Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Conclusions
The Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh state in India is a typical region showing
endemic fluorosis caused by drinking water. Ground water (wells, hand pumps and
tube wells) is the main source of drinking water for village residents. The geologi-
cal formation is found to be the main source for the fluoride concentration in most
of the sampling points. The present study suggests that alkaline environment is the
dominant controlling factor for leaching of fluoride from the source material in the
ground water. The chemical analysis of water samples from the study area do not
comply with the water quality standards. The chemical compositions of the water
samples reveal slight seasonal variations. The ground water in the study area is
alkaline in nature. All the other parameters analysed such as pH, total hardness
(TH), chloride (Cl
−
), nitrate (NO
3
−
) and fluoride (F
−
) are above the desirable limits
of WHO and Indian Standards for drinking water. Hence, the ground water in the
study area is not suitable for drinking purpose. The post-monsoon groundwater
samples show maximum deviation, as this is the time when precipitation is less so
that the concentration of ions will increase considerably. The spatial highs of pH
are showing a clear alignment in pre-monsoon season but in post-monsoon season
it shows an eastward shift with a spatial maximum in the northwestern side. The
spatial distributions of chloride (Cl
−
) highs are very prominent in post-monsoon
season when compared to pre-monsoon season. However, in the case of NO
3
−
and
F
−
, the spatial highs show a spread in post-monsoon season and during pre-mon-
soon season the isolated patches of highs are distributed in the study area. Several
reports on dental and skeletal manifestations of fluorosis were also reported in the
study area, which shows that the population of the study area is at higher risk due
to excessive fluoride intake. The worst fluoride affected villages in Mudigubba
mandal are: Ralla Anantapuram, Bapanakunta, Gunjepalli, Muktapuram,
Yerikareddipalli; Nallamada mandal: Nallamada, Toletivaripalli, Malakavemula,
Yerravankapalli, Patha Bathalapalli, R. Ramapuram; Kadiri mandal: Alampur,
Kutagulla and Nagurivandlapalli. Most of the people in these villages suffer from
dental and skeletal fluorosis such as mottling of teeth, deformation of ligaments,
bending of spinal column and ageing problem.
Acknowledgements
The work was funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST),
New Delhi under the Fast track Young Scientist scheme (Project no: SR/FTP/ES-50/2007). One of
the authors Dr. V. Sunitha is grateful to the DST for providing the financial assistance in the form
of fast track Young Scientist Project.
References
Ahmed S, Bertrand F, Saxena V, Subramaniyam K, Touchard F (2002) A geostatistical method of
determining priority of measurement wells in a fluoride monitoring network in an aquifer.
J Appl Geochem 4(2B):576-585
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