The sites were selected taking into consideration industrial locations, merging of urban drains, easy access to the sampling locations etc. Composite and manual grab samples were used for laboratory analysis. Samples were analysed every month following the standard methods of analysis(APHA/2005) .The parameter temperature is measured at the sites, while DO is arrested at the sites in the 300 ml BOD bottles by adding 2 ml of MnSO₄ and 2 ml alkaline iodide-azide solutions to each bottle.

National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index (NSFWQI):

In order to summarise water quality data a number of WQ Indices have been developed to facilitate the process (House and Ellis, 1987). Each one uses the various groups of parameters. One such Index was developed by Brown et al. which was later referred as NSFWQI. An assemblage of 142 WQI experts of USA were entrusted the task of considering the important parameters determining water quality along with the respective weightings. Initially 35 parameters were considered and finally nine parameters were accepted to summarise the composite influence of the significant parameters affecting water quality into a single numerical expression. As a result the water quality parameters were expressed in a rapid, objective and understandable manner. The single numerical index helps to classify the water into five different classes indicating its quality at different time and sites. Such classification is helpful to identify river water requiring prompt action on a priority basis. The parameters, their weightings, their classification and their corresponding numerical ranges are given in Table 1 and 2 respectively.

Table 1: NSF WQI Parameters and Weights:

Parameters	WQI Weight
Dissolved Oxygen	0.17
Faecal Coliform Density	0.15
pH	0.12
BOD₅	0.1
Nitrates	0.1
Total Phosphates	0.1
∆t ⁰C from equilibrium	0.1
Turbidity	0.08
Total Solids	0.08

Table 2: WQI Value Ranges (from Mitchell and Stapp, 1995):

Descriptor Word	Numerical Range
Very Bad	0-25
Bad	26-50
Medium	51-70
Good	71-90
Excellent	91-100

CALCULATIONS:

As per the requirements of NSFWQI, nine said parameters were measured for each sample following the standard procedures of APHA every month. All the measured values were used in the online calculation to get their respective index values except dissolved oxygen (mg/l). The dissolved oxygen in mg/l was converted to its percentage saturation value by using DOTABLES software. It is an online programme that converts DO in mg/l to its percentage saturation by using sample parameters such as temperature, pressure and specific conductance. The value of the percentage saturation of dissolved oxygen was used in the online calculation to get its index value. The overall WQI was an online calculation, which was done by putting the index values against the respective weights.

RESULTS:

Tables 3 and 4 give the minimum, maximum and mean values of the nine measured parameters at the fourteen given sites. In 2013, the temperature remains high between April to October. The highest temperature 32⁰C is recorded at Durgapur in the month of May and the lowest temperature 18⁰C is recorded in the river at Gomlai in the month of January. The temperature variation at a point in the year is about 10 ⁰C. The variation in the pH values is not much significant from point to point. The highest pH value was recorded in the river is 8.36 at Panposh in the month of March and the lowest value is 7.06 at Rengali in the month of August. Turbidity and Total Solids Values are very high at all points in the rainy season. Turbidity expresses how much light is scattered by the sample (American Water Works Association). The turbidity value was maximum (598 NTU) at Kabatabandha in the month of August and minimum (0.4 NTU) at Talcher in the month of June. Total Solids include both total dissolved solids and total suspended solids. It had highest value (620 mg/l) at Hasinipur in the month of August and the lowest value (100 mg/l) at Rengali in the month of December. It is interesting to note that there exists a little relationship between the values of Turbidity and Total Solids. The highest value recorded for DO parameter is 8.65 mg/l at Rengali in the month of December and the lowest value is 4.44 mg/l at Tarkera in the month of July. BOD₅ is the measure of the degradable organic material present in a water sample, and can be defined as the amount of oxygen required by the microorganisms in stabilizing the biologically degradable organic matter under aerobic conditions (Trivedy and Goel, 1984). Lowest DO and highest BOD₅ values in the river were recorded at Tarkera every month of the year. The highest BOD₅ value recorded was 4.72 mg/l at Tarkera in the month of December and the lowest value 0.19 mg/l at three different places Talcher, Kamalang and Nilakanthapur in the month of March, July and November respectively. The parameter of greatest concern in this study appears to be Faecal Coliform followed by Total Solids and Turbidity. High values of Faecal Coliform were recorded at many points throughout the year (54000 to 70 MPN/100 ml). Nitrate is the highest oxidised form of nitrogen. The value of nitrate parameter was high at Tarkera in every month of the year. This parameter at Tarkera contributes significantly to the water quality at that location. The highest value of nitrate 14.37 mg/l was recorded at Tarkera in month of March and its lowest value 0.12 mg/l was recorded at Nilakanthapur in the month of December. Phosphorous occurs in its fully oxidised (phosphate) states in water. Phosphorous is a component of sewage, as the element is essential in metabolism, and it is always present in animal metabolic waste (Hem John D, 1991). The value of phosphate parameter was very low at almost all the points. The highest value of phosphate 0.22 mg/l was reported at Tarkera in the month of June and the lowest value 0.01 mg/l was recorded at several places of the river in several months. This parameter contributes little for water quality degradation of the river Brahmani.

Table 3:

Sampling points	pH			Turbidity NTU			Total Solids mg/l
Sampling points	Min	Max	Mean	Min	Max	Mean	Min	Max	Mean
1 Panposh	7.16	8.36	7.6	1.3	378	70.5	140	303	197.8
2 Tarkera	7.18	7.92	7.5	30.4	550	164.6	250	594	392
3 Gomlai	7.42	7.95	7.71	2.0	468	97.05	121	392	210.9
4 Rengali	7.06	8.05	7.55	0.6	560	79.94	100	410	160.5
5 Samal	7.14	7.96	7.63	1.2	490	85.93	116	350	177.7
6 Talcher	7.41	7.93	7.67	0.4	445	98.83	106	342	167
7 Durgapur	7.38	8.01	7.71	1.2	285	74.03	132	348	260.3
8 Kamalang	7.42	8.10	7.75	0.6	394	75.21	124	385	267.9
9 Bido	7.43	8.17	7.80	1.8	306	61.63	129	348	253.2
10 Nila-kanthapur	7.35	8.23	7.82	1.6	472	94.23	116	504	192.3
11 Kabata bandha	7.42	7.92	7.7	1.8	598	123.96	118	593	196.9
12 Jokadia	7.17	8.04	7.71	0.6	485	46.49	120	450	183.2
13 Hasinipur	7.39	8.01	7.70	2.0	570	104.3	109	620	183
14 Garhgarhi Ghat	7.10	8.13	7.78	2.8	420	90.02	146	412	197.6

Table 3: Cont….

Sampling points	DO mg/l			BOD₅ mg/l			Faecal Coliform MPN/100ml
Sampling points	Min	Max	Mean	Min	Max	Mean	Min	Max	Mean
1 Panposh	6.16.10	8.46	7.33	0.37	1.5	0.8	79790	7007000	2742741
2 Tarkera	4.44	7.86	5.83	1.97	4.72	3.01	5400	54000	18367
3 Gomlai	5.78	8.26	6.91	0.38	1.54	0.72	170	3500	1313
4 Rengali	6.37	8.65	7.17	0.39	1.88	0.75	70	2700	803
5 Samal	5.79	8.46	7.01	0.56	1.12	0.74	210	3500	1141
6 Talcher	6.36	8.06	7.13	0.19	1.88	0.54	630	4300	1580
7 Durgapur	5.40	7.32	6.61	0.38	1.50	0.72	1300	22000	5342
8 Kamalang	5.98	7.33	6.8	0.19	1.88	0.83	1100	28000	6317
9 Bido	6.18	7.69	6.82	0.38	1.31	0.81	1300	24000	5400
10 Nila-kanthapur	6.56	8.07	7.21	0.19	0.94	0.51	240	4300	1484
11 Kabata bandha	6.10	7.88	6.97	0.39	1.35	0.66	280	7000	2083
12 Jokadia	5.98	7.88	6.79	0.56	1.54	0.85	940	15000	3970
13 Hasinipur	6.18	8.06	7.13	0.38	1.16	0.54	220	4300	1206
14 Garhgarhi Ghat	6.18	7.67	7.05	0.59	1.35	0.88	430	7000	1937

Table 3: Cont….

Sampling points	Total Phosphate mg/l			Nitrate mg/l
Sampling points	Min	Max	Mean	Min	Max	Mean
1 Panposh	0.01	0.09	0.03	0.14	1.03	0.5
2 Tarkera	0.01	0.22	0.07	1.72	14.37	6.86
3 Gomlai	0.01	0.18	0.05	0.37	1.88	0.89
4 Rengali	0.01	0.08	0.04	0.24	1.05	0.46
5 Samal	0.02	0.08	0.05	0.22	0.93	0.44
6 Talcher	0.01	0.05	0.03	0.18	0.87	0.41
7 Durgapur	0.02	0.14	0.05	0.31	0.77	0.59
8 Kamalang	0.02	0.21	0.06	0.30	1.84	0.57
9 Bido	0.01	0.11	0.03	0.17	1.35	0.64
10 Nila-kanthapur	0.01	0.07	0.04	0.12	0.63	0.39
11 Kabata bandha	0.01	0.10	0.04	0.22	0.73	0.44
12 Jokadia	0.02	0.13	0.05	0.25	1.14	0.56
13 Hasinipur	0.01	0.06	0.03	0.23	0.82	0.48
14 Garhgarhi Ghat	0.010.01	0.06	0.03	0.28	1.12	0.53

Table 4:

Sampling points		S1	S2	S3	S4	S5	S6	S7	S8	S9	S10	S11	S12	S13	S14
Temp	Min	19	20	18	21	22	21	22	22	21	20	20	21	21	22
	Max	29	29	30	28	29	31	33	32	32	30	31	31	30	32
	Mean	24	25	26	26	26	27	28	28	27	26	27	27	27	28

Nowhere in the river stretch, water quality was found to be excellent. High value of NSFWQI was obtained at Rengali-Samal region and the water quality is at its lowest level at Rourkela region. From the months of January to June and from the months of November to December in 2013, water quality at all the sampling stations was good, except at

Tarkera (Rourkela) where it was of medium quality. In the month of August, water quality at all the fourteen sampling points was of medium quality. In the months of July, September and October water quality varies from medium to good at different sampling points. Monthly Water Quality Index at each of the fourteen sampling points of the river are shown in the figures for the year 2013.

Figure 2 : Variation of WQI month-wise

Figure 3 : Variation of WQI month-wise

Figure 4 : Variation of WQI month-wise

Figure 5Variation of WQI month-wise

Figure 6 : Variation of WQI month-wise

Figure 7 Variation of WQI month-wise

Figure 8 : Variation of WQI month-wise

Figure 9 : Variation of WQI month-wise

Figure 10 : Variation of WQI month-wise

Figure 11 : Variation of WQI month-wise

Figure 12 : Variation of WQI month-wise

Figure 13 : Variation of WQI month-wise

Figure 14 : Variation of WQI month-wise

Figure 15 : Variation of WQI month-wise

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION:

The presence of Faecal Coliform was alarmingly high in Brahmani river. People are normally habituated to attend nature’s call in an open space particularly along the river banks and thereby defecating the environment. It is due to their lack of sanitary awareness and ignorance of living in a healthy life-style. The other reasons for high Faecal Coliform may be due to bathing and cattle bathing in the villages adjoining the river. High value of Total Solids in the rainy season is due to massive soil erosion. The poor water quality at Tarkera is probably due to improper treatment of the effluents coming from Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP). The prime concern of the educated public is to spread massive health awareness in the rural as well as urban areas. City drains connecting safety tanks should not be allowed to fall into the river directly. Proper treatment of the solid wastes be made especially in urban areas. Deforestation be strictly enforced so that top soil during rains should not mix in large quantities with river water to increase its Total Solids content and Turbidity. Above all a long term action plan including online monitoring systems would go a long way in maintaining the river water quality.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Authors owe a deep sense of gratitude to Dr. Smrutiprava Das, Head, Department of Chemistry, Ravenshaw University and to Dr. Purnendu Padhi, Department of Chemistry, Ravenshaw University for their unstinted help and co-operation in providing necessary laboratory facilities for analysis of samples. My thanks are due to Dr. Luna Samanta, Department of Zoology, Ravenshaw University for the help. Thanks are due to the University Grants Commission for providing me a Teacher Fellowship during the tenure of my research work.

REFERENCES:

1) Wills Martin, and Irvine N. Kim, Middle States Geographer, 1996:95-104

2) APHA.2005. Standard Methods for the Examination of water and waste water (21^st Edn.). American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association and Water Pollution Control Fed. Washington D.C.

3) House, M.A. and Ellis, J.B. 1987. The Development of Water Quality Indices for Operational Management. Water Science and Technology 19(9):145-154.

4) Brown, R.M., McLelland, N.I., Deininger, R.A. and Tozer, R.G. 1970. A Water Quality Index – Do We Dare? Water and Sewage Works October:339-343.

5) Brown, R.M., McLelland, N.I. Deininger, R.A. and Landwehr, J.M. “Validating the WQI”, presented at the National Meeting on Water Resources Engineering of the American Society for Civil Engineers, Washington, D.C., January 29, 1973. In Environmental Indices Theory and Practice, Editor W. Ott. Ann Arbor Science Publishers Inc., Ann Arbor, MI.

6) Mitchell, M.K. and Stapp, W.B. 1995. Field Manual for Water Quality Monitoring An Environmental Education Program for Schools Ninth Edition. Green Project, Ann Arbor, MI. 272 p.

7) American Water Works Association. 6666w. Quincy Avenue Denver. Colorado 80235. Introduction to Water Quality Analysis. Principles and Practices of Water Supply Association. Volume 4.

8) Trivedy R.K. and Goel P.K. Chemical and Biological Methods for water Pollution Studies. ENVIRO MEDIA KARAD- 415110.

9) Hem. John D. 1991. Study and Interpretation of the Chemical Characteristics of Natural Water (3^rd End.) U.S. Geological Survey Water Supply paper 2254. Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur.

Received on 26.04.2014 Modified on 20.05.2014

Asian J. Research Chem. 7(6): June 2014; Page 586-592

Sl. No	Sampling Points	Code	Description of the Locations
1	Panposh	S1	It is after the mixing of the river Sankh and the river Koel to form the river Brahmani
2	Tarkera	S2	Just after the mixing of the drain carrying effluents from Rourkela steel plant and the municipal city’s Wastage
3	Gomlai	S3	About fifty kilometres downstream of the point S2.
4	Rengali	S4	About five hundred metres downstream from the Rengali dam
5	Samal	S5	About five hundred metres downstream of the Samal barrage. Effluents from the Super Thermal Kaniah and from its ash-pond comes Power plant at directly to the barrage through the river Tikira
6	Talcher	S6	At the Talcher-Saranga road bridge
7	Durgapur	S7	About two hundred metres after the mixing of Nandira Jhor carrying effluents from NALCO, Power plant ash-pond etc
8	Kamalang	S8	About one and half kilometres downstream of the point where Nandira Jhor falls into the river
9	Bido .	S9	About 0.5 kilometres downstream of the point where Kisinda Jhor and Lingra Jhor mix with the river carrying effluents of the Bhusan Steen Plant and many other nearby industries
10	Nilakanthapur	S10	Carries the impact of human habitation by its side.
11	Kabatabandha	S11	Before the bifurcation of the river into Brahmani and Kharasrota.
12	Jokodia	S12	About five hundred metres downstream of mixing of Gandanala carrying effluents from Kalinga Nagar Industrial Area.
13	Hasinipur	S13	Before the bifurcation of the river Kharasrota.
14	Gharghri Ghat	S14	After the union of all the segments of river Kharasrota covering a large landscape of agricultural and human activities.

INTRODUCTION: