Evaluating Groundwater Quality as Drinking Water in Hambantota District: A Water Quality Index Analysis

Evaluating Groundwater Quality as Drinking Water in Hambantota District: A Water Quality Index Analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Evaluating Groundwater Quality as Drinking Water in Hambantota District: A Water Quality Index Analysis Ashvin Wickramasooriya, Ayesha Sugandini This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4179304/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract With the escalation of diverse developmental and agricultural activities, both human-induced and natural, the groundwater quality within Hambantota district has undergone changes. An analysis of the suitability of groundwater for drinking purposes is imperative, given that it serves as the second most important source of drinking water in Hambantota. Employing the Water Quality Index (WQI), this study aims to discern and assess the suitability of groundwater quality for drinking within the district. The WQI employs a weighted arithmetic index to facilitate this evaluation. The primary objective of this research is to ascertain the present groundwater quality status in Hambantota district through the utilization of secondary data. The overarching goal is to gauge the overall appropriateness of groundwater quality for drinking purposes within the district. To accomplish this, 335 groundwater samples were analyzed by the National Water Supply & Drainage Board, subsequently undergoing analysis to determine the viability of groundwater as a drinking water source in Hambantota. The analysis process involves establishing a Pearson correlation to construct a relationship matrix among eight variables: Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Magnesium (Mg + 2 ), Chloride (Cl - ), Sulfate (SO 4 -2 ), Total Iron (Fe + 2 ), Nitrate (NO 3 - ), Total Hardness (TH), and Fluoride (F - ). Additionally, the Water Quality Index (WQI) is computed using descriptive statistics. Based on the secondary data, spatial distribution maps for each parameter, as well as the WQI, were generated. The outcomes of the study divulged that for drinking water quality, the WQI classification allocates 13% and 28% to the excellent and good groundwater quality classes, respectively. Conversely, the remaining WQI classifications, amounting to 6% for poor, 5% for very poor, and 47% for unsuitable, emphasize the unsatisfactory suitability of groundwater for drinking within Hambantota district. Consequently, these spatial distribution maps prove invaluable in the identification of groundwater quality patterns across Hambantota district. Groundwater Suitability Water Quality Index GIS Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4179304","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":285164371,"identity":"88c915be-d5ea-48b0-811e-e4dd59169744","order_by":0,"name":"Ashvin Wickramasooriya","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABD0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACxgbGBjjHgIGBH0QnFJCiRRLESzAgZA8yz+AAVC8uwD8jufHjzD120fz9hw8+rig4LG98fnXihwcGDPL8YgewapG4kdgsueFZcu6MG2nJhmcMDhtuu/F2swTQYYYzZydgt+Z2YhvjgwPMuQ03eMwkGwwOM267cXYDSEuCwW3sWuQhWupz558/A9Ziv3nG2c0/8GkxAGnZcOBw7oYDOWAtiRv4e7fhtcXw/sNmyRkHjuduBPmlwSA9ecYN3m0WCQYSOP0id+b4w489B6pz550/fPBhwx9r2/7+s5tv/qiwkeeXxuF9NNAMDESwSgmilINAHTCqDhCtehSMglEwCkYGAAC6S2x+Q05+OgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of Peradeniya","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ashvin","middleName":"","lastName":"Wickramasooriya","suffix":""},{"id":285164373,"identity":"6e197817-7da8-4237-a6c7-baa07708f41d","order_by":1,"name":"Ayesha Sugandini","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Peradeniya","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ayesha","middleName":"","lastName":"Sugandini","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-03-28 03:44:21","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4179304/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4179304/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":55390188,"identity":"c1d0e784-8f75-4b31-a830-ceddbf40f09b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-26 15:43:02","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":732478,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptEvaluatingGroundwaterQualityasDrinkingWaterinHambantotaDistrictAWaterQualityIndexAnalysis.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4179304/v1_covered_49d73440-fac8-4895-b1d1-1de8c36e42e9.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Evaluating Groundwater Quality as Drinking Water in Hambantota District: A Water Quality Index Analysis","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Groundwater, Suitability, Water Quality Index, GIS","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4179304/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4179304/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eWith the escalation of diverse developmental and agricultural activities, both human-induced and natural, the groundwater quality within Hambantota district has undergone changes. An analysis of the suitability of groundwater for drinking purposes is imperative, given that it serves as the second most important source of drinking water in Hambantota. Employing the Water Quality Index (WQI), this study aims to discern and assess the suitability of groundwater quality for drinking within the district. The WQI employs a weighted arithmetic index to facilitate this evaluation. The primary objective of this research is to ascertain the present groundwater quality status in Hambantota district through the utilization of secondary data. The overarching goal is to gauge the overall appropriateness of groundwater quality for drinking purposes within the district. To accomplish this, 335 groundwater samples were analyzed by the National Water Supply \u0026amp; Drainage Board, subsequently undergoing analysis to determine the viability of groundwater as a drinking water source in Hambantota. The analysis process involves establishing a Pearson correlation to construct a relationship matrix among eight variables: Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Magnesium (Mg\u003csup\u003e+\u0026thinsp;2\u003c/sup\u003e), Chloride (Cl\u003csup\u003e-\u003c/sup\u003e), Sulfate (SO\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e\u003csup\u003e-2\u003c/sup\u003e), Total Iron (Fe\u003csup\u003e+\u0026thinsp;2\u003c/sup\u003e), Nitrate (NO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e\u003csup\u003e-\u003c/sup\u003e), Total Hardness (TH), and Fluoride (F\u003csup\u003e-\u003c/sup\u003e). Additionally, the Water Quality Index (WQI) is computed using descriptive statistics. Based on the secondary data, spatial distribution maps for each parameter, as well as the WQI, were generated. The outcomes of the study divulged that for drinking water quality, the WQI classification allocates 13% and 28% to the excellent and good groundwater quality classes, respectively. Conversely, the remaining WQI classifications, amounting to 6% for poor, 5% for very poor, and 47% for unsuitable, emphasize the unsatisfactory suitability of groundwater for drinking within Hambantota district. Consequently, these spatial distribution maps prove invaluable in the identification of groundwater quality patterns across Hambantota district.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Evaluating Groundwater Quality as Drinking Water in Hambantota District: A Water Quality Index Analysis","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-04-03 08:44:01","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4179304/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"9a69ad77-5be4-4f19-9dd0-0dbabb1c31a1","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 3rd, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-04-30T04:40:17+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-04-03 08:44:01","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4179304","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4179304","identity":"rs-4179304","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}