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

Thilagavathi R; Chidambaram S; Thivya C; Banajarani Panda; Ganesh N

doi:10.34256/ijceae2023

Thilagavathi R Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, India
Chidambaram S Water Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
Thivya C Department of Geology, Madras University, Tamil Nadu, India.
Banajarani Panda Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, India
Ganesh N Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, India

DOI: https://doi.org/10.34256/ijceae2023

Keywords: Heavy metals, Groundwater, Statistical analysis, GIS

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.

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