The trace metals introduced into the environment by anthropogenic sources far outweigh natural sources. In the present study the trace metals such as As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, Ni and Zn are estimated during pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons (2011-12) in the spring water samples of two important river basins-the Ithikkara and Kallada river basins, Southern Western Ghats, Kerala, India. Heavy metal pollution Index (HPI), Heavy metal evaluation index (HEI) and Degree of contamination (Cd) are applied to assess the quality of water samples. All the spring samples during monsoon season falls in low pollution category. The spring water samples of highland are near neutral–low metal category and that in lowland region falls in acid-low metal zone. With the exception of nickel and lead in a few samples, the concentration of other metals detected in spring samples are below the standards set by WHO (2011) and BIS (2012).
