Abstract:

The study is undertaken in the barite mining area of Mangampeta (Lat. 14° 01' N; Long. 79° 19' E), which is located in the Kodur Mandal of Cuddapah District, Andhra Pradesh, India. The important geological formations in this area are quartzites (quartz veins), carbonaceous tuff and dolomites. The paper presents the assessment of water quality for its suitability for agricultural and domestic purposes. The results of chemical analyses for the major ions of 50 water samples collected from the entire study area (mining and adjacent virgin area) are presented. The quality analysis is performed through the estimation of silica, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, carbonate, bicarbonate, sulphate, chloride, total dissolved solids, pH, specific conductance, alkalinity and hardness. Based on the analyses, certain parameters like non-carbonate hardness, sodium adsorption ratio, percent sodium, potential salinity, residual sodium carbonate, Kelly's ratio, magnesium ratio, index of base exchange, permeability index and Gibb's ratio were calculated. The striking difference is in the sulphate content of mine water samples, which ranges from 211 to 589 mg/l, and is due to the presence of barites, the source for the high content of sulphates in the mining area. In contrast, in the virgin area water samples show 1-20 mg/l sulphate content. The bicarbonates (262 to 1100 mg/l) and alkalinity (198 to 953 mg/l) are very high and this is due to the presence of tuff and dolomitic rocks in the virgin area. According to the Gibb's diagram all the samples of both the virgin and mining area fall in the rock dominance field. From the evaluation it is known that the water quality is suitable for both domestic and irrigation purposes.

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