Seasonal variation of groundwater quality of Akola city, Maharashtra, India

The Akola city, Maharashtra, India, is selected to study the seasonal variation of groundwater quality, where the groundwater is the main source for household and drinking purposes. Groundwater samples collected seasonally in summer, Monsoon and winter, during the years 2013 from ten bore wells and analysed for pH, EC, TDS, DO, TA, TH, Ca++, Mg++, Na+, K+, Clˉ, NO3ˉ and SO4ˉ ˉ. The ground waters mainly belong to carbonated alkali type and are controlled by evaporation dominance, due to the influence of tropical savannah climate and anthropogenic activities. A comparison of the groundwater quality in relation to drinking water quality standards proves that most of the water samples are not suitable for drinking purposes, especially in pre-monsoon period. These conditions are caused due to leaching of salts from the overlying materials by infiltrating recharge waters.