Study on groundwater quality in and around sipcot industrial complex, area cuddalore district,tamilnadu

STATE INDUSTRIES PROMOTION CORPORATION OF TAMIL NADU(SIPCOT) cuddalore phase 1 has estabilished in 1984 at an extent of 518.79 acres. currently between 26 and 29 functional units are lie within phase1 of the industrial estates.At least 10 villages lie within or in the vicinity of the industrial complex. Till date no sites has been developed for secure storage of hazardous wastes generated by the industries in the estate. In absence of such facilities factories have dumped these wastes on neighbouring lands and in open pits. By the industries own admission,out of the 20 million litres of fresh water required by the companies, 18 million litres (90%) of the water is released back to their environment as toxic effluents.These poisons have leached into the ground water and contaminated the water resources of communities living around the factory. This study was carried out to asses the Quality of ground water in and around SIPCOT industrial complex in cuddalore district. The Quality was assessed in terms of physico chemical parameters.Ground water samples were collected from 30 locations in and around the study area and analyzed (APHA,1998) to know the present status of the Ground water Quality. The results were compared with standards prescribed by ISI 10500-91.It was found that the ground water was contaminated at few sampling locations.The remaining locations shows that the parameters are within the desirable limits and fit for drinking purpose.