Iranica Journal of Energy and Environment 6(4): 328-333, 2015 Iranica Journal of Energy & Environment Research Note Journal Homepage: www.ijee.net IJEE an official peer review journal of Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, ISSN:2079-2115 Arsenic and physico-chemical calamity in the ground water samples of Ballia district , Uttar Pradesh, India N. K. Shukla1, Markandeya1,2*, V. K. Shukla1 1Environmental Monitoring Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, M.G. Marg, Lucknow-226001, U.P., India. 2Department of Civil Engineering, Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow-226021, U.P., India P A P E R I N F O ABSTRACT The level of arsenic contamination in ground water quality in and around Ballia district was Paper history: elucidated. The study revealed that most of the locations, the concentration of arsenic ranged from Received 29 April 2015 0.01 to 0.05 mg/L (avg 0.03 ± 0.01 mg/L); which is higher than the permissible limit 0.01 mg/L. The Accepted in revised form 15 August 2015 physico-chemical parameters were recorded such as hardness 180 to 220 mg/L (avg 199.10 ± 12.62 mg/L), alkalinity 84 to 112 mg/L (avg 96.40 ± 7.88 mg/L), TDS 225 to 605 mg/L (avg 295.85 ± Keywords: 87.55 mg/L), conductivity 340 to 916 µs/cm (avg 447.90 ± 132.47 µs/cm), chloride 12.12 to 36.36 Arsenic mg/L (avg 18.38 ± 7.03 mg/L), pH 7.40 to 7.80 (avg 7.51 ± 0.10), phosphate 0.05 to 0.44 mg/L (avg Coliform 0.16 ± 0.10 mg/L), sulphate 3.20 to 12 mg/L (avg 5.86 ± 2.22 mg/L), salinity 0.20 to 1.10 ppt (avg Escherichia coli 0.27 ± 0.20 ppt), nitrate 3.06 to 7.64 mg/L (avg 5.11 ± 1.34 mg/L) and fluoride 0.21 to 1.19 mg/L Ground water (avg 0.61 ± 0.24 mg/L). The Escherichia coli and coliform MPN number also found in the within the Ballia limit (<3/100 mL) except at Chandpur (23/100 mL), Hanumangunj (9.1/100 mL), Bansdih (3.6/100 mL) and Tika Dewari (460/100 mL). Key word: doi: 10.5829/idosi.ijee.2015.06.04.12 INTRODUCTION1 groups that reacts with a variety of proteins and inhibits their activity. Arsenic is a carcinogen and its Ballia district is deceit in eastern part of the Uttar consumption can negatively affect the gastrointestinal Pradesh (longitude 84°11’08.99”E, latitude tract, cardio-vascular and central nervous systems. 25°49’40.25”N). It has total area 2981 km2 and as per Certain severe diseases are faced by humans due to 2011 census having population 27,61,620. Ballia district consumption of arsenic contaminated water include is bordered by the Ghaghara in north, ChotiSaraju and liver, lungs, skin, kidney and cardiovascular diseases, Ganga River in south. There are a chain of lakes and etc. In Asia, recent years in many countries where skin ponds such as Surha Tal, Reoti Tal Mundvi Shah among lesions caused by arsenic in drinking water, have been Maniyar, Sikandarpur Tal, Bansdeeh, etc. According to extensively reported. These countries are: India, Nepal, Imran et al. [1] groundwater; tube well and artificial Pakistan, Myanmar, Taiwan, Viet Nam, Laos, part of canal are the main source of irrigation and agriculture China, including Inner Mongolia, Thailand, Cambodia water resources in Ballia district. and Bangladesh [2, 3]. Arsenic is mobilized from the In groundwater, arsenic combines with oxygen to soil to the water by complex geochemical mechanisms form inorganic pentavalent arsenate, As(V) and trivalent [4]. Therefore, arsenic contamination of drinking water arsenite, As(III) depending on pH and other conditions. has to be taken as worldwide environmental issue that Arsenite is more stable than arsenate due to its requires serious attention. To overcome these impacts electronic configuration and more toxic because it binds on human health, guidelines of World Health to single with higher affinity to vicinal sulfhydryl Organization (WHO) [5] and US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) have been reduced from 50 * Corresponding author: Markandeya to 10 ppb as drinking water quality standard. E-mail: [email protected]; Tel: +607 5535653; Fax: +607 5545667 Please cite this article as: N. K. Shukla, Markandeya and V. K. Shukla, 2015. Arsenic and physico-chemical calamity in the ground water samples of Ballia district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Iranica Journal of Energy and Environment 6 (4): 328-333. Iranica Journal of Energy and Environment 6(4): 328-333, 2015 Human being is critically affected by direct contact to arsenic through drinking water [6]. The presence of arsenic in groundwater has been reported from many parts of the world, particularly in the Bengal delta of India and Bangladesh (BGS/DPHE) [7], China [4], Vietnam and Nepal [8]. Arsenic contamination in India is well documented especially in Ganga-Meghana- Brahmaputra plain [9]; firstly arsenic contamination was reported in west Bengal in 1983 [10]. Arsenic has been growing rapidly during the last few years as major pollutants of drinking water in several districts of West Bengal and many other states of India [11]. Recently, Ballia district has been reported to have arsenic Figure 1. Sampling locations of Ballia district contamination in the ground water [12]. Evidence suggests the presence of arsenic in groundwater in India TABLE 1. GPS sampling locations of Ballia district and Bangladesh throughout the region defined as the Indo-Gangetic Plain [13]. Quaternary aquifers are S. No. Location name Longitude Latitude important sources of groundwater resources and are also 1 Belhari 84°20’28.32”E 25°46’08.93”N important links between terrestrial and marine 2 Baburanichpra 84°11’25.58”E 25°44’56.86”N biogeochemical cycles in coastal zones [14-16]. Arsenic 3 Hariharpur 83°58’42.42”E 25°50’07.89”N mobilization processes can vary with geochemical 4 Rudrapur 84°23’18.14”E 25°46’57.06”N conditions [17-20]. Most previous studies have focused 5 Chandpur 84°27’26.36”E 25°45’02.25”N on the geochemical conditions of arsenic in aquifers [21-25]. Arsenic-rich iron oxy-hydroxides undergo 6 Hanuman gunj 84°08’15.28”E 25°48’05.50”N microbially mediated reductive dissolution; arsenic is 7 Reoti 84°22’42.45”E 25°50’47.10”N mobilized, along with soluble iron and bicarbonate [20, 8 Bansdih 84°13’04.71”E 25°52’56.32”N 26, 27]. The objective of present study is to determine 9 Trikalpur 84°02’37.83”E 25°49’37.92”N and establish a database of ground water quality along 10 Raghunathpur 84°10’41.25”E 25°46’46.14”N with severity of arsenic in and around of Ballia district, Uttar Pradesh. 11 Sikandarpur 84°03’00.15”E 25°01’59.70”N 12 Darauli 84°06’54.34”E 26°03’26.08”N 13 Esharou 83°52’47.17”E 26°11’17.62”N 14 Kharuaon 83°50’28.77”E 25°55’45.38”N MATERIALS AND METHODS 15 Ballia 84°11’08.99”E 25°49’40.25”N 16 Pipra 84°04’39.10”E 25°54’42.65”N Twenty numbers of ground water samples were 17 Sahatwar 84°17’05.58”E 25°49’59.06”N collected from India Mark-II and shallow hand pumps. 18 Madhubani 84°28’41.82”E 25°48’15.96”N The locations of sampling points are shown in Fig. 1. Prior to sampling, the hand pumps flushed with 30 to 40 19 Rasra 84°51’19.70”E 25°51’32.96”N L of water. The samples were collected in plastic 20 TikaDewari 83°53’38.53”E 25°47’06.11”N sterilized bottles for analysis. Before filling the samples, bottles were rinsed for three times with water. For the The analysis of preserved water samples for given analysis of metals, 1.0 mL of nitric acid is added in each parameters are studied in laboratories. Ion-selective bottle; then, water was filled to the brim of the bottle electrode used for pH, salinity and conductivity, without any air bubble and air exposure. For the Argentometric titration method for the chloride, bacteriological study, samples were collected in the sulphuricacid titration method for total alkalinity, EDTA sterilized barrow mouthed glass bottles of 150 mL titration method for total hardness, UV spectro- capacity and preserve all the samples in dry ice. Sites photometric screening method for nitrate, turbidity were identified by recording the co-ordinates using the metric method for sulfate, Ion-selective electrode Global Positioning System (GPS) (Table 1). The (Orion) for fluoride, gravimetric method for TDS and samples were collected during January 2013 to UV spectro-photometric stannous chloride method for December 2013 in Ballia. The complete process of phosphate analysis. For the heavy metal (Cd, Fe, Mn, methods for examination of water and waste water [28]. Cr, Pb, Ni, Zn and Cu) estimation acid digestion as per sample preparation and analysis of physico-chemical method IS 3111 (HNO3: HClO4, 4:1 v/v) were used. For and metals were conducted according to standard estimation of total arsenic, 2 mL of HCl was added in 329 Iranica Journal of Energy and Environment 6(4): 328-333, 2015 equal volume of water sample. Thereafter 1 mL of mg/L causes gastrointestinal irritation particularly when ascorbic acid and 1 mL of potassium iodide was added Mg2+ and Na+ are also present in ground water.