Abstract:
Water is a basic necessity of man along with food and air. In
Bangladesh groundwater is a major source of safe water for drinking
and other domestic purposes for the rural and urban population.
Groundwater contains dissolved minerals such as iron, arsenic,
manganese, nitrate, fluoride, chloride, calcium, sodium etc. Presence
of elevated levels of arsenic in groundwater has become a major
concern in Bangladesh and elevated levels of iron are also present in
many regions of the country. This study is an attempt to evaluate the
possible correlation between the presence of Arsenic and Iron in
groundwater.
Tn order to assess possible correlation between arsenic and iron
concentration in groundwater, 760 tubewell water samples were
analyzed. These tubewells covers the north-eastern zone of
Bangladesh, and the districts of Manikg0rU and Noakhali. About 64
% of the tubewells contain iron above 1.0 mg/l and exceed
Bangladesh standard and about 34 % of the tubewells contain iron
exceeding 5.0 mg/I. About 34 % of the tubewells contain arsenic
above 0.05 mg/l which is the Bangladesh standard for Arsenic. These
tubewells are a potential threat to public health.
The overall correlation between arsenic and iron concentration of
tubewell water in the study-area in Bangladesh is poor. But in some
districts a positive correlation has been observed and in some thanas
the positive correlation is very strong. Arsenic concentration analysis of groundwater from 3912 tubewell water samples were performed
and it was found that about 31 % of the tubewells in Bangladesh
have arsenic concentration above 0.05 mg/I which poses a potential
threat to public health.
In general if Arsenic concentration is higher, Iron concentration is
also higher.
