Investigation of heavy metals in crystalline aquifer groundwater from different valleys of Bangalore, Karnataka
Keywords:
Groundwater, heavy metals, lithologic physico-chemicals, sewage.Abstract
Fifty-one groundwater samples were collected during South-west monsoon 2009 from Challaghatta,
Vrishabhavathi, Kormangala and Hebbal valleys, Bangalore, which is an unconfined/crystalline aquifer to
investigate Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni concentrations and other parameters like temperature, pH, electric
conductivity (EC) and total dissolved solid (TDS). The TDS and EC variation confirmed light-salty nature of
groundwater found to be contaminated by Salty water intrusion, which is attributed to over-extraction. Comparison
between presence, abundance and frequencies of trace elements in groundwater samples is in the order of Fe (84)
> Zn (72) > Mn (68) >Pb (45) >Cu (41) >Cr (35) >Ni (33) >Cd (21), indicating that Fe in groundwater is in origin. The
TDS, Pb, Fe, Mn and Cd concentrations in groundwater samples are beyond the permissible limit prescribed by
World Health Organization (WHO).
