Increase in demand for water for domestic, agricultural and industrial needs has led to overexploitation as well as contamination; hence, it is unremittingly important to monitor and maintain the health of waters. In view of this, a study was carried out wherein a total of 57 groundwater samples from Upper Bhima Basin of western India were collected and analysed for understanding the drinking and agricultural suitability with special reference to water quality index and potential health risks assessment. Analysed physicochemical parameters indicated that the groundwater quality is not suitable in most of the villages for drinking and agricultural purposes. However, pH, TDS, HCO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, Cl⁻ and F⁻ parameters were below the permissible limit; conversely, Ca²⁺, Na⁺, Mg^2+, and NO₃⁻ contents have been found more than the Indian standards (BIS). The dissemination of ions in the qualitative analysis revealed the dominance order as Ca²⁺ > Na⁺ > Mg²⁺ > K⁺ and HCO₃⁻ > SO₄²⁻− > Cl⁻ > NO₃⁻. Using Piper’s diagram, the groundwater types were found to be majorly Ca²⁺–HCO₃⁻, Ca²⁺–Na⁺–HCO^_₃ , Ca²⁺–Mg²⁺–Cl⁻ and Ca²⁺–Cl⁻ groups. From the Gibbs plot, it is observed that the samples fall between rock dominance and evaporation dominance zones. Based on irrigation indices such as permeability index, residual sodium carbonate, the groundwater is unsuitable for irrigation. In addition to that, water quality index values revealed that 49% of water samples are found unfit for drinking. Further, health risk assessment study carried out using United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) guidelines showed that children are at higher health risk than men and women in the study region.

中文翻译：

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印度西部半干旱地区用于饮用水和农业用途的地下水的水文地球化学特征，尤其要参考水质指数和潜在的健康风险评估

满足家庭，农业和工业需求的水需求增加导致过度开发和污染；因此，监测和维护水域的健康至关重要。有鉴于此，进行了一项研究，从印度西部的上比玛（Bhima）盆地收集了总共57份地下水样品，并进行了分析，以了解饮水和农业适宜性，并特别参考水质指数和潜在的健康风险评估。经分析的理化参数表明，大多数村庄的地下水水质不适合饮用和农业目的。然而，pH值，TDS，HCO ₃ ^-，SO ₄ ^2-，氯^-和F ^-参数低于允许的限制；相反地，钙²⁺，钠⁺，镁^2+，和NO ₃ ^-的内容已经发现了超过印度标准（BIS）。在定性分析的离子的传播揭示了主导地位顺序的Ca ²⁺  >的Na ⁺  >镁²⁺  >ķ ⁺和HCO ₃ ^-  > SO ₄ ^2- - >氯^-  > NO ₃ ^- 。使用琵琶图，发现地下水类型是majorly的Ca ²⁺ -HCO ₃ ^- ，钙²⁺ -Na ⁺-HCO ^_ ₃ ，钙²⁺ -Mg ²⁺ -Cl ^-和Ca ²⁺ -Cl ^-基团。从吉布斯图可以看出，样品落在岩石优势区和蒸发优势区之间。根据渗透指数，残留碳酸钠等灌溉指标，地下水不适合灌溉。除此之外，水质指数值还显示发现有49％的水样本不适合饮用。此外，使用美国环境保护局（US EPA）指南进行的健康风险评估研究表明，在研究区域中，儿童的健康风险高于男性和女性。