Assessment of Groundwater quality in Granite Mining Areas of Bijauli in Bundelkhand Region of India

An assessment of water quality and heavy metal contents in groundwater samples collected from the granite mining areas of Bijauli was carried out, covering, pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon periods. The physico-chemical variables studied were pH, electrical conductivity, dissolve oxygen, turbidity, calcium hardness, magnesium hardness, alkalinity, nitrate, fluoride, total dissolve solids and chloride contents. The results of the study revealed that parameters such as pH (6.8?8.1), turbidity (1.4 ? 2.4 NTU), fluoride (0.31 ? 0.99 mg L-1), dissolve oxygen (5.2 ? 7.7 mg L-1), and chlorides (36 ? 376 mg L-1) contents were within the acceptable limits for drinking water. The electrical conductivity (450?2750 ?S cm-1), total dissolve solids (462?1860 mg L-1), calcium hardness (90 ? 237 mg L-1), magnesium hardness (40.3 ? 134.3 mg L-1), alkalinity (148 ? 434 mg L-1), nitrate (15.2 ? 89.0 mg L-1) contents were found to have exceeded the prescribed acceptable limits. The results obtained in heavy metal analyses, indicated that the levels of Fe and Zn were within the acceptable limits, whereas Al was below the detectable level. High concentrations of Cd (0.045 ? 0.064 mg L-1), Pb (0.045 ? 0.630 mg L-1) and Mn (0.250 ? 0.613 mg L-1), exceeding the acceptable levels were recorded in the groundwater samples.