ABSTRACT Total Reflection X‐ray Fluorescence (TXRF) spectrometry was applied to study the concentration of trace elements present in water samples of Maheshara lake, a large lake in the north side of Gorakhpur City, India which is a fast‐developing industrial city and an attractive tourist spot. The TXRF spectra of low atomic number (Z) elements were measured using Cr Kα (5.41 keV) excitation source and vacuum sample chamber whereas medium and high Z elements were measured using Rh Kα (20.22 keV) source and an ambient atmosphere sample chamber. The elements F, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn Rb, Sr, and so on were detected in TXRF spectra of these samples. Water samples from the lake were collected in different seasons also and were analyzed for trace elements to study the seasonal variation in the elemental concentrations. The study indicates that most of the trace elements present in the Maheshara lake water are well within the specified limits for drinking water prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). It was found that concentration of trace elements generally increases with seasonal variation from rainy to summer season through winter. This study suggests that Maheshara lake water has a potential for its use for drinking, irrigation, cattle feeding, washing, and so on after checking and proper treatment for removal of microorganisms, for example, viruses, bacteria and protozoa, if found, and control of other parameters, for example, pH, turbidity, total dissolved solid, hardness, and so on and organic contaminants.
Mishra et al. (Sun,) studied this question.