A Study on Impact of Agricultural Activities on the Groundwater Quality of Medchal Malkajgiri District, Telangana State, India

The main aim of the present study is to evaluate the impact of agricultural activities on the groundwater quality in the eleven selected village areas of Medchal-Malkajgiri district of Telangana State, India. Forty Groundwater samples were collected during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon. The groundwater samples collected were analyzed for key agricultural nutrients, including Nitrates (NO₃⁻), Phosphates (PO₄³⁻), and Potassium (K⁺), as well as various physico-chemical parameters such as pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Hardness (TH), Total Alkalinity (TA), Sodium (Na⁺), Calcium (Ca²⁺), Magnesium (Mg²⁺), Carbonates (CO₃²⁻), Bicarbonates (HCO₃⁻), Chloride (Cl⁻), Fluoride (F⁻), and Sulphates (SO₄²⁻). The analyses followed the American Public Health Association (APHA) Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. The results were then compared against the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) 2012 and World Health Organization (WHO) 1999 guidelines for drinking water quality. The analytical results reveal that nitrates are within the acceptable limit during pre-monsoon season but five samples (25%) were exceeding the acceptable limits in post-monsoon season. It clearly indicates that the agricultural activities may be affecting the quality of groundwater in the study area. The concentration of TDS, TA, HCO3 and Cl are also showing higher values.