SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF GROUNDWATER SOURCES POTABILITY DURING WET SEASON IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF TAMPAKAN, SOUTH СОТАВАТО

The study was conducted to evaluate the quality of the ground water sources in the Municipality of Tampakan, South Cotabato that includes pitcher pumps, deep wells and spring reservoirs during wet season. The parameters that were analyzed were hardness, electrical conductivity, pH level, turbidity, total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), Escherichia coliform (E. coli), nitrate, phosphate, and mercury. The main objective of this study is to generate a potability map based on the different parameters using the QGIS 2.14.1 software. The results gathered from each parameter were compared to the standards set by the Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water (PNSDW), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and World Health Organization (WHO). The following results were obtained: hardness ranges from 76 - 129mg/L, electrical conductivity ranges from 152 - 257mS; pH level ranges from 5.4 -8.7; turbidity ranges from 0.4 - 1.99NTU; TSS ranges from 4.4 - 68.4mg/L; TDS ranges from 100.8 to 170mg/L; Escherichia coliform (E. coli) has 0.0CFU; nitrate ranges from 0 - 10mg/L; phosphate ranges from 0 - 1mg/L, and mercury ranges from 0 - 0.05mg/L. Two calculation of water quality index were done: one with mercury and the other without. Six water samples fall under the rating of "Excellent”, gathering a 100% in water quality rating index without mercury while only 5 samples fall under the rating of "Excellent” garnering a 83.33% and 1 sample fall under the rating of "Unfit for Drinking” garnering a 16.67% in water quality rating index with mercury. This implies that the groundwater sources in the Municipality of Tampakan, South Cotabato are still fit for drinking during wet season. However, the people living near the sample point that was categorized as unfit for drinking should lessen their consumption of water in that water resource for their own health.