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Soil and groundwater quality with reference to nitrate in a semiarid agricultural region

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Abstract

Nitrate is a common pollutant in surface water and groundwater of agricultural areas. It is essential to monitor this pollutant in groundwater, especially when it is used for drinking purposes without treatment. The present study was carried out in an intensively irrigated area which forms a part of Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh, India where groundwater meets all the water needs of the rural population living in this area. The objective was to assess the spatiotemporal variation in the concentration of nitrate in groundwater and soil. Based on the analysis of 496 groundwater samples collected from 45 wells over a period of 2 years from March 2008 to January 2010 by sampling every 2 months, it was observed that groundwater in 242 km2 of the total 724 km2 area had nitrate above the maximum permissible limit of 45 mg/l for drinking purposes. Nitrate concentration in groundwater showed a positive relation with potassium, chloride, and sulfate, indicating their source from fertilizers. Reasons for the high concentration of nitrate in domestic areas were the dumping of animal wastes and leakage from septic tanks. The pH of the soil samples showed that most of the area had basic soil. Apart from pH, organic carbon, available phosphorous, available potassium, ammoniacal nitrogen, and nitrate nitrogen were also analyzed in the 97 soil samples.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences, Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India for funding this work (grant no. 2007/36/35). They also 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)), and Centre with Potential for Excellence in Environmental Sciences scheme of the University Grants Commission (grant no. F.No.1-9/2004 (NS/PE)) for their financial support which helped in creating facilities to carry out part of this work.

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  1. Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600 025, India

    K. Brindha & L. Elango

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  1. K. Brindha
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  2. L. Elango
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Correspondence to L. Elango.

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Brindha, K., Elango, L. Soil and groundwater quality with reference to nitrate in a semiarid agricultural region. Arab J Geosci 7, 4683–4695 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-013-1100-5

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