INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Volume 2, No 2, Copyright 2010 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing Association

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1 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Volume, No, 011 Copyright 010 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing Association Research article ISSN Evaluation and assessment of drinking water quality in Krishnarajanagara town of Mysore district, Environmental Science, Department of Environmental Science, Manasagangothri, University of Mysore, Mysore , India doi: /ijes ABSTRACT Drinking water treatment and its healthy supply to the public is the big task at town level now a day. Despite massive outlays for drinking water and sanitation in India, access to safe drinking water remains a challenge. This paper aims to the assessment of drinking water quality and sanitation situation in Krishnarajanagara town in terms of water supply system. The physico-chemical and bacteriological analysis of supplied water for the drinking purposes in the town was carried out. Determination of water quality parameters were carried out at both source level (treatment station) and distribution level (residences) to know the status of drinking water supply system in the town. Residential chloride concentration present in the drinking water samples was determined at distribution level. Physico-chemical parameters of all the drinking water samples were within permissible limit and safe for drinking. Bacteriological analysis showed that total bacterial contamination of all the drinking water samples at the distribution level, due to contamination of drainage waste water. This paper tried to highlight the emerging concerns and recommendations for the public water supply system in the town. Keywords: Water supply; Krishnarajanagara; Water quality; Residential chloride; Distribution level; Sewage. Introduction Water is a resource that has many uses, including recreational, transportation, hydroelectric power, agricultural, domestic, industrial, and commercial uses. Water also supports all forms of life and affects our health, lifestyle, and economic well being. As individuals, we use water for sanitation, drinking, and many other human needs. Water constitutes one of the important environmental elements of man and it has a direct bearing on his health and physiological activities. Water is precious to all living beings and therefore WHO refers to control of water supplies to ensure that they are pure and wholesome as one of the primary objectives of environmental sanitation. Drinking water quality is an issue of concern for human health in developing as well as in developed countries all over the world. Quality supply of drinking water to the public is very essential and increasing problems of water quality or poor maintenance leading to defunct infrastructure in human health and society. Pure water is the priceless, indispensable and primary drivers of public health. Although more than three quarters of the earth's surface is made up of water, only.8 percent of the Earth's water is available for human consumption and however, fresh water constitutes only 0.6 percent out of it. The other 7. percent is in the oceans; however, this water is too salty to use for most purposes, and the salt remove is very costly. Most of the Earth's fresh water is frozen in polar ice caps, icebergs, and glaciers. As the population increases, more water is used and wasted. At present, with increase in the water demand, drinking water resources are sources Received on October 011 Published on November

2 undergoing contamination by human activities all over the world. There are certain trends within the drinking water supply system and sanitation sector, which disturb the public health and economic. The second unfortunate trend in the public health system in India is the growing gap between drinking water supply system and sanitation service (Jaiprakash et al., 000, Kumar et al., 004, Prajapati et al., 007, Kumar et al., 004, Dutta et al., 006, Fatima Rani et al., 007). Almost all urban and small town comminutes have been provided with piped water supply and quality water from the source, even though the gap between water supply, sanitation and public health is bigger in India due to improper maintenance and continuous monitoring (CPHEEO., 005, Amit et al., 010). The fundamental health reasons for supplying quality drinking water is to reduce the incidents of water born diseases. Supply of pure drinking water, which is free from contamination and bacteria, is the fundamental duty of any government or organization. Such a drinking water supply system helps to promote wealth and welfare of publics and economic level of a town. In the present work, the evaluation of drinking water quality status and possible source of contamination of drinking water in Krishnarajanagara town was studied. Material and methodology Study area Krishnarajanagara was founded between 15s and 10s as a new town, when a flood by river Kaveri damaged the nearby old town called Yedatore. The town was shifted to a place miles south and at a higher elevation, now called Krishnarajanagara. It was named after Krisharaja Wodeyar, the maharaja of Mysore. It is also called as K. R. Nagar and is well planned town with broad roads. The population of the town is 5000 and medium tropical climate with variation between seasons is less. Krishnarajanagara town is situated at 1 O 46 latitude and 76 O longitudes and it is well connected by rail and road to places like Mysore, Hassan, Hunsur and many other places. River Kaveri is the main source of drinking water and water treatment plant (treatment capacity 6.8 MLD) is located 1 km away from the city. Treated water is directly supplied through a network pipes and overhead tanks to different areas of Krishnarajanagara town. Sampling and analysis technique Drinking water samples were collected from available taps at residential level and total 10 water samples were collected from different areas of the K.R. Nagar town (K1 tok10). All the water samples were collected using one liter plastic canes. Before samples collection, canes were washed with dilute nitric acid and rinsed with water to be analyzed. The samples were collected in early morning 5:0 6:00 A.M and ph of water sample was determined during sample collection at sampling sites. As collected water samples were brought to the laboratories for determination of physico-chemical and microbial parameters. The determination of water quality parameters were carried out by standard techniques (APHA, AWWA and WEF, 005) and important parameters which are taking main role in the human health were considered. For comparative study, raw water sample and treated water samples were collected at source and at the treatment plant respectively and analyzed. The results obtained were compared with drinking water quality standards set by CPHEEO as shown in Table 1. Results and discussion 78

3 The drinking water samples collected were analyzed for the various water quality parameters. The important parameters analyzed includes ph, turbidity, alkalinity, TDS, TH, Ca & Mg, chloride, sulfate, residential chloride, Fe, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and E. coliform bacteria and the results obtained are given in Table. Table 1: Physico-chemical and bacteriological drinking water quality standards Characteristics CPHEEO BIS (11) WHO Acceptable Cause of rejection Turbity (NTU) Colour Taste & odour ph 7.0 to 8.5 < 6.5 to >. 6.5 to to 8.5 TDS (mg/l) TH (mg/l) Cl (mg/l) SO 4 (mg/l) Residential Cl (mg/l) 0. to Ca (mg/l) Mg (mg/l) Fe (mg/l) Cu (mg/l) Cd (mg/l) Pb (mg/l) E. coliform (number/100 ml) Table : Physico-chemical and bacteriological drinking water quality of K. R. Nagara Town Characteri stics At source Drinking water samples collected at residential areas of the Town U T K1 K K K4 K5 K6 K7 K8 K K10 T Turbity (NTU) 8 1 Colour Taste & odour ph TDS (mg/l) 5 TH (mg/l) Cl (mg/l) SO 4 (mg/l) Ca (mg/l) Mg (mg/l) Residual Cl Fe (mg/l)

4 ph Turbidity (NTU) Cu (mg/l) Cd (mg/l) Pb (mg/l) E Coli bacteria number/10 0 ml) Figure 1: Turbidity of water samples in the K. R. Nagara town Figure : ph of water samples in the K. R. Nagara town Figure 1 and Figure show the variation of turbidity and ph of all water samples collected all over the K. R. Nagar town. The turbidity of all the water samples varied from to NTU and turbidity of untreated raw water was 4 due to the contamination of organic pollutants. Except few samples (K, K, K7, K8), all the samples showed acceptable limits of turbidity however the turbidity value is not exceeding the cause for rejection value of 10 NTU. The ph of all the samples varied from 7.5 to 8.8 and water samples collected from few areas showed slightly higher ph value (8.6 to 8.8). The ph values of all the water samples are within acceptable limits other than few water samples (K7 and K). Figure shows the variation of total dissolved solid (TDS) and TDS of all the samples varies from 1 to 7 mg/l. The raw water samples at the source showed 400 mg/l of TDS and it was reduced to 0 mg/l after 80

5 Ca in mg/l TH in mg/l TDS in mg/l conventional treatment. At the consumers points the TDS value in all the water samples are within acceptable limit Figure : TDS in water samples in the K. R. Nagara town Figure 4: TH of water samples in the K. R. Nagara town Figure 5: Calcium contents in water samples in the K. R. Nagara town 81

6 Sulfate in mg/l Cl in mg/l Mg in mg/l Figure 6: Magnesium contents in water samples in the K. R. Nagara town Figure 7: Chloride of water samples in the K. R. Nagara town Figure 8: Sulfate of water samples in the K. R. Nagara town 8

7 Pb in mg/l Fe in mg/l ResudialCl in mg/l Figure : Residential chloride contents in water samples in the K. R. Nagara town Figure 10: Iron contents in water samples in the K. R. Nagara town Figure 11: Lead contents in water samples in the K. R. Nagara town 8

8 Cd in mg/l Figure 1: Cadmium contents in water samples in the K. R. Nagara town Figure 4 shows the variation in the concentration of total hardness (TH) and at consumer points the TH values are in the range of 70 to 08 mg/l. TH of few water samples (K6, K7, K) is slightly higher when compared to the other water samples collected and concentration of TH is within permissible limits 00 mg/l. The calcium (Ca) concentration varied from 41 to 58 mg/l (Figure 5) and magnesium (Mg) concentration varied between 7 to 6 mg/l (Figure 6). Both calcium and magnesium concentrations are well below the acceptable limits in all the water samples. Concentrations of sulfate and chloride at residential points are observed that there is not much varied and they are well below the acceptable limit values of 00 mg/l (Figure 7 and Figure 8). Residential chloride concentration in the drinking water distribution system should be maintained between 0. to 0.4 mg/l as per CPHEEO standards. Based on results obtained (Figure ) it can be observed that except water samples K1, K and at the treatment plant (T), all the water samples showed very less concentration of residual chloride which is below 0. mg/l. Low concentration of residual chloride in all the water samples clearly indicating that there is a chance of bacterial contamination in the water distribution system. Figure 10 shows the variations of Iron (Fe) concentration in the drinking water samples collected in the K. R. Nagar town. The concentration of iron is varied between 4 to mg/l which is within acceptable limit value of 0.1 mg/l. Figure 11 and Figure 1 show the variations of Lead (Pb) and Cadmium (Cd) concentration in the drinking water samples collected at residential points of K. R. Nagar town. Lead concentration in the water samples was ranging from 8 to 0.04 mg/l and lead concentrations level in all the water samples is within acceptable limit of 0.05 mg/l. The CPHEEO drinking water quality standard for Cadmium concentration is 0.01 mg/l and in the present study Cadmium concentration is varied between 6 to mg/l. K6 and K10 showed slightly higher range of Cadmium contamination, which are crossed the acceptable limit at residential points. Higher concentration of Cadmium in the drinking water samples in those areas due to the contamination of drainage water due to the mixing of bore well water which is highly contaminated by trace elements and contamination of drainage water through broken water supply pipes. Other toxic metals Nickel and Copper concentration were analyses at different residential point and they were below detection level in few areas. Concentrations of both Nickel and Copper (4 to mg/l) in all the water samples are within acceptable range (Figure 1). 84

9 Cu in mg/l Figure 1: Copper contents in water samples in the K. R. Nagara town 0 80 E.coli in number/100 ml Figure 14: E. coli contamination in water samples in the K. R. Nagara town Bacteriological quantity The acceptable limit of MPN/ml prescribed for drinking purposes by CPHEEO limit should be Zero total numbers of E. coli bacteria per 100 ml. The microbial analytical results obtained from the present study are shown in Figure 14. Only treated drinking water sample at source (T), which was collected from the water treatment plant showed satisfactory values with respect to E. coli bacteria and other water samples collected from the K. R. Nagara town are highly contaminated by E. coli bacteria ( to 18/100 ml). Presence of E. coli bacteria in drinking water serves as a potential indicator of harmful bacteriological contamination. In the present study drinking water quality analysis indicated that contamination of E. coli bacteria, due to contamination drainage water with drinking water. At point of treatment plant the treated water is free from bacteria but all the drinking water are contaminated with bacteria at residential points, this is because of the low concentration of residual chlorine which is below the required limit. Residual chlorine concentration in the drinking water at below the limit may leads to bacterial contamination during distribution system. And another reason for bacterial contamination of drinking water may be the most of residential drainage water is flowing near or around the drinking water pipes all over the town. Breakages or corroded water supply pipes and opened valves nears which are located along with drainage systems 85

10 and direct expose to the ambient environment also lead to the bacterial and toxic metal contamination in the K. R. Nagar town. In the present investigation results obtained indicating that all water samples are free from chemical and microbial contamination at the pumping stations (treatment plant) and within acceptable limits. All the drinking water samples collected at different residential points of K. R. Nagara are within acceptable limits of physico-chemical parameters and few water samples showed trace contamination of Cadmium. All the water samples are contaminated by harmful E. coli bacteria, even though the water is chlorinated at the water treatment plant. The quantum of deterioration of water quality occurring within the distribution system is a complex phenomenon, which is caused due to a number of reasons. Important of them include (CPhEEO., 00) leaks through the pipeline fixtures and specials, deteriorated consumers pipelines, pipe breaks and cross-connections with sewer lines or drainage system. Since, the water distribution system in the study area was laid long back may be the one of reasons for the bacterial contaminations. It clearly indicating that drinking water contamination is taking place during its transportation, storage and distribution level and poor chlorination in the K. R. Nagara town. Conclusion Regarding to potability of drinking water in the K. R. Nagara town with respect to analyzed parameters consideration we can conclude that; the water was physically and chemically satisfied except excess of trace amount of cadmium in few water samples. The drinking water of all areas has been contaminated by microorganisms and they were bacteriologically unsafe for drinking purposes. The results of this study would greatly facilitate the health and sanitary authorities to monitor and to control drinking water contamination in the K. R. Nagara town. It needs more detailed study on trace metal contamination including drainage water contamination. It needs the continuous disinfection of drinking water at the site of each overhead tank and storage tanks during water supply system. Periodic drinking water quality monitoring is necessary in drinking water supply and storage system. Old and corroded pipes are not able to carry good quality of drinking water to the public as an alternative technique for this problem is suggesting here for the usage of microbial growth resistant material coated metal or ceramic pipes for the safe drinking water supply system. References 1. Jaiprakash, N., Vijaya, K., Puttaiah, E.T (000), Assessment of ground water quality of Magadi Taluk, Bangalore Rural District, Journal of Environmental Pollution, 7, pp Kumar, P.V., King, P (004), Assessment of ground water quality in Visakhapatnam area of Andra Pradesh, Journal of Environmental Engineering and Pollution, 8, pp Prajapati, J.R., Rao, B.V (007), (Studies on the ground water quality of Kalol city, Gujarat, India), Journal of Environmental Pollution Technology, 6, pp Kumar, P.V., King, P (004) Assessment of ground water quality in Visakhapatnam area of Andra Pradesh, Journal of Environmental Engineering and Pollution, 8, pp

11 5. Dutta, R.K., Saikia, G., Das B., Bezbaruah., Das H.B., Dube S.N (006), Fluoride contamination in groundwater of Central Assam, India Asian Journal of Water and Environmental Pollution, pp Fatima Rani, S. A., Beita Sherine, H (007), A study on measure of pollution load of well waters in Tiruchy area, Journal of Environmental Pollution, 7, pp CPHEEO, (005), Status of Water Supply, Sanitation and Solid Waste Management in Urban Areas, Ministry of urban Development Government of India, Centre for public health environmental engineering & Organisation Research study p Amit, V., Mukul, K (010), Cost Efficiency Evaluation and Performance Assessment of Urban Water Supply Utilities In The State of Madhya Pradesh, India, International Journal of Civil and Structural Engineering, 1, pp APHA, AWWA and WEF (005), "Standards Method for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, (1th Ed.) American Public Health Association, Washington, DC CPhEEO (00), manual on water supply and treatment, Ministry of urban development, New Delhi. 87