Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Assessment of groundwater contamination in a suburban area of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

  • Published:
Environment, Development and Sustainability Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Groundwater source is the major source of drinking water in most of the suburban areas of India. Groundwater quality was analyzed for pH, TDS, hardness, chloride, fluoride, nitrate, ammonia, phosphate, total coliform and E. coli for the period of January–December 2013. Samples were collected from 10 locations that include 10 shallow wells and 10 deep wells in each location. The quality variation between both shallow and deep wells during pre- and post-monsoon was analyzed. The improper disposal of solid waste and the distance of septic tank were pronounced on E. coli count. The analysis reveals that groundwater contamination is influenced by seasonal changes, environmental condition of the well and maintenance of the well. The high contamination was observed in the wells which are near to the Pallikaranai marsh, and during post-monsoon season, the total dissolved solids and nitrite parameters are slightly increased, whereas chloride increases during pre-monsoon season. Correlation analysis reveals that the chloride and nitrite have a significant relation. The results suggested that the groundwater immediately needs broader protection.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adekunle, S. (2009). Effects of industrial effluent on quality of well water within Asa Dam industrial estate, Ilorin, Nigeria. Nature and Science, 7, 39–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adhikari, S., & Gupta, S. K. (2002). Assessment of the quality of sewage effluents from dry weather flow channel, Calcutta. Indian Journal of Environmental Health, 44, 308–313.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Adnan, S., Shahid, N., & Talha, J. (2005). Groundwater quality assessment in and around Kalu Khuhar, super highway, Sindh, Pakistan. Journal of Applied Science, 5, 1260–1265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahipathi, M. V., & Puttaiah, E. T. (2008). Ecological characteristics of Vrishabhavathy River in Bangalore (India). Environmental Geology, 49, 217–1222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishnoi, M., & Arora, S. (2007). Potable groundwater quality in some villages of Haryana, India. Focus on fluoride. Journal of Environmental Biology, 28, 291–294.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Central Ground Water Board, (2003). Groundwater resources and development potentials of Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu. Ministry of water resources. Government of India.

  • Demir, C. Yil, Dirim, A., & Öncu, H. (2003). The physicochemical and microbiology quality of drinking and groundwater in Kesan (In Turkish).In International Kesan Symposium, Kesan. Edirne (pp. 21–26).

  • Ensafi, A. A., Rezaci, B., & Nouroozi, S. (2004). Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of nitrite and nitrate by flow injection analysis. Analytical Sciences, 20, 1749–1753.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fatta, D. A., Papadopoulos, M. A., & Loizidou, M. A. (1999). Study on the landfill leachate and its impact on the groundwater quality of the greater area. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 21, 175–190.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gawas, D., Lokhande, P. B., & Meijawas, H. A. (2006). Study of physico-chemical parameters of surface water in the Mahad Industrial Area. Pollution Research, 25, 109–1144.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • González, A. L., Sánchez, A. L., Requena, P. M., & Suárez-Varela, M. M. (2014). Assessment of the microbiological quality of groundwater in three regions of the Valencian Community (Spain). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 11, 5527–5540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gupta, S., Kumar, A., Ojha, C. K., & Seth, G. (2004). Chemical analysis of groundwater of Sanganer area, Jaipur in Rajasthan. Journal of Environmental Science & Engineering, 46, 74–78.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hanipha, M. M., & Hussain, Z. A. (2013). Study of groundwater quality at Dindigul Town, Tamil Nadu, India. International Research Journal of Environment Sciences, 2, 68–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ikem, O., Osibanjo, M. K., Sridhar, C., & Sobande, A. (2002). Evaluation of groundwater quality characteristic near two waste sites in Ibadan and Lagos, Nigeria. Water, Air, and Soil pollution, 140, 307–333.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jain, K., Bhatia, K. S., Kumar, C. P., & Purandara, B. K. (2003). Groundwater quality in Malaprabhaa subbasin, Karnataka. Indian Journal of Environmental Protection, 23, 321–329.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jeyaraj, T., Padmavathy, S., Shirley, S., & Jebakumari, H. (2002). Correlation among water quality parameters for groundwater sample of Bharathi Nagar of Tiruchirapalli city. Indian Journal of Environmental Protection, 22, 755–759.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jitendra, S., Agrawal, D. K., & Shradha, P. (2008). Seasonal variations in different physico-chemical characteristics of Yamuna river water quality in proposed Lakhwar hydropower project influence area. International Journal of Applied Environmental Sciences, 3, 107–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hiriart, M., Lo´pez-Vidal, Y., Ponce-de-Leo´n, S., Calva, J. J., Rojo-Callejas, F., & Castillo-Rojas, C. (2005). Longitudinal study of microbial diversity and seasonality in the Mexico City metropolitan area water supply system. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 71, 5129–5137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavanya, V. (2014). Environmental determinants of acute diarrheal diseases a risk for young children in suburban area of Chennai. Ph. D. Anna University, Guindy, Chennai, October.

  • Lavanya, V., & Ravichandran, S. (2013). Microbial contamination of drinking water at the source and household storage level in the peri-urban area of southern Chennai and its implication on health, India. Journal of Public Health, 21, 481–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sridevi karpagavalli, M. Malini, P. & Ramachandran, A. (2012), Analysis of heavy metals in dying wetland Pallikaranai, Tamil Nadu, India. J. Environ. Biol. 33, 757-761

  • Pande, S., Keyzer, M., Arouna, A., & Ben, G. J. S. (2008). Sonneveld Addressing diarrhea prevalence in the west African middle belt: Social and geographic dimension in a case study for Benin. International Journal of Health Geographics, 7, 7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patel, S. P., & Ragothaman, G. (2005). Studies on the coastal water of Nandgaon and dahance coast from konner region North West Maharastra. International Journal of Bioscience Reporter, 3, 392–405.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prakash, K. L., & Somshekhar, R. K. (2006). Groundwater quality assessment on Anekal Taluk, Bangalore Urban district, India. Journal of Environmental Biology, 27, 633–637.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prasath, B. B., Nandakumar, R., Kumar, D. S., Ananth, S., Devi, S. A., Jayalakshmi, T., et al. (2013). Seasonal variations in physico-chemical characteristics of pond and groundwater of Tiruchirappalli, India. Journal of Environmental Biology, 34, 529–537.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sankar, P., Jayaraman, R., & Gangadevi, T. (2002). Studies on the hydrography of a lotic ecosystem—Killiar at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Pollution Research, 21, 113–121.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, A. S. C., Gupta, S., & Singh, R. N. (2013). Studies on the physico-chemical parameters in water of Keibul Lamjao National park, Manipur, India. Journal of Environmental Biology, 34, 1019–1025.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sirsath, D. B., Ambore, N. E. J. S., Pulle, J. S., & Thorat, D. H. (2006). Studies on the concentration of ion in freshwater pond at Dharmapuri, Dist, Beed, India. Pollution Research, 25, 507–509.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smitha, P. G., Byrappa, K., & Ramaswamy, S. N. (2007). Physico-chemical characteristics of water samples of Bantwal Taluk, South-western, Karnataka. India. Journal of Environmental Biology, 28, 591–595.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Solanki, H. A., Chitnis, R. D., & Bhavsar, H. A. (2012). Physico-chemical and bacteriological analysis of Sabarmati in Ahmadabad. Life Sciences Leaflets, 2, 70–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanwir, F., Saboor, A., & Shan, M. H. (2003). Water Contamination, health hazards and public awareness: a case of the urban Punjab, Pakistan. International Journal of Agriculture and Biology, 5, 460.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiseer, F. A., Tanimu, Y., & Chia, M. (2008). Seasonal occurrence of algae and physicochemical parameters of samara a stream, Zaria, Nigeria. Asian journal of Earth Science, 1, 31–37.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tyagi, P., Buddi, D., Chowdary, R., & Sawhney, R. (2000). Physicochemical quality of ground water in industrial areas of India. Pollution Research, 19, 443–445.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Udhayakumar, J., Natarajan, D., Srinivasan, K., Mohansundari, C., & Balasurami, K. (2006). Physicochemical and Bacteriological Analysis of water from Namakkal and Erode Districts, Tamilnadu, India. Pollution Research, 25, 495–498.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Geen, A., Ahmed, K. M., Akita, Y., Alam, M. J., Culligan, P. J., Emch, M., et al. (2011). Fecal contamination of shallow tube wells in Bangladesh inversely related to arsenic. Environmental Science & Technology, 45, 1199–1205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Venkatasubramani, R., & Meenambal, T. (2007). Study of Sub-surface water quality in Mettupalayam Taluk of Coimbatore district Tamilnadu. Nature, Environment and Pollution Technology, 6, 307–310.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank environmental laboratory of Jerusalem College of Engineering for their analytical support and laboratory.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Jerusalem College of Engineering, Narayanapuram, Pallikaranai, Chennai, 600100, India

    Nattanmai Swaminathan Elangovan, Vaithyanathan Lavanya & S. Arunthathi

Authors
  1. Nattanmai Swaminathan Elangovan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Vaithyanathan Lavanya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. S. Arunthathi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vaithyanathan Lavanya.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Elangovan, N.S., Lavanya, V. & Arunthathi, S. Assessment of groundwater contamination in a suburban area of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Environ Dev Sustain 20, 2609–2621 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-017-0007-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-017-0007-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation