Deterioration in Drinking Water Resources and Relative Health Hazards in Bikaner city, Rajasthan, India: A physicochemical analysis

Yogita yadav¹ Rajendra Singh²

¹Department of Chemistry, RPS College of Engg. & Tech. Mohindergrah ,Haryana, India ²Department of Chemistry , Ganpati Institute of Science Technology and Management, Jaipur,Rajasthan , India

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/ojc/290455

ABSTRACT:

Various kind of human development is resulting in different kind of pollution to  the   water resources . Monitoring of Drinking  water  quality and  its  serious analysis  is very  significant  relative  to  access the human health hazards. This paper  is  an attempt  for  the  same purpose . The   sample were collected from  main areas  of the  Bikaner City and were analysed for the  desired physiochemical  parameters applying  the  internationally  valid standard methods.  Results  were compared with the  international standards. It  was  found that  drinking  water quality  is   very  poor  leading  to  very dangerous  health hazards  as  the   most of the  samples  were not   found  to  be  fit  on  international drinking  water standards. This  study  suggests a need to revise a more advance drinking water resources development and  public health awareness policy and in depth research.

KEYWORDS:

TDS; EC.; chlorides; fluorides; nitrates; total hardness. BOD; TS; TSS; physiochemical parameters; drinking water quality etc. TH= Total Hardness, TA= Total Alkalinity, DO=Dissolved Oxygen, COD=Chemical Oxygen Demand, BOD=Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Temp=Temperature, Cond. =Conductivity, TS=Total Solids, TDS=Total Dissolved Solids, TSS=Total Suspended Solids All the parameters measured as mg/L except Temperature (°C) and Conductivity (µs/cm)

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Copy the following to cite this article: Yadav Y, Singh R. Deterioration in Drinking Water Resources and Relative Health Hazards in Bikaner city, Rajasthan, India: A physicochemical analysis. Orient J Chem 2013;29(4)

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Introduction:

The drinking water quality is very significant and vital concern at  present as it  is related  with the present  and  future  health perspective of  the  human race.  Urban population of Bikaner city is  mainly dependent on govt.  water supply  and self   boreholes as  the city falls  in desert  area  of the western Rajasthan India.  Government uses bore wells and  Indira Gandhi canal   water  for  this  purpose . There is  heavy Industrial development  in Bikaner City and these water resources are being contaminated and  polluted by  various  modes from a several decades resulting in current early  and  delayed health hazards for  the  human population residing  in  this city.

Thereof this research work an attempt was made to access the physiochemical analysis of the drinking water and the related human health hazards in the selected area.

 Experimental:

Drinking water samples of different locations at Bikaner city area was collected and studied during the period from may 2011 to August 2012. Electrical conductivity values were measured using systronics conductivity meter. Total  alkalinity was evaluated by titration with standard  0.1M HCl using methyl orange and phenolphthalein  as indicators1. Standard procedures^[2-5] involving spectrophotometry, flame photometry and volumetry were used for the determination of water quality parameters. All the chemicals used were of AR grade.

 Results and discussion:

Total 22 no. of water samples were   analysed most of the samples were found to  be alkaline due  to presence  of carbonates and bicarbonates and  other temporary  hardness. P^H   was  find to  be in the  range  of 7.6  to 8.5  this  may result  in the releasing  of the  toxic  heavy  metals like Zn , Pb, Cd And Cu , Fe  etc  from the  supply pipes. A higher alkalinity also results in the deteriorating palatability of the drinking water. However all the   sample pH were found to be within the prescribed limit of the WHO (6.5  –8.5). Total Hardness of water depends upon the amount of calcium and magnesium and  other ions.

A high Magnesium concentration causes nausea, muscular neuropathy and paralysis in human body when it reaches a level of about 400mg/L8.Magnesium value in the studied area varied between 14-78 mg/L.

DO value in the studied area varied between 2.1-5.2 mg/L. 09 sampling points showed higher DO values than the prescribed limit by WHO. High amount of

DO imparts good palatability to water. BOD value in the studied area varied between 1.8-7.2 mg/L. All sampling points showed BOD values within the limit prescribed by WHO. Ground water with high value of BOD is due to microbial activities related to the bulk industrial effluents dumpsites. The old damaged supply pipe may also contribute to this factor.

Hardness value in the studied area varied between 223-678 mg/L. 4 sampling points showed higher hardness values than the prescribed limit by WHO. Alkalinity is due to the presence of bicarbonate, carbonate and hydroxide compounds calcium, sodium and potassium. Alkalinity itself is not harmful to human beings4. Alkalinity value in the studied area varied between 196-665 mg/L. 9 sampling point showed alkalinity value within the limit prescribed and 13 sampling area showed higher alkalinity values than the prescribed limit by WHO.

 Conclusion:

 According to WHO, nearly 80% of all the diseases in human beings are caused by water^10-11.The water quality parameters of the various areas of Bikaner city Rajasthan indicates that the drinking water samples are  not  fit on the standard parameters and the quality is poor for drinking purpose. After purification treatment only this water can be used for drinking. The values of correlation coefficients will help in selecting proper treatment to minimize pollution. Drinking water pollution in the studied area should be controlled by the proper environment management plan to maintain proper health conditions of people.

 

Table no-1  :  Parameters measured for the drinking water samples Click here to View table

 

 

Table 2  Correlation Coefficient Values of various Physico-Chemical Parameters of Ground Water of Bikaner city ,Rajasthan, India  Click here to View table

 

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