Assessment of groundwater contamination susceptibility based on water chemistry data - A review

Groundwater contamination susceptibility studies have many advantages in groundwater monitoring, management and future planning. Several methods have been developed and applied to the groundwater regime through out the world. However, each and every method has some limitations. In this study, a detailed review was carried out about the already existing methods for groundwater contamination susceptibility studies. Additionally, a new parameter called mineral dissolution factor is recommended for groundwater contamination susceptibility studies. This parameter is applied for groundwate contamination susceptibility studies in Namwon area, Korea. The result of this approach suggests that mineral dissolution parameter could overcome the limitations as observed in the earlier methods.