Assessment of the level of uranium in groundwater and the role of public water purifiers in mitigating the concentration- A study from the south-western part of Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
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Groundwater samples were gathered from various sites adjacent to Manchanabele Reservoir and their uranium concentration was measured using a Light Emitting Diode (LED) fluorimeter. The results show that the uranium concentration varied widely from 0.2 to 358.1 ppb, with a Geometric Mean (GM) of 16.51 ppb. According to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and World Health Organization (WHO) standard values, high uranium concentrations are found in 23 % and 34 % of samples, respectively. Water samples from public water purifiers which use reverse osmosis were also taken from the same locations in order to comprehend the potential decrease in uranium content. The uranium concentration in these samples varied from 0.2 to 18.1 ppb, with a GM of 0.32 ppb. Every water sample taken from the water purifiers reveals a concentration that is well within the safe limit of 30 ppb. Uranium levels are found to be comparatively very less in purified waters than those collected directly from the borewells. From the measured concentration of uranium, the radiological risk parameters estimated in terms of lifetime cancer risk is in the range of 0.001x10-3 to 1.14x10-3 with GM of 0.05x10-3. The chemical toxicity risk measured as lifetime annual daily dose is found to range from 0.007 to 13.34 μg/kg/day with GM of 0.61 μg/kg/day for groundwater samples and 0.0006x10-3 to 0.05x10-3 with GM of 0.001x10-3, 0.0074-0.67 μg/kg/day with GM of 0.012 μg/kg/day for purified water samples. Annual Effective Dose (AED) for the different age group was estimated and the values for Infants, children and Adults are found to vary between 0.4 and 734.99 μSv/y with a GM of 33.88 μSv/y, 0.141-251.84 μSv/y with a GM of 11.61μSv/y and 0.17-310.60μSv/y with a GM of 14.32 μSv/y for groundwater samples and 0.41-37.14 μSv/y with GM of 0.65 μSv/y, 0.14-12.72 μSv/y with GM of 0.22 μSv/y, 0.17-15.69 μSv/y with GM of 0.27 μSv/y respectively for purified water samples. The physicochemical parameters like pH and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) were also measured and the dependence of uranium concentration on these parameters has also been studied.