Prediction of rare earth mining activity impact on drinking groundwater quality in a rural area of Ganzhou, South China

Abstract

Groundwater is an important source of drinking water in rural areas all over the world. Twenty-one water quality parameters of fifteen drinking wells were studied in a rural area of Ganzhou (South China). The groundwater is dominated by Ca·Mg-HCO₃ type, and the Water Quality Index (WQI) ranges from 12.1 to 283.1. The concentrations of groundwater solutes are generally very low, except for Na⁺, Al, Fe, Mn, and arsenic (As) are up to 232.0, 3.22, 1.25, 0.013 mg/L, respectively, which exceeding the drinking standards at several wells. The relatively high As content in groundwater might cause a mean Carcinogenic Risk (CR = 2.08 × 10⁻⁴) to the local people. The mathematical model predicted that the rare earth mining activities would cause a NH₄⁺ pollution (concentrations up to 69.9 mg/L) transported at a speed of 200 m per year in the groundwater, resulting in a maximum increase in WQI of 418.9 and 533.2, and in Hazard Quotient (HQ) of 1.04 and 1.32 for the children, at the drinking wells located 1059 m and 6344 m downstream the mining area, respectively. This study is a warning to the local policymakers about the development of green mining technology and effective monitoring and emergency plans for drinking groundwater.

Keywords:

• drinking water
• groundwater
• water quality index
• health risk assessment
• rare earth mining activity

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Xinyang Wang and Yue Liang for processing the water quality data. The useful and constructive comments from the editors and reviewers are also sincerely acknowledged.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The research was financially funded by the Jiangxi Education Department Science and Technology Planning of China (GJJ214910, GJJ214911, and GJJ217110), and the Startup Project of Doctor Scientific Research of Jiangxi College of Applied Technology (JXYY-G2022005).