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Assessment of Iron Contamination in Groundwater at Tangail Municipality, Bangladesh

D. Hossain
Department of Environmental Science and Resource Management, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail-1902, Bangladesh

M. S. Islam
Department of Environmental Science and Resource Management, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail-1902, Bangladesh

N. Sultana
Analytical Research Division, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR),Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

T. R.Tusher
Department of Environmental Science and Resource Management, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail-1902, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The study was conducted to investigate the iron (Fe) contamination in groundwater at Tangail municipality during the period from January to June 2011. Groundwater samples were collected from 18 locations, where 15 were tube-wells, 2 deep tubewells and 1 pump. The result of the study showed that the highest level of Fe (24.50 mg/l) was found at Dewla north, while the lowest level (1.03 mg/l) was recorded from Bepari para. The highest and lowest amount of Fe was found in ward 1 and 4, respectively. The results were compared with the Bangladesh drinking water quality standards as well as with the international standards. In Bangladesh, permissible limit of Fe is 0.3-1.0 mg/l, whereas WHO standard level is 0.3 mg/l. All the samples were exceeded the standard levels of Fe, whereas ward 1, 2 and 7 were worstly affected. The study also reveal that the availability of Fe does not depend on the type of water sources, but it depends on the aquifers or water table. If the aquifer contains Fe, then the tube-well water will contain Fe or vice versa. These higher Fe concentrations found in the study area may be harmful for those families who are consuming the water from these sources on regular basis. Thus, to overcome this problem the consumers should not drink these higher amounts of Fe, and they should find other sources or replace the tube-well or treat the water before drinking and other domestic and household purposes.

Keywords: Groundwater, Iron, Tube-well, Ward

Location: Tangail municipality

Start Date: 00-01-2011

End Date: 00-06-2011

Program Area: Risk Management in Agriculture

Commodity: Contamination

Objectives:

1. To investigate the Fe contamination in groundwater at Tangail municipality of Bangladesh.

Methodology:

The Tangail municipality was established in 1887, and consists of 18 wards and 63 mahallas with an area of 35.22 km². There is a population of 128,785 of which male 66,856 and female 61,929. Density of population is 3650 per km². Though pure water supply was the main objective of the municipality, well and Idara (traditional ring well) was the main sources of water supply in its establishment period. The municipality started water supply system through pipe line after the Pilot Project implemented by the Ministry of Public Health in 1969. At present, there are three overhead tanks (capacity of each 680,000 L), 82,300 hand tube-wells, 7 pump tube-wells (water uplifting power 95,000 L/hr) and 3 treatment plants in the municipality area. Water samples were collected from the following 18 places of the municipality out of 18 wards. Fifteen samples were collected from tube-well, while two and one sample were collected from deep tube-well and pump tube-well, respectively. All the samples were collected in 250 ml plastic bottles with screw cap and well washed before collection to make sure that it is free from any undesirable materials and contaminations. The following processes were followed to wash the bottles, collect and preserve the samples: i) the bottles were washed thoroughly with tap water, then rinsed with distilled water and hydrochloric acid (HCl); ii) the bottles were putted in the oven and dried at 30°C for 2 hours; iii) the bottles were completely filled with sample water to the brim; iv) during the filling of sample water to bottles, they were maintained continuously till it was completely filled with sample water and thereby minimize air oxidation; v) then the bottles were tightly screwed and fixed up with cello tape; vi) from each sample, 50% was preserved by adding 2-3 ml of HCI (0.1M) to control the changing of chemical characteristics of water, then the samples were kept in the laboratory. Finally the samples were brought to Analytical Research Laboratory of the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial research (BCSIR), Dhaka, Bangladesh, to test the chemical parameters including metal (Fe); vii) all the samples were stored in dark place as far as possible during the sampling and transportation to the laboratory. The samples were preserved again with conc. Nitric acid (HNO3) at the rate of 5ml in each 250 ml bottle. To analyze the physicochemical properties of water, various standard methods were followed and a number of sophisticated instruments were used. A digital Global Positioning System (GPS) meter (GPSmap76csx) was used to measure the position of the aquifers of water samples. Water color was observed by naked eyes and odor was felt with nose. A digital pH meter and Fast Sequential Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (VARIAN AA240FS, wave length of 248.4 nm) was used to analyze the pH and Fe in the water samples, respectively. The collected data were tabulated (data coding for analysis) and converted into the group of the aspects of Fe, pH, color, odor and type of the sources. The qualitative data were converted into quantitative form. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 14.0) and Microsoft office excel 2007 was used to process and analyze the data. Many statistical tools, such as mean, median, mode, and standard deviation, were used to analyze data to identify the variables. Correlation and regression analysis were also performed in this research.

Source of Information: J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 6(1): 117 - 121, 2013; ISSN 1999-7361

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The study also reveal that the availability of Fe does not depend on the type of water sources, but it depends on the aquifers or water table. If the aquifer contains Fe, then the tube-well water will contain Fe or vice versa. These higher Fe concentrations found in the study area may be harmful for those families who are consuming the water from these sources on regular basis. Thus, to overcome this problem the consumers should not drink these higher amounts of Fe, and they should find other sources or replace the tube-well or treat the water before drinking and other domestic and household purposes.

Knowledge Management: Journal