Abstract
This study tests the drinking water supply of a marginalized village community of Khap Tola in the state of Bihar, a state in Northern India. Based on hand pump drinking water sample testing and analysis, we found that there was high levels of arsenic (maximum value being 397 ppb) , in excess of the WHO limits of 10ppb. Analysis showed 57% of the samples from private hand-pumps in the shallow aquifer zone of 15-35m have arsenic greater than 200 ppb. Using GIS overlay analysis technique it was calculated that 25% of the residential area in the village is under high risk of arsenic contamination. Further using USEPA guidelines, it was calculated that children age group 5-10 years are under high risk of getting cancer. The Hazard Quotient calculated for 21 children taken for study, indicated that children may have adverse non-carcinogenic health impacts, in the future, with continued exposure. Since the area adds a new arsenic contaminated place in India, further geochemical analysis and health assessment needs to be done in this district of West Champaran in, Bihar.
Highlights
Water hand-pumps were installed in the alluvium plains of Ganges and Brahmaputra of Northern India (Chen and Ahsan, 2004), as a public health measure to combat diarrheal and water borne diseases associated with drinking water from open wells and streams
The aim of this study was to quantify arsenic contamination of the drinking water of Khap Tola residents, and used GIS overlay techniques to map the population at risk, by identifying the hand-pumps, which were the only source of drinking water
The study area of Khap Tola was chosen for sample testing, as it had been identified as a high-risk area in previous studies done by Megh Pyne Abhiyan (MPA), a NGO working in the flood affected districts of North Bihar
Summary
Water hand-pumps were installed in the alluvium plains of Ganges and Brahmaputra of Northern India (Chen and Ahsan, 2004), as a public health measure to combat diarrheal and water borne diseases associated with drinking water from open wells and streams. Water from Open wells and streams were more prone to contamination with faecal micro-organisms. This problem was overcome by the introduction of the sealed hand pumps. As the government hand-pumps became popular, due to their lowcost and easy accessibility and use; a number of private providers began to install hand-pumps to provide households with drinking water (Smith et al, 2003). The private hand-pumps were not as deep as the government installed hand pumps These hand-pumps brought with them the risk of arsenic contamination, which has been declared as one of the key environmental health problem of the 21st century (Christen, 2001). Since a number of areas have been identified in different districts of West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh, which are states in north and eastern India (Kumar et al, 2009)
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