial use. Sixty-three groundwater samples from shallow wells were chemically analyzed to calculate WQI values. The results show that high quality groundwater for irrigation use (WQI>75%) exist in thirty three wells, fifty two wells in the area have high quality and are suitable for livestock drinking, and thirty eight wells can be used safely for domestic purposes. The spatial distribution maps for different groundwater classes show that better groundwater quality can be found in porous Quaternary aquifers in the alluvial plain, alluvial flat and flood plain of Yellow River. Results also show that the model can be conveniently used to evaluate the water quality and classify groundwater in Zhengzhou area.