STUDY OF GROUNDWATER QUALITY IN SOME AREAS OF BANGALORE, KARNATAKA (INDIA) BY FLAME PHOTOMETRIC METHOD. Anjali Nayak & V.Sivajothi

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1 STUDY OF GROUNDWATER QUALITY IN SOME AREAS OF BANGALORE, KARNATAKA (INDIA) BY FLAME PHOTOMETRIC METHOD Anjali Nayak & V.Sivajothi The Oxford College of Pharmacy, Bangalore-68, India. ABSTRACT Now-a-days contamination of drinking water by human and industrial activities is a serious concern. Therefore quality of water is very important to preserve and protect the natural ecosystem. Groundwater quality was analysed in and around some areas of Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Total 15 ground water samples were collected, from deep aquifer based tube wells covering Bangalore area, from 15 different locations. All samples were subjected to analysis of physico-chemical parameters such as sodium, potassium and ph. The obtained results are compared with WHO standard values. The results suggest that the evaluation of water quality parameters as well as water quality management practices should be carried out periodically to protect the water resources. Keywords: Sodium, Potassium, Groundwater, Water quality. INTRODUCTION The pollution of groundwater is of major anxiety, firstly because of increasing utilization for human needs and secondly because of the ill effects of the increased industrial activity. The groundwater is believed to be comparatively much clean and free from pollution than surface water. But prolonged discharge of industrial effluents, domestic sewage and solid waste dump causes the groundwater to become polluted and created health tribulations 1. Sodium and chloride occur naturally in groundwater. However, sources such as road salt storage and application, industrial wastes, sewage, fertilizers, water softener discharge, and proximity to saltwater are usually the cause of elevated levels in drinking water supplies. This can be a concern for people on low-sodium diets. Elevated levels of sodium and chloride can also interfere with taste, the watering of certain plants, and increase the corrosiveness of water, which in turn can affect the household plumbing 2. Studies of variations in major ions help to identify the chemical processes and interaction between soil and water that are responsible for the changes in groundwater quality with respect to 161

2 space and time. He reported on the importance of groundwater recharge on seasonal variation in the major-ion concentration of groundwater. Anthropogenic activities like explosion of population, industrial growth, inputs of fertilizer, pesticides, and irrigation has been a crucial factor for determining the quality of groundwater. Numerous publications have reported that urban development and agricultural activities directly or indirectly affect the groundwater quality 3. Groundwater chemistry, in turn, depends on a number of factors, such as general geology, degree of chemical weathering of the various rock types, quality of recharge water and inputs from sources other than water rock interaction. Such factors and their interactions result in a complex groundwater quality 4-7. MATERIALS AND METHODS 8 Instrument- Elico Flame Photometer CL22D Chemicals- Sodium chloride, Potassium chloride Sampling Total 15 ground water samples were collected, from deep aquifer based tube wells covering Bangalore area, from 15 different locations. Water samples were collected directly from the tube wells after running the water for about 35 minutes. All the samples were collected on 5 th May, 8 th June, 2 nd July Water samples were collected in pre-cleaned, sterilized, polyethylene bottles of one liter capacity. Preparation of Standard solutions Weigh accurately 2.542gms of Anal R quality sodium chloride (NaCl) and transfer into a 1 litre volumetric flask through a funnel. Weigh accurately gms Anal R quality of potassium chloride (KCl) and transfer into the same volumetric flask through the same funnel. Add double distilled water to the flask, dissolve the crystals and make up the solution to the mark with double distilled water. This stock standard solution contains 1000 ppm/ 1000ppm of Sodium and potassium. This stock standard solution is successively diluted further with double distilled water to have working standard solutions of lower concentrations of 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 ppm of both sodium and potassium. Procedure : 1. Switch on the flame photometer and select the sodium filter. 2. Set the gas in flame in order to get non-luminous flame and air pressure at o kg/cm2. 3. Atomize the flame intensity to 0% using distilled water with the knob. 4. Atomize the flame intensity to 100% using 50 mcg/ml standard solutions (highest 162

3 concentration). 5. Measure the % flame intensity of all the standard solutions and unknown sample solutions. 6. Adopt the same procedure by selecting the potassium filter. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Hydrogen Ion Activity (ph) ph is a term used to express the intensity of acidic or alkaline conditions. It is the expression of hydrogen ion concentration, more precisely, the hydrogen ion activity. ph is an important parameter in assessing the water quality. Acidic conditions will prevail as ph value decreases and alkaline conditions will prevail as the ph value increases. The BIS limit for drinking water is shown in Table 2. ph value in analyzed water samples varied from The low ph does not cause any harmful effect. The results show that all the water samples were within permissible limits. Sodium (Na + ) Practically all sodium compounds are water soluble and tend to remain in aqueous solution. Water in contact with igneous rocks will dissolve sodium from its natural source. Higher concentration of Na + ion in drinking water may cause heart problems. Higher Na + ion in irrigation water may cause salinity problems. Excessive amount of Na + ion in groundwater normally affects the palatability of water 9. The permissible limit of sodium in drinking water as prescribed by BIS is 50 mg/l. The range of Na + ions in water samples varied from a minimum of 21 to 192 mg/l (concentration in excess of 200 mg/l give rise to unacceptable taste). At room temperature, the average tastes thresh Guideline sodium is about 200 mg/l. No health base guideline values have been derived (WHO, 2006). On comparison with BIS standards, Na + concentration of relatively all samples was found to be not within the permissible limit. Potassium (K + ) Potassium is an important cation and plays a vital role in intermediately metabolism. K + is an essential nutrient for both plant and human life. However ingestion of excessive amounts may prove detrimental to human beings. The K + concentration of analyzed water samples varied from 2 to 21 mg/l as shown in Table 2. In this study characterization of the physiochemical parameters of groundwater from sixteen tube wells at different locations in Bangalore area was carried out. To assess the quality of ground water three parameters was compared with the standard desirable limits prescribed by World health organization (WHO) and Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS). From the study it can be concluded that all the physiochemical parameters were found to be in the prescribed permissible limit, except for Sodium level, so this may cause health problems to the locality. 163

4 TABLES Table-1 Physico-chemical characteristics of Groundwater in some areas of Bangalore Sl. Sample Sampling location Na (mg/l) K(mg/l) ph number No. 1 GSW1 ATTIBELE GSW2 ATTIBELE GSW3 HONGASANDRA GSW4 MADIWALA GSW5 KUMARASWAMY LAYOUT 6 GSW6 BASWANGUDI GSW7 RAJAJINAGAR GSW8 JIGANI GSW9 ATTIBELE GSW10 BTM LAYOUT GSW11 J.P NAGAR GSW12 VISHWAPRIYA LAYOUT 13 GSW13 BEGUR GSW14 J.P NAGAR GSW15 MAISUR ROAD GSW16 H.S.R LAYOUT * Units of all the parameters are in mg/l except p 164

5 Table 2: Comparison of water quality parameters of groundwater of Bangalore with drinking water quality standard (Indian and WHO) PARAMETER RANGE OF SAMPLE BIS STANDARD WHO LIMIT MINIMUM MAXIMUM ACCEPTABLE MAXIMUM LIMIT LIMIT ph Na K REFERENCES 1. Sayyed Juned A, Bhosle Arjun B, Analysis of Chloride, Sodium and Potassium in Groundwater Samples of Nanded City in Mahabharata, India, Pelagia Research Library European Journal of Experimental Biology; 2011, 1 (1) Biswajeet Pradhan, Saied Pirasteh, Hydro-Chemical Analysis of the Ground Water of the Basaltic Catchments: Upper Bhatsai Region, Maharastra, The Open Hydrology Journal, 2011; 5: Determination of sodium and potassium by flame photometry, Meditsiiniline keemia/medical chemistry LOKT Nema RK, Meyyanathan SN, Sharma CS, Verma M, Bhan CS, A practical approach to Pharmaceutical Analysis, Instrumental Manual, CBS publishers and distributors, 1 st ed., New Delhi, India; 2008, p Willard HH, Merritt Ll, Dean AJ, Settle AF, Instrumental Methods Of Analysis, CBS publishers & Distributers Pvt. Ltd. 7 th ed., India; 1986, p Chatwal RG, Anand KS, Instrumental Methods of Chemical Analysis, Himalaya Publishing House, India; 2005, p Ashutoshkar, Pharmaceutical Drug Analysis, New age international Publication, 2 nd ed., Mumbai, India; p Boominathan R, Khan SM. Effect of distillery effluents on ph, dissolved oxygen and phosphate content in Uyyakundan channel water, Environmental Ecology, 1994; 12 (4): Chadetrik rout, Arabinda Sharma, Assessment of drinking water quality: A case study of ambala cantonment area, Haryana, India, International Journal of Environmental Sciences, 2011;2(2):