Presenting a New Index of Pollution and Ecology Risk of Groundwater (PERG)

Given the growing population of the world especially in countries with limited water resources, investigating and controlling the quantity and quality of water resources especially ground water resources which is the main source of drinking water supply, can help these communities in the face of the water crisis which will plague mankind in the near future. In this survey, first, 22 wells were selected from Birjand plain aquifer. Then the aquifer was studied using the Ground water chemical Pollution Index (PIG) and ecological hazard index (ERI) of heavy metals using zoning maps and final maps of PIG and ERI indices were prepared. According to PIG, 56.74% of the aquifer has a lot of Pollution, and according to ERI, 0.91% of the aquifer has a lot of Pollution. Then, new index of Pollution and Environmental Risk of Ground water (PERG) was introduced according to both Ground water chemical Pollution Index and heavy metals Environmental Risk Index. PERG detects chemical pollution and heavy metals in the aquifer, and leads to better summarization and decision making in order to collect water from ground water aquifers. In terms of PERG, aquifer pollution is 1.755% of the total area.