Analyzing the Relationship of Fluoride Contamination with Groundwater Temperatures in India

Abstract

In this paper an attempt has been made to address fluoride contamination in groundwater of India from 2000-2020, along with its relationship with depth to water level and hots springs. Fluoride pollution has been widespread throughout India for decades. Because groundwater is India's primary supply of drinking water, fluoride pollution is a concern. The permissible limit of fluoride concentration by WHO is 0.6-1.5 mg/l while Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) prescribes rather less vibrant range of fluoride 1-1.5 mg/l. Present study is review of fluoride concentration change in groundwater in past two decades of Indian states as well as validating the relation of fluoride concentrations with Depth to water level. With increasing depth to water level, the fluoride concentration in groundwater increases in 80% of the cases reviewed. Concentration of fluoride in Guwahati which is near the Brahmaputra River is higher (0.18 – 6.88 mg/l) than Nalbari (0.02 – 1.56 mg/l) which is away from Brahmaputra. There has been no significant change in the fluoride concentration in cases of Yavatamal & Guntur district during past two decades. In Nagaur district of Rajasthan fluoride concentration decreased from 8.5-28 mg/l in (2010) to 0.5-8.5 mg/l in (2013). In Unnao district fluoride concentration has increased from 1.45-3.75 mg/l in (2002) to 0.8-13.9 mg/l (2010). In case of Bihar, the areas of hard rock formations, the fluoride concentration were found to be higher while in the alluvial formations there were lesser cases of fluoride exceeding the required limit which is 1.5 mg/l. In Vellore district of Tamil Nadu fluoride concentration was found to be increasing within a period of 1 year from 0.2 – 3 mg/l in (2017) to 2.15 – 4.91 mg/l in (2018).