Impact of anthropogenic inputs on water quality in Chincholi industrial area of Solapur, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

A comprehensive hydrochemical study has been carried out to evaluate the impact of anthropogenic activities like industrial effluents, open defecation and untreated sewerage disposal on groundwater and surface water in Chincholi industrial area. The study area comprises of 3 sites viz. Kondi, Pakni and Chincholi with approximate 7000 population and out of that 81% defecates openly. Many industries release effluent in simple pits and surface water tanks without any prior treatment and people harness water from contaminated aquifers. A total 55 water samples have been collected during pre and post monsoon seasons of 2015. According to the BIS, at many sample locations the contents of TH, Ca, Na, Cl, NO3 and TDS exceeded the desirable limit. The piper plot suggests that, alkaline earth exceeds the alkalis and strong acid dominate over weak acid in pre and post monsoon. However, elevated contents of nitrate and chloride in post monsoon season are owed to increased percolation of effluent and agricultural waste along with the recharging water. The strong positive correlation between Cl, NO3 and TDS represents the contamination is of anthropogenic origin supported by the cluster analysis by forming three different clusters. All the parameters exceed the safe limits of the BIS in surface water samples from industrial area due to the mixing of untreated effluents while the samples from non industrial area remain unpolluted. The study concludes that the anthropogenic activities like sewerage disposal, open defecation and discharged effluent disposal threatening the groundwater and surface water quality. Few aquifers from Chincholi and Pakni site are affected most due to industrial effluent and agricultural waste while few samples from Kondi site are polluted due to unlined drainage. To overcome the problem; discharged waste water should be treated and enhancement of sanitation systems along with best management practices in agriculture is essential.