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The qualitative and quantitative assessment of groundwater is one of the important aspects for determining the suitability of potable water. Therefore, the present study has been performed to evaluate the groundwater quality for Achhnera block in the city of Taj, Agra, India, where groundwater is an important water resource. The groundwater samples, 50 in number were collected and analyzed for major ions along with some important trace element. This study has further investigated for the applicability of groundwater quality index (GWQI), and the principal component analysis (PCA) to mark out the major geochemical solutes responsible for origin and release of geochemical solutes into the groundwater. The results confirm that, majority of the collected groundwater samples were alkaline in nature. The variation of concentration of anions in collected groundwater samples were varied in the sequence as, HCO3− > Cl− > SO42− > F− while in contrast the sequence of cations in the groundwater as Na > Ca > Mg > K. The Piper diagram demonstrated the major hydro chemical facies which were found in groundwater (sodium bicarbonate or calcium chloride type). The plot of Schoellar diagram reconfirmed that the major cations were Na+ and Ca2+ ions, while in contrast; major anions were bicarbonates and chloride. The results showed water quality index mostly ranged between 105 and 185, hence, the study area fell in the category of unsuitable for drinking purpose category. The PCA showed pH, Na+, Ca2+, HCO3− and fluoride with strong loading, which pointed out geogenic source of fluoride contamination. Therefore, it was inferred that the groundwater of the contaminated areas must be treated and made potable before consumption. The outcomes of the present study will be helpful for the regulatory boards and policymaker for defining the actual impact and remediation goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantity and quality of surface waters are affected by climate change. Therefore, the study of the impact of climate change on surface water is very important. In the first part of the study, the output of the HadGM2-ES model was used to generate a future climatic pattern under two Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios: RCP2.6 and RCP8.5. The atmospheric circulation data from the model were utilized for this purpose. In the second part of the study, the climate model Long Ashton Research Station Weather Generator (LARS-WG) was employed to downscale climate data, including precipitation flow, temperatures, total solids (TS), and electrical conductivity (EC) parameters of the Ghezel Ozan River until 2050. In the final section, we evaluated the NARX neural network model for simulating the quality and quantity parameters. The results proved that the LARS-WG software has an extraordinary ability to downscale and generate synthetic series of climatic variables. According to the emission scenarios RCP2.6 and RCP8.5, an increasing trend in minimum and maximum temperature was predicted over the future time period. The highest temperature was obtained under the worst situation of RCP8.5. Additionally, the results showed that the highest decrease in precipitation is estimated as 15.38% in mid-winter and 18.68% in early spring during the future period. With the decrease in precipitation, the river flow is projected to decrease by 42.59% in late winter and 76.32% in early spring compared to the observation period. As a result of decreased precipitation and discharge, the EC parameter is expected to increase by 52.06% in late winter and 81.27% in early spring compared to the base period. Overall, our findings indicate that these parameters are strongly influenced by climate change, posing a risk of water shortage and drought to the ecosystem of many aquatic organism's dependent on this river. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevalence of fluorosis is a worldwide public health problem especially in many states of India. It is necessary to find out the fluoride endemic areas to adopt remedial measures to the people on the risk of fluorosis. The target goals of this research were to assess (a) the exposure of fluoride concentration; (b) probabilistic risk assessment, sensitivity analysis, and uncertainty through intake of groundwater among population of Agra City (infants, children and adults) by Crystal Ball software; and (c) spatial distribution of HQ and fluoride concentration. A total of sixty samples from standing tube wells/hand pumps were gathered from selected and identified fluoride prevalent areas in Agra City. The concentration of fluoride scrutinized was obtained to be ranging from 1.32 to 4.60 mg/L with mean value of 2.36 in Agra City, and more than 91% of samples investigated surpassed the allowable level set for fluoride concentration in potable water 1.5 mg/L, although 9% of the samples were well within the drinking water guidelines (0.5-1.5 mg/L). The hazard quotient (HQ) was obtained to an enormous difference in the exposure dose in infants (1.66–3.91), children (1.87–4.4), and adults (0.92–2.16), correspondingly. The non-carcinogenic HQ values in the group of infants, children, and more than 90% of adults were higher than those of the safety level (i.e., HQ >1). Consequently, the non-carcinogenic risks (HQ level) of fluoride vary from the most to the least: children, infant, and adults, respectively. With 87.41% certainty, the results indicated that the HQ values are between 1 and 3.42. So, infant is the most vulnerable group to fluoride consumption in study area. Uncertainty analysis results indicated that the children group's HQ level was between 1 and 1.90 with 38.48% certainty. To avoid further worsening of the situation as far as health is concerned, remedial actions like alternate sources of water supply and appropriate treatment of water need to be adopted besides required medical attention to affected people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater is a precious natural water resource which can be considered as an available and safe source of water for domestic uses. In some cities in northern Iran, groundwater is being polluted due to various human activities. In this regard, the located municipal solid waste landfills close to these areas without the requested controls regarding the landfill leachate and gas emission are among the major sources of environmental pollution, which are deteriorating groundwater quality around landfill sites. In this context, the current study was aimed to assess the quality of collected groundwater samples around a landfill site using the modified Water Quality Index for groundwater resources (WQIG). Also, the water quality map has been prepared by using WQIG in GIS environment. Therefore, thirty-three groundwater samples were collected and analyzed around 11 water wells close to the landfill site. Variety of physicochemical parameters including nitrate (NO3), fecal coliform, sodium absorption ratio (SAR), electrical conductivity, biological oxygen demand (BOD5), phosphate (PO4), total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, pH were assessed in groundwater samples based on recommended standard methods by American Public Health Association (APHA). Geostatistics analysis including Kriging, semi-variogram, and variogram methods also was used to evaluate the spatial variations in the variables and to provide the necessary data for further interpolation. According to the results of WQIG, most of the groundwater wells (98.85%) are polluted due to the existing of the landfill site in the investigated area. Generally speaking, based on the WQIG the water samples were defined as not suitable for drinking applications. Also, the high concentrations of nitrate and hardness in the downstream wells (W1–W11) of the landfill were demonstrated by the results of Kriging assay which can be correlated with the penetration of leachate into these wells. Considering the SAR results, all wells in the studied area are classified as (C3S1) that means the groundwater of this area is suitable for agricultural approaches. Moreover, the reduction in the water quality from the south to the north and northeast was demonstrated by the results of spatial dispersion. Evaluation of the changes in water quality near landfill sites showed that 2149.56 m2 of total area had a relatively poor potential for the region's groundwater recharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the original publication of the article, the name of the seventh author is incorrectly published as "Fazzel Amiri". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]