Fluoride distribution, groundwater quality and health risk assessment for contaminated region near Krishna River (Maharashtra) India

Abstract

The present study aims to examine the sustainability of groundwater in a contaminated area of Krishna river, one of the vital natural source for drinking and irrigation purposes in India. The water samples (in total 142) were collected in different seasons from Sangli district of Maharashtra state, India, and their suitability for drinking, domestic usage, irrigation water quality indices, and health risk assessment were studied. The spatial distribution and safe groundwater region were identified using the ordinary Kriging method. The major cations concentration was observed in order as Mg²⁺ > Ca²⁺ > K⁺ > Na⁺, whereas for anions it was observed as HCO₃⁻ > SO₄²⁻ > Cl⁻ > F⁻. The groundwater quality indices for magnesium hazard (MH) suggest that 100 samples from the village area, 27 from the city area, and 7 from the industrial area were found not suitable for the irrigation purposes. Similarly, the results of Kelley’s ratio and sodium absorption ratio support MH findings and suggest that these sources are inapt for irrigation purposes. Pearson correlation values for industrial area samples showed a significantly positive correlation value for F⁻ with SO₄²⁻, Ca²⁺, and K⁺ as 0.48, 0.87, and 0.89, respectively. The health risk assessment shows that in the industrial, city and, village areas, 21 %, 4 %, and 19 % of children are highly susceptible to fluorosis, respectively. This physicochemical and hydrogeochemical study of groundwater suggests that the shallow aquifer depth groundwater of this study area was moderately unsafe for the usage of drinking and irrigation purposes.