Open defecation is practised by over 600 million people in India and there is a strong political drive to eliminate this through the provision of on-site sanitation in rural areas. However, there are concerns that the subsequent leaching of excreta from subsurface storage could be adversely impacting underlying groundwater resources upon which rural populations are almost completely dependent for domestic water supply. We investigated this link in four villages undergoing sanitary interventions in Bihar State, India.

The groundwater of Ambagarh Chouki, Rajnandgaon, India, shows elevated levels of As and F−, frequently above the WHO guidelines. In this work, the concentrations of As, F−, Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl−, SO4 2−, HCO3 −, Fe, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in the groundwater of Ambagarh Chouki are described. The sources of dissolved components in the groundwater are investigated using the cluster and factor analysis. Five factors have been identified and linked to processes responsible for the formation of groundwater chemistry.