Hydrochemistry of groundwater of Thirumanur area, Tamil Nadu (India).

Perambalur is the most backward district in the state of Tamil Nadu (India). It has ten unions, of which Thirumanur union has historical importance and is blessed with fertile lands. Thirumanur union has Kollidam river and Pullambadi canal as rich sources of water for irrigation. Thirumanur union has large number of Chozha temples at various places like Thirumalapadi, Periyamanai, Kamarasavalli, Thoothur, Senapathimudikondan, Kandaradhitham, Keelapalur and Melapalur. Thirumanur union being the south end union of Perambalur district, has Trichy district and Tanjore district as its neighbours. Thirumanur union has an area of 64 hectare, of which 48 hectare is under cultivating land. This union has maximum number of thirty-six villages. Though most of the villages use river water as their major source of drinking, they also use groundwater as their other source. Lot of work has been done and published already on the groundwater quality of many villages in other different unions of the Perambalur district. But in the Thirumanur union, there was need to undertake the study to assess the drinking water quality in the region. Hence, ten villages of Thirumanur union were selected, where the people use groundwater for drinking, and the water samples were subjected to systematic analysis. The depth of the bore wells varied from 100-200 feet. The values obtained for different parameters were compared with the standard values given by ISI / ICMR / WHO and the variations were notable for the parameters like nitrate and total hardness for few samples. Therefore, a medical survey was carried out to study the harmful effects on the society due to these two parameters at the villages-Keelapazhur, Palanganatham and Venganur.