Quality analysis of groundwater and surface water bodies around the selected brick kilns in Fatehgarh Sahib and Rupnagar Districts in Punjab, India

Abstract

Brick production is a business that benefits many people, such as providing building materials, employment, and interest to the business owners. However, it has been associated with many adverse impacts various components of ecosystem.Thepresent studyaimed to determine the impact of isolated brick kilns onthe pollution levelof water bodies in Fatehgarh Sahib and Rupnagar Districts of Punjab, India. Physicochemical and microbiological parameters of water were evaluated. The results revealed that the isolated brick kilns partially impacted the water bodies, as the concentration of heavy metals waspresent in surface water near the study area. Parameters such as electrical conductivity (EC), Turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDS), Chloride (Cl), alkalinity and chemical oxygen demand (COD) estimated for surface water samples showed high contamination levels, except for pH, which was acidic (6.2) for surface water. The groundwater was alkaline with pH estimated to be 7.6. The alkalinity and COD levels of groundwater were 693.3 mg/l and 12.4,respectively, as the peak values, and both values were beyond the permissible limits for drinking water. Total coliforms were present in all samples at low health risk (13/15), except two surface water ponds, which showed a health risk. One-third of groundwater was highly contaminated by Escherichia coli, whereas only one of the twelve samples was contaminated withE.coli. The changes of all estimated water parameters in groundwater with distance did not follow any spatial pattern. They could partially be attributed to the lithology of the soil and prominent agricultural activities in the region. The WQI was highly influenced by heavy metals, notably arsenic (As) from both lithologic and brick kilns' origins and lead (Pb) from burning fuels in the brick kilns.