Spectroscopic Studies on Iron Level Content in the Water and Bottom Sediment of Isapur reservoir Maharashtra

Background and Objective: Iron is the commonly found essential micronutrients widely distributed in an aquatic ecosystem. Iron, in lower amount is important for plants, animals and humans but, can cause severe health problems if present in excess amount. Accumulation of excess amount of iron can give unpleasing flavor, color and odor to the water. The surface runoff and weathering of rocks act as contributing sources for iron in aquatic ecosystem. It is usually found in the divalent soluble reduced form as Ferrous (Fe2+). An attempt has been made to study the distribution of iron amountin water and bottom sediments of Isapur water reservoir. The studies were also carried out to observe the potential human health risk due to the iron concentration in water body, as iron acts as both essential micronutrient as well as a potential toxin to the surrounding population. Material and Methods: Water and sediment samples were collected once in a month and analyzed by using UV Visible spectrophotometer at 510 nmusing APHA as a standard method. Iron was estimated by using widely used Thio-cynate procedure. Results: Observations showed that natural and anthropogenic activities contributing in increased level of metal pollution. Average iron values found from four selected water sampling sites, as in monsoon (0.455, 0.4, 0.345 and 0.342), winter (0.39, 0.355, 0.32 and 0.315), summer (0.552, 0.487, 0.415 and 0.382) mg/L. Similarly in sediment samples, average values noted in monsoon were (3662.5, 3665), winter (3230, 3200) and summer (3705, 3740) mg/kg respectively. Conclusion: Observed average iron concentration values for water at all four selected sampling sites exceeded the recommended guidelines prescribed by the authorities like World Health Organization (WHO) for domestic water use. Research observations also indicated that the sediment comprised of higher deposits of iron.This excess iron concentration in aquatic ecosystem may lead to common health complaints like nausea, vomiting, cramping, gastrointestinal upset etc. In severe iron toxicity, it may be reason for organ damage, coma or loss of life.The results obtained will contribute for better water quality management and risk assessment for the surrounding populations.