Author(s): Md Shajedul Islam and MG Mostafa*
Bangladesh is a densely populated and developing country that faced severe water contamination, crisis, and security. About 100% of the population has access to the availability of freshwater, but the purity of water is always concerned. The groundwater of Bangladesh is under increasing threat from over-exploitation, population growth, rapid urbanization, and pollution from industries, domestic and agricultural sources. For the assessment of heavy and toxic metal contamination in shallow groundwater, the study collected 40 water samples from different stations in the middle-west part of Bangladesh. The results showed that three metals ion, viz. iron, manganese, and lead exceeded the concentration limit of WHO (2011) in most of the water samples indicating severe human health hazard. The single-factor pollution index (Ii) and compound pollution index (CPI) value of these three (3) metals were very high, i.e., much greater than 1. The other metal concentrations were found within the safe permissible ranges. The values of heavy metal pollution indices, viz. heavy metal pollution index (HMPI), heavy metal evaluation index (HMEI), degree of contamination (Cd), Nemerow Index (NeI), and ecological risk measurement (ERI) showed that most of the water samples were found medium to high levels of contamination in the study area. The analysis results revealed that an average of 32.6%, 15.6%, and 51.8% of the water samples was found low, medium, and high risk from heavy metal, respectively. There were 20 samples found highly contaminated with heavy metals out of 40 samples. The study results revealed that both the geogenic and anthropologic activities influenced the groundwater system of the area. It suggested that the groundwater quality should go under a continuous monitoring process for sustainable water quality management in the area. The study findings could help with further planning of potential future remediation measures for policymakers.
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