Occurrence, Detection and Defluoridation of Fresh Waters

The fluoride is an essential nutrient for human beings which occur in the surface as well as in groundwater. In surface water, it reaches due to both geogenic and anthropogenic sources but in groundwater, it mainly comes from geogenic sources. Authorities like World Health Organization (WHO), United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and Bureau of India Standard (BIS) have provided guidelines regarding the concentration of fluoride in drinking water. A higher fluoride concentration in drinking water results in fluorosis. Therefore, the understanding of fluoride occurrence, its detection and removal from drinkable water is the urgent requirement. The chemical behavior of fluoride, the reasons for fluoride concentration in groundwater, the fluoride detection methods, and some case studies on the occurrence of fluoride in fresh water bodies of Uttarakhand are summarized. The effectiveness of different techniques for removal of fluoride from water samples has been reviewed.