Abstract
Rain water samples were collected over a period of a decade from 1974 in Pune, a city which is relatively free from industrial pollution. They were also collected at 4 places during 1974 in the region of Bombay which is highly industrialized. The samples were analyzed for major chemical components and pH. The ionic balance was computed. Samples were collected at Delhi during 1965 and 1966 and were analyzed for pH. The values were compared with those reported for 1978. The total suspended particulates (TSP) were measured at Delhi during 1980 and analyzed for water soluble components. The rain water at all the places except near the industrial source was not acidic and was characterized by the presence of excess cations, particularly Ca. The acid rain near the industrial source was associated with excess anions, especially sulphate. The difference between the cations and anions was inversely proportional to the H+ ion concentration. The pH of rain water at Delhi which was in the alkaline range during 1965 and 1966 remained alkaline even after a period of 12 yr when the city developed industrially. The TSP in the region was rich with the basic components, mainly Ca, suggesting that the alkaline property of the soil dust is mainly responsible for neutralizing the acidic effects resulting from the anthropogenic gaseous pollutants.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bleeker, W., Dansgaard, W., and Lablans, W.: 1966, Tellus 18, 773.
Das, D. K., Dev Burman, G. K., and Kidwai, A. L.: 1981, Mausam 32, 221.
Dawson, G. A.: 1978, Atmos. Environ. 12, 1991.
Florence, T. M. and Farrar, Y. J.: 1971, Anal. Chem. Acta. 54, 373.
Gambell, A. W. and Fisher, D. W.: 1964, J. Geophys. Res. 69, 4203.
Gascoyne, M.: 1977, Atmos. Environ. 11, 397.
Granat, L.: 1972, Inst. of Met., Uni. of Stockholm/Intern. Inst. of Met. Report Ac-20.
Handa, B. K.: 1969, Tellus 21, 95.
Handa, B. K.: 1973, Indian Geohydrology 9, 31.
Handa, B. K., Kumar, R., and Goel, D. K.: 1982, Mausam 33, 485.
Hidy, G. M. and Countess, R.: 1982, Deposition of Both Wet and Dry, B. B. Hicks (ed.), Butterworth Publishers, Acid Precipitation Series, Vol. 4, p. 41.
Horvath, L.: 1981, Idojars 85, 201.
Jenkins, D. and Medsken, L.: 1964, Anal. Chem. 36, 610.
Khemani, L. T.: 1974, M.Sc thesis, University of Bombay. Khemani, L. T., Sharma, S. K., Murty, A. S. R., and Ramana Murty, Bh. V.: 1982, Proc. Conference on Cloud Physics, Nov. 15–18, 1982, Chicago III, 303.
Khemani, L. T., Momin, G. A., Naik, M. S., and Ramana Murty, Bh. V.: 1983, Proc. National Space Science Symposium, Dec. 7–10, 1983, University of Poona, 67.
Khemani, L. T., Momin, G. A., Naik, M. S., Prakasa Rao, P. S., Kumar, R., and Ramana Murty, Bh. V.: 1984a, ‘Trace Elements and Sea Salt Aerosols over the Sea Regions around the Indian Sub-Continent’, (Accepted for publication in Atmos. Environ.)
Khemani, L. T., Naik, M. S., Momin, G. A., Kumar R., Chatterjee, R. N., Singh, G., and Ramana Murty, Bh. V.: 1984b, ‘Trace Elements in the Atmospheric Aerosols at Delhi, North India’, (Communicated to Atmospheric Chemistry).
Klockow, D. and Ronicke, G.: 1973, Atmos. Environ. 7, 163.
Lewis, W. M. and Grant, M. C.: 1980, Science, Wash. 207, 176.
Likens, G. E. and Bormann, F. H.: 1974, Science, Wash. 184, 1176.
Lindberg, S. E.: 1982, Atmos. Environ. 16, 1701.
Makhonka, K.: 1967, Tellus 19, 467.
Mathews, R. O. and McCaffrey, F.: 1977, Tech. note No. 42, Meteorology Service, Dublin.
Middelton, G. T.: 1969, U.S.A. Public Health Service Publ. report, AP-50, Washington D.C. U.S.A.
Miller, J. M. and Yoshinaga, A. M.: 1981, Geophys. Res. Lett. 8, 779.
Mukherjee, A. K.: 1957, Indian J. Met. Geophys. 8, 321.
Mukherjee, A. K.: 1964, Indian J. Met. Geophys. 15, 267.
Munn, R. E. and Rodhe, H.: 1971, Tellus 23, 1.
Munger, J. W.: 1982, Atmos. Environ. 16, 1633.
Nagamoto, C., Parungo, F., Reinking, R., Pueschel, R., and Gerish, T.: 1983, Atmos. Environ. 17, 1073.
NEERI (National Environmental Engineering Research Institute): 1980, Air quality in selected cities in India, 1978–1979.
O.E.C.D (Office of Economic Cooperation and Development) Project (1972–1975): Norwegian Institute for air research reports.
Pack, D. H.: 1980, Science, Wash. 208, 1143.
Parungo, F., Nagamoto, C., Nolt, I., Dias, M., and Nickerson, E.: 1982, J. Geophys. Res. 87, 8805.
Peden, M. E. and Skowron, L. M.: 1978, Atmos. Environ. 12, 2343.
Peters, N. E., Schroeder, R. A., and Troutman, D. E.: 1982, Geological Survey Water-supply Paper 2188, 11.
Petrenchuk, O. P.: 1978, WMO, Special Environmental Report No. 15, 491.
Raynor, G. S.: 1977, BNL 22879 (Brookhaven National Laboratory), Upton, New York.
Sequeira, R.: 1976, Tellus 28, 275.
Stensland, G. J. and Semonin, R. G.: 1982, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 63, 1277.
Stumm, W. and Morgan, J. J.: 1970, Aquatic Chemistry, Wiley-Interscience.
Subramanian, V. and Saxena, K. K.: 1980, Tellus 32, 558.
Vermculen, A. J.: 1980, Polluted Rain, Toribara, T. Y., Miller, M. W. and Morrow, P. E. (eds.), Plenum Press, New York, 10.
Weatherburn, M. W.: 1967, Anal. Chem. 39, 971.
Winkler, E. M.: 1976, Proc. 1st International Symposium on Acid precipitation and the Forest Ecosystem. Dochinger, L. S. and Saliga, T. A. (eds.), 209–219, USDA Forest Service General Technical Report NE-23.
WMO: 1984, Global Atmospheric Background Monitoring for Selected Environmental Parameters, BAPMON-data for 1980, National Climatic data centre, Federal Building, Asheville, U.S.A.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Khemani, L.T., Momin, G.A., Naik, M.S. et al. Impact of alkaline particulates on pH of rain water in India. Water Air Soil Pollut 25, 365–376 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00283789
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00283789