Comparison of ground water quality between CEPZ industrial area and Hathazari non industrial area in Chittagong, Bangladesh

Abstract

Assessment of the quality of underground water is an important issue for the safety of mankind who uses this as drinking water and other purposes. For this reason, the present research activities have been focused on various essential physico-chemical parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity, total solids, total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, total hardness, turbidity, sulphate, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, chloride, total alkalinity, arsenic, iron, manganese, chromium, nickel, cadmium, lead, magnesium, potassium, calcium, cobalt, mercury, copper and zinc of water samples from study area. In Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) industrial area, most of the values of physico-chemical parameters for collected samples have exceeded the acceptable range of World Health Organization (WHO) and Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI). On the other hand, in Hathazari non-industrial area, almost all the values of both physical and chemical parameters as well as the trace metals have not crossed the acceptable limit according to WHO and BSTI.