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Fluoride in weathered rock aquifers of southern India: Managed Aquifer Recharge for mitigation

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 23, pages 8302–8316 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Climatic condition, geology, and geochemical processes in an area play a major role on groundwater quality. Impact of these on the fluoride content of groundwater was studied in three regions—part of Nalgonda district in Telangana, Pambar River basin, and Vaniyar River basin in Tamil Nadu, southern India, which experience semi-arid climate and are predominantly made of Precambrian rocks. High concentration of fluoride in groundwater above 4 mg/l was recorded. Human exposure dose for fluoride through groundwater was higher in Nalgonda than the other areas. With evaporation and rainfall being one of the major contributors for high fluoride apart from the weathering of fluoride rich minerals from rocks, the effect of increase in groundwater level on fluoride concentration was studied. This study reveals that groundwater in shallow environment of all three regions shows dilution effect due to rainfall recharge. Suitable managed aquifer recharge (MAR) methods can be adopted to dilute the fluoride rich groundwater in such regions which is explained with two case studies. However, in deep groundwater, increase in fluoride concentration with increase in groundwater level due to leaching of fluoride rich salts from the unsaturated zone was observed. Occurrence of fluoride above 1.5 mg/l was more in areas with deeper groundwater environment. Hence, practicing MAR in these regions will increase the fluoride content in groundwater and so physical or chemical treatment has to be adopted. This study brought out the fact that MAR cannot be practiced in all regions for dilution of ions in groundwater and that it is essential to analyze the fluctuation in groundwater level and the fluoride content before suggesting it as a suitable solution. Also, this study emphasizes that long-term monitoring of these factors is an important criterion for choosing the recharge areas.

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Acknowledgments

Work funded by the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences, Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India (Grant no. 2007/36/35) in Nalgonda district, University Grants Commission (F.No.39-133/2010 (SR)) in Vaniyar River basin and the Centre with Potential for Excellence in Environmental Science scheme of the University Grants Commission (Grant no. F.No.1-9/2004 (NS/PE)) in Pambar River basin are gratefully acknowledged. Authors would also like to thank the Department of Science and Technology’s Funds for Improvement in Science and Technology scheme (Grant no. SR/FST/ESI-106/2010); University Grants Commission’s Special Assistance Programme (Grant no. UGC DRS II F.550/10/DRS/2007 SAP-1) for their support in creating laboratory facilities, which helped in carrying out part of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Water Management Institute, Southeast Asia Regional Office, Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic

    K. Brindha

  2. Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai, 600025, India

    G. Jagadeshan, L. Kalpana & L. Elango

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  1. K. Brindha
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  2. G. Jagadeshan
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  3. L. Kalpana
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  4. L. Elango
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Correspondence to L. Elango.

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Brindha, K., Jagadeshan, G., Kalpana, L. et al. Fluoride in weathered rock aquifers of southern India: Managed Aquifer Recharge for mitigation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 8302–8316 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6069-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6069-7

Keywords

  • Hard rock terrain
  • Shallow water table
  • Granitic gneiss
  • MAR
  • Check dam
  • Recharge well
  • India

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