Ground water quality evaluation in the lean period of a mining township

Abstract

Groundwater of mining towns is very much affected due to mining activity. During mining of mineral from underground, huge quantity of ground water is pumped out to make mining possible. Groundwater samples have been collected from the 20 sampling sites of Dhanbad, a mining Township, in the lean period (summer) of the years 2011 and 2014. Four samples have been obtained from open well and 16 from hand pumps. Water quality parameters such as pH, total hardness, Ca hardness, Mg Hardness, chloride, sulphate, total dissolved solids, and heavy metals have been evaluated. The values of pH, total hardness, Ca hardness, Mg hardness, chloride, sulphate, and total dissolved solids have increased in 2014 as compared to 2011 which may be due to increase in mineral content in the lean period and decrease in the rate of recharge of aquifers in 2014. The concentration of heavy metals has decreased in 2014 as compared to 2011 which may be due to less leaching of heavy metals from the ground strata. From the overall study, it has been concluded that most of the water quality parameters of all the 20 groundwater samples in the year 2014 are not exceeding the acceptable concentration level, as mentioned in Indian drinking water specifications. Groundwater in the year 2014 has not shown any significant change in its quality as compared to the year 2011. In the incoming years, quality of groundwater will not show any drastic change unless and until any anthropogenic activity other than mining will affect it.