Abstract
In the present study, physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics of different sources of surface and groundwaters in Tripunithura, a suburb of Ernakulam district, Kerala were determined during February 2011. The objective of the study was to asses the suitability of water for human consumption and other domestic purposes. Water samples from three different densely populated localities were collected and analysed for various parameters using standard methods. The physico-chemical parameters of home well water and pond water, with the exception of iron value in pond water, were satisfactory whereas bore well water and river water exhibited all the values as exceeding maximum permissible limit with a few exceptions of sulphate and dissolved oxygen in bore well water and nitrate in river water. The microbiological analysis revealed that with the exception of bore well water, all other waters fail to satisfy the prescribed standards set for drinking water. Therefore, the study revealed that the entire water samples investigated in the present study failed to qualify the prescribed standards for drinking water either in the physico-chemical aspects or in the microbiological aspects or both.