Spatial Distribution of Groundwater Manganese in Central India

Academic Paper from the year 2017 in the subject Environmental Sciences, course: PhD Environmental Science, language: English, abstract: Groundwater manganese concentration from the Chandrapur district of Central India was assessed during winter 2012. Groundwater sampling was carried out by grab sampling method in 36 sampling locations comprised of 34 hand pumps and two dug wells. Groundwater samples for manganese were preserved by adding conc. Groundwater manganese concentrations were estimated by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy. Groundwater iron concentration from the study area during winter 2012 was in the range of 0.0015-1.85 mg/L (SD 0.36). Groundwater manganese concentration in seven water samples were above the permissible desirable limit of Indian Standards for drinking water (IS 10500:2012, desirable limit for Mn, 0.3 mg/L max.). This elevated concentration of manganese in groundwater from the study area can be attributed to weathering of mineral bearing rocks, mining activities and also to some extent to anthropogenic activities. Spatial distribution of manganese was observed in the study area. Further, shallow, deep and very deep well water had variable manganese concentration. Upper earth surface had lower manganese concentration, however present, can be attributed to anthropogenic activities whereas deeper earth surface had higher manganese concentration that can be assigned to geogenic origin.