Hydrogeochemical characterization of contaminated groundwater in Patancheru industrial area, southern India

Abstract

The groundwater is one of the most contaminated natural resources in Patancheru industrial area due to unplanned and haphazard industrial growth and urbanization without following basic pollution control norms. The rapid industrialization initiated in early 1970 has started showing up its after effects few years later in the form of physiochemical contamination of the both surface and groundwater bodies of the area. It has resulted in local people being deprived of safe drinking water, plant and aquatic life has severely affected, and situation is deteriorating over the years in the area in spite of some preventive and remedial measures being initiated. The focus of the present study is to understand the chemical characteristics of groundwater and geochemical processes the contaminant water is undergoing which are normally imprinted in its ionic assemblages. The water samples collected in pre- and post-monsoon seasons from forty two groundwater and four surface water sources were analyzed for major constituents such as Ca(2+), Mg(2+), Na(+), K(+), CO (3) (-) , HCO (3) (-) , Cl(-), SO (4) (2-) , NO (3) (-) , and F(-), and selected samples were tested for ten important trace metals like Fe, Pb, Bi, Mn, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Cd. Na(+) among cations and Cl(-) among anions dominate the water in both the seasons where as Ca(2+), HCO (3) (-) , and Cl(-) show significant reduction in their ionic strength in post-monsoon. The groundwater in general is of mixed type, but most of it belong to Na(+)-Cl(-), Na(+)-HCO (3) (-) , Ca(2+)-Mg(2+)-HCO (3) (-) , and Ca(2+)-Mg(2+)-Cl(-) facies. The Na(+) and Ca(2+) are in the transitional state with Na(+) replacing Ca(2+) and HCO (3) (-) -Cl(-) due to physiochemical changes in the aquifer system. The evaluation of hydrochemistry through various ionic indices, ratios, and plots suggest that silicate-carbonate weathering, ion exchange, dissolution, and evaporation processes are responsible for origin of the present chemical status of the groundwater which is also controlled by the contamination from extraneous sources that could have accelerated the dissolution processes. Gibbs plots authenticate that the evolution of water chemistry is influenced by interaction of percolating water with aquifer matrix apart from anthropogenic enrichment of elements which get over concentrated due to evaporation.

Assessment of Water Quality Using Chemometrics and Multivariate Statistics: A Case Study in Chaobai River Replenished by Reclaimed Water, North China

“…The same silicate weathering location was found between the plot of Ca 2+ +/Na + vs. Mg 2+ /Na + (Figure 7g), and plot of Ca 2+ /Na + vs. HCO 3 − /Na + (Figure 7h), indicating the weathering and dissolution of the silicate mineral. Samples of 1/2HCO3 − + SO4 2− vs. Ca 2+ + Mg 2+ were located near the equilibrium line (Figure 8a), indicating the dissolution of calcite, dolomite, and gypsum [71,72]. All samples were below the line except one sample, showing the excess Ca 2+ +Mg 2+ .…”

Impact Assessment of Phosphogypsum Leachate on Groundwater of Sfax-Agareb (Southeast of Tunisia): Using Geochemical and Isotopic Investigation

“…The source of trace metals in the groundwater could be geogenic, but high concentrations above the permissible limit of drinking water standards raise the suspicions of industrial contamination sources [32]. The concentrations of Zn and Al in the study area varied from 0.02 to 1.51 mg/L and from 0.02 to 1.8 mg/L, respectively.…”

Impact of Water Allocation on Soil Desalination and Groundwater Hydro-chemical Characteristics: A Temporal and Spatial Analysis of a Case Study Region in China

“…The hydro-chemical characteristics of examined groundwater in Branch 1, Branch 2, Branch 3 irrigation areas are shown in table 3. The water types are generally distinct zones in which the cation and anion concentrations are described within the defined composition categories, and the dominant anion species of water changes systematically from HCO 3 -, Clto SO 4 2along groundwater flow direction from the irrigation area (Wang et al 2014, Reddy et al 2012. The Piper diagram (Wen et al 2005) in Figure 5 shows that the water type in above-mentioned irrigation areas had similar change trends as groundwater.…”