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Most of the open well water is of low pH and polluted by an excess of turbidity, acidity, and iron in the district of Malappuram, Kerala, India. In this work, water samples were collected in a random manner from 15 blocks of Malappuram in between the post- and pre-monsoon seasons and their quality was studied using standard analytical procedures. Based on the experimental analysis, various physicochemical characteristics, namely turbidity, temperature, pH, total dissolved solids, total alkalinity, and iron have been evaluated. It is found that all samples under investigation were of low pH and some samples were contaminated by turbidity, acidity, and iron. However, total dissolved solids and total alkalinity are within the desirable limit in all samples. Samples having excess turbidity and iron show a reddish brown color that causes coloration and stain to sanitary fittings, clothes, etc. Excess iron also give an unpalatable metallic taste to the drinking water.

The Vulnerable leopard Panthera pardus is declining as a result of poaching, habitat loss, retaliatory killing and collisions with vehicles. In the southern Indian state of Karnataka there is also an unconventional threat that has received little attention: leopards accidentally falling into unsecured open wells. During 2008–2017 there were 70 incidents of leopards falling into wells, in 10 of 30 districts, with the greatest number recorded in Udupi district (46%). Leopards were released at the site (40%, n = 28), or assisted to escape on their own or were translocated after rescue (41%, n = 29). Eleven per cent (n = 8) of the leopards died as a result of the fall, and 7% (n = 5) were sent to zoos, with serious injuries. The highest number of falls occurred during the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons in districts with high rainfall, which may curtail visibility. Open wells are an emerging threat to the leopard and other animal species, and require covers and the security of a parapet.

We have successfully synthesized K17[KIn2(μ-OH)2(α,α-Si2W18O66)]2[In6(μ-OH)13(H2O)8]·35H2O (potassium salt of In10-open), an open-Wells–Dawson polyoxometalate (POM) containing ten indium metal atoms. This novel compound was characterized by X-ray crystallography, 29Si NMR, FTIR, complete elemental analysis, and TG/DTA. X-ray crystallography results for [KIn2(μ-OH)2(α,α-Si2W18O66)]2[In6(μ-OH)13(H2O)8]17− (In10-open) revealed two open-Wells–Dawson units containing two In3+ ions and a K+ ion, [KIn2(μ-OH)2(α,α-Si2W18O66)]11−, connected by an In6-hydroxide cluster moiety, [In6(μ-OH)13(H2O)8]5+. In10-open is the first example of an open-Wells–Dawson POM containing a fifth-period element. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, it exhibits the highest nuclearity among the indium-containing POMs reported to date.

Human leptospirosis involves the classic epidemiological triad (agent, host and environment); hence the investigations should include the knowledge on Leptospira within the animals and the environment. The objectives of this study are to explore the abundance of Leptospira in different climate zones of Sri Lanka and to describe the presence of Leptospira in the same water source at serial time points. First, water and soil samples were collected from different parts of Sri Lanka (Component-1); second, water sampling continued only in the dry zone (Component-2). Finally, serial water sampling from ten open wells was performed at five different time points (Component-3). Quantitative PCR of water and metagenomic sequencing of soil were performed to detect Leptospira . Three replicates for each sample were used for PCR testing, and positive result of two or more replicates was defined as ‘strongly positive,’ and one positive replicate was defined as positive. In the water and soil sample analysis in the whole country (Component-1), two out of 12 water sites were positive, and both were situated in the wet zone. Very small quantities of the genus Leptospira were detected by 16 amplicon analysis of soil in all 11 sites. In the dry zone water sample analysis (Component-2), only samples from 6 out of 26 sites were positive, of which one site was strongly positive. In the serial sample analysis (Component-3), Six, five, four, five, and six wells were positive in serial measurements. All wells were positive for at least one time point, while only one well was positive for all five time points. Proximity to the tank and greater distances from the main road were associated with strong positive results for Leptospira (P<0.05). The presence of Leptospira was not consistent, indicating the variable abundance of Leptospira in the natural environment. This intermittent nature of positivity could be explained by the repetitive contamination by animal urine.

The focus of the present study was to assess the quality of different drinking water sources, impacts of poor water quality on human health, and to apportion pollution source(s) of the district Bajaur, Pakistan. Drinking water samples (n = 331) were randomly collected from springs, hand pumps, open wells, and tube wells and analyzed for physicochemical parameters including toxic elements, and bacteriological contamination (i.e., Escherichia coli). Furthermore, a questionnaire survey was conducted to record the cases of waterborne diseases in the study area. The results showed that total suspended solids and bacteriological contamination exceeded the permissible limits of the WHO in all four of the water sources. Among the potentially toxic elements, Cd, Pb, and Mn were above the permissible limits of the WHO in some samples. The hazard index for spring water was found to exceed the toxicity level (i.e., HI > 1) set by US EPA for both adults and children, while the sources from hand pumps, open wells, and tube wells were within the safe limit. The order for the overall safety level for water quality in the study area was tube wells > open wells > hand pumps > springs. The pollution source apportionment statistics revealed that both geogenic and anthropogenic activities are the sources of drinking water contamination. The results of the questionnaire survey indicated that reports of waterborne diseases were highest in respondents who took their drinking water from springs, whereas reports of diseases were moderate in respondents taking their water from open wells and hand pumps and lowest in respondents taking their water from tube wells. Based on the findings of the study, the tube well source of water is recommended for drinking water purposes.

The characterization of subsurface hydrologic properties remains a challenge in hydrogeology and geo‐resource applications, especially in fractured or heterogeneous reservoirs. Here, we investigate whether thermal recovery in an open borehole following fluid circulation can serve as an in situ method to estimate permeability and the spatial extent of permeable zones. Using numerical simulations of coupled fluid flow and heat transfer, we explore how hydraulic and thermal perturbations during circulation drive fluid infiltration and advective heat transfer when a horizontal permeable zone is intersected within otherwise low permeability rock. These processes modify the thermal recovery behavior in ways that depend on the permeability and thickness of the intersected zone. We find that thermal recovery becomes measurably longer in the presence of permeable zones, and that permeability values greater than approximately 10−14 m2 can be quantitatively estimated from recovery times and apparent thermal conductivity. The approach works particularly well when temperature time series data are collected at multiple depths following circulation associated with drilling or injection testing. These results support the plausibility of earlier interpretations suggesting that variations in recovery time with depth reflect zones of elevated permeability affected by fluid infiltration. Together, they demonstrate that depth‐resolved temperature monitoring in open wells offers a promising and efficient tool for estimating permeability and the thickness of permeable zones in the subsurface.

The apolipoprotein-ε4 allele (APOE-ε4) is strongly associated with detrimental outcomes in affluent populations including atherosclerotic disease, Alzheimer's disease, and reduced lifespan. Despite these detrimental outcomes, population frequencies of APOE-ε4 are high. We hypothesize that the high frequency of APOE-ε4 was maintained because of beneficial effects during evolution when infectious pathogens were more prevalent and a major cause of mortality. We examined a rural Ghanaian population with a high pathogen exposure for selective advantages of APOE-ε4, to survival and or fertility. This rural Ghanaian population (n = 4311) has high levels of mortality from widespread infectious diseases which are the main cause of death. We examined whether APOE-ε4 was associated with survival (total follow-up time was 30,262 years) and fertility after stratifying by exposure to high or low pathogen levels. Households drawing water from open wells and rivers were classified as exposed to high pathogen levels while low pathogen exposure was classified as those drawing water from borehole wells. We found a non-significant, but positive survival benefit, i.e. the hazard ratio per APOE-ε4 allele was 0.80 (95% confidence interval: 0.69 to 1.05), adjusted for sex, tribe, and socioeconomic status. Among women aged 40 years and older (n = 842), APOE-ε4 was not associated with the lifetime number of children. However, APOE-ε4 was associated with higher fertility in women exposed to high pathogen levels. Compared with women not carrying an APOE-ε4 allele, those carrying one APOE-ε4 allele had on average one more child and those carrying two APOE-ε4 alleles had 3.5 more children (p = 0.018). Contrary to affluent modern-day populations, APOE-ε4 did not carry a survival disadvantage in this rural Ghanaian population. Moreover, APOE-ε4 promotes fertility in highly infectious environments. Our findings suggest that APOE-ε4 may be considered as evolutionarily adaptive. Its adverse associations in affluent modern populations with later onset diseases of aging further characterize APOE-ε4 as an example of antagonistic pleiotropy.

The aim of the study is to address the issues and associated health risks due to consumption of high-fluoride water supplied for drinking in a rural part of Shanmuganadhi River basin, Tamil Nadu, India. In this study, 61 groundwater samples were gathered from various tube and open wells and analysed for fluoride and other physicochemical parameters. The abundance of cations is Na+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+ > K+, and that of anions is HCO3− > SO42− > Cl− > F−. The fluoride concentration in drinking groundwater varied from 0.10 to 3.3 mg/l. According to the WHO standards, about 26% of the samples were unfit for drinking requirements (16 out of 61 samples) Water quality index (WQI) method was adopted to categorize the water into different classes to understand its suitability for drinking requirements. WQI signified that nearly 52% of the samples denoted poor, very poor and not suitable categories, whereas 48% of samples denoted good and excellent categories for consumption. Health risks associated with high-fluoride drinking water were assessed for various age groups of inhabitants such as children, teens and adults. The hazard quotient estimated based on the oral intake ranged from 0.00E+00 to 5.50E+00, from 0.00E+00 to 4.22E+00 and from 0.00E+00 to 3.45E+00 for children, teens and adults, respectively. It suggested that the health risks are associated with 75%, 59% and 43% of samples, respectively, among children, teens and adults. Therefore, children are more inclined towards risk than teens and adults in this region based on the intake of fluoride-rich drinking water. To improve the present scenario, groundwater should be either treated before drinking water supply or must be artificially recharged to lower the concentration of ions.

Groundwater is essential for drinking as well as irrigation purposes. The occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in the biotic and abiotic environments is widely recorded, but little is known about MP occurrence in groundwater. This study assessed MP contamination and hydrochemical quality in a shallow and unconfined aquifer of Tuticorin, India. Water samples were collected from bore wells and open wells for MP assessment and hydrochemical analysis. All the physicochemical parameters are within defined limits, and the significant variations observed could be due to rock–water interaction and the mixing of seawater and freshwater. MPs are found in groundwater samples with an average abundance of 29.73±3.27 items per liter (range 9–39 items per liter), whereas the mean MP abundance is found to be higher in bore wells (32.9±4 items per liter) than in open wells (23.9±3.56 items per liter). The dominant type of MPs observed are fibers and the colors are red, black and white with a predominant size <3 mm. Results of a hazard assessment (polymer hazard index, PHI) on the MPs place the samples under the hazard level IV category due to the presence of high-hazard-score polymers such as polyamide, polystyrene and polyurethane. No significant correlation is noted between the groundwater quality and the quantity of MPs. The presence of MPs in the groundwater could be due to infiltration from surface sources of plastic pollution and could also result from the mixing of seawater and freshwater. Further study is necessary to identify the sources of MP contamination and to assess the capacity of MPs to infiltrate the aquifer.

Irrigation is one of the major consumers of fresh water but crops consume only a small part of supplied water and huge quantities emerge downstream as rejuvenated flow and recharge groundwater. The assessment of these flows is cumbersome due to dependence on multiple factors; hence a fixed percentage is assumed by government agencies for designing downstream projects. Three different modeling and measurement techniques, i.e., water balance, isotopic analyses, and hydrological modeling were used to compute surface and sub-surface components of irrigation return flow in an irrigation project (Sanjay Sagar Project with the capacity of 82 MCM and 9863 ha command area) situated in the hard rock region of Central India. The water balance analysis confirmed that a major portion ranging from 12.3 to 35.9%, with an average of 22.9% of supplied water to the command reached the Bah River as regenerated flow, while 1.9–16% with an average of 10.2% of supplied water reached the groundwater body as recharge. The isotopic analysis yielded qualitative insights into the proportional influence of irrigation water on open wells and bore wells in the range of 81% and 9%, respectively. The outcomes of the SWAT model demonstrated that within Sanjay Sagar's command, irrigation led to approximately 27.8% of regenerated flow and 8.9% of recharge from applied irrigation.