Heavy metal contamination and its indexing approach for groundwater of Goa mining region, India

Abstract

The objective of the study is to reveal the seasonal variations in the groundwater quality with respect to heavy metal contamination. To get the extent of the heavy metals contamination, groundwater samples were collected from 45 different locations in and around Goa mining area during the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. The concentration of heavy metals, such as lead, copper, manganese, zinc, cadmium, iron, and chromium, were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Most of the samples were found within limit except for Fe content during the monsoon season at two sampling locations which is above desirable limit, i.e., 300 µg/L as per Indian drinking water standard. The data generated were used to calculate the heavy metal pollution index (HPI) for groundwater. The mean values of HPI were 1.5 in the monsoon season and 2.1 in the post-monsoon season, and these values are well below the critical index limit of 100.