Analysis of emerging contaminants: A case study of the underground and drinking water samples in Chandigarh, India

Abstract

The present report deals with the analysis of emerging contaminants and the quality of drinking and underground water supply in Chandigarh, India. A water sampling monitoring and analysis was conducted by collecting a total of 54 samples of underground & drinking water of Chandigarh to analyse the health risk associated with the spread of emerging contaminants in the water sources. The quality of water samples was also assessed by measuring the colour, odour, temperature, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), biological oxygen demand (BOD), dissolved oxygen (DO), total dissolved solids/ salts (TDS) and hardness. For the estimation of the emerging contaminants (Endosulphan (ES) and Hexachlorohexane (HCH)) in the water samples, an extraction procedure was carried out by dispersive liquid-liquid extraction method followed by analysis using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The levels of ES and HCH obtained were compared with the drinking water standards of the Bureau of Indian Standards (IS: 10500). The levels of HCH and ES in all the water samples tested were found to be below the detection limit. It cannot be denied that the industrial discharge and other agencies seems to be complying with the regulations. The Initiatives by the Central and State Govt of India seems to have created sensitivity and awareness among the public specifically among the farmers. The limit of detection (LOD) were 1.0 × 10−3 and 2.4 × 10−3 ppm for ES and, HCH respectively. However, some water pollution indicators such as TDS, EC, DO and total hardness were found to exceed the limits specified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).