Suitability of Drinking Water in and around Clay Mines in Northern Kerala, India

The mining activity provides significant benefits to society with strong passions, but it should be sustainably planned and controlled. Clay mining activity is widely used in all parts of the world which impact on drying of wells and rehabilitation problems in large scale. Clay is a natural and earthy fine-grained material which contains a significant amount of minerals in the form of crystalline hydrous silicate material. The degradation in the level of clay causes severe impact on water hence this paper intends to evaluate the impact of clay mining on the physical and chemical characteristics of drinking water sources in and around the mining zone of Payangadi - North of Kannur, Kerala. This research uses water samples collected in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon period for examining various physicochemical characteristics like pH, acidity, salinity, hardness, silica, Mg, Cl-, SO42-, total dissolved solids (TDS), and chemical oxygen demand (COD). APHA (American public health association) 2012 test method used for analytical purposes and the permissible limits for the physic-chemical parameters of the water samples based on IS-105002012 and WHO 2012. The findings of the study revealed that the quality of drinking water is considerably affected by clay mining activity wherein only an average of 30.09 % post-monsoon water samples is found to be within the permissible limit as stated in IS-105002012 and WHO 2012.