Groundwater Quality Assessment in Some Villages Of
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INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY (IRJC) ISSN 2321 – 2845(Online), 2321 – 3299 (Print) GROUNDWATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN SOME VILLAGES OF VADGAM TALUKA OF BANASKANTHA DISTRICT, GUJARAT, INDIA, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON STUDY OF FLUORIDE AND ITS EFFECTS E.R. AGHARIA DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY, SJIF 2012: 2.545 SVKM’s MITHIBAI COLLEGE, UIF 2013: 1.075 VILE – PARLE (WEST).MUMBAI-400056, INDIA. Received on: Email: [email protected] 25th June 2014 Revised on: ABSTRACT: Groundwater quality is a very essential hydrogeochemical investigation. 27th June 2014 Springs, shallow wells, deep wells and bored tube wells are the main sources of Accepted on: groundwater. The health of people consuming this water is greatly influenced 27th June 2014 by its quality. Water obtained from different sources is contaminated with a Published on: large number of impurities. The present study deals in detail with 15 physico- chemical parameters viz. pH, total dissolved salts, total alkalinity (as CaCO3) 1st July 2014 conductivity, total hardness (as CaCO3) M.O. alkalinity (as CaCO3), nitrite, Volume No. nitrate, sulphate, chloride, fluoride, sodium, zinc, magnesium and calcium as Online & Print well as 3 microbiological parameters such as total bacterial count at 370C, 6 (2014) coliform and E. coli tests in four bored tube well samples. Their toxicological Page No. and adverse effects, if any, when present beyond the prescribed limits, are also discussed at length. These bored tube well underground waters are obtained 16 to 31 from a depth of about 700-800 feet from the surface of the earth in this area having now a scanty rainfall. The daily ingestion of 2 mg fluoride could result in crippling flourosis after 40 years. IRJC is an international The values recommended by Indian Standard Specifications for Drinking Water open access print & e (IS: 10500: 1993) of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), are used for the purpose journal, peer reviewed, of comparison of observed values. worldwide abstract listed, published KEY WORD: Groundwater, Bored tube wells, Quality, Fluoride, Water quarterly with ISSN, Free- membership, pollution. downloads and access. http://irjc.petsd.org Page | 16 INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY (IRJC) ISSN 2321 – 2845(Online), 2321 – 3299 (Print) INTRODUCTION: Water, the most precious gift of God to the nature, is one of the most abundantly substance in nature. Water constitutes about 70% mass of our body. About three fourth of the matter of the earth’s crust is formed by water. Water which covers major part of the earth’s surface, is an essential component of all animal and vegetable matters. It is of utmost physiological importance in human body, as it has to carry out specific functions. Therefore, pure water is absolutely necessary for healthy living. Water is mostly used for grampanchayat/municipal, industrial and irrigation purposes. Therefore, it is very essential to supply right quality and quantity of water for the above said purposes. It is the basic need for all human beings on the earth and even after this millions of people world over are deprived of this[1]. Groundwater is a good source of fresh drinking water since long time and even today it is a very important source of potable water because of inherent purification by soil. Groundwater constitutes more than 95% of the fresh water available in the world[2]. Nearly 90% of the rural population in India is primarily dependent on ground water and about 25% of the people’s need in urban areas is met by groundwater[3]. About 74% of India’s population live in villages of which only 86% have access for safe water[4]. It may be noted that 80% of water needs of rural India are met by groundwater and 20% from surface water[4]. Of the estimated total annual amount of water used in India, about 36% of it comes from groundwater. Due to unavailability of surface water at many places, groundwater is the only source of good quality water[3]. Water quality is influenced by natural and anthropogenic effects including local climate, geology and irrigation practices[5]. There can be no state of positive health and wellbeing without safe water[4]. As per the WHO estimate, nearly 80% of all the diseases in human beings are caused by water[5]. Harmful effects on humans and aquatic biota are caused due to alteration in physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water. Water borne diseases and water caused health problems are mostly due to inadequate and incompetent management of water resources[1]. Due to rapid population explosion, agricultural developments, urbanization and industrial expansion, the groundwater exploration and development have gained momentum not only in India but also the world over to meet with the increasing demand by the people, resulting into the over exploitation of water resources [3,6]. Surface water sources are more prone to water contamination as compared to groundwater [7]. The quality of water gets deteriorated due to many reasons. Thus, it is very essential to monitor, control and evaluate the water quality on regular basis. Therefore, the present work is undertaken with the objectives of determination of various physico-chemical characteristics or parameters of water as they are necessary for assessing the suitability of water for http://irjc.petsd.org Page | 17 INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY (IRJC) ISSN 2321 – 2845(Online), 2321 – 3299 (Print) various purposes like drinking, domestic, industrial and irrigation and also to discuss their toxicological and adverse effects, if any at length, particularly with an emphasis on effects of fluoride. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Profile of the study area: Vadgam is a Taluka place, situated in Banaskantha District in northern Gujarat, India. Administratively, it is a Taluka, comprising of 110 villages. The population of the Vadgam taluka is around 101025. It is 15 km away from Palanpur, the pre-independence princely state of the Nabob of Palanpur, which today is the main city and the District Centre of the Banaskhantha District. Vadgam is also nearer to another historical city of Siddhpur, the only place for ‘Matrushraddha’ in India. The main activities of the people are agriculture, dairy farming, animal husbandary, diamond cutting and to some extent the restaurant and guest house businesses. It is situated near the well known Banas Dairy, Palanpur. Vadgam is a buffer taluka between Banaskantha and Mehsana districts. It is a commercial place for nearby villages. There is an Agricultural Market Yard, primary and high schools, college, village panchayat and milk society in vadgam. There is a big temple of Radha Krishna in Vadgam which also have many other Mandirs or Temples. Collection of Samples: The bored tube well water samples from four villages viz. Sherpura (Majadar which henceforth is abbreviated as M.), Bharkawada, Chhapi (Taj Chowkdi or Square which henceforth is abbreviated as T.C.) and Changwada of Vadgam taluka were collected in pre-rinsed sterile polythene bottles and were taken immediately to the laboratory for various physico-chemical analysis. These villages are located within the radius of 4-5 km with Sherpura (Majadar) as a centre. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: All the results / values of various physico-chemical and microbiological parameters are given in Table I. Taste and Odour: All water samples had agreeable taste and had no unpleasant odour. These water samples appear to be non-turbid and clear. Water from deep bored tube wells contains no turbidity[8], but it contains more mineral salts, free CO2, salts of Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, etc.. pH : pH of all the water samples was observed in the range, of 7.10 to 7.56 with the mean value of 7.39 suggesting the slightly alkaline nature of water The observed values are well within the same desirable and permissible limits of 6.5 – 8.5, beyond this range, the water affects the mucous membrane and / or water supply system. Knowledge of pH is essential in the selection of coagulants for water purification. pH in conjunction with total salinity, total alkalinity and temperature is used to determine whether http://irjc.petsd.org Page | 18 INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY (IRJC) ISSN 2321 – 2845(Online), 2321 – 3299 (Print) water is corrosive in nature or is having scale forming tendencies[8]. As reported[2], it seems that there is no significant correlation between the incidence of diseases and pH. pH of circulating water controls leaching of fluoride from the fluoride bearing material. Electrical Conductivity (EC): The electrical conductivity of samples ranges from 761.0 to 2435 μS/cm with the mean value of 1369.25 μS/cm. There is no consistency in the observed values as they vary considerably from one village to the other. Salinity is measured in terms of EC[9]. EC values are useful to know about the pollution and to find out the presence of inorganic dissolved solids and also to know whether water is suitable for irrigation purposes or not [10]. Conductivity is proportional to its dissolved mineral water content. Conductivity of water is an important drinking water quality parameter, as it is significantly correlated with physico-chemical parameters like hardness, total solids, TDS, total suspended solids, chemical oxygen demand, alkalinity, chloride and fluoride[1]. Salinity of groundwater is measured in terms of electrical conductivity and therefore, EC is called salinity factor. Total Dissolved Solids (TDS): The total dissolved solids in the study area vary from 520 mg/L to 1770 mg/L with an average value of 967.50 mg/L, showing considerable variations from one sample to another. The maximum value of TDS in the water sample of Chhapi (T.C.) 1770 mg/L followed by that of Sherpura (M.) with the value of 930 mg/L are almost 3.5 and 2.0 times respectively higher than the desirable limit of 500 mg/L, but still they are within the permissible limit of 2000 mg/L in the absence of alternative source.