Research Article - (2011) Volume 1, Issue 1
1Department of Botany, Bishop Heber College, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, South India
2Department of microbiology, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu, South India
A study was undertaken to investigate the quality of drinking water samples in and around Tiruchirappalli district. Pollution of water bodies is one of the areas of major concern to environmentalists. Water quality is an index of health and well being of a society. Industrialization, urbanization, and modern agriculture practices have direct impact on the water resources. These factors influence the water resources quantitatively and qualitatively. Examination of the physico-chemical profiles of the bore well, open well and corporation water samples of Tiruchirappalli District, Tamil Nadu, India showed that the open wells were highly polluted with very high levels of total dissolved solids, total alkalinity and total hardness, and the bore wells with fluoride content higher than the permissible limit of the World Health Organisation. The deep aquifers had higher fluoride levels than the open well aquifers. Microbial pollution was recorded in 12.0% of bore wells, 11.1% of open wells and 6.3% of corporation water samples
aquifers, drinking water quality, fluoride, microbial contamination, pollution
Water is the major constituent of all living things and needed by them for various purposes. The demand for quality drinking water had changed considerably with the development in olden days, the only requirement of drinking water was that it should be free flowing and non turbid. The need for better environment and health cannot be over emphasized. With increasing industrialization, urbanization, and growth of population, India’s environment has become fragile and has been causing concern [1]. Urbanization has direct impact on water bodies as the settlement takes place around the vicinity of water bodies and due to lack of space people have tendency to encroach upon the lake [2]. Ground water is the chief source of drinking water in India and this is only 0.61 % of the total available water on the Earth. [3] Reported that only 4% of world’s freshwater resources are available in India while India inhabitants 14% of the world population. Indian population the per capita availability of water is steadily reducing; and when this drops below 1700 m3 / person / year, India will be water stressed.
Water is a good solvent and picks up impurities easily. Pure water is tasteless, colorless, and odorless is often called the universal solvent. When water is combined with carbon dioxide to form very weak carbonic acid, an even better solvent results. As water moves through soil and rock, it dissolves very small amounts of minerals and holds them in solution. Calcium and magnesium dissolved in water are the two most common minerals that make water "hard." The degree of hardness becomes greater as the calcium and magnesium content increases and is related to the concentration of multivalent cations dissolved in the water.
Excessive groundwater exploitation has resulted in lowering of water table in rural and urban areas of India. The water quality parameters decide the portability of water [4]. This paper evaluates the quality of drinking water from three different sources viz., open wells, bore wells, and corporate water supply in the Tiruchirappalli District, Tamil Nadu, and India.
Sites
The study was conducted in Tiruchirappalli district from October 2010 to March 2011. Sixty water samples were collected, 20 samples from the bore wells, 20 from the open wells and 20 from the corporation water of the present study area.
Sample Collection
Water samples were collected for both physiochemical and bacteriological analysis. Samples were collected during the day between 9:00 hrs and 13:00 hrs. Water samples for physiochemical and bacteriological analysis were collected aseptically in sterile containers and placed in a cooler at room temperature and transported to the Laboratory for analysis within 2 hours from collection. When immediate analyses were not possible, the samples were preserved at 4°C.
Laboratory sites
Physicochemical analyses (total hardness, total alkalinity, total dissolved solids and fluoride) were done following [5] for the assessment of drinking water quality. pH of water samples were recorded at the site during sampling period. Microbial studies were carried out by MPN method [6].
Physiochemical analysis
The table presents physiochemical analysis of the water samples from different sources (Tables 1-3). Analysis of sample showed high levels of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS – 4020 mg/l), Total Alkalinity (TA - 480 mg/l), Electrical Conductivity (EC – 820 mS), Total solids (TA - 4100 mg/l) and Salinity (3470 mg/l), in (open well) koothaipar were as pH (8.21) was high in (corporation water) panamangalam. Samayapuram (open well) recorded high level of Total Hardness (TH – 1571 mg/l). Bore well water samples recorded high levels of (TSS - 654 mg/l) Total Suspended Solids and Fluride (F – 2.42) in Kondaiyam Pettai and Manachanallur water sample.
Table 1. Physico-Chemical profile of bore well water samples collected from Tiruchirappalli District, South India
Table 2. Physico-Chemical profile of open well water samples collected from Tiruchirappalli District, South India
Table 3. Physico-Chemical profile of corporation water samples collected from Tiruchirappalli District, South India
Table 4. Microbial analysis of the water samples collected from Tiruchirappalli District, South India
Microbiological analysis
The microbial study was performed on randomly selected 25 samples. Of the 25 samples, 20 samples were found to have microbial numbers within the maximum permissible limit of 1 coliform per 100 ml as per the safe drinking water act [7] . An open well sample at manthurai, somparasampetai (MPN: 28, 23/100 ml), a sample of corporation supply at sirugampure (MPN: 24/100 ml) and samples from three bore well sources at pappakurichi, Upliapuram and kondayampetai (MPN: 35, 29 and 42/100 ml, respectively) have registered positive presumptive test results. Immediate action is needed to circumvent this problem and necessary antimicrobial disinfectants should be employed in the water sources.
This study has presented the physiochemical and microbiological analysis of water samples taken from different area from Tiruchirappalli district.
The WHO Guidelines for drinking water quality states that the pH range of drinking water should fall between 6.5 and 8.0.
The current study found bore well, open well and corporation water samples ranged from 5.72 to 8.54, 6.70 to 7.90 and 6.39 and 8.21, respectively (Tables 1-3). The alkaline nature of bore well samples was greater than that of open well samples. Earlier report by [8] has also reported higher alkalinity in the bore well water of Pandharkawada area, Yavakmal district, Maharashtra, India. Generally low pH values obtained in the water might be due to the high levels of free CO2 which may consequently affect the bacterial counts [9].
Fifty two percent of samples from bore wells, 22% from open wells, and 87% from corporation water samples fell within the permissible limit (1500 mg/l) of World Health Organization [4] with regard to TDS. The higher TDS in open well sources may be attributed to the percolation of effluents into these aquifers from various automobile and small scale industries located in the study area.
The high hardness of groundwater in the study area may be attributed to its open wells. The total alkalinity (TA) of the samples except an open well source at samayapuram (1783 mg/l) and two samples from corporation water supply at Ellakudi (534 mg/l) and Palakkari (540 mg/l) have exceeded the permissible limit of 120 mg/l [4].
The Fluoride level was within the allowable limit of 1.6 mg/l in 56% of the bore well samples, in 77% of the open well samples and 75% of the corporation water samples. The fluoride level in the deeper aquifers was more than the shallow aquifers. Similar findings were reported by [10]; [11]: [8] in other parts of India. Fluoride is level from 0.7 to 1.2 mg/l is essential in drinking water [12] and its excess presence will be toxic resulting in dental fluorosis, skeletal fluorosis and non-vertebral fractures, especially hip fractures. Apart from fluorosis, high intake of fluorides may also cause gastrointestinal complaints such as loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, ulcer pain in the stomach, constipation and intermittent diarrhoea and flatulence [13]; [14];[15];[16]. The adolescent age group is most vulnerable to fluoride pollution and it is a worldwide problem [4]. The samples exceeding the fluoride level greater than 1.5 mg/l are need to be defluorinated with immediate attention in order to prevent the negative impacts of high fluoride levels on human populations at the study area.
The higher the ionisable solids the greater will be the Electrical Conductivity (EC). In the present study area electrical conductivity ranged from 648 to 5880 mS in the bore well waters, 790 to 8100 mS in the open well waters and 635 to 4120 mS in the corporation waters.
Salinity ranged from 310 to 2820 mg/l in the bore well samples, 380 to 3860 mg/l in open well sources and from 310 to 1990 mg/l in the corporation water sources in the present study area, which are within the permissible limit of [4] for potable waters.
High levels of coliform bacteria were present in water samples taken from both source and point of use. Total coliform counts in most cases were >250 CFU/100mL, this was far above the accepted WHO standard (0 CFU). Thuraiyur open well and Koppampatti open well samples did not show such high total coliform counts.
The effects of drinking contaminated water results in thousands of deaths every day, mostly in children under five years, in developing countries [4]. In addition, diseases caused through consumption of contaminated water, and poor hygiene practices are the leading cause of death among children worldwide, after respiratory diseases [18]. Thus lack of safe drinking water supply, basic sanitation, and hygienic practices is associated with high morbidity and mortality from excreta related diseases.
