Impact of urbanization coupled with drought situations on groundwater quality in shallow (basalt) and deeper (granite) aquifers with special reference to fluoride in Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation, Nanded District, Maharashtra (India)

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment Vol. 189; no. 9; p. 428
• Main Authors: Pandith, Madhnure, Kaplay, R.D, Potdar, S. S., Sangnor, H., Rao, A.D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-09-2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aquifers; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Basalt; Calcium; Contamination; Correlation; Drinking water; Drought; Drought conditions; Droughts; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Management; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental science; Fluoridation; Fluorides; Fluorides - analysis; Fluorosis; Fluorosis, Dental; Granite; Groundwater; Groundwater - chemistry; Groundwater potential; Groundwater quality; Groundwater resources; Humans; India; Industrial development; Industrialization; Ion exchange; Mitigation; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Phosphates; Piercing; Rain; Rain water; Reverse osmosis; Silicates; Silicon Dioxide; Surface water; Urbanization; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Purification; Water quality; Water resources; Water resources management; Maharashtra India; India; Urbanization; Basalt; Groundwater; Granite and fluoride; Aquifer
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-017-6098-9

Rapid expansion in urbanization and industrialization coupled with recent drought conditions has triggered unplanned groundwater development leading to severe stress on groundwater resources in many urban cities of India, particularly cities like Nanded, Maharashtra. In the quest of tapping drinking water requirement, due to recent drought conditions, people from the city are piercing through entire thickness of shallow basalt aquifers to reach productive deeper granite aquifers. Earlier reports from Nanded and surrounding districts suggest that deeper granite aquifer is contaminated with fluoride (geogenic). The study aimed to find out variations in fluoride concentration in shallow basalt (10–167 m) and deeper granite aquifers (below 167 m) and to find out the relationship between fluoride and other ions. Study suggests that concentration of fluoride in shallow basalt aquifer is within maximum permissible limits of Bureau of Indian Standards and deeper granite aquifer contains as high as 4.9 mg/l of fluoride and all samples from granite aquifers are unfit for human consumption. The groundwater from basalt aquifer is mainly Ca-HCO
3−
Cl type, and from granite aquifer, it is Ca-Na-Cl type. The correlation plot between F
−
vs. pH, Na
+
and HCO
3
−
shows a positive correlation and an inverse relationship with Ca
2+
in both aquifers. As recommendations, it is suggested that granite aquifers should not be tapped for drinking purposes; however, in drought situations, water from this aquifer should be blended with treated surface water before supplying for drinking purposes. Efforts may be made to utilize 1.35 MCM of rainwater from available rooftop, which is sufficient to cater for the needs of ~40,800 people annually. Most effective defluoridation techniques like electrolytic de-fluoridation (EDF), ion exchange and reverse osmosis may be adopted along with integrated fluorosis mitigation measures.