Hydrogeochemical processes regulating the spatial distribution of groundwater contamination, using pollution index of groundwater (PIG) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA): A case study

Groundwater quality investigation has been carried out from a sub-urban area of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, to find out the controlling processes of groundwater chemistry spatially, leading to groundwater contamination. The groundwater quality is characterized by fresh to brackish and hard types, with Ca2+ > Na+ > Mg2+ > K+: HCO3− > Cl− > SO42− > NO3− facies. According to the pollution index of groundwater (PIG), most of the study area...