Fluoride contamination status of groundwater in Karnataka

Abnormal level of fluoride in phreatic groundwater causes serious health hazards in humans and physiological damages in plants. This study showed that occurrence of fluoride is highly sporadic and localized in eastern and southeastern Karnataka and the concentration of fluoride varies from 1 to 7.4 mg/l. The geological strata near the wells influence the fluoride content in phreatic groundwater. Effective and cheap methods of defluoridation are few and hence biological defluoridation may be the best alternative to the conventional methods.