Evaluation of water quality near the Malanjhkhand copper mines, India, by use of multivariate analysis and a metal pollution index

Abstract

Sampling of groundwater and surface water at 33 sites near the Malanjhkhand copper mines in India indicated that elevated concentrations of Cu (15.01 mg/l) and Mn (9.040 mg/l) were locally present in water bodies near the mine sites. Multivariate statistical techniques including principal component analysis, cluster analysis and a Pearson correlation matrix were used to determine the relationships between different water quality parameters in water samples. Mining and associated activities were responsible for the different physico-chemical properties of ground and surface water. An assessment of the heavy metal pollution index (HPI) indicated that four surface water sampling points HPI exceeded the critical index value of 100, indicating that water had been contaminated due to discharges from the mines and that groundwater had been locally contaminated due to the infiltration of contaminated leachate from waste dumps.