G. Kumar

Bio: G. Kumar is an academic researcher from Vel Tech Dr.RR & Dr.SR Technical University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Groundwater pollution & Water quality. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 107 citations.

Quality and degree of pollution of groundwater, using PIG from a rural part of Telangana State, India

Abstract: Impacts of geogenic and anthropogenic sources change seriously quality of groundwater. Inferior groundwater quality directly affects the human health, agricultural output and industrial sector. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the groundwater quality for drinking purpose and also to identify the pollutants responsible for variation of chemical quality of groundwater, using pollution index of groundwater (PIG). Groundwater samples collected from a rural part of Telangana State, India, were analyzed for pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), bicarbonate ( $$ {\text{HCO}}_{3}^{ - } $$ ), chloride ( $$ {\text{Cl}}^{ - } $$ ), sulfate ( $$ {\text{SO}}_{4}^{2 - } $$ ), nitrate ( $$ {\text{NO}}_{3}^{ - } $$ ) and fluoride ( $$ {\text{F}}^{ - } $$ ). The groundwater is characterized by Na+ and $$ {\text{HCO}}_{3}^{ - } $$ ions. The values of TDS, Mg2+, Na+, K+, $$ {\text{HCO}}_{3}^{ - } $$ , $$ {\text{Cl}}^{ - } $$ , $$ {\text{SO}}_{4}^{2 - } $$ , $$ {\text{NO}}_{3}^{ - } $$ and $$ {\text{F}}^{ - } $$ are more than their threshold limits prescribed for drinking purpose in a few groundwater samples. The computed values of PIG varied from 0.69 to 1.37, which classify the 80% of the present study area into the insignificant pollution zone (PIG: < 1.0) caused by geogenic origin associated with rock-weathering, mineral dissolution, ion exchange and evaporation processes, and the rest (20%) into the low pollution zone (PIG: 1.0 to 1.5) due to influence of anthropogenic source (waste waters and agricultural activities) on the groundwater system, which are proved by ANOVA test. The diagrams (Ca2+ + Mg2+) versus ( $$ {\text{HCO}}_{3}^{ - } $$ + $$ {\text{SO}}_{4}^{2 - } $$ ), Na+ versus (Ca2+ + Mg2+), Na+ versus $$ {\text{Cl}}^{ - } $$ , Ca2+ versus $$ {\text{SO}}_{4}^{2 - } $$ and Ca2+ versus Mg2+ support the geogenic origin, whereas the diagram TDS with ( $$ {\text{NO}}_{3}^{ - } $$ + $$ {\text{Cl}}^{ - } $$ )/ $$ {\text{HCO}}_{3}^{ - } $$ confirms the impact of anthropogenic activities on the aquifer chemistry, which substantially proved the explanation of PIG. The characterization of geochemical evolution of groundwater, using trilinear diagram, also further supports the assessment of PIG in the variation of groundwater quality. From this study, the TDS, Mg2+, Na+, $$ {\text{Cl}}^{ - } $$ , $$ {\text{SO}}_{4}^{2 - } $$ and $$ {\text{NO}}_{3}^{ - } $$ are considered as indicators in assessing the groundwater pollution sources.

GIS-based evaluation of groundwater geochemistry and statistical determination of the fate of contaminants in shallow aquifers from different functional areas of Agra city, India: levels and spatial distributions

Abstract: The quality of groundwater is very important in Agra because groundwater is the main source of water for drinking, domestic, agricultural and industrial uses. A groundwater geochemistry study was conducted in Agra where 28 samples were collected from shallow aquifers in May 2016 from different sites. The aim of this research was to assess the quality of groundwater for drinking purposes in the study area. Arc-GIS has been used to prepare geographic information system-based spatial distribution maps of different major elements. The groundwater quality was analyzed for various physico-chemical parameters, major cations and anions and some trace metals. The observed values were compared with BIS and WHO standards. Statistical parameters such as the mean, median, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis were used to analyze the hydrogeochemical characteristics of the groundwater. Correlation coefficient analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) were performed to identify the sources of the water constituents. Our results showed that most of the samples exceeded the acceptable limit for drinking water standards. The sequence of abundance of the main cations was generally Na+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+ > K+, while the anions in order of abundance were HCO3− > Cl− > SO42− and NO3− > F−. All of the trace metals were within the permissible limit except for iron and manganese. The hazard index value of 5.7 × 10−2 indicated that there was no potential health risk in the study area. Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl− and SO42− were the dominant hydrogeochemical facies in the majority of the groundwater samples. Most of the parameters such as TDS, Cl−, HCO3−, SO42−, NO3−, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+ and TH showed strong correlations with each other, which were due to natural processes such as weathering, exchangeable ions and reduction/oxidation, as well as anthropogenic activity around the study area. The water quality index indicated that the water quality was poor at 46.43% of the sampling sites, very poor at 28.57% of the sites and unsuitable for drinking purposes at 25% of the sampling sites. Gibbs diagrams suggested rock weathering as a major driving force for controlling the groundwater chemistry in the study area, along with evaporation as a minor influence.

Evaluation of non-carcinogenic risks due to fluoride and nitrate contaminations in a groundwater of an urban part (Coimbatore region) of south India.

Abstract: Groundwater quality investigations were carried out in one of the urban parts of south India for fluoride and nitrate contaminations, with special focus on human health risk assessment for the rapidly growing and increasingly industrialized Coimbatore City. Twenty-five groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for physico-chemical parameters (EC, pH, TDS, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Cl−, SO42−, HCO3−, PO43−, NO3−, and F−) and the piper diagram characterized 60% of them as Ca-Mg-Cl type. Analysis of fluoride (0.1 to 2.4 mg/l) shows that 32% of the groundwater samples contain F− over the permissible limit, affecting a region of 122.10 km2. Nitrate (0.1 to 148 mg/l) is over the permissible limit in 44% of the groundwater samples spread over an area of 429.43 km2. The total hazard indices (THI) of non-carcinogenic risk for children (0.21 to 4.83), women (0.14 to 3.35), and men (0.12 to 2.90) shows some of the THI values are above the permissible limit of the US Environmental Protection Agency. The THI-based non-carcinogenic risks are 60%, 52%, and 48% for children, women, and men. This investigation suggests higher health risk for children and also recommends that proper management plan should be adopted to improve the drinking water quality in this region in order to avoid major health issues in the near future.