Assessment of chemical and microbial contamination of groundwater around pit-latrines – A case study in Dharampur and Dadpur villages of Samastipur District of Bihar

In the present study an Investigation was carried out to assess the extent of chemical and microbial contamination of drinking water in two villages viz. Dharampur and Dadpur of Samastipur. This study was carried out in the pre- and post-monsoon seasons of year 2011, 2012 and 2013.Water samples were randomly collected from 20 tube wells situated near the pit-latrines at the radius of 10-20 ft. Water samples were analyzed for some inorganic pollutants i.e. nitrates (NO3-), nitrite (NO2-) and ammonium (NH4+) and bacteriological population. In all the samples of water the level of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium was below the Maximum Acceptable Limit (MAL). With regards to bacteriological parameters, most of the samples tested positive to coliform indicating microbial contamination of water in these localities.