Browsing by Author "Litheepan, G."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    An Investigation on Iron Enrichment in Groundwater in Ampara District
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2012) Litheepan, G.; Udagedara, D.T.; Attanayake, A.N.B.
    Ground water is the major source to drinking purpose in the world, because usually its quality is good. Public of Sri Lanka also rely on groundwater as a drinking water source and also for other purpose. Naturally occurring groundwater quality problems are typically associated with high hardness, high salinity and elevated concentrations of iron, manganese, ammonium, fluoride, and occasionally methane, hydrogen supplied, nitrate, and arsenic. A high concentration of iron is by far the most common water quality problem associated with groundwater Excess iron problems have been reported from two villages in Ampara district of Sri Lanka, namely, Naavithanvely and Savalakadai. As per the previous studies above locations are containing more than 0.3mg/L iron in ground water. This research intends to investigate the distribution of iron in groundwater of this particular area. First the location in Ampara district was investigated based on the information from previously published data. The groundwater quality was analyzed from different sources like lake, ponds, dug wells, tube wells and holes in the two villages.50 water samples were collected into glass bottles in linear pattern from land to river based on groundwater flow in selected areas. The temperature and pH were also measured at the site. GPS coordinates were recorded. Standard sampling methods were followed. Iron concentrations were measured using atomic absorption spectrometric method. It is apparent that high iron concentrations are reported in groundwater samples close the river. The land use patterns in the area are paddy fields on the west, lagoon on the east and forest area on the northwest corner of the map. Highest concentrations are observed in the middle of the map, while most other concentrations are higher than the maximum permissible levels.lt was observed that the total iron concentration is decreasing from land toward the river. There are two areas where high total iron concentrations are recorded. Most of these locations have iron concentrations which exceed maximum permissible levels imposed by the WHO. The actual source for these high iron concentrations is yet to be identified.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Iron Distibution of Drinking Water in Ampara District
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2012) Litheepan, G.
    Groundwater resources support many urban, rural and remote communities around Sri Lanka. Aquifers are a source of water for drinking, irrigation, stock supply, bottling and many other uses. As industrial and agricultural development of Sri Lanka increases, the demand for water also steadily grows. In some parts of the Sri Lanka, the current rate of groundwater extraction is depleting the resource faster than it is being recharged. Groundwater contains a variety of chemical constituents at different concentrations. The greater part of the soluble constituents in groundwater comes from soluble minerals in soils and sedimentary rocks. A much smaller part has its origin in the atmosphere and surface water bodies. In this study was carried out regarding the iron concentration in drinking water. The study was focused on two selected areas in Ampara district of Sri Lanka. The flow direction was roughly assumed by investigating hydrogeological features then 50 water samples were collected from wells, river, tube wells, paddy field, lack and holes in selected two places for the water quality analysis. The collected water samples were tested for the pH and iron. The iron concentration distribution was drowned by using ARCGIS 9.3 and graphical quality variation was critically commented by using MINITAB 14.0. The iron concentration is decreasing from central part of village to sounding area that is land to rive and paddy field areas.