Assessment of sources and distribution metals in groundwater of Pondicherry region, India

Abstract

The proposed study investigates the seasonal variation in the concentration and the source of the heavy metals like Mn, Cu, Pb, Zn and Fe in the groundwater samples of Pondicherry region. The study results reveal that, the heavy metal concentration is high during South West Monsoon season (SWM) compared to that of North East Monsoon season (NEM). The pH was near neutral and metal load representing most of the samples were low during NEM. Statistical analysis shows that the 63.7 % of the total variance is observed during NEM and 68.9% during SWM. Geographic information system (GIS) tool was considered for the study to understand the environmental pollution status of the groundwater systems of the study area and to identify the groundwater quality parameters. The multivariate statistical analysis explains that the source of trace metal in the groundwater is derived from natural origin except copper and lead as these contaminants were derived from anthropogenic activities. Based on the output of WATEQ4F, several species of heavy metals exist, in which the dominant species are Mn, CuCl2, PbCO3, Fe and Zn.