Current World Environment

Introduction

Water is one of the most essential substance needed to sustain human life, animals, plants and other living beings. Without water no life is possible on earth. Now a days, water pollution is a burning issue of all over the world. The situation of water pollution in India also reaches into alarming position. All the water resources of our country  such as rivers, lakes, ponds as well as ground water have become much more polluted.

Adequate water resources for future generation is not only a regional issue but also a global concern. In our country fresh water wealth is under threat due to the influence of naturals & human activities. By the term “heavy metals” we usually  refer to any metallic element that contain a relative high density and applies to the group of metals and metalloids with atomic density greater than 4 g/cm³. Heavy metals are environmentally stable, non-biodegradable and tend to accumulate in plants and animals causing chronic adverse effects on human health.

Antropogenic activities such as urbanization, industrillisation, transportation, indiscriminate use of fertilizer, insecticide, pesticide, Improper disposals of sewage and solid wastes material containing toxic chemicals as well as natural process such as precipitation inputs erosion and weathering  of crustal materials increases the contents of these elements in soil and water (Simeonov et al. 2003). However some of the metals like Cu, Fe, Mn and Ni are essential as micronutrients for plants and microorganism while other metals like Pb, Cd and Cr are proved detrimental beyond a certain limits (Marschner 1995, Bruins et al. 2000) Birsinghpur is a historical, mythological, religious place, famous for the temple of Lord Gavinath (Lord Shiva) as well as Dharkundi and Serbhanga ashrams.

It is the tehsil place of district Satna and rich in natural resources such as latterite, bauxite, granite limestone and sandstones etc. Millions of people from all over the country visit here every year for darshan (to see) of lord Gavinath and perform there religious activity at Gavinath temple, pond. The bauxide and latterrile is supplied from here to various parts of our contry in huge amounts. So the bauxide and latterrile mining work is conducted all over the region and during rainy season the metals and other contaminates present in mines enter into the surface and ground water by leaching or by the overflow of water from mines. Therefore it is necessary to monitor these metals for safety assessments of the environment and human health.

Material and Method

The total number of 25 water samples (5 surface and 20 ground water samples) were collected in 1L precleaned polythene bottles in the year of 2008-2009 as per standard methods mentioned in the APHA (1995).

The surface water samples collected from ponds, dames and rivers while ground water samples taken from hand pumps of the selected area and immediately brought to laboratory and preserved with the addition of 2 ml/l nitric acid in each samples to avoid precipitation of the metals. These samples were concentrated and subjected to nitric acid digestion. Selective heavy metals such as Pb, Fe, Mn, Cu and Ni were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (Parkin Elmer Analyst 100).

Result and Discussion

The results of various heavy metal analysis in surface and ground water are listed in table I and II respectively.

Table 1: Status of heavy metals in surface water (mg/l) Click here to View table

Table 2: Status of heavy metals in ground water (mg/l) Click here to View table

Lead (Pb) is a soft metal such that has been known many applications of it over the years. During present investigation, lead metal ranged from 0.006 to 0.110 mg/l in surface water and 0.003 to 0.060 mg/l in ground water samples. Three surface water  samples out of five and 50% ground water samples collected from the study area contained Pb above permissible limit, 0.01 mg/l recommended by WHO for drinking water. The possible sources of Pb are combustion of gasoline, its uses in alloys, old lead pipe line from which water is supplied, idol immersion activities, uses of lead arsenate as pesticide as well as its uses in paints, pigments and lead storage batteries. Bajpai, et al., (2009) studied water quality of Bhopal lakes and found higher concentration of lead after idol immersion activities.

During present study iron (Fe) content were found in the ranges of 0.55 to 2.76 mg/l in surface water and 0.24 to 2.38 mg/l in the ground water samples. All surface and 75% ground water samples (15 samples) contained iron (Fe) above desirable limit, 0.3 mg/l recommended by WHO. The high concentration of iron in the study area is due to the presence of latterite and bauxite ores in the whole region. Khan, et. al. (2005) studied the drinking water quality of Delhi and reported Iron between the ranges of 0.62 to 3.47 mg/l.

Manganese (Mn) is one of the more abundant element in the earth’s crusts and is widely distributed in soils, sediments, rocks and water. In present studies manganese  ranged from 0.125 to 0.292 mg/l in surface water and 0.012 to 0.248 mg/l in ground water samples. It is reported that all surface and 30% ground water samples (6 samples) contained manganese above permissible limit, 0.1 mg/l as recommended by WHO. The accumulation of the manganese in the water of study area is due to the presence of latterite ores of iron containing manganese in the form of impurities as well as its uses in dry battery cells, ceramics and fertilizers. Wasim Aktar, M.D. et. al. studied the water quality of Ganga river around Kolkata and reported higher concentration of manganese.

The concentration of copper (Cu) varied from the ranges of 0.025 to 0.046 mg/l in surface water and nil to 0.058 mg/l in ground water samples. All surface and most of ground water samples contained copper within desirable limit, 0.05 mg/l recommended by BIS (10500-1991). Only 15% ground water samples (3 samples out of 20) contained copper above desirable limit but these values are well within permissible limits, 1.0 mg/l prescribed by BIS and WHO. The primary import pathway of copper to soil or waste disposal fertilizer application and atmospheric deposition. Bhavana, et al., (2009) studied the water quality of Narmada river and found that most of water surface contained copper within permissible limits.

The concentration of Nickel (Ni) ranged between 0.014 to 0.019 mg/l in surface water and nil to 0.019 mg/l in ground water samples. In both cases the concentration of nickel where found well within permissible limit, 0.02 mg/l recommended by WHO for drinking water. Here it is found out that nickel content were not detected in 10% ground water samples (2 samples out of 20). Abida Begum, et.al. studied the water quality of Madivala lakes of Bangalore, Karnataka and found that most of water samples contained nickel within permissible limit.

Cadmium (Cd) metal were found in the ranges of  0.003 to 0.016 mg/l and nil to 0.0083 mg/l in surface and ground water samples respectively. Cadmium metal was not detected in 15% ground water samples. Here it is reported that 75% surface (3 sample out of 5) and 85% ground water samples (17 samples out of 20) contained cadmium within permissible limits recommended by BIS and WHO for drinking water. The high concentration of cadmium in some water samples of the study area may be attributed to the run off from the agricultural fields where pesticides as well as cadmium containing phosphatic fertilizer have been used. Its accumulation in water may also be possible due to paint-pigments as well as plastics and silver-cadmium batteries. Lokeshwari, et. al. (2006) studied impact of heavy metals conglomeration of Bellandur lakes on soil and cultivated vegetation and reported cadmium concentration 23 time higher than the maximum permissible limit. Tiller, K.G. (1989) observed that the amount of cadmium increase in the agricultural fields due to the use of pesticides.

Conclusion

From the above studies, it is concluded that the quality of surface  and ground water varied from place to place.
Surface water is comparatively more polluted than ground water. However the situation is not too worst but the higher concentrations of heavy metals in some sampling stations indicate that without proper treatment water is not suitable for domestic applications.

References
 

1. Abida Begum, Harikrishna,S and Khan, Irfa[nulla. Analysis of heavy metals in water, sediments and fish samples of Madivala lakes of Bangalore, Karnataka, International Journal of Chem Tech Research. 1(2): pp 245-249 (2009).
2. APHA, Standard methods for the examination of water and waste water, 18th edition, American Public Health Association, Washington DC, USA (1998).
3. Bhavana, A., Shrivastava, V., Tiwari, C.R. and Jain, P., Heavy metal contamination and its potential risk with special reference to Narmada river at Nimar region of M.P. (India). Res. J. of Chem. & Env. 13(4): 23-27 (2009).
4. BIS (Bureau of Indian Standard)., Indian Standards drinking water specification, Indian Standard 10500 (1991).
5. Bruins, M.R., Kapil, S., & Oehme, F.W., Microbial resistance to metals in the environment. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 45: 198-207 (2000). doi. 10.1006/essa
6. Khan, T.A., Kumar D., Hasant, Abul and Trivedi, R.C., Physicochemical studies of drinking water and performance evaluation of treatment plants in Delhi. Poll Res.
24(1):13-18 (2005).
7. Lokeshwari, H. and Chandrappa, G.T., Impact of heavy metals contamination of Bellandur lake on soil and cultivated Vegetation. Current Science. 91(5): 584 (2006).
8. Marschner, H., Mineral nutrition of higher plants. London: Academic (1995).
9. Simeonove, V., Stratis, J.A., Samera, C., Zahariadis, G., Vousta, D., Anthemidis, A., et. al., Assessment of the surface water quality in Northern Greece. Water Research, 37: 4119-4124 (2003).
10. Tiller, K.G., Advances in Soil Science Springer Verlag, New York. Pp 113-142 (1989).
11. Washim Aktar, Md., Paramasivam, M., Ganguly, M., Purkait, S., Sengupta, Daipayan, Assessment and occurrence of various heavy metals in surface water of Ganga river around Kolkata. Environ. Moint Assess. 160: 207-213 (2010).