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Modeling and study of the mechanism of mobilization of arsenic contamination in the groundwater of Nepal in South Asia

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Abstract

A study on arsenic (As) contamination in the groundwater of the Gaur Municipality, Rautahat district, Nepal was undertaken. We have designed a model, by backward stepwise regression analysis, to predict As concentration (R 2 = 67 %) when information on some covariates such as nitrate, bicarbonate, and total iron (Fe) is available. The model was applied to Nepal groundwater and verified for Bangladesh groundwater. This multivariate model may be used to predict As concentration in given anions and cations. The analysis of variance test showed that the model designed is statistically significant (p < 0.001). Among all the covariates, Fe content showed the strongest positive correlation with As. The multivariate model for predicting the As from the existing three explanatory variables (NO3, HCO3, and Fe) for Nepal groundwater is found as: \( {\hat{\text{A}}\text{s}} = 19.349 - 0.221\;{\text{NO}}_{3} - 0.041\; {\text{HCO}}_{3} + 3.274.50 \; {\text{Fe with }}R^{2} = 67\;\% , \) where As in μg/L, Nitrate bicarbonate, and Fe in mg/L. The release of As from the soil was found according to the Fe reduction hypothesis. The As concentration varied from 1 to 62 μg/L in the groundwater sample (n = 50) of both the private and public shallow tube-wells. Among analyzed sample units, one of the tube-well’s As concentration exceeded 50 μg/L, 18 were between 10 and 50 μg/L, and the rest (31) were below 10 μg/L.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Ministry of Science and Technology through the International Environmental Research Center (UNU and GIST Joint Program) at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju, The Republic of Korea. Authors would like to acknowledge Professor Mark N. Goltz, AFIT, for his critical and important comments and Ms Sheil Doran, Xavier University for her help in proofreading of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Systems and Engineering Management, Air Force Institute of Technology, 2950 Hobson Way, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, 45433, USA

    Sushil R. Kanel

  2. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH, 45207, USA

    Ganesh B. Malla

  3. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), 1-Oryong-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju, 500-712, The Republic of Korea

    Heechul Choi

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  1. Sushil R. Kanel
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  2. Ganesh B. Malla
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  3. Heechul Choi
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Correspondence to Sushil R. Kanel.

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Kanel, S.R., Malla, G.B. & Choi, H. Modeling and study of the mechanism of mobilization of arsenic contamination in the groundwater of Nepal in South Asia. Clean Techn Environ Policy 15, 1077–1082 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-013-0580-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-013-0580-z

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