Processes controlling the extent of groundwater pollution with chromium from tanneries in the Hazaribagh area, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abidur Khan; Nils Michelsen; Andres Marandi; Rabby Hossain; Mohammed Abed Hossain; Karl Ernst Roehl; Anwar Zahid; Muhammad Qumrul Hassan; Christoph Schüth

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136213

Processes controlling the extent of groundwater pollution with chromium from tanneries in the Hazaribagh area, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Mar 25:710:136213. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136213. Epub 2019 Dec 18.

Authors

Abidur Khan¹, Nils Michelsen¹, Andres Marandi², Rabby Hossain³, Mohammed Abed Hossain⁴, Karl Ernst Roehl¹, Anwar Zahid⁵, Muhammad Qumrul Hassan⁶, Christoph Schüth⁷

Affiliations

¹ Technische Universität Darmstadt, Institute of Applied Geosciences, Schnittspahnstraße 9, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany.
² Technische Universität Darmstadt, Institute of Applied Geosciences, Schnittspahnstraße 9, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany; Department of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Geological Survey of Estonia, F. R. Kreutzwaldi 5, 44314 Rakvere, Estonia.
³ Technische Universität Darmstadt, Institute of Applied Geosciences, Schnittspahnstraße 9, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany; Department of Disaster Science and Management, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
⁴ Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
⁵ Ground Water Hydrology at Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), 72 Green Road, Dhaka 1215, Bangladesh.
⁶ Department of Geology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
⁷ Technische Universität Darmstadt, Institute of Applied Geosciences, Schnittspahnstraße 9, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany. Electronic address: schueth@geo.tu-darmstadt.de.

PMID: 31923658
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136213

Abstract

The Hazaribagh industrial area in Dhaka city, the capital of Bangladesh, is considered one of the hotspots of chromium (Cr) pollution, due to excessive discharge of Cr contaminated waste over decades by approximately 150 tanneries. In 2000, elevated Cr concentrations were observed in the underlying Dupi Tila Aquifer (DTA), which is heavily deployed for drinking water supply of Dhaka city's population. In the following years, Cr concentrations in the DTA have dropped and apparently stayed low. In 2010, elevated Cr concentrations were found again in the DTA. This study aims to evaluate the status of the total Cr contamination in the surface waters, groundwater, and soils in the area, to clarify the temporal evolution of the total Cr contamination pattern in the DTA. For this, we collected water and soil samples in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2019 for (hydro)chemical characterization and analyzed new groundwater level data on the development of the cone of depression below the city. Our study indicates that the temporal evolution of the total Cr contamination in the DTA is closely coupled to the groundwater dynamics. The rapid growth of the cone of depression due to excessive pumping resulted (i) in a disconnection of the groundwater table from the heavily contaminated Hazaribagh soils, and (ii) in an increased gradient between the contaminated surface waters and the groundwater, increasing infiltration into the groundwater. Finally, (iii) the further growth of the cone of depression resulted in an inflow of fresh groundwater from the west of Dhaka city, causing a dilution effect. Although in 2017 tanneries were moved out of the Hazaribagh area, the contaminated soils still pose a threat to groundwater quality when groundwater levels would recover.

Keywords: Buriganga river; Chromium; Dupi Tila Aquifer; Tannery waste.