Impact of rapid urbanization on ground water’s quality: An investigation of toxic elements concentrations in urban areas of Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

Ground water forms the major source of drinking water and supportive in maintaining the water requirements in urban areas of most of the developing nation of the world. The ground water sources are mainly used for drinking and domestic purposes by urban population of India. In the last few decades, due to rapid increase in population and urbanization, we have been witnessing alarming ground water pollution all over the world. The present study was conducted with an objective to assess the concentrations of toxic elements on water sources in urban areas of Himachal Pradesh, India. In the study area 12 surface water samples have been collected and analyzed for the toxic elements such as nickel (Ni), iron (Fe), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), mercury (Hg) and copper (Cu). The study revealed that heavy metals concentrations of ground water sources were within the prescribed standard limits for drinking purposes (IS 10500: 2012) and WHO. Further, the investigation showed that the water quality of the selected urban areas possibly impacted due to increase of anthropogenic activities and improper or illegal release of sewage water and agricultural effluents into ground water sources.