Arsenic level in ground and surface water in predominantly rural areas of Golaghat sub-division in Golaghat district, Assam, India.
This paper reports the quality of ground and surface water with respect to Arsenic from 33 different sources in predominantly rural area of Golaghat sub-division in Golaghat district of Assam (India). Water samples were collected during the pre-monsoon (Feb) and post-monsoon (Oct) seasons of 2008. The results are analyzed in the light of possible health hazards from Arsenic in relation to their maximum contaminant level (MCL) 10 ppb recommended by USEPA (2001) guideline value as well as WHO (1993,2004) instead of previous WHO (1984) guideline value 50 ppb. The quality of drinking water in the district is not satisfactory with respect to presence of Arsenic .The As concentrations varied from 0 to 220 ppb during pre-monsoon and 1 ppb to 187 ppb during post-monsoon. The high values of As were observed in Forkating, Fatual (220 ppb) and Bahbari (187ppb) in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons respectively. It was observed that about 30.3% of samples have As concentration 0-10 ppb, 27.27% of samples have 11-50 ppb and remaining samples, i.e. 46.46% have greater than 50 ppb in pre-monsoon (Feb. 2008) and 27.27% of samples have As concentration 0-10 ppb, 39.39% of samples have 11-50 ppb and remaining samples, i.e. 33.33% have greater than 50 ppb in post-monsoon (Oct. 2008).
Department of Chemistry, Gauhati University, Guwahati--781 014, India. madhabborah@yahoo.co.in
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D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis*; D060587:Groundwater / Q000032:analysis*; D007194:India; D057230:Limit of Detection; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001151:Arsenic