Spring water quality and assessment of associated health risks around the urban Tuirial landfill site in Aizawl, Mizoram, India

Abstract

Water is an essential and integral part of living; it provides recreation and livelihood for thousands of living beings. Water bodies include rivers, lakes, groundwater, oceans, and mountain spring water plays a dynamic role in India's most hilly regions, including the Mizoram of India. Water quality includes all the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of water. Access to safe water is vital for health, livelihoods, security, and quality of life—the study area is located around 25 km from Aizawl city, Mizoram. Landfill receives waste from Aizawl city in vast quantities. There is no proper arrangement to secure the stream, which is just near the dumping ground, due to which spring water is getting affected by toxic substances. The TDS value was found to be between 670 and 690 mg/L, Dissolved Oxygen (DO) in the range of 2–5.2 mg/L, chloride level between 263.3 and 268.2 mg/L, calcium 109.6–113.6 mg/L, hardness in the range of 326–340 mg/L, conductivity higher than 1000 US/cm, ammonia in between 0.165 and 0.849 mg/L in the three sample sites. A reduced amount of dissolved oxygen affects the self-purification of spring, which leads to deteriorating the condition of the water quality. Water quality is dependent on the type of pollutant added and the nature of the self-purification of water. WQI at 215.52 suggests that water is not suitable for drinking.