Spatial dependency of arsenic, antimony, boron and other trace elements in the shallow groundwater systems of the Lower Katari Basin, Bolivian Altiplano

Israel Quino Lima; Oswaldo Ramos Ramos; Mauricio Ormachea Muñoz; Jorge Quintanilla Aguirre; Celine Duwig; Jyoti Prakash Maity; Ondra Sracek; Prosun Bhattacharya

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137505

Spatial dependency of arsenic, antimony, boron and other trace elements in the shallow groundwater systems of the Lower Katari Basin, Bolivian Altiplano

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Jun 1:719:137505. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137505. Epub 2020 Feb 22.

Authors

Israel Quino Lima¹, Oswaldo Ramos Ramos², Mauricio Ormachea Muñoz², Jorge Quintanilla Aguirre², Celine Duwig³, Jyoti Prakash Maity⁴, Ondra Sracek⁵, Prosun Bhattacharya⁶

Affiliations

¹ Laboratorio de Hidroquímica, Instituto de Investigaciones Químicas, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia; KTH-International Groundwater Arsenic Research Group, Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 10B, SE-10044 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: israelql@kth.se.
² Laboratorio de Hidroquímica, Instituto de Investigaciones Químicas, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia.
³ Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP (Institute of Engineering), IGE, F-38000 Grenoble, France.
⁴ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, 168 University Road, Min-Hsiung, Chiayi County 62102, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Palacky University, 17. listopadu 12, 7771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic.
⁶ KTH-International Groundwater Arsenic Research Group, Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 10B, SE-10044 Stockholm, Sweden; School of Civil Engineering & Surveying & International Centre for Applied Climate Science, Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia; KWR Water Cycle Research Institute, Groningenhaven 7, 3433 PE Nieuwegein, The Netherlands.

PMID: 32120110
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137505

Abstract

Spatial patterns, cluster or dispersion trends are statistically different from random patterns of trace elements (TEs), which are essential to recognize, e.g., how they are distributed and change their behavior in different environmental processes and/or in the polluted/contaminated areas caused by urban and industrial pollutant located in upstream basins and/or by different natural geological conditions. The present study focused on a statistical approach to obtain the spatial variability of TEs (As, B and Sb) in shallow groundwater (GW) in a high-altitude arid region (Lower Katari Basin, Bolivian Altiplano), using multivariate analysis (PCA and HCA), geochemical modeling (PHREEQC, MINTEQ) and spatial analyses (Moran's I and LISA), considering the community supply wells. The results indicate that despite of the outliers there is a good autocorrelation in all cases, since Moran's I values are positive. The global spatial dependence analysis indicated a positive and statistically significant spatial autocorrelation (SA) for all cases and TEs are not randomly distributed at 99% confidence level. The results of hydrochemical modeling suggested the precipitation and stability of Fe (III) phases such as goethite. The re-adsorption of As and Sb on the mineral surface in the aquifer could be limiting the concentrations of both metalloids in southern regions. Spatial autocorrelation was positive (High-High) in northwestern (arsenic), southeastern (boron) and northeastern (antimony) region. The results reflected that the As and Sb are the main pollutants linked to the natural geological conditions, but B is a main pollutant due to the anthropogenic activities. Furthermore, >50% shallow groundwater exceeded the WHO limit and NB-512 guideline values for Sb (87%), B (56%) and As (50%); therefore the spatial distribution and concentrations of these TEs in GW raise a significant concern about drinking water quality in the study area.

Keywords: Bolivia; Groundwater; Hydrochemistry; Lower Katari Basin; Spatial variability; Trace elements.