NDLI: Vulnerability of Coastal Aquifers Due to Nutrient Pollution from Agriculture: Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Jayasingha, Pathmakumara Pitawala, A. Dharmagunawardhane, H. A.
Copyright Year	2011
Abstract	This study focuses on spatial and temporal nutrient pollution of groundwater in the unconfined sandy aquifers of Kalpitiya peninsula, Sri Lanka, where agricultural activities are intense. The study covers two consecutive dry and rainy seasons during the period from 2008 to 2010. Nitrate is the dominant nutrient pollutant in groundwater. The values of Nitrate-N contents ranged from 0.60 to 212.40 mg/L in the dry seasons and 0.20–148.50 mg/L in rainy seasons. Phosphate in groundwater ranged from 0.20 to 5.70 mg/L in dry seasons and 0.04–10.35 mg/L with few exceptions in rainy seasons. About 50% of the studied water samples had Nitrate-N concentrations above WHO drinking water guideline values both in dry and rainy periods. These high concentrations were recorded from wells in agricultural lands. Although there is a slight decrease in the Nitrate-N concentrations at random in rainy seasons, an increasing trend of average concentrations became evident over the study period as a whole, probably indicating building up of Nitrate-N in groundwater in the vegetable growing areas. The spatial distribution of Nitrate-N too shows a good match of high Nitrate-N bearing zones with vegetable cultivated areas indicating intensive leaching from application of excessive chemical fertilizers. High Nitrate-N zones also showed fairly steady lateral distribution indicating slow lateral mobility of Nitrate-rich groundwater probably due to low hydraulic gradients. Low phosphate concentrations in both groundwater and surface soils either indicates their less use in the area or that the available phosphate is leached and removed from the aquifer water and (sandy) soil solutions and probably adsorbed in clayey deeper horizons. Low concentrations of major cations (especially K, Ca, and Na) indicate less impact on cation concentrations in groundwater by the fertilizer application or sea water intrusions/up-coning.
Starting Page	563
Ending Page	577
Page Count	15
File Format	PDF
ISSN	00496979
Journal	Water, Air, and Soil Pollution
Volume Number	219
Issue Number	1-4
e-ISSN	15732932
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2011-01-12
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Nutrient pollution Coastal aquifers Agriculture Fertilizer Climate Change Waste Water Technology Water Pollution Control Water Management Aquatic Pollution Environment Soil Science & Conservation Hydrogeology Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Ecological Modeling Environmental Chemistry Pollution Environmental Engineering Water Science and Technology

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Climate Change, Pollution Droughts and Agriculture

Climate Change: Agriculture and Hunger

AgriBusiness versus AgriCulture

Real Sustainability

Goin’ Fishin’

Desert Takeover?

Evaluating Science

Global Pollution, Climate Change, and Democracies

Quantification of Shallow Groundwater Nutrient Dynamics in Septic Areas

Vulnerability of Coastal Aquifers Due to Nutrient Pollution from Agriculture: Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka

Similar Documents

Climate Change, Pollution Droughts and Agriculture

Climate Change: Agriculture and Hunger

AgriBusiness versus AgriCulture

Real Sustainability

Goin’ Fishin’

Desert Takeover?

Evaluating Science

Global Pollution, Climate Change, and Democracies

Quantification of Shallow Groundwater Nutrient Dynamics in Septic Areas

Vulnerability of Coastal Aquifers Due to Nutrient Pollution from Agriculture: Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka