Abstract
The present study is to characterize groundwater quality using heavy metal pollution indices and geospatial variations. A total of 58 samples from hand pump/submersible bore wells were collected from the Wanaparthy watershed of the upper Krishna River basin according to the grid size (5×6 km2). The trace elements’ concentration in groundwater samples are found in the order of Zn (38.67%) > B (32.67%) > Ba (13.59%) > As (8.49%) > Hg (3.71%) > Cr (1.28%) > Ni (0.52%) > Cd (0.47%). Among these trace elements, arsenic (22.4%) and mercury (5.1%) were found above the permissible limits of WHO drinking water guideline values. A positive correlation between TH versus EC/TDS indicates the presence of trace elements due to chemical reaction (rock–water interaction). Arsenic correlation with EC/TDS/TH indicates artificial intervention. Drainage network analysis enumerates high concentration of parameters at near or joining to upper order of drainage system, which might be due to input of runoff water (interaction of variable rocks composition) and later stage infiltration to subsurface and reached to an aquifer. Heavy metal pollution index (HPI) showed 86.2% of samples are in the category of low class, whereas 12.07% of samples fall within medium class. According to metal index (MI) classification, 12.07% samples are in very pure, 24.14% samples are pure, while the remaining 63.79% samples are in the slightly to strongly affect category. This study suggested the main source of trace elements in groundwater might be from the dominant granitoid rocks because the area is mostly devoid of industrialization.
Highlights
Renewable groundwater is found between layers of impermeable rock formations known as an aquifer
Temperature is critical due to its tendency to cause a chemical reaction and control oxygen levels in the water. pH values obtained in this work are between 7.28 -8.43, which is between desirable limits of WHO (2011) drinking water guideline values
Electrical conductivity (EC) values range from 640μS/cm to 5890μS/cm, whereas 18.97% of samples are above the permissible limit of 1500 μS/cm
Summary
Renewable groundwater is found between layers of impermeable rock formations known as an aquifer. A review of the literature showed that many researchers had reported the groundwater quality assessment using heavy metal pollution index (HPI) and metal index (MI) to find out the additive result of heavy/trace metals in water for quick analyses of overall groundwater standard for drinking and effect on human health (Abbas et al 2021; Wu et al 2021; Panseriya et al.2020; Singh and Kamal 2017; Tiwari et al 2015; Zakhem and Hafez 2015; Goher et al 2014; Protano et al 2014; Yankey et al 2013; Prasanna et al 2012; Giri et al 2010; Kikuchi et al .2009; Zhang et al .2009; Pandey et al 2009; Prasad and Sangita 2008). The methods to be followed are identifying individual heavy metal concentration, heavy metal pollution index (HPI), metal index (MI), and their spatial distribution in the study area
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