Nitrate Levels in Hoskote Taluk, Bangalore Rural District, Karnataka, India.

Abstract

Hoskote Taluk is one of the eight Taluks of Bangalore Rural District in Karnataka with a current approximate population of 3, 03, 428; the total water demand comes out at around 49.5 MLD @ 135 LPCD, (WHO Standard).Water and health are inter-twined in many ways and it is important to address the increasing need for adequate and safe water to protect both the people and the planet. Water is one of the earth’s most precious and threatened resources and health is each one of our most precious resource. Hence we need to protect and enhance them both. In the recent years, groundwater in the study area forms the mainstay of drinking water supply for meeting the community needs. But the threat of groundwater contamination is looming large over the study area. Contamination of groundwater source could occur due to pollution from industrial, agricultural and community living. Also, geology of the region has an important bearing on certain dissolved constituents in the groundwater supply, in particular like fluorides. In view of this, it is of paramount importance to look for and to evaluate the Nitrate levels in the drinking water of the area and assess their status of potability in the light of the criteria laid by Bureau of Indian Standards (B.I.S). Nitrate disease caused by excess intake of Nitrate. Results show that there is a definite contamination of ground water in the study area with respect to Nitrate and a clear correlation between the ill health faced by the public and ground water contamination is noticed.