Groundwater Quality and Potential Health Risk Assessment in the Vicinity of Solid Waste Dumping Sites of Quaternary Shallow Water Aquifers of Ganga Basin

Solid waste dumping sites (SWDS) are locations utilized for disposing of both biodegradable and nonbiodegradable waste; however, these sites either directly or indirectly impact the water quality through leaching. The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of solid waste disposal on the groundwater of quaternary shallow water aquifers in the Ganga Basin in Haridwar, India. 32 water samples were collected from 16 sites by using the grab sampling method in the vicinity of the four mentioned municipal solid waste disposal sites during the pre and post-monsoon seasons. For a better interpretation of the results, statistical tools such as mean, standard deviation, variance coefficient (VC), and principal component analysis (PCA) were applied while the groundwater quality index (GWQI) and potential health risk assessment (PHRA) were calculated for quality assurance in the study area. Additionally, the saturation index, Durov plot, and piper trilinear diagram analysis were used for identifying the hydrogeochemical mechanism. The GWQI revealed that 75% of samples had good quality while the rest (25%) were found of poor quality confirming that the groundwater of the adjacent area of these disposal sites was mainly affected due to the leaching effect. Besides this, PHRA showed that most of the groundwater samples were significantly affected by the parameters in the order such as NO 3 − > Fe > F − > Zn > Ni. PHRA results revealed that infants are shown to have no to low health risk from consumption of these minerals, while children and adults are prone to have low risk to moderate risk. It has been determined that among 17 selected parameters, five parameters, i.e., the five types of pollutants, NO 3 − , Fe, F − , Zn, and Ni, are the most prevalent. These pollutants may have been introduced by landfill sites and human activity, i.e., agricultural activities and sewage treatment plants in the adjacent area of SWDS. Necessary mitigation measures were taken to prevent the degradation of groundwater quality in the nearby area of SWDS.