Ground water and surface water quality assessments with special reference to heavy metals in southern coastal areas of tamilnadu india removal of heavy metals by chemical treatment methods

Abstract

Water quality monitoring is essential for managing freshwater newlineresources. This research aims to determine the water quality with reference to newlineheavy metals in the southern coastal areas of Tamilnadu (Virudhunagar, newlineRamanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, and Kanniyakumari districts). newlineThe study also deals with a chemical treatment method for removing heavy newlinemetals from the polluted water samples. The drinking water samples were newlinecollected from the Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, and Kanniyakumari newlinedistricts to assess the water quality with reference to fluoride and nitrate. newlineIn the Virudhunagar district, one hundred and forty-three water samples newlinewere collected and analyzed. The fluoride concentration exceeds the newlinepermissible limit of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in 61% of the newlinesamples, while nitrate concentration exceeds 37% of the samples. The newlinecalculated noncarcinogenic risk of fluoride and nitrate is between 0.1-12, with newlinea mean of 1.8. 63% of the samples exceed the acceptable limit of newlinenoncarcinogenicity. In the Ramanathapuram district, one hundred and newlinefifty-two water samples were collected and analyzed for various newlinephysicochemical parameters during pre-monsoon (September 2016). newlineNoncarcinogenic risks were calculated based on fluoride and nitrate newlineconcentrations (fluoride - 0.02-1.00 and nitrate - 0.0-4.9). The calculated risk newlinevalues exceed the USEPA recommended value of 1. The habitants from the newlinedistrict are at health risk due to fluoride and nitrate newline