Lake Maurepas, Louisiana, holds ecological, recreational, and economic significance, but recent concerns have arisen over its water quality due to industrial activities. From June to November 2023, we investigated water and sediment quality at nine sites and three depths. Results showed that NH₃-N levels were within safety limits (0.11 ± 0.10 mg/L), while Total Nitrogen (TN, 0.83 ± 0.65 mg/L), Total Phosphorus (TP, 0.32 ± 0.13 mg/L), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD, 25.94 ± 11.37 mg/L), Arsenic (As, 0.26 ± 0.17 mg/L), and Lead (Pb, 0.23 ± 0.002 mg/L) exceeded acceptable thresholds. Spatial-temporal analysis revealed significant variations across sites, depths, and sampling dates. Major contaminant sources included discharges from the Tickfaw, Amite, and Blind rivers, as well as a vehicle accident on Pass Manchac. Seismic and drilling activities by Air Products and Chemicals had little to no observed impact. Four AI algorithms were also evaluated using different physical parameter inputs to predict December’s chemical pollutant levels, which were missing due to adverse weather. The LSTM model outperformed the others, achieving R² values of 0.852 for COD, 0.869 for TN, 0.842 for As, and 0.921 for TP and Pb. Predictions indicated decreasing pollutant levels in December, which matched salinity and specific conductance measurements, and reverted to those observed in September and October. This pattern is attributed to the settling of contaminants from the Pass Manchac accident and ongoing pollutant sources from September and October.

Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) is a major public health concern in the North Central Province (NCP) of Sri Lanka, where groundwater heavy metal contamination is suspected as a key contributing factor. This study investigates the mobilization and transport of in-situ heavy metals in agricultural soils from Medawachchiya and Horowpathana and examines the movement of artificially introduced Cadmium and Lead through soil column experiments. Four locally available, low-cost bio-adsorbents namely, Mahogany sawdust (MG-A), Jackfruit peels (JF-A), Rice husk (RH-A), and Coconut husk (CH-A) were evaluated for Cd²⁺ removal from synthetic groundwater. Among them, MG-A demonstrated the highest adsorption efficiency (73.12% for 80 mg/L and 92.2% for 10 mg/L), outperforming JF-A (60.07%), RH-A (36.73%), and CH-A (16.54%). Adsorbent characterization using FTIR, FE-SEM, and BET analyses revealed that surface functionality and porosity played key roles in adsorption performance. Regeneration studies showed that acid (HCl) treatment restored the adsorption capacity of MG-A by 91.49%, indicating strong reusability potential. The novelty of this research lies in integrating soil transport experiments with bio-waste-derived adsorbent development, providing a comprehensive understanding of heavy metal mobility and remediation. These findings demonstrate a sustainable, community-adaptable approach for mitigating Cd²⁺ contamination in groundwater, offering practical and scalable solutions to reduce CKDu risks in vulnerable regions.