Jessy Mol -Baskaran: Evaluation of groundwater quality at coconut husk retting area -1745 -APPLIED ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 15(4):1745-1756. Abstract. This paper evaluates the quality of the groundwater in and around a coconut husk retting area. The area selected for the study is Mondaikadu of Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India, which is very near to the coast of the Indian Ocean. Groundwater samples were collected during summer, winter and pre-monsoon season and analyzed using

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... alytical instruments. It was observed that the groundwater quality is significantly affected by coconut husk retting process. The pH level in the groundwater was found to be unacceptable because it was below the permissible limit of 6.5 to 9.2 as per the World Health Organization (WHO) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). All other parameters such as Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Electrical conductivity (EC), Hardness, Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), Ferrous (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Nitrate (NH 3 ), Chloride (Cl), Fluoride (F), Sulphate (SO 4 ) are within the limits. Low pH water was neutralized using addition of Sodium Hydroxide methods (NaoH), addition of soda ash and aeration process. Using correlation analysis, the dependent and independent variables were selected and regression analysis was conducted for these variables and the best fit regression model was created.