Nitrate Pollution in the Groundwater Around Sagar Town, Madhya Pradesh, India

Abstract

Nitrate Pollution in the groundwater is one of the major pollution problems. In the last few decades nitrate concentrations in groundwater have increased dramatically. Groundwater contamination by nitrate (NO3−) is a global problem and is most often associated with leachates derived from fertilizers and animal or human wastes. The study presented here was carried out at Sagar town and its surrounding villages. The water quality parameters were investigated for summer (May, 2010) and winter (December, 2010) seasons and were compared with the standard values given by WHO. Thirty seven (12 from village and 25 from town) groundwater samples were collected from the bore wells. The hydro-chemical analysis of these water samples reveals that, the Village samples were showing a high concentration of nitrate, exceeding permissible limit of WHO (50 mg/l), which is due to the use of nitrogenous fertilizers and improper disposal of sewage in the study area. Keywords—Groundwater, Hydrochemistry, Nitrate, Pollution.