Study on Nitrate Pollution in Groundwater in Coastal Regions of Chennai City, Tamil Nadu

Groundwater is an important resource and the quality of groundwater has to be good for consumption purpose. Nitrate contamination in groundwater is a major problem in many places. Nitrate pollution in the groundwater of the Chennai coastal aquifers was assessed to find out the extent of pollution in the area. From the samples collected from various locations, it is identified that the concentration of nitrate in groundwater ranged between 9 mg/L and 106 mg/L, and 27.7% of the samples have high nitrate. It was found that the higher concentration of nitrate is due to the use of fertilizers and leaching from septic tanks of residential buildings in this region. It is evident from the present study that the groundwater of this area is highly contaminated with nitrate and mitigative measures are needed to be taken to treat the groundwater which is used for domestic purposes.