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Groundwater Quality for Drinking and Irrigation Purposes and Potential Health Risks Assessment: A Case Study from Semi-Arid Region of South India

  • S.I. : Drinking Water Quality and Public Health
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Abstract

To determine the groundwater quality in the rapidly urbanizing region of Telangana State, South India, 194 groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for evaluating the groundwater quality using a geographic information system (GIS) technique. Cations, viz., calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium; and anions such as bicarbonate, carbonate, chloride, nitrate, sulfate, and fluoride were analyzed using standard procedures. The nitrate concentrations varied from 4 to 440 mg/L, with a mean of 73 mg/L. It is noticed that 48% of the groundwater samples showed nitrate concentrations higher than the maximum permissible limit recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) and Bureau of Indian Standards. The high fluoride concentrations in about 57% of the samples exceeded the maximum permissible limit of 1.5 mg/L. High fluoride concentrations are attributed to geogenic source i.e., rock–water interactions with fluorine-bearing minerals present in the granites of the study region. Interpretation of chemistry using Piper diagram indicated that Ca2+–Mg2+–Cl−, Ca2+–Na+–HCO3− and Ca2+–HCO3− were the most predominant water types in the study region. The data plotted in the US Salinity Laboratory diagram which revealed that most of the samples fell in the category of C2S2 and C2S3, indicated that the groundwater suitable for irrigation purposes. In additional, health risk assessments were performed and evaluated using the Unites States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), to determine the risk of noncarcinogenic disease due to fluoride and nitrate in drinking water. Ingestion health risks were estimated for adults (females and males) and children. Results indicated that children were more exposed to health risk, due to intake of high contaminated drinking water with respective of nitrate and fluoride in the study area.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support for this research work by the Department of Science and Technology (DST)–Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) Government of India, New Delhi under the Start-Up Research Grant (Young Scientists) project (SR/FTP/ES-13/2013) is gratefully acknowledged by the author. The author would like to convey his special thanks to the Editors and two unanimous reviewers for their meticulous comments and suggestions which helped to a great extent improve the manuscript.

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  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Chang’an University, No. 126 Yanta Road, Xi’an, 710054, Shaanxi, China

    Narsimha Adimalla

  2. Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effects in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, No. 126 Yanta Road, Xi’an, 710054, Shaanxi, China

    Narsimha Adimalla

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Adimalla, N. Groundwater Quality for Drinking and Irrigation Purposes and Potential Health Risks Assessment: A Case Study from Semi-Arid Region of South India. Expo Health 11, 109–123 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-018-0288-8

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