Water quality index and heavy metal pollution index of Bailadila iron ore mine area and its peripherals

G. Jareda, P. Y. Dhekne, S. P. Mahapatra

Ground water quality of Bailadila iron ore mine area & its peripheral, Dantewada district, Chhattisgarh have been studied. 20 samples were collected from hand pumps in summer season and analysed in order to find out water quality index (WQI) and heavy metal pollution index (HPI). Physio-chemical parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), turbidity, total hardness (TH), Ca+2 hardness, Mg+2 hardness, total dissolved solids (TDS), nitrate, sulphate, chloride were analyzed with standard procedure and instrumental techniques. Some heavy metals such as Al+3, Cr+6, Pb+2, Fe+2 and Zn+2 were also found out by Nova 60 spectrophotometer and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The results were compared with standards such as Indian Standard Specifications for drinking water (IS 10500), World Health Organisation (WHO) and United States Public Health Service (USPHS). From the analysis, it was found that EC, turbidity, Mg+2, sulphate, nitrate and heavy metals such as lead (Pb+2) and iron (Fe+2) are higher than the permissible limit. It was also found that only 20% of samples were soft and rest are hard water. The samples having higher iron and turbidity are of lower pH value. WQI and HPI are found as 85.143 and 85.026 respectively. It shows that ground water quality of Bailadila iron ore mine area is very poor and not safe for drinking purpose.