Assessment of Water Quality of Mutha River in Pune City

Assessment of Water Quality of Mutha River in Pune City V. M. Wagh 1, V. S. Ghole 2, P. N. Wavde 3, V. V. Todkar 4 and K. K. Kokate 5 1,2,3 Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Pune, Maharashtra, India 4 Department of Chemistry, Bharti Vidyapeth, Pune, Maharashtra, India 5 Department of Chemistry, MIT College of Engineering, Pune, Maharashtra, India ABSTRACT Urban water sector is a zone of serious mismanagement. Typically, the large urban areas represent concentrated demands, both due to large populations and large per capita use and waste. Most urban areas have depleted, polluted or destroyed their local sources of water like rivers, lakes and tanks and in many cases even groundwater. Increasing urbanization coupled with industrialization during the past few decades are depleting water ecosystem goods and services irreparably in Pune City. With the rapid increase in the population of the city and the need to meet the increasing demands of human and industrial consumption, the available water resources of the city are getting depleted and the water quality has deteriorated. Mutha River is polluted due to the discharge of untreated sewage and industrial effluents. Present study was undertaken to study the level of organic pollution in Mutha River of Pune city. Dissolved oxygen, total hardness, BOD and COD concentration in the river water was estimated along with ph, temperature and EC for 6 months. Results indicate higher level of organic pollution in the river. High BOD and COD concentration was observed in 4 out of 5 sites. The values for dissolved oxygen, total hardness and EC were also found high in those locations. Keywords: Water pollution, BOD, COD, Mutha River, Pune. INTRODUCTION Rivers are dynamic systems and may change in nature several times during their course (e.g. from a fast-flowing mountain stream to a wide, deep, slowly flowing lowland river) because of changes in physical conditions such as slope and bedrock geology (Bellos and Sawidis, 2005). They carry horizontal and continuous one-way flow of a significant load of matter in dissolved and particulate phases from both natural and anthropogenic sources. This matter moves downstream and is subject to intensive chemical and biological transformations (Goltermann, 1985; Admiraal and van Zanten, 1988). The

surface water chemistry of a river at any point reflects several major influences, including the lithology of the catchment, atmospheric inputs, climatic conditions and anthropogenic inputs (Bricker and Jones, 1995). Identification and quantification of these influences should form an important part of managing land and water resources within a particular river catchment (Petts and Calow, 1996). For over thousands of years, human settlements and civilizations have originated, concentrated and thrived around different types of water bodies. It is known that water bodies have played a crucial role in growth and development of human society. However, it is paradoxical that they have undergone degradation in modern times due to various anthropogenic activities. Urban growth, increased industrial activities, intensive farming and over use of fertilizers in agricultural production were identified as drivers responsible for these changes (UNEP, 2001). India is rich in water resources, being endowed with a network of rivers and blessed with snow cover in the Himalayan range that can meet a variety of water requirements of the country. However, with the rapid increase in the population of the country and the need to meet the increasing demands of irrigation, human and industrial consumption, the available water resources in many parts of the country are getting depleted and the water quality has deteriorated. Indian rivers are polluted due to the discharge of untreated sewage and industrial effluents. The rivers are the lifeline of the many cities and towns along their banks in India. Almost the entire country is crisscrossed by rivers with total length of some 45,000 km. The country has 12 major, 46 medium and 55 minor river basins. Half a century ago, most of the rivers in India were biologically in good condition, amply met the water needs of their basin populations and supported diverse fish and flora species. Today, it would be difficult to find a single river in the plains area of the country that would have potable water. Issue of quality of the urban water supplies is gaining increasing importance as more and more water supply sources get polluted. Industrial pollution, urban pollution, agricultural pollution, seawater intrusion and pollution due to geological sources (fluoride, arsenic) are some sources of pollution. More and more areas are also experiencing groundwater pollution. Increasing urbanization coupled with industrialization during the past few decades are depleting water ecosystem goods and services irreparably in Pune City, as indicated by high LPI (Living Planet Index) (Sahasrabuddhe et. al., 2003). The present paper

assesses the status of organic pollution in Mutha River at Pune city, Maharashtra. Pune City has a perennial source of surface water in the form of storage across Mutha River. It arises in the Western Ghats and flows eastward until in merges with the Mula River in the city of Pune. It has been dammed twice, firstly at the Panshet Dam, used as a source of drinking water for Pune city and irrigation. The water released here is dammed again at Khadakwasla and is an important source of drinking water for Pune. One more dam has been built later on the Mutha River at Temghar. STUDY AREA Pune is located at 18 31' 22.45" North 73 52' 32.69" East, near the western margin of the Deccan Plateau. Pune lies on the leeward side of the Sahyadri ranges and Western Ghats, 560 m (1837 ft) above the sea level, at the confluence of Mula and Mutha rivers, which are tributaries of the Bhima. Two more rivers, Pavana and Indrayani traverse the Northwestern outskirts of the urban area. Map 1 shows the metropolitan region of Pune, in which Mutha, Mula and Pavana rivers can be seen. Pune has a moderate climate with average temperatures ranging between 23 C to 28 C. Pune experiences three distinct seasons: summer, monsoon and winter. Typical summer months are from March to May, with maximum temperatures ranging from 30 to 38 C. The warmest month in Pune is April. The city often receives locally developed heavy thundershowers with sharp downpours in May. The city receives an annual rainfall of 722 mm, mainly between June and September as the result of southwest monsoon. July is the wettest month of the year. Pune has, on record, received rainfall for 29 consecutive days (Days when rainfall is greater than 2.5 mm). However, the weather is very pleasant in the city even during the monsoons with temperature ranging from 10 to 28 C and cool pleasant winds blowing in from the west. Pune experiences winter from November to February. The day temperature hovers around 28 C while night temperature is below 10 C for most of December and January, often dropping to 5 or 6 C. On particularly cold days, wind may appear to be very chilly due to the dryness of air. Rain is very rare in this season. Temperature records: The highest temperature recorded was 43.3 C on 30 April 1987 and 7 May 1889. The lowest temperature recorded during 1881 1940 was 1.7 C on 17 January 1935. More recently, Pune recorded a lowest temperature of 2.8 C on January 1991 (Maharashtra State Government, 2008).

MATERIAL AND METHODS To assess the water quality of Mutha River, five sampling locations - Khadakwasla dam downstream, Vitthalwadi, MES, Gandharv and Sangam Bridge (where the Mula and Mutha Rivers join together) were selected. The locations of these sites are shown in Map 2. The water samples were collected monthly from January to July 2004. Samples from the sampling sites were collected and stored in plastic bottles. The bottles were thoroughly cleaned and rinsed with distilled water before collection. The collected samples were labeled properly. These samples were analyzed for seven different physicochemical parameters. Analysis and collection of samples has been done according to standard methods prescribed by American Public Health Association (1995) and Trivedi and Goel (1986). The parameters studied include temperature, ph, electrical conductivity, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen and total hardness. Temperature was measured by using mercury thermometer (Jennson Delux make) on the spot. The electrical conductivity was measured in the laboratory using digital Conductivity meter (Systronics make). The conductivity meter was calibrated using 0.1 N KCL solution. ph was measured using digital ph meter (Systronics make) in the laboratory. The ph meter was calibrated for 4.0 and 9.2 buffer solution. BOD was calculated as the difference between initial oxygen concentration and after incubating it for 5 days at 20 C. COD was determined by titrating the samples with 0.1 N ferrous ammonium sulphate using ferroin indicator. The amount of dissolved oxygen was determined by using Wrinkler s Iodometric method. Total hardness was determined by titrating the sample with EDTA solution using Erichrome black T as indicator. The results obtained were graphically plotted and expressed in tabular format.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Table 1 and Figure 1 shows the results obtained during the present work. The temperature was recorded from 23.0 (in January from MES sample) to 26.8 C (in May from Vitthalwadi sample) with an average value of 25 C. ph of the Sangam Bridge sample was observed minimum (6.2) in the month of April, while ph of the Vitthalwadi sample was found maximum (7.8) in the same month. Minimum EC (40 μmhos/cm) was

found in the sample of Khadakwasla in January month, while maximum (580 μmhos/cm) was observed from the Sangam Bridge sample in April month. Temperature, ph and EC showed increasing concentration with time. Electrical conductivity at Khadakwasla was observed low (61 μmhos/cm) as compare to other locations. Similar results were observed by Sunita Nande (2000). She studied the Godavari River water quality and reported that temperature varies from 21 to 23.6 C, ph varies from 7.7 to 8.4 and EC varies from 227 to 484 μmhos/cm. ph of the Penganga River was observed between 7.56 and 8.13, that of Krishna River was found to varied from 7.4 to 8.1 and Bhima River shows ph from 7.0 to 7.9 (MPCB, 2003). Water quality of Mutha and Mula River was studied by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (2003). The locations for sampling were also same with present work except one. The results obtained at that time were analogous with the present work. It is well established that the ranges of water temperature significantly affect the changes in physicochemical parameters. Thermal pollution increases the solubility of certain chemicals and generally decreases the solubility of gases especially the amount of dissolved oxygen. High temperature, during the warm period, can result in intensive evaporation and low water flow which many times leads to the accumulation of organic matter, responsible for oxygen depletion in the water (Justic et al., 1997). Seasonal variation of the ph values did not show great differences. The observed values were within the range to permit all the natural processes of aquatic life. Water at Khadakwasla was observed to have minimum BOD among all, which was 21.5 mg/l, while all other four sites showed very high BOD. The average values were found 122.5, 172.33, 192.17 and 241 mg/l respectively. The minimum value was 18 mg/l (Khadakwasla in June) and the maximum value was 272 mg/l (Sangam Bridge in April). Central Pollution Control Board (2005) carried out the National Water Quality Monitoring Programme. Some rivers showed BOD concentration similar with

Table 1: Concentration of Physico-chemical parameters in water of Mutha River Sampling Station Khadakwasla Downstream Vitthalwadi MES Gandharv Sangam Bridge Month Temperature ( C) ph EC (μmhos/cm) Parameter BOD (mg/l) COD (mg/l) DO (mg/l) Hardness (mg/l) Jan 23.5 7.6 40 25 66 6.9 40 Feb 24.2 7.5 53 20 58 6.2 30 Mar 23.2 7.6 72 22 52 6.3 42 Apr 25.6 7.2 63 20 62 6.7 55 May 26.5 7.4 70 24 60 6.5 45 June 26.2 7.6 68 18 71 6.8 48 Jan 23.6 6.8 250 120 342 0.2 140 Feb 24.0 7.2 283 110 365 0.9 160 Mar 25.4 7.3 210 180 480 0.1 122 Apr 25.0 7.8 216 105 360 0.2 165 May 26.8 7.6 254 107 372 0.2 158 June 26.7 7.5 264 113 418 0.4 160 Jan 23.0 6.3 310 176 510 0.0 110 Feb 24.2 6.8 352 140 480 0.0 140 Mar 25.0 6.6 332 190 353 0.0 136 Apr 25.2 6.9 310 183 560 0.0 178 May 26.4 7.0 287 177 513 0.1 162 June 26.8 7.2 318 168 527 0.2 170 Jan 24.0 6.3 290 140 480 0.0 122 Feb 23.1 6.8 344 190 585 0.0 180 Mar 24.2 6.6 310 212 510 0.0 165 Apr 25.2 6.9 360 210 596 0.0 168 May 25.8 7.2 367 183 543 0.0 154 June 26.2 7.4 354 218 567 0.2 146 Jan 24.0 6.9 352 240 635 0.1 123 Feb 24.2 6.5 538 212 672 0.0 170 Mar 24.6 6.5 520 262 690 0.0 158 Apr 25.2 6.2 580 272 680 0.2 140 May 26.0 6.8 533 247 588 0.0 138 June 26.4 6.8 517 213 618 0.0 152 Mean 25.00 7.0 293.9 149.9 427.1 1.4 129.23

Figure 1: Concentration of physicochemical parameters in water of Mutha River Sampling Sites = Khadakwasla Vitthalwadi MES GCE 2008: Indo-Italian International Conference on Green and Clean Environment Gandharv Sangam Bridge 10 600 9 8 500 ph 7 6 5 4 3 Electrical Conductivity 400 300 200 2 1 100 0 January February March April May June Months ph 0 January February March April May June Months Electrical Conductivity 300 700 250 600 200 500 BOD (mg/l) 150 COD (mg/l) 400 300 100 200 50 100 0 January February March April May June Months Biochemical Oxygen Demand 0 January February March April May June Months Chemical Oxygen Demand 7 200 6.5 6 175 5.5 5 150 Dissolved Oxygen (mg/l) 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 Hardness (mg/l) 125 100 75 1.5 50 1 0.5 25 0 January February March April May June 0 January February March April May June Months Dissolved Oxygen Months Total Hardness

present work. Sabarmati (204 mg/l), Kali East (136 mg/l), Yamuna (59 mg/l), Satluj (40 mg/l), Krishna (40 mg/l), Bhima (36 mg/l) and Godavari (20 mg/l) Rivers are among them. While Amlakhedi (714 mg/l) and Ghaggar (626 mg/l) Rivers showed very high BOD. COD concentration was observed from 52 to 690 mg/l. The minimum value was found in March at Khadakwasla and maximum value was obtained at Sangam Bridge in the same month. COD at Khadakwasla was minimum (average 61.5 mg/l) among all locations. All other locations showed very high amount of COD. The organic pollution as measured through Biochemical Oxygen Demand and Chemical Oxygen Demand is considerably high, water bodies are eutrophicated near large urban centers due to the discharge of partly treated or untreated wastewater. This results in depletion of oxygen in these stretches of water bodies. CPCB (2005) analyzed water samples of 21 Rivers in India and reported the different COD concentrations. Ganga (1-37.6 mg/l), Yamuna (1-180 mg/l), Narmada (12-18.3 mg/l), Godavari (4-80 mg/l), Krishna (4-44 mg/l) showed marginally low concentration. While, Sabarmati (4-803 mg/l), Ghaggar (96-1600 mg/l), Kali East (48-492 mg/l) Rivers showed very high COD. High values of COD indicate water pollution, which is linked to sewage effluents discharged from town or industry. The concentration of oxygen reflects whether the processes undergoing are aerobic or anaerobic. Low oxygen concentrations are generally associated with heavy contamination by organic matter. In such conditions oxygen, sometimes, totally disappears from the water. The similar condition was observed in present work when dissolved oxygen was found to be absent in the samples from MES, Gandharv, and Sangam Bridge where average DO was observed to be 0.05, 0.03 and 0.05 mg/l respectively. These locations are downstream of urban settlements due to discharge of untreated / partially treated municipal wastewater, which is responsible for high oxygen demand. Maximum DO (6.57 mg/l) was observed at Khadakwasla. CPCB (2005) reported the level of DO more than 4 mg/l in river Narmada, Mahanadi, Brahamani, Baitarni, Subernarekha, Mahi and Beas throughout the year 2004 whereas, the lowest values are observed in stretches of river Sabarmati (0.3 mg/l), Yamuna (0.5 mg/l), Godavari (0.8 mg/l), Krishna (1.4 mg/l), Kali East (1.7 mg/l), Brahmaputra (2.0 mg/l), Ghaggar (2.2 mg/l), Satluj (2.8 mg/l), Chambal (2.8 mg/l), Ganga (3.2 mg/l), Cauveri (3.3 mg/l), Pennar (3.8 mg/l), Amlakhedi (3.9 mg/l), Tapi (4.0 mg/l).

Total hardness of water samples was observed to vary between 30 and 180 mg/l. All locations except Khadakwasla showed high values of hardness. Hardness has no known adverse effects on health. It is undesirable due to the formation of heat retarding insulating scales in the boilers and other heat exchange equipment. The hard water is not suitable for domestic uses like washing, cleaning and laundering. Hardness may be advantageous in certain conditions. It will leave a scaly deposit on the inside of pipes, boilers, and tanks, and thus reduces the entry of heavy metals from the pipes or tanks to the water. All five locations except the first one (Khadakwasla) showed high concentration of BOD and COD which indicates the organic pollution of the river and deterioration of the water quality. Water at Sangam Bridge was observed to be the most polluted among all locations.

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