Assessment of the impact of landfill on groundwater quality: A case study of the Pirana site in western India

In present study focus has been given on estimating quality and toxicity of waste with respect to heavy metals and its impact on groundwater quality, using statistical and empirical relationships between different hydrochemical data, so that easy monitoring may be possible which in turn help the sustainable management of landfill site and municipal solid waste. Samples of solid waste, leachate and groundwater were analyzed to evaluate the impact of leachates on groundwater through the comparison of their hydrochemical nature. Results suggest the existence of an empirical relationship between some specific indicator parameters like heavy metals of all three above mentioned sample type. Further, K/Mg ratio also indicates three groundwater samples heavily impacted from leachate contamination. A good number of samples are also showing higher values for and Pb than that of World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water regulation. Predominance of Fe and Zn in both groundwater and solid waste samples may be due to metal plating industries in the area. Factor analysis is used as a tool to explain observed relation between numerous variables in term of simpler relation, which may help to deduce the strength of relation. Positive loading of most of the factors for heavy metal clearly shows landfill impact on ground water quality especially along the hydraulic gradient. Cluster analysis, further substantiates the impact of landfill. Two major groups of samples obtained from cluster analysis suggest that one group comprises samples that are severely under the influence of landfill and contaminated leachates along the groundwater flow direction while other assorted with samples without having such influence.     

Geospatial strategy for sustainable management of municipal solid waste for growing urban environment

This paper presents the implementation of a Geospatial approach for improving the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) disposal suitability site assessment in growing urban environment. The increasing trend of population growth and the absolute amounts of waste disposed of worldwide have increased substantially reflecting changes in consumption patterns, consequently worldwide. MSW is now a bigger problem than ever. Despite an increase in alternative techniques for disposing of waste, land-filling remains the primary means. In this context, the pressures and requirements placed on decision makers dealing with land-filling by government and society have increased, as they now have to make decisions taking into considerations environmental safety and economic practicality. The waste disposed by the municipal corporation in the Bhagalpur City (India) is thought to be different from the landfill waste where clearly scientific criterion for locating suitable disposal sites does not seem to exist. The location of disposal sites of Bhagalpur City represents the unconsciousness about the environmental and public health hazards arising from disposing of waste in improper location. Concerning about urban environment and health aspects of people, a good method of waste management and appropriate technologies needed for urban area of Bhagalpur city to improve this trend using Multi Criteria Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing for selection of suitable disposal sites. The purpose of GIS was to perform process to part restricted to highly suitable land followed by using chosen criteria. GIS modeling with overlay operation has been used to find the suitability site for MSW.     

Occurrence of pharmaceuticals in urban wastewater of north Indian cities and risk assessment

Six pharmaceuticals of different categories, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, ketoprofen, naproxen, diclofenac), anti-epileptic (carbamazepine), and anti-microbial (trimethoprim), were investigated in wastewater of the urban areas of Ghaziabad and Lucknow, India. Samples were concentrated by solid phase extraction (SPE) and determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods. The SPE-HPLC method was validated according to the International Conference on Harmonization guidelines. All the six drugs were detected in wastewater of Ghaziabad, whereas naproxen was not detected in Lucknow wastewater. Results suggest that levels of these detected drugs were relatively higher in Ghaziabad as compared to those in Lucknow, and diclofenac was the most frequently detected drug in both the study areas. Detection of these drugs in wastewater reflects the importance of wastewater inputs as a source of pharmaceuticals. In terms of the regional distribution of compounds in wastewater of two cities, higher spatial variations (coefficient of variation 112.90–459.44 %) were found in the Lucknow wastewater due to poor water exchange ability. In contrast, lower spatial variation (162.38–303.77 %) was observed in Ghaziabad. Statistical analysis results suggest that both data were highly skewed, and populations in two study areas were significantly different (p?NSAIDs) posed high (RQ >1) risk to all the test species. The present study would contribute to the formulation of guidelines for regulation of such emerging pharmaceutical contaminants in the environment.     

Persistence and risk assessment of spiromesifen on tomato in India: a multilocational study

Supervised field trials were conducted at four different agro-climatic locations of India to evaluate the dissipation pattern and risk assessment of spiromesifen on tomato. Spiromesifen 240 SC was sprayed on tomato at 150 and 300 g a.i.?ha^?1. Samples of tomato fruits were drawn at 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 15 days after treatment and soil at 15 days after treatment. Quantification of residues was done on gas chromatograph–mass spectrophotometer in selective ion monitoring mode in the mass range of 271–274 (m/z). The limit of quantification of the method was found to be 0.05 mg kg^?1, while the limit of determination was 0.015 mg kg^?1. Residues were found below the LOQ of 0.05 mg kg^?1 in 10 days at both the doses of application at all the locations. Spiromesifen dissipated with a half-life of 0.93–1.38 days at the recommended rate of application and 1.04–1.34 days at the double the rate of application. Residues of spiromesifen in soil were detectable level (<0.05 mg kg^?1) after 15 days of treatment. A preharvest interval (PHI) of 1 day has been recommended on tomato on the basis of data generated under All India Network Project on Pesticide Residues. Spiromesifen 240 SC has been registered for its use on tomato by Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. The maximum residue limit (MRL) of spiromesifen on tomato has been fixed by Food Safety Standard Authority of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India as 0.3 μg/g after its risk assessment.     

Persistence behaviour of imidacloprid and its metabolites in soil under sugarcane

The persistence and metabolism of imidacloprid in soil under sugarcane were studied following application of imidacloprid at 20 and 80 g active ingredient (a.i.) ha^?1. Soil samples were collected at different time intervals (7, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 90 days after application), and the residues of imidacloprid and its metabolites (6-chloronicotinic acid, nitrosimine, imidacloprid-NTG, olefin, urea and 5-hydroxy) were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography. In soil, the total imidacloprid residues were mainly constituted by the parent compound followed by 6-chloronicotinic acid, nitrosimine and imidacloprid-NTG metabolites. Maximum residues of imidacloprid and its metabolites were 4.29 and 7.81 mg kg^?1 in soil samples collected 7 days after the application of imidacloprid at 20 and 80 g a.i. ha^?1, respectively. At both doses, these residues declined to below the detectable limit in soil after 90 days of application. Olefin, urea and 5-hydroxy metabolites were not detected in soil. Dissipation of total imidacloprid residues did not follow the first-order kinetics with a coefficient of determination value of 0.883 and 0.838 for the recommended dose and four times the recommended dose, respectively. The half-life (T _1/2) value of total imidacloprid was observed to be 10.64 and 10.10 days for the recommended dose and four times the recommended dose, respectively.     

Ecological restoration of mined-out areas of dry tropical environment, India

The objective of the present study was to evince the long-term changes after natural revegetation and experimental revegetation of the coal mine spoils with respect to total plant biomass, available plant nutrients, nitrogen transformation and microbial biomass N (MBN) in dry tropical environment of India. Total plant biomass (above- and below-ground), plant available nitrogen, soil nitrogen mineralization and microbial biomass N (MBN) were studied for 2 years in 5 and 10 years old naturally vegetated and revegetated coal mine spoils, and dry tropical forest ecosystem of India. In forest ecosystem, the above ground biomass values ranged from 3,520 to 3,630 kg ha(-1) and belowground from 6,280 to 6,560 kg ha(-1). Plant available nitrogen ranged from 16.76 to 23.21 microg g(-1), net N-mineralization from 9.8 to 48.53 microg g(-1) month(-1) and MBN from 26.4 to 80.02 microg g(-1). In naturally revegetated mine spoil, the above ground biomass values ranged from 1,036 to 1,380 kg ha(-1) and belowground from 2,538 to 3,380 kg ha(-1). Plant available nitrogen ranged from 7.33-17.14 microg g(-1), net N-mineralization from 3.1 to 12.46 microg g(-1) month(-1) and MBN from 14.2 to 35.44 microg g(-1). In revegetated mine spoil, the above ground biomass values ranged from 1,224 to 1,678 kg ha(-1) and belowground from 2,870 to 4,130 kg ha(-1). Plant available nitrogen ranged from 9.4 to 18.83 microg g(-1), net N-mineralization from 4.2 to 16.2 microg g(-1) month(-1) and MBN from 21.6 to 42.6 microg g(-1). The mean plant biomass values in 5 and 10 years mine spoils was lower compared to forest ecosystem by 2.5 and 2 times, respectively. N-mineralization value in 5 year mine spoil was 3.5 times lower and in 10 years mine spoil 2 times lower compared to forest ecosystem. The MBN value was about 2 times lower in both 5 and 10 year mine spoils compared to native forest. MBN was positively related to the re-vegetation age of the mine spoil.     

Fluoride contamination in drinking water in rural habitations of Northern Rajasthan, India

This study was carried out to assess the fluoride concentration in groundwater in some villages of northern Rajasthan, India, where groundwater is the main source of drinking water. Water samples collected form deep aquifer based hand-pumps were analysed for fluoride content. Fluoride in presently studied sites was recorded in the ranges of 4.78 and 1.01 mg/l. The average fluoride concentration for this region was recorded 2.82 mg/l. As per the desirable and maximum permissible limit for fluoride in drinking water, determined by WHO or by Bureau of Indian Standards, the groundwater of about 95 of the studied sites is unfit for drinking purposes. Due to the higher fluoride level in drinking water several cases of dental and skeletal fluorosis have appeared at alarming rate in this region. The middle and eastern parts of the Hanumangarh, a northern most district of the state, can be classified as higher risk area for fluorosis; due to relatively high concentrations of fluoride (3-4 mg/l) in groundwater of this region. After evaluating the data of this study it is concluded that there is an instant need to take ameliorative steps in this region to prevent the population from fluorosis.     

Hydrochemical analysis to evaluate the seawater ingress in a small coral island of India

The sustainable development of the limited groundwater resources in the tropical island requires a thorough understanding of detail hydrogeological regime including the hydrochemical behavior of groundwater. Detail analysis of chemical data of groundwater helps in assessing the different groundwater zone affected by formation as well as sea water. Groundwater and saline water interaction is better understood using groundwater major ion chemistry over an island aquifer. Multivariate methods to analyze the geochemical data are used to understand geochemical evolution of groundwater. The methods are successfully used to group the data to evaluate influence of various environs in the study area. Various classification methods such as piper, correlation method, and salinity hazard measurements are also employed to critical study of geochemical characteristics of groundwater to identify vulnerable parts of the aquifer. These approaches have been used to successfully evaluate the aquifer zones of a tiny island off the west coast of India. The most part of island is found to be safe for drinking, however some parts of island are identified that are affected by sea water ingress and dissolution of formation minerals. The analysis has successfully leaded to identification of that part of aquifer on the island which needs immediate attention for restoration and avoids further deterioration.     

Hydrogeochemical processes controlling the high fluoride concentration in groundwater: a case study at the Boden block area,Orissa, India

The present investigation reports the assessment of hydrochemical/geochemical processes controlling the concentration of fluoride in groundwater of a village in India (Boden block, Orissa). Boden block is one of the severely affected fluoride-contaminated areas in the state of Orissa (India). The sampling and subsequent analysis of water samples of the study area was carried out following standard prescribed methods. The results of the analysis indicate that 36.60% groundwater F⁻ concentration exceeds the limit prescribed by the World Health Organization for drinking water. The rock interaction with groundwater containing high concentration of HCO₃⁻ and Na⁺ at a higher pH value of the medium could be one of the important reasons for the release of F⁻ from the aquatic matrix into groundwater. Geochemical classification of groundwater based on Chadha rectangular diagram shows that most of the groundwater samples having fluoride concentration more than 1.5 mg L⁻¹ belongs to the Na-K-HCO₃ type. The saturation index values evaluated for the groundwater of the study area indicated that it is oversaturated with respect to calcite, whereas the same is undersaturated with respect to fluorite content. The deficiency of calcium ion concentration in the groundwater from calcite precipitation favors fluorite dissolution leading to excess of fluoride concentration. The risk index was calculated as a function of fluoride level in drinking water and morbidity of fluorosis categorizes high risk for villages of Amera and Karlakote panchayat of Boden block.