Assessment of seasonal and temporal variation in Physico-chemical Parameter of Paodhoi River at Saharanpur

Neelam Sharma¹*, A. K Bhargava², Sarita Bhandari³

¹(BRP) in Block Education Office, Jagadhri, Haryana

²Department of Botany, M.S College, Saharanpur, UP

³Department of Botany, M.L.N College, Yamuna Nagar, Haryana

*Corresponding Author E-mail: neelamsharma1178@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:

Water pollution is a serious issue with rapid progress of urbanization and industrialization in the country. The discharge of sewage, industrial waste and effluents to water resource is damaging both flora and fauna near the receiving water bodies. Paodhoi river originates at the foot hills of Shivalik ranges and passes through main city of Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India and finally confluence into the Hindane river near Tapri. The qualities of water of river at the site of origin is quite good but as it enter into city, the river carries large volume of municipal waste, sewage waste as well as industrial waste .The present paper deals with the assessment of physico -chemical parameters of the Paodhoi River in the Saharanpur district. Water sample were collected in three season viz., summer, winter and monsoon from three sampling sites for year 2009 revealed that maximum water temperature was 40.80±4°C in June 2009 at site ‘A’ and Minimum was observed 5.00±0.45°C in Jan 2009 at site ‘B’. Annual average value of temperature varied at three study sites. The water temperature showed an upward trend from winter season to summer season followed by a downward from monsoon season onward in the river and its impact on associated flora and fauna.

Turbidity of water found maximum was 1100JTU±88JTU during monsoon in 2009 at site ‘C’ and minimum was observed 21JTU±2 JTU during winter season in 2009 at site ‘A’. In the present investigation, it was noted that the total solids were maximum in monsoon season which were responsible for the turbidity in the river. The total solids were recorded minimum in winter season due to gradual sedimentation of the filterable residue. Our study with total suspended solids in water also showed variations at 3 experimental sites .maximum total suspended solid was found 1300 mg/l±44 mg/l in winter season at site ‘C’ in 2009 and minimum was found 26 mg/l ±2 mg/l in winter season 2009 at site ‘A’.

Among the chemical parameters of the river water pH value recorded minimum during winter season and higher during rainy season. It was also recorded pH always have slightly alkaline nature.

The level of bio-chemical oxygen demand was near to alarming stage at down steam site and quality of water was worse than treated waste water from industry. BOD was observed maximum 35 mg/l ±3 mg/l in monsoon at site ‘C’ in 2009 and minimum was 2.42 mg/l ± 0.28 mg/l in winter season at site ‘A’. BOD levels were probably influenced by heavy metals with regard to seasonal fluctuation. Our results with total nitrogen and phosphorus level showed gradual increase in total nitrogen and total phosphorus from 10% concentration to 100% concentration of polluted river water. Likewise, total heavy metal accumulation is more in downstream site – C as compared to upstream site – A. The physico – chemical characteristics in present study varied considerably and showed characteristics trend in relation to the seasonal changes.

KEYWORDS: Physico – chemical parameters, Seasonal variations, pH, BOD, Total suspended solids.

INTRODUCTION:

Water is not only the most essential constituents of all living organisms but also it is pivotal for the survivality of the mankind in the Biosphere (Sharma, 2000).Water pollution is a major culprit in environment degradation. With rapid progress of urbanization and industrialization in the country accompanied with indiscrimination fallout of substances resulted in suffering of life sustaining system. Most of our natural water bodies are gradually degraded to a great extent due to indiscriminate disposal of sewage, the discharge of industrial waste and effluents of land and water resource respectively. The toxic chemicals particularly the heavy metals which are disposed in the water bodies through industrial waste and effluent pose long term risk of human health and also to the life of other animals. Arsenic and other heavy metal can cause the death of fishes and cattle‘s. Thus, microorganisms are also adversely affected. There is no doubt that the antropogenic activities changes the physical and chemical characteristics of water which ultimately would adversely affect the aquatic environment and ecological balance of water bodies. Lot of work has been done on physico - chemical characteristics of different water bodies in India. But more work is required to analyses various aspect which affects the quality of water of the rivers.

Paodhoi River originates at the foot hills of Shivalik ranges and passes through main city of Saharanpur and finally confulence in the Hindane river near Tapri. This river carries large volume of Municipal waste, Sewage waste as well as industrial waste in it. Thus Paodhoi river largely polluted at down steam side near Tapri. This polluted river water is used in irrigation practices by the local adjacent farmers as this polluted water increases the productivity and simultaneously it becomes hazardous due to accumulation of non-degradable pollutants like heavy metals, recalcitrant organic compounds and pathogenic microbial contamination. The recalcitrant organic compounds from pulp and paper mill also contribute toxicity due to presence of organo chlorine compounds (Gupta et.al. 2012).). Not only synthetic organic compound but also heavy metal causes serious pollution problem. (Badola and singh, 1980; Balsare, 1987 and Bhatnagar, 1988).The study is aimed on chacterization of quality of river water for physico-chemical parameters starting from upstream to downstream and evaluation of impact of seasonal variation on the same. Such interpretation can be useful in evaluating the impacts of pollution on the state of environment. Eventually this also provide an estimate of how safe it would be to use that medium (i.e. water) for intended purposes.

Large number of studies done by Needam & Needam (1972), Daniel et al. (1982), Badola and singh (1981) worked on pollution, Garg and Garg (1989),) worked on assessment of water pollution Khanna et. al., Khanna & Bhutani (2003), Kumar,V andA.K. Bhargava (2008) on assessment of rivers quality.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Methodology applied to study various physico-chemical parameters on polluted Paodhoi river at Saharanpur district. The water samples were collected seasonally from three sampling sites viz.

1. 5km. away from city near Shivalik hills- site (A),

2. Near Star paper mill site (B)

3. Near Tapri (C)

The samples for different parameters were analyzed with the help of the procedure described by Welch (1948), APHA (1980), Mathur (1982), Ross(1983),Trivedi and Goel (1984) and Khanna (1993), and also based on standard methods.

The temperature of water is measured by a mercury thermometer. The tube of thermometer is kept inside of metal cone to facilitate the penetration into river water. The upper side of metal cone is fixed with a wooden shaft which supported the stem of the thermometer to see the reading directly. The cone was inserted into the water up to the depth of 2 cm and noted the reading directly on the stem which was open in the air.

The turbidity of the water was estimated by Jackson’s candle turbid meter. The water samples were collected from the river in the plastic cane; collected samples shacked well and transferred into the glass tube of Jackson’s candle turbid-meter until the flame of the candle disappear and noted the light path in cm and the reading recorded in JTU.

Total solids or total residue is the term applied to material left in a beaker after evaporating a well mixed sample and subsequently evaporating and dried it in a oven.

A 100ml washed and dried beaker was taken and weight 100 ml of unfiltered water sample in the beaker was evaporated on water bath then dried it in a oven at 103°C to 105 °C ±2°C for 24 hrs. The final weight of the beaker was taken after drying of sample.

Calculation:- Total Solids (mg/l) = A-B x 10₆/v .

A= Final weight of beaker in g

B=Initial weight of beaker in g

V= Volume of the sample taken in ml

Total suspended solids or non filterable residue are the retained material on Whatman No.1 filter paper after filtration of well mixed sample

TSS was determined by taking difference between the total solids and total dissolved solids.

TSS mg/l = TS – TDS

Color of water determined based on visual symptoms and odour of water measured through nasal expertise.

The pH was determined by the electro metric method in which potential in between the two electrodes ( indicators and calomel) is measured directly. pH of the river sample was measured with the help of electrodes of pH meter (ELICO).The apparatus has a reference and an indicator glass electrode.

The BOD can be measured by measuring difference of the oxygen concentration between the sample and after incubating it for 5 days at 20°C. BOD can be calculated by the given formula i.e.

BOD= (DO – D5) x Dilution factor.

For quantitative estimation of nitrogen, the digestion was done according to Snell and Snell (1954) and later the nitrogen in the digest was estimated calorimetrically. 50 ml of water sample was digested with 5 ml of concentrated sulphuric acid and 2ml of 30% hydrogen peroxide for 5 minutes on sand bath. After cooling the digest 3ml more of hydrogen peroxide was added to it and the digestion was continued for about 30 minutes more till the contents become clear. The cooled digest was diluted to a known volume (50ml).The estimation of the digest was done with Nessler’s reagent of Koch and Mc Meekin’s formula (Oser, 1965). In 2ml of Nessler’s reagent, 0.5ml of digested solution was added; the volume was made up to 5ml with distilled water and allowed to stand for 10 minutes to stabilize the color. Absorbance was read at 430 nm and the nitrogen was estimated quantitatively.

For the estimation of total Phosphate, the digestion was done with 60% per chloric acid and 30% hydrogen peroxide. Later the phosphate content was estimated calorimetrically using metol as reducing agent. 50 ml water sample was digested with 10 ml of 60% per chloric acid and 3 ml of 30% hydrogen peroxide on a hot plate to dryness and the residue was dissolved in 10 ml distilled water. 1ml of this digest was taken in a test tube along with 3 ml of copper sulphate buffer and 46 g of sodium acetate dissolved in 2N acetic acid and 0.5 ml 5% ammonium molybdate solution and 0.5 ml metol reagent (2 g metol dissolved in 100 ml of 10% sodium sulphite solution) mixed thoroughly after each addition. The intense blue color developed was allowed to stand for 10 minutes. Absorbance was read at 525nm (Allen, 1940) and the amount of phosphate was then quantitatively determined.

For the estimation of total heavy metal, 100 ml of river water sample was digested in a mixture of 2 ml with 60% per chloric acid and 2 ml concentrated nitric acid; by heating on a hot plate to dryness.The residue dissolved in 10 ml ammonium citrate buffer pH 8.5. For heavy metal extraction by complexing with dithizone, water digest was made to pH 8.5 with sodium hydroxide and extracted repeatedly with 5 ml of the purified dithizone solution (100 ml of dithizone dissolved in minimum value of chloroform), partitioning against dilute ammonia, collected the aqueous dithizone containing layer, acidifying this fraction with few drops of H₂SO_4,For re extracting the dithizone in chloroform and making up the volume to 1000 ml with chloroform to give a final concentration 0.01% (dithizone in chloroform). The extract was cooled made to 20 ml with chloroform and the absorbance was read at 520 nm. The quantity of heavy metal was estimated with the help of standard and calibration curve.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

The main River Paodhoi which originate from Shivalik range and pass through district Saharanpur provide water for irrigation and drinking purpose to nearby population. The River is polluted due to addition of municipal waste, sewage waste, the effluent from industries, and run off surface water. The characteristics of river water at three sites in different seasons clearly indicate the impact of manmade activities on the quality of the river water.

The water temperature is one of the most important parameter in an aquatic environment. The water temperature decreased from 10.00 + 0.90 to 5.00+ 0.45 from December to January .The minimum during morning of winter season 5.00±0.45°C in Jan 2009 at site ‘B’ which goes highest up to 40.80+4.10 in June 2009 at site ‘A’ in afternoon accelerate the process of decay of organic matter resulting into liberation of large quantities of CO2 and nutrients. It was higher in april to june and relatively lower in monsoon and winter season. The lower temperature recorded during winter months was due to cold weather and rarely rainfall. Higher temperature values recorded in the dry season may be because of heat raising temperature of surface water. In monsoon season cloudy sky and rainfall brought down the temperature to the minimum .It can be seen in graph 1,2,3 at site A,B,C recorded in morning and afternoon.

During the course of study turbidity factor was also studied. The lowest values of turbidity were 21JTU( Jakson turbidity unit) ±2 JTU((Jakson turbidity unit) during winter and highest value recorded was 1100JTU (Jakson turbidity unit)±88JTU (Jakson turbidity unit) during monsoon in 2009 at site ‘C’. Considerably increase in turbidity during monsoon is due to rain. Increased river water runoff, resulting occurrence of suspended particles and dissolved solids along with sand and silt from river catchments. Turbidity, is the parameter of water transparency which indicate the degree to which light entering a column of water is scattered by suspended particles, soil particles, discharge effluents, decomposed organic matters, total dissolved solids as well as microscopic organisms. Schlesinger(1991) had also reported that soil erosion, algal bloom, waste discharge etc are major contributing factors to the turbidity. This factor led to cause a decline in photosynthesis which resulted in decrease in oxygen evolution by aquatic plants. The concentration of free CO2 showed negative correlation with dissolved oxygen (DO).

In the present investigation, it was noted that the total solids and turbidity are interrelated to each other (Raina et.al.1982). The total solids were recorded minimum 68.00±6 mg/l in winter season at site ‘A’ and were maximum 2520±44 mg/l in monsoon season at site ‘C’ which were responsible for the turbidity in the river. The total solids were recorded minimum in winter season due to gradual sedimentation of the filterable residue. Annual average value of total solids varied at three different study centre. Total solids cause ecological imbalance in the aquatic ecosystem by mechanical abrasive action. Higher values of total solids may cause deterioration of the surviving condition of aquatic organisms and enhance the turbidity of the river.

Similarly total suspended solids in water also showed variations at 3 experimental sites. Maximum total suspended solid was found 1300±44 mg/l in monsoon season at site ‘C’ in 2009 and minimum was found 26 ±2 mg/l in winter season 2009 at site ‘A’. During the monsoon all form of Solids are maximum as they flows into the streams from the above hills. The reason in this case is obvious i.e. during the rainy season the rain water carries lot of sediment along with various kinds of pollutants from the catchment areas and enter the river water due to overland flow. The process of overland flow is the main cause of non-point source of pollution in all river basin. In monsoon period the TSS value was high due to floating materials like fine silt and detritus carried by rainwater from the catchment. In (graph 4, 5, 6) turbidity, total solids, total suspended solids studied at different season at site A,B,C.

Color of water shows some demarcation from light bluish water to dark brown polluted water having bad smell.

The pH is affected not only by reaction of CO2 but also by organic and inorganic solute present in water. Any alteration in water pH is accompanied by the change in other physico- chemical parameters. pH maintenance is one of the most important attributes of any aquatic system .Since all the biochemical activities depend on pH of surrounding water . In the present studies lowest value of pH was recorded 6.80 + 0.08 and highest value was 7.30 + 0.08 in the same year at site ‘A’. Similarly these trends are at Site ‘B’ and site ‘C’. pH value high in certain season might be due to increase chemical load in the river water and decomposition of organic matter. The decreased in pH during January may be due to decrease in photosynthesis, while during monsoon it may be due to greater flow of water . The pH is measure of the intensity of the intensity of acidity or alkalinity and the concentration of hydrogen ion in water. High pH induces the formation of trihalomethanes which are toxic (Kumar et al. 2010). The pH affects the dissolved oxygen level in the water; photosynthesis of aquatic plants, metabolic rates of aquatic organisms. Low pH level can increase the solubility of certain heavy metals. This allows the metals to be more easily absorbed by aquatic organisms.It was recorded during this study the pH of the river water is slightly alkaline in nature 6.8 to 7.40 .Results of these studies can be seen in graph at different depth in graph (7,8,9).

The quality of River water for organic pollutant can easily be characterized by chemical or biochemical oxygen demand. The latter one is more important as it directly affects the DO level in the River and subsequently affects the aquatic organisms.

The average level of BOD at upstream was 3.10±0.76 mg O₂/l throughout the various seasons (graph-10). The BOD level was lowest during winters for both the years under study. There was increase in the BOD level at mid stream. The reason for the increase was drainage of several small sewage drains into River. The highest impact was observed during monsoon season due to runoff of silted sewage during the months of rainy season. The level of BOD were near to alarming stage at downstream and crossed the criteria for BOD prescribed for treated wastewater from industry i.e. 30 mg/l.

BOD determination is a most powerful technique to assess the level of organic pollution in River system, highest level of BOD at some study site may be due to drainage of several small sewage drains into the River and runoff of sludge silted sewage during the month of rainy season. Raina et.al. (1984) reported peak values during winter in river Jhelum. Likewise, Khanna et al. (1997) observed peak values in monsoon season in River Ganga. Similar trend further noticed by Badola and Singh (1981), Manoja Das (2008) Gupta et al. (2009)

Nitrogen and phosphorus are the principal nutrients of concern in urban storm water. The major sources of nutrients in urban storm water are urban landscape runoff (fertilizers, detergents, plant debris, atmospheric deposition, and improperly functioning septic systems, animal waste. The minimum total nitrogen recorded 25.00 mg/l at 10% concentration of polluted river water at study site ‘A’ and increased to 90.00 mg/l at 100% concentration of polluted river water at the same site. Similar trend observed minimum 43 mg/l at 10% concentration at site ‘B’ and and increased to 86.00 mg/l at site ‘B’ .Maximum total nitrogen recorded 235 mg/l at 100% concentration at site ‘c’. This result shows that as we move from site ‘A’ to site ‘C’ water become more polluted as total nitrogen observed maximum at study site c at 100% concentration of polluted river water.

Likewise minimum total phosphates recorded 5.60 mg/l at 10% concentration of polluted river water at study site ‘A’ and increased to 32.00 mg/l at 100% concentration of polluted river water at the same site. Similar trend observed minimum 6 mg/l at 10% concentration of polluted river water at site ‘B’ and and increased to 25.40 mg/l at site ‘B’ .Maximum total phosphates recorded 34 mg/l at 100% concentration of polluted river water at site ‘c’. This result shows that as we move from site ‘A’ to site ‘C’ water become more polluted as total phosphates observed maximum at study site c at 100% concentration of polluted river water.

Nearly similar increase is noted in total heavy metal level in various increasing concentrations in river water. Minimum total heavy metal concentration recorded 25 mg/l at 10% concentration of polluted river water at study site ‘A’ and Maximum total heavy metal concentration recorded was 238 mg/l at 100% concentration of polluted river water at site ‘C’. Results of these studies can be seen in graph at various concentrations (graph 10, 11, 12).

Heavy metal get contaminated into aquatic system as a result of various natural activities (weathering of soils and rocks from volcanic eruption) and from a varieties of human activities involving the processing or use of metals or substances. Since heavy metal are rapidly absorbed to particulate materials (e.g. detritus, plankton, suspended sediments) and assimilated by living organisms. On the present studies, it could be suggested that polluted water can be used for irrigation only after proper dilution.

CONCLUSION:

Water pollution of most river is due to millions of liter discharge of sewage, domestic waste, industrial and agriculture effluent containing substances varying from simple nutrient such as nitrogen, phosphorus etc. to highly toxic substances. In a given situation, the extent of pollution is characterized by various physical and chemical parameters and based on comparisons with standard value. Such interpretations can be useful in evaluating the impact of pollution on the state of environment. Water pollution load is found much higher near downstream of Paodhoi River district Saharanpur. Thus, our studies have resulted possibility for usability of water potablity.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

The corresponding author is thankful to Principal, M.S College, Saharanpur for providing facilities and support for the study. The author also expresses special gratitude to Dr. S.K Aggarwal and Dr. V Malik of Botany Department, M.S College, Saharanpur for providing help during the study.

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Received on 13.04.2014 Modified on 02.05.2014

Asian J. Research Chem. 7(5): May 2014; Page 492-502