An integrated approach to explore the suitability of nitrate-contaminated groundwater for drinking purposes in a semiarid region of India
Authors:
- Balamurugan Panneerselvam,
- Kirubakaran Muniraj,
- Karunanidhi Duraisamy,
- Chaitanya Pande,
- Shankar Karuppannan,
- Maciej Thomas
Abstract
The main objective of the present study is to perform risk assessment of groundwater contaminated by nitrate (NO3−) and evaluate the suitability of groundwater for domestic purposes in the Palani region of South India. Thirty groundwater samples were collected in the study area. Various groundwater quality analysis parameters such as the pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, total hardness, major cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, and K+), and major anions (Cl−, SO42−, F−, CO32−, and HCO3−) were adopted in this study to evaluate the drinking water suitability according to 2011 World Health Organization (WHO) standards. Piper and Gibbs’s diagrams for the tested groundwater indicated that, due to the influence of rock–water interactions, evaporation, and reverse ion exchange, the chemical composition of groundwater varied. According to water quality index (WQI) mapping results, 46.67% of the sample locations was identified as contaminated zones via GIS spatial analysis. Multivariate statistical analysis methods, such as principal component analysis, cluster analysis, and the Pearson correlation matrix, were applied to better understand the relationship between water quality parameters. The results demonstrated that 40% of the samples could be identified as highly affected zones in the study region due to a high nitrate concentration. The noncarcinogenic health risks among men, women, and children reached 40, 50, and 53%, respectively. The results illustrated that children and women occurred at a higher risk than did men in the study region. The major sources of contamination included discharge from households, uncovered septic tanks, leachate from waste dump sites, and excess utilization of fertilizers in the agricultural sector. Furthermore, using the nitrate health hazard integrated method with the conventional indexing approach ensures that groundwater reliability can be guaranteed, contamination can be explored, and appropriate remedial measures can be implemented.
- Record ID
- CUTaeff47be6b6043ea918a7e1050318172
- Publication categories
- ;
- Author
- Journal series
- Environmental Geochemistry and Health, ISSN 0269-4042, e-ISSN 1573-2983
- Issue year
- 2023
- Vol
- 45
- No
- 3
- Pages
- 647-663
- Other elements of collation
- mapy; rys.; tab.; wykr.; Bibliografia (na s.) - 661-663; Oznaczenie streszczenia - Abstr.; Data udostępnienia on-line - 2022-03-10; Numeracja w czasopiśmie - Vol. 45, Iss. 3
- Keywords in English
- groundwater geochemistry, nitrate contamination, risk assessment, GIS techniques, statistical approach
- ASJC Classification
- ; ; ; ; ;
- DOI
- DOI:10.1007/s10653-022-01237-5 Opening in a new tab
- URL
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10653-022-01237-5 Opening in a new tab
- Language
- eng (en) English
- License
- Score (nominal)
- 100
- Score source
- journalList
- Score
- Publication indicators
- Additional fields
- Indeksowana w: Web of Science, Scopus
- Uniform Resource Identifier
- https://cris.pk.edu.pl/info/article/CUTaeff47be6b6043ea918a7e1050318172/
- URN
urn:pkr-prod:CUTaeff47be6b6043ea918a7e1050318172
* presented citation count is obtained through Internet information analysis, and it is close to the number calculated by the Publish or PerishOpening in a new tab system.