Drinking water quality assessment in the water around a clay mine in Kannur district, Kerala

In the present investigation, the drinking water quality assessment in the water sources around china clay mine in Madayi Panchayath of Kannur District, Kerala, has been done. A study has been undertaken to understand, whether the quality of drinking water has any adverse effect from the mine which has been stopped mining for the last few years. The water samples were collected from ten randomly selected open wells around the china clay mine. The water quality parameters such as turbidity, pH, electrical conductivity, acidity, alkalinity, total dissolved solids, total hardness as (CaCO3), and presence of calcium, magnesium, chloride, fluoride, iron, nitrate, ammonia, sulfate, and phosphate are identified and quantified following appropriate methods and techniques. The results obtained were compared with the permissible limit suggested by the Bureau of Indian Standards for drinking water specification (IS 10500: 2012). It is observed that, some of the open well samples have excessive hardness and alkalinity. This may be attributed to the wastes disposed from the china clay mine as the lands nearby this mining site are filled and leveled with these wastes. The prolonged consumption of water from these wells may cause various health disorders to the inhabitants. Hence, it is advised to process the water from such wells to reduce the hardness and alkalinity for safe consumption. In addition to this, in depth studies on heavy metal content of water are also needed to assess the quality of water sources in and around the china clay mine region, for the safe consumption.