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

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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 Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, CO −3 , HCO −3 , Cl−, SO 2−4 , 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 Ca2+, 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 , Ca2+–Mg2+–HCO −3 , and Ca2+–Mg2+–Cl− facies. The Na+ and Ca2+ are in the transitional state with Na+ replacing Ca2+ 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.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the anonymous reviewers for their very keen observation and meticulous scrutiny of the paper which had enhanced its quality very much. The authors thank the chairman of CGWB for his encouragement and according permission to publish the paper. The views mentioned and inferences drawn are solely of the authors and do not reflect the CGWB viewpoint.

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  1. Central Ground Water Board, MSUO, Pune, MH, India

    A. G. S. Reddy, Boraa Saibaba & Ganji Sudarshan

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  1. A. G. S. Reddy
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Supplemental Table 1

Percentage of ionic contents and their seasonal variations in groundwater (XLS 17 kb)

Supplemental Table 2a

Major element ratios and other indices for groundwater samples—pre-monsoon (XLS 39 kb)

Supplemental Table 2b

Major element ratios and other indices for groundwater samples—post-monsoon (XLS 37 kb)

Supplemental Fig. 1

a Na+ + K+ vs Tz+—pre-monsoon. b Na+ + K+ vs Tz+—post-monsoon (XLS 34 kb)

Supplemental Fig. 2

a Ca2+ + Mg2+ vs Tz+—pre-monsoon. b Ca2+ + Mg2+ vs Tz+—post-monsoon (XLS 27 kb)

Supplemental Fig. 3

a Na+ + K+ vs Cl− + SO 2−4 —pre-monsoon. b Na+ + K+ vs Cl− + SO 2−4 —post-monsoon (XLS 26 kb)

Supplemental Fig. 4

a HCO −3 vs Ca2+—pre-monsoon. b HCO −3 vs Ca2+—post-monsoon (XLS 40 kb)

Supplemental Fig. 5

a SO 2−4 vs Ca2+—pre-monsoon. b SO 2−4 vs Ca2+—post-monsoon (XLS 38 kb)

Supplemental Fig. 6

a SO 2−4  + HCO −3 vs Ca2+ + Mg2+—pre-monsoon. b SO 2−4  + HCO −3 vs Ca2+ + Mg2+—post-monsoon (XLS 32 kb)

Supplemental Fig. 7

a EC vs Na+/Cl− ratio—pre-monsoon. b EC vs Na+/Cl− ratio—post-monsoon (XLS 27 kb)

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Reddy, A.G.S., Saibaba, B. & Sudarshan, G. Hydrogeochemical characterization of contaminated groundwater in Patancheru industrial area, southern India. Environ Monit Assess 184, 3557–3576 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2208-2

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