The nitrate concentration in water of different sampling locations has been tabulated below for further insight into the results. The detailed concentration of nitrate in both post-monsoon and pre-monsoon season in rural and urban areas with mean, standard deviation and range is depicted in table 1 and 2. The average nitrate concentration was found to be slightly higher in the post-monsoon region. Also, there was significant difference in the nitrate concentration of rural and urban areas with nitrate concentration exceeding the threshold limit of 45 mg/L in the samples from rural sites.
Table 1.Nitrate concentration range in mg/L in the rural areas of selected study sites in Nagpur and Bhandara District
Sample code / Sampling Season / Mean Nitrate conc. (mg/L) / Standard deviation (S.D.) / Max. (mg/L) / Min. (mg/L)R1 / Pre / 25.42 / 0.94 / 28.33 / 23.71
Post / 21.73 / 0.6 / 20.4 / 17.2
R2 / Pre / 25.76 / 1.4 / 29.98 / 20.84
Post / 12.4 / 0.73 / 9.7 / 2.88
R3 / Pre / 134.08 / 0.01 / 164.06 / 86.24
Post / 159.6 / 0.41 / 147.28 / 101
R4 / Pre / 80.21 / 0.03 / 78.76 / 67.02
Post / 100.02 / 0.02 / 97.40 / 82.06
R5 / Pre / 43.86 / 0.10 / 32.7 / 29.8
Post / 38.21 / 0.51 / 28.25 / 12.4
R6 / Pre / 17.8 / 0.07 / 12.2 / 7.1
Post / 26 / 0.03 / 21.7 / 18.22
R7 / Pre / 41.54 / 1.8 / 39.03 / 23.41
Post / 61.8 / 0.9 / 53.26 / 59.8
R8 / Pre / 8.87 / 0.4 / 4.64 / 0.78
Post / 25.1 / 0.01 / 23.1 / 21.7
R9 / Pre / 50.5 / 0.91 / 47.7 / 39
Post / 73.4 / 0.21 / 72 / 56.46
R10 / Pre / 7.73 / 2.6 / 6.7 / 5.8
Post / 10.2 / 0.4 / 9.6 / 7.2
R11 / Pre / 32.65 / 1.3 / 28.14 / 13.11
Post / 23.96 / 0.18 / 19.02 / 16.36
R12 / Pre / 3.72 / 0.39 / 2.27 / 1.61
Post / 9.49 / 0.5 / 8.1 / 2.6
R13 / Pre / 121.89 / 1.4 / 119.32 / 63.44
Post / 223 / 0.9 / 182.02 / 163
R14 / Pre / 42.08 / 0.06 / 37.9 / 24.6
Post / 49.6 / 0.16 / 43.08 / 32.1
R15 / Pre / 109.29 / 0.79 / 105.2 / 84
Post / 120.02 / 1.7 / 102 / 89.39
R16 / Pre / 27.97 / 0.18 / 26.2 / 17.91
Post / 41.3 / 0.32 / 38.08 / 26.0
R17 / Pre / 14.22 / 0.15 / 13.47 / 8.36
Post / 16.07 / 2.6 / 13.04 / 4.5
R18 / Pre / 56.83 / 2.48 / 48.9 / 22.5
Post / 57.14 / 0.04 / 56.25 / 43
R19 / Pre / 54.56 / 2.1 / 51.58 / 38.06
Post / 59.35 / 1.01 / 52.01 / 27
R20 / Pre / 131.13 / 2.9 / 124.06 / 67.96
Post / 140.8 / 0.4 / 122.1 / 86
R21 / Pre / 57.67 / 1.3 / 46.08 / 23.57
Post / 60.02 / 0.7 / 52.17 / 33.42
R22 / Pre / 8.2 / 0.4 / 8.03 / 6.8
Post / 12.7 / 0.51 / 10.8 / 4.66
R23 / Pre / 31 / 0.29 / 22 / 17.9
Post / 43.61 / 0.41 / 31.51 / 12.4
R24 / Pre / 107.11 / 0.07 / 94.25 / 83
Post / 99.82 / 0.72 / 97 / 76.02
R25 / Pre / 38.55 / 0.48 / 37.2 / 19.8
Post / 40.8 / 1.2 / 39.3 / 11.02
R26 / Pre / 64.46 / 0.08 / 53.47 / 28.92
Post / 71 / 0.3 / 64 / 52.4
R27 / Pre / 30.53 / 1.7 / 29.7 / 5.8
Post / 32.84 / 0.7 / 28.42 / 13
R28 / Pre / 74.57 / 0.6 / 68.41 / 49.2
Post / 65.76 / 0.35 / 62 / 55.91
R29 / Pre / 6.66 / 0.91 / 12 / 3.9
Post / 15.82 / 1.02 / 13.07 / 6.1
R30 / Pre / 18.5 / 0.88 / 11.2 / 3.6
Post / 21.95 / 0.06 / 19.3 / 13
R31 / Pre / 13.08 / 0.02 / 10.6 / 7.8
Post / 12.99 / 0.33 / 9.1 / 4.63
R32 / Pre / 39.01 / 0.04 / 33.8 / 28.14
Post / 45.53 / 0.07 / 45.2 / 45.06
R33 / Pre / 20.49 / 1.7 / 19.97 / 8.5
Post / 31 / 2.7 / 28.6 / 2.3
R34 / Pre / 43.27 / 0.03 / 37.41 / 21.8
Post / 49.83 / 1.7 / 41.73 / 26
R35 / Pre / 19.7 / 1.5 / 13.06 / 4.8
Post / 27 / 0.8 / 21 / 18.52
R36 / Pre / 32.75 / 0.3 / 30.95 / 11.3
Post / 33 / 0.04 / 22.50 / 16.9
R37 / Pre / 48.01 / 0.05 / 37.54 / 21.5
Post / 52.47 / 0.07 / 42.68 / 31
R38 / Pre / 1.89 / 0.2 / 1.43 / 1.25
Post / 2.05 / 0.06 / 2.05 / 1.04
R39 / Pre / 50.43 / 1.7 / 48 / 29.1
Post / 55.96 / 0.02 / 54.26 / 48
R40 / Pre / 79.86 / 0.1 / 67 / 30
Post / 82.22 / 0.08 / 79.3 / 66.02
R41 / Pre / 52.36 / 0.02 / 51 / 40.8
Post / 65.03 / 0.32 / 62 / 37.19
R42 / Pre / 50.78 / 0.71 / 47.76 / 24.47
Post / 48.09 / 0.03 / 39.9 / 27.42
Table 2. Nitrate concentration range in mg/l in the urban areas of selected study sites in Nagpur and Bhandara district
Sample code / Sampling Season / Mean Nitrate conc. (mg/l) / Standard deviation (S.D.) / Max. (mg/l) / Min. (mg/l)U1 / Pre / 21.60 / 0.8 / 20.68 / 10.89
Post / 22.93 / 0.03 / 19.03 / 7.2
U2 / Pre / 4.56 / 0.01 / 3.1 / 2.2
Post / 6.02 / 0.05 / 5.3 / 1.01
U3 / Pre / 3.65 / 0.04 / 3.56 / 1.93
Post / 7.2 / 0.09 / 6.81 / 2.5
U4 / Pre / 43.28 / 1.9 / 41.86 / 19.98
Post / 44.16 / 1.2 / 37.02 / 14.6
U5 / Pre / 2.99 / 0.03 / 2.92 / 1.51
Post / 4.18 / 0.16 / 3.9 / 1.67
U6 / Pre / 1.86 / 0.4 / 1.29 / 0.27
Post / 2.03 / 0.2 / 1.48 / 0.42
U7 / Pre / 5.96 / 1.11 / 5.8 / 1.3
Post / 3.21 / 0.03 / 2.61 / 1.27
U8 / Pre / 1.23 / 0.5 / 0.96 / 0.1
Post / 2.71 / 0.2 / 1.83 / 0.22
U9 / Pre / 7.83 / 0.19 / 7.02 / 3.9
Post / 10.64 / 0.12 / 7.6 / 4.1
U10 / Pre / 20.86 / 1.97 / 20.6 / 10.84
Post / 26.73 / 0.7 / 23 / 9.74
U11 / Pre / 39.24 / 1.8 / 36.4 / 12.2
Post / 42.31 / 0.52 / 37 / 13.95
U12 / Pre / 35.98 / 0.66 / 33.8 / 12.96
Post / 43.07 / 0.05 / 37.52 / 14.66
U13 / Pre / 19.23 / 1.02 / 16.96 / 0.98
Post / 20.01 / 0.75 / 17.49 / 1.2
U14 / Pre / 3.57 / 0.02 / 2.46 / 1.07
Post / 5.38 / 0.1 / 4.62 / 1.31
U15 / Pre / 42.16 / 0.43 / 39.1 / 26.78
Post / 37.21 / 0.15 / 28.43 / 10.31
U16 / Pre / 41.31 / 0.02 / 39.3 / 26.5
Post / 57.94 / 0.06 / 49.92 / 23
U17 / Pre / 1.73 / 0.37 / 1.018 / 0.02
Post / 3.76 / 0.04 / 2.41 / 0.63
U18 / Pre / 108.89 / 0.47 / 106.48 / 49.6
Post / 126.31 / 0.21 / 100.37 / 92.81
U19 / Pre / 31.38 / 0.92 / 27.48 / 10.78
Post / 40.84 / 0.53 / 39.73 / 19.71
U20 / Pre / 10.16 / 0.004 / 9.5 / 8.01
Post / 12.01 / 0.02 / 11.8 / 7.92
U21 / Pre / 0.81 / 1.6 / 0.64 / 0.10
Post / 1.26 / 0.41 / 0.70 / 0.14
U22 / Pre / 0.58 / 0.50 / 0.43 / 0.21
Post / 0.92 / 0.06 / 0.77 / 0.45
U23 / Pre / 30.5 / 0.24 / 25.2 / 17
Post / 42 / 0.16 / 37.08 / 13.88
U24 / Pre / 8.73 / 0.13 / 6.49 / 3.7
Post / 9.6 / 0.04 / 8.94 / 5.33
U25 / Pre / 7.26 / 2.9 / 6.2 / 1.6
Post / 10.98 / 1.2 / 7.77 / 2.34
U26 / Pre / 1.63 / 0.09 / 1.24 / 0.47
Post / 4.71 / 1.42 / 3.38 / 0.6
U27 / Pre / 3.93 / 1.8 / 3.2 / 1.2
Post / 4.01 / 0.51 / 3.96 / 1.55
U28 / Pre / 13.26 / 0.007 / 12.97 / 11.33
Post / 17.92 / 0.82 / 16.02 / 12.94
U29 / Pre / 48.85 / 0.38 / 43.89 / 28.61
Post / 54.02 / 0.14 / 52.6 / 33.27
U30 / Pre / 14.73 / 0.17 / 12.3 / 7.26
Post / 14.82 / 0.03 / 13.21 / 10.47
U31 / Pre / 7.1 / 0.25 / 6.7 / 4.9
Post / 6.88 / 0.13 / 6.39 / 5.95
U32 / Pre / 29.7 / 0.16 / 21.3 / 9.95
Post / 23.84 / 0.04 / 21.28 / 8.99
U33 / Pre / 13.96 / 0.01 / 12.9 / 11.4
Post / 16.02 / 0.03 / 15.27 / 12.33
U34 / Pre / 3.32 / 0.31 / 3.06 / 1.9
Post / 5.85 / 0.09 / 4.94 / 2.76
U35 / Pre / 16.06 / 0.4 / 14.2 / 11.14
Post / 20.73 / 0.52 / 18.37 / 12.03
The estimated daily intake for vegetables was calculated and compared with the acceptable daily intake limit. The EDI:ADI limit was exceeded by 5 samples in rural areas and 18 samples in urban areas. (Table 3.)
Table 3. Estimated Daily intake for the drinking water consumption
Sample no. / Mean / EDI / ADI:EDIR1 / 25.42 / 50.84 / 0.50
R2 / 25.76 / 51.52 / 0.50
R3 / 134.08 / 268.16 / 0.10
R4 / 80.21 / 160.42 / 0.16
R5 / 43.86 / 87.72 / 0.29
R6 / 17.8 / 35.6 / 0.72
R7 / 41.54 / 83.08 / 0.31
R8 / 8.87 / 17.74 / 1.44
R9 / 50.5 / 101 / 0.25
R10 / 7.73 / 15.46 / 1.65
R11 / 32.65 / 65.3 / 0.39
R12 / 3.72 / 7.44 / 3.43
R13 / 121.89 / 243.78 / 0.10
R14 / 42.08 / 84.16 / 0.30
R15 / 109.29 / 218.58 / 0.12
R16 / 27.97 / 55.94 / 0.46
R17 / 14.22 / 28.44 / 0.90
R18 / 56.83 / 113.66 / 0.22
R19 / 54.56 / 109.12 / 0.23
R20 / 131.13 / 262.26 / 0.10
R21 / 57.67 / 115.34 / 0.22
R22 / 8.2 / 16.4 / 1.56
R23 / 31 / 62 / 0.41
R24 / 107.11 / 214.22 / 0.12
R25 / 38.55 / 77.1 / 0.33
R26 / 64.46 / 128.92 / 0.20
R27 / 30.53 / 61.06 / 0.42
R28 / 74.57 / 149.14 / 0.17
R29 / 6.66 / 13.32 / 1.92
R30 / 18.5 / 37 / 0.69
R31 / 13.08 / 26.16 / 0.98
R32 / 39.01 / 78.02 / 0.33
R33 / 20.49 / 40.98 / 0.62
R34 / 43.27 / 86.54 / 0.30
R35 / 19.7 / 39.4 / 0.65
R36 / 32.75 / 65.5 / 0.39
R37 / 48.01 / 96.02 / 0.27
R38 / 1.89 / 3.78 / 6.76
R39 / 50.43 / 100.86 / 0.25
R40 / 79.86 / 159.72 / 0.16
R41 / 52.36 / 104.72 / 0.24
R42 / 50.78 / 101.56 / 0.25
U1 / 21.60 / 43.2 / 0.59
U2 / 4.56 / 9.12 / 2.80
U3 / 3.65 / 7.3 / 3.50
U4 / 43.28 / 86.56 / 0.30
U5 / 2.99 / 5.98 / 4.27
U6 / 1.86 / 3.72 / 6.87
U7 / 5.96 / 11.92 / 2.14
U8 / 1.23 / 2.46 / 1.39
U9 / 7.83 / 15.66 / 1.63
U10 / 20.86 / 41.72 / 0.61
U11 / 39.24 / 78.48 / 0.33
U12 / 35.98 / 71.96 / 0.36
U13 / 19.23 / 138.46 / 0.18
U14 / 3.57 / 7.14 / 3.58
U15 / 42.16 / 84.32 / 0.30
U16 / 41.31 / 82.62 / 0.31
U17 / 1.73 / 3.46 / 7.38
U18 / 108.89 / 217.78 / 0.12
U19 / 31.38 / 62.76 / 0.41
U20 / 10.16 / 202.32 / 0.13
U21 / 0.81 / 1.62 / 1.77
U22 / 0.58 / 1.16 / 2.03
U23 / 30.5 / 61 / 0.42
U24 / 8.73 / 17.46 / 1.46
U25 / 7.26 / 14.52 / 1.76
U26 / 1.63 / 3.26 / 2.84
U27 / 3.93 / 7.86 / 3.25
U28 / 13.26 / 26.52 / 0.96
U29 / 48.85 / 97.7 / 0.26
U30 / 14.73 / 29.46 / 0.87
U31 / 7.1 / 14.2 / 1.80
U32 / 29.7 / 59.4 / 0.43
U33 / 13.96 / 27.92 / 0.92
U34 / 3.32 / 6.64 / 3.85
U35 / 16.06 / 32.12 / 0.80
The detailed questionnaire of the sanitation survey is given in table 4. This survey dealt with the different plausible sources of contamination of the groundwater including source, storage and sedimentation tank, pipeline and household storage.
Table 4.Questionnaire
Questions / ResponsesA. General:
- Village/city:
- Address:
B. Source
- If the animals could freely enter the source? (Note: no fencing)
- Is the ground around the source clean?
- Are animals drinking water from the source?
- Are animals defecating around the source?
- Are animals leaving garbage around the source?
- Are there any latrines or seepage from latrines just above the source-is this the case?
- Is there any effluent from poultry, livestock, schools or houses entering the source-is this the case?
- Are people bathing, washing laundry, animals or vehicles at the source?
- Is the pipe from the source to the tank in good condition?
C. Sedimentation tank / Yes/No
- Is the tank in good condition, does it need repair or rehabilitation?
- Is the pipe from the source in good condition?
- Does source water enter the sedimentation tank from the top?
- Does the sedimentation tank have a cover?
- Is the sedimentation tank not correctly designed and functioning with the appropriate filter material?
- Does the last chamber do not contain clean water?
- Is the sedimentation tank not cleaned at least once every three months?
D. Storage tank / Yes/No
- Is the tank not in good condition; does it need repair or rehabilitation?
- Is the pipe from the sedimentation tank not in good condition?
- Does the storage tank do not have a lid/cover?
- Is the storage tank not cleaned at least once in every three months?
- Does the storage tank do not have valves at the inlet and outlet so that chlorination is possible if desired?
E. Pipelines / Yes/No
- Are pipes in good condition and free from leaks?
- Are joints and valves not in good condition and free from leaks?
- Is the area around pipes not free from animal fecal matter and garbage?
F. Household storage / Yes/No
- Is the household using the electro chlorinator?
- Is the storage container cleaned daily before storing water?
- Does the container have a cover?
- Is the ladle to remove water from the storage container clean?
- Do households not practice hand washing with soap?