SPATIAL EVALUATION OF GROUNDWATER POTABILITY IN MUNICIPALITY OF SANTO NIÑO, SOUTH COTABATO

The study was conducted to generate maps in Municipality of Santo Niño, South Cotabato through Spatial Analysis of its groundwater that includes pitcher pumps and deep wells. Different parameters such as Hardness, Electrical Conductivity, pH, Turbidity, Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), E. coli, Nitrate, Phosphate and Mercury were generated. Water Quality Indices (WQI) were calculated and analyzed based on standards set by the Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water (PNSDW), World Health Organization (WHO), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Assessing the results, all samples gathered were classified as Highly Potable under parameters such as Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Nitrate and Mercury content. 85.71% were classified as Highly Potable for E.coli parameter, 71.43% were classified as Highly Potable for pH, and 85.71% were classified under the range of potable water for both parameters Hardness and Turbidity. As for the parameters pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Escherichia coliform (E. coli), Electrical Conductivity and Phosphate all of the samples passed the standard value, while for the Turbidity and Hardness, only one sample rated as Currently Not Potable. In general, by calculating the Water Quality Index and eliminating the parameter that came to be unreliable, the majority of the samples passed with an Excellent rating, while one is considered as "Good'' and the other one is "Fair" quality. However, if we consider the parameter Mercury, the result of the map that will be generated is Excellent in all sample points. The result that was obtained was unreliable due to the large unit weight of Mercury that disregarded the other parameters value.