POLLUTION STUDY OF KAVERI RIVER IN THE REGION 1 2 3 Prannau A J , Balaji M , Sivalingam A.M

1 PG Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, Erode Sengunthar Engineering College (Autonomous), () 2 Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Erode Sengunthar Engineering College (Autonomous), (India) 3 UG Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Erode Sengunthar Engineering College (Autonomous), (India)

ABSTRACT

Rising pollution levels in the air, water and land poses serious threat to the environment and all the lives on the planet, the waters of rivers are being polluted severely almost throughout the year, this level is going to shoot up as the population is also in the rise. This project aims to study the pollution happening in the Kaveri

River in the Erode region of Tamilnadu state in India. The project involves various methods in the study process which give out the factual and operational pollution levels in the waters of Kaveri River, Erode is a flourishing industrial city with a lot of textile and dyeing industries in the rise. That is one of the main reasons for selecting the Erode region for the project. Mostly the effluents are considered to be treated before letting it into the river, still this would account for the pollution caused in the river and the sewer network of the district also opens into the river at various discharge points. Intensive study of water pollution in rivers, sources and pollutants have been done, Sample water has been collected at predetermined points and have been tested for the presence of pollutants and a questionnaire survey has been conducted to the citizens of believing their answers would give a much reliable information on the status of the condition of water, depending upon their use and day to day application with the water.

Keywords: River Kaveri, Kaveri River pollution, Kaveri in Erode region

1. Introduction

1.1 General

Water pollution is an appalling problem, powerful enough to lead the world on a path of destruction. Water is a natural solvent, enabling most pollutants to dissolve in it easily and contaminate it. The effect of water pollution is directly suffered by the organisms and vegetation that survive in water, including amphibians. On a human level, several people die each day due to the consumption of polluted and infected water. 108 | P a g e

As per the Economist report (dated 2008), each day, over 1000 children die of diarrheal sickness in India, and the numbers have been alarming in the last five years. Water is polluted by both natural as well as human-made activities. Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc. are known to alter water and contaminate it, also affecting the ecosystems that exist underwater.

1.2 Aim of the Project

This project aims to study the pollution of river Kaveri (Cauvery) inside the limits of Erode district, it is important to make an assessment of quality of the water by studying the pollution of the river which is considered a lifeline of two rapidly developing states of the country, for the best use of water resources distribution and utilization. It becomes necessary to have an idea of the present and future demand of water for various uses e.g. irrigation, industries, public health and river conservation.

1.3 Objective of the Project

1) Intense study of pollution in the river like sources, contamination levels, pollutants that usually cause pollution in rivers. 2) Conducting a survey/ questionnaire to the people residing in the vicinity of the river bank and who come in contact with the river water on an everyday basis, As these people have much experience, visuals, effects of the river’s water than the other population 3) Collection of water samples from the rivers at predetermined points and testing it for pollutants, submitting its report and a discussion on the results.

2. River pollution study

2.1 Sources of River pollution study

2.1.1 Industrial Waste:

Industries produce a tremendous amount of waste, which contains toxic chemicals and pollutants, causing air

& water pollution and damage to our environment and us. They contain harmful chemicals, including lead, mercury, sulfur, nitrates, asbestos, and many others. Many industries, not having a proper waste management system, drain the waste in the freshwater, which goes into canals, rivers, and later into the sea. The toxic chemicals may change the color of water, increase the number of minerals, called eutrophication, change the temperature of the water, and pose a severe hazard to water organisms.

2.1.2 Sewage and Wastewater:

The sewage and wastewater that is produced in each household are treated chemically and released into the river along with fresh water. The sewage water carries pathogens, a typical water pollutant, other harmful bacteria, and chemicals that can cause serious health problems and thereby diseases.

2.1.3 Mining Activities:

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Mining is the process of crushing the rock and extracting coal and other minerals from the underground. These elements, when extracted in the raw form, contain harmful chemicals and can increase the number of toxic elements when mixed up with water, which may result in health problems. Mining activities emit a large amount of metal waste and sulfides from the rocks, which is harmful to the water.

2.1.4 Chemical fertilizers and pesticides:

Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used by farmers to protect crops from insects and bacteria. They are useful for the plant’s growth. However, when these chemicals are mixed up with river and stream water, they produce harmful pollutants for plants and animals. Also, when it rains, the chemicals mix up with rainwater and flow down into rivers and canals, which pose serious damages for aquatic animals.

2.1.5 Animal Waste:

The waste produced by animals is washed away into the rivers when it rains. It then gets mixed up with other harmful chemicals and causes various water-borne diseases like cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, jaundice, and typhoid.

2.1.6 Urban Development

As the population has grown exponentially, so has the demand for housing, food, and cloth. As more cities and towns are developed, they have resulted in increasing use of fertilizers to produce more food, soil erosion due to deforestation, rise in construction activities, inadequate sewer collection and treatment, landfills as more garbage is produced, increase in chemicals from industries to produce more materials.

2.2 Industries in Erode

Getting a count and types of industries and factories present within the Erode district, as it would be a herculean task for getting this data all by myself and with COVID19 outbreak going on, I requested the Erode branch office of the Tamilnadu Pollution Control board for the data. With that data acquired it was easy to categorize the industries and determine which of the industries contribute to pollution and their respective levels. Depending upon the industries list we can get information on what type of industries are present in Erode and therefore what will be very helpful in preparing the questionnaire survey and also in collecting water samples from rivers and testing for the necessary parameters.

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TABLE 2.1 Categorization of the Industries is Erode district

S.No Category Type: Large Type: Medium Type: Small Total

1 RED 20 6 735 761

2 ORANGE 18 4 375 397

3 GREEN 3 5 187 195

4 WHITE 1 1 25 27

5 Total 42 16 1322 1380

3. Questionnaire survey

3.1 General

In order to obtain real time information regarding the pollution happening in the river I went for a questionnaire survey which was conducted through google forms platform, I also made sure that this survey should be responded mostly by people who reside at Erode district and the ones who are in continuous contact with the Kaveri River. Luckily I was able to get a lot of responses from civil engineers belonging to Erode City Municipal Corporation, PWD, TWAD, TANGEDCO etc., and also from the highly knowledgeable Principals, HODs and professors from various colleges within Erode district.

The survey deals with the following aspects:

 Serves as an evidence that the river is getting polluted in real time.

 The reliability levels are promising.

 Maximum surveys were completed by people who are in contact with the river on an everyday basis.  This questionnaire survey will be conducted as a basic confirmation for the pollution happening in the river.

The survey consisted of mostly questions with multiple choice answers, the most possible truths according to 111 | P a g e

each individual was to be chosen and submitted. Finally the collective summary and individual results were obtained at the end.

3.2 Summary of the questionnaire survey

The survey was answered by 34 respondents in total. As said earlier this survey serves as a basic confirmation for the pollution happening in the river. The summary of the questionnaire is as follows:

Fig 3.1 Summary result of survey pt 1

The first question here itself is self-explanatory, In fact the river gets polluted near its origin and through its course from Karnataka the river is being polluted by various sources, When it enters Tamilnadu mostly formation of white foam has now become a common sight in the river, which marks the start of the pollution which itself remains as a solid evidence for people whoever just see the river.

The river pollution has now become a common sight to the residents near the river as they can lively see the water getting polluted, especially the effluent being discharged from the tanneries and dying industries, That is why I wanted to conduct the survey to the people who are in contact with the river on a daily basis.

Fig 3.2 Summary result of survey pt 2 112 | P a g e

The above image shows the how the respondents firmly believe that the river is polluted. Here 76.5% of the respondents are the ones who have seen the river getting polluted on their own. This is what makes their support turn into a much solid evidence. The other options include articles from magazines and newspaper that accounts for 32.4%, personally getting affected by the polluted water once in lifetime accounting for 5.9%, People who have heard through friends/ families/ relatives accounting for 32.4% and people who get reliable information accounting for 14.7%.

Fig 3.3 Summary result of survey pt 3

The previous image shows the source which has been considered to be the main source of pollution by the respondents. It’s again evident that the main source of pollution is from the untreated effluent and other discharges from the industries and tanneries in and around Erode district. Vast majority of 91.2% responses shows this. 55.9% respondents have said the pollution is caused by individuals disposing undesirables into the river. 52.9% have said the pollution has been caused by household and domestic wastes disposal, another 52.9% have said the pollution is caused by drainage discharge into the river. 2.9% of the respondents feel all the above reasons contribute together for the pollution.

Fig 3.4 Summary result of survey pt 4

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The above image shows how often the respondents get into contact with river. Again here a vast majority of

44.1% get into contact (visually / physically) with the river on an everyday basis. Any sudden changes in the river, discharges can be sensed by them quickly that was the main reason I opted for getting most responses from them.

11.8% of the respondents get into contact once in a week, another 11.8% usually take a one month interval, and another 11.8% respondents get into contact once in a year, 8.8% of the respondents hardly get into contact with the river.

Fig 3.5 Summary result of survey pt 5

The above imagine shows the percentage of respondents who use the river water for any purpose from domestic to commercial, industrial and other uses. 55.9% of the respondents use the river water and 44.1% don’t use the water for any purpose.

Fig 3.6 Summary result of survey pt 6

The above image remains exclusive only to 55.9% of the respondents who are the ones using the river water various purposes. Among them 70.4% use the water for bathing purpose. 66.7% use it for cleaning, washing and other domestic uses. However a 44.4% have been using it for drinking (treated water).

Here onwards the questionnaire survey ends and has provided the project with sufficient evidences for the

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river getting polluted from a lot of valuable respondents.

4. River water sample study

4.1 Sample collection

For the purpose of sample collection I have predetermined the locations already for getting the river water sample and testing it. Totally two samples were collected, the locations are as follows:

1. Bhavani Kattalai Barrage, B.P Agraharam, Erode, 638008 (11.385260050862312,

77.71455463863127)

2. Sunnambu Canal confluence, Suriyampalayam, Erode, Tamil Nadu 638102 (11.387791222660047,

77.6958716651489)

The main intention of selecting these locations is that, a large scale dying industry and a tannery are situated very close to the above mentioned locations respectively. Anyways this doesn’t mean that these are the actual industry and tannery which are creating pollution. In this vicinity a lot of small scale industries and tanneries also exists.

Fig 4.1 Image of Bhavani Kattalai Barrage from where the first water sample was taken.

Fig 4.2 Image of Sunnambu canal from where the second sample was taken

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4.2 Sample testing, results and discussions

The samples have been done with physical, chemical and bacteriological examinations.

TABLE 4.1 Result of Physical examination done on the samples

S.No Physical Acceptable Permissible Bhavani Sunnambu Examination limit limit in the Kattalai canal absence of Barrage sample alternate sample source 1 Appearance -- -- clear clear 2 Colour (Pt.Co 5 15 Colourless Light brown scale) 3 Odour Agreeable Agreeable None Pungent (Non agreeable) 4 Turbidity (NT 1 5 0 0 units) 5 Total dissolved 500 2000 328 2760 solids, (mg/L) 6 Electrical -- -- 469 3866 Conductivity (micro mho/cm)

TABLE 4.2 Result of Bacteriological examination done on the samples

S.No Bacteriological Acceptable Permissible Bhavani Sunnambu Examination limit limit in the Kattalai canal absence of Barrage sample alternate sample source 1 Fecal Coliform 0 0 2800 34x103 (colonies per 100 ml)

4.3 Discussions on the results of physical and bacteriological examinations

From the above results it is known the water sample collected at the second point had an undesirable odour which denotes it might have been caused by the effluent discharges from the tanneries located in the vicinity of the river and it also changes the colour of the water to light brown, making it polluted. For a potable water should be colourless and should be odour free, In the first place itself the water fails this criteria and enters polluted category and becomes unfit for use. The TDS exceeds the standard value making the water polluted and filling it with various inorganic pollutants. This in turn has been reflected in chemical examination done.

The bacteriological examination sheds light on the large number of fecal coliform population which in turn gives information that the river water is also contaminated by letting in of untreated household drainage directly in the river. The fecal coliforms of today are known to cause illness and are usually potential indicators of presence of pathogens in the water as microbes usually coexists. This high level of coliform presence is an imminent threat that has to be understood. Anyone coming into contact with this water before treatment is likely to get a pathogen attack, possibly a severe water borne disease. 116 | P a g e

TABLE 4.3 Result of Chemical examination done on the samples

S.No Chemical Acceptable Permissible Bhavani Sunnambu Examination limit limit in the Kattalai canal absence of Barrage sample alternate source sample 1 pH 6.5 to 8.5 6.5 to 8.5 6.99 8.22 2 pH-Alkalinity as 0 0 CaCO3 (mg/l) 3 Total Alkalinity 200 600 320 660 CaCO3 (mg/l) 4 Total hardness as 200 600 450 800 CaCO3 (mg/l) 5 Calcium as Ca (mg/l) 75 200 36 240 6 Magnesium as Mg 30 100 9 48 (mg/l) 7 Sodium as Na (mg/l) -- -- 38 500 8 Potassium as K (mg/l) -- -- 5 50

9 Iron as Fe (mg/l) 0.3 1.0 0 0.34 10 Manganese as Mn 0.1 0.3 0.00 0.00 (mg/l) 11 Free Ammonia as NH3 0.5 0.5 0.43 2.34 (mg/l) 12 Nitrite as NO2 (mg/l) -- -- 0.13 0.70 13 Nitrate as NO3 (mg/l) 45 45 1 3 14 Chloride as Cl (mg/l) 250 1000 300 1200 15 Fluoride as F (mg/l) 1 1.5 0.1 0.5 16 Sulphate as SO4 (mg/l) 200 400 13 292

17 Phosphate as PO4 -- -- 2 1.90 (mg/l) 18 Tidy’s Test 4hrs as O2 -- -- 2.32 2.88 (mg/l) 19 Free residual chlorine 0.2 1.0 0.0 0.0 (mg/l)

4.4 Discussions on the results of chemical examinations

 Excess Alkalinity

Total alkalinity exceed the limit in the second sample making the water more alkaline. An overall excess of alkaline water intake in the body may cause gastrointestinal issues and skin irritations. Too much alkalinity may also agitate the body's normal pH, leading to metabolic alkalosis in fishes thereby slowly degrading aquatic life.  Excess total hardness

The total hardness exceeds sharply the standard values, hard water can interfere with the action of soaps and detergents and can result in deposits of calcium carbonate, calcium sulphate and magnesium hydroxide inside pipes and boilers, causing lower water flows and making for less efficient heating. In humans hard water is considered to be a significant etiological factor around the globe causing many diseases such as cardiovascular problems, diabetes, reproductive failure,

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neural diseases, and renal dysfunctions.

 Excess free Ammonia as NH3

Ammonia can enter the aquatic environment via direct means such as municipal effluent discharges, Urea manufacturing industries, runoff from agricultural lands and so on. Excess free ammonia is toxic to aquatic life. Unlike other forms of nitrogen, which can indirectly harm aquatic ecosystems by increasing nutrient levels and promoting algae growth in the process known as eutrophication, ammonia has direct toxic effects on aquatic ecosystems.

 Excess chlorine in water

In water, the chlorine reacts to form hypochlorous acid and hypochlorites, and could potentially be harmful if consumed. The main health effect that comes from drinking too much chlorinated water is bladder cancer.

5 Conclusion

It is very evident from both the questionnaire survey and the sample testings that the Kaveri River is polluted in real time, the water is unfit for drinking and bathing without proper treatment, the treated water also sometimes is capable of posing serious risks. The polluted river water means harm in many aspects and the water becomes entirely unfit for drinking, bathing and any other domestic or commercial use, Polluted water means polluted nation, all the pollutions of today will slowly aggravate and lead to the destruction of ecosystems and food webs which in turn becomes a curse for the upcoming generations and the earth itself. It’s never late to stop pollution and let’s take our stand here, before entirely shifting all the blame on the government and industries it is high time we as responsible citizens stop polluting the river by individually discarding domestic and commercial wastes into the river. It is also necessary to make stringent laws and keep proper check on the industries and other commercial bodies that remain as major pollution source of the river water. Proper effluent treatment setting up can be partially funded by government to small and medium scale industries and other economically weaker commercial bodies. More preventive measures and rules can be formed by the pollution control board and they can be given more authoritative powers in order to curb pollution of all aspects. REFERENCE

1) Amita Fotedar, Bashir Ahmad Loan, et al (2010) Water Quality Assessment of the Chenab River, Flowing from Pul Doda to Baggar. Jammu and Kashmir, India, for Domestic Use. 2) Andreea-Mihaela Dunca (2014) Water Pollution and Water Quality Assessment of Major Transboundary

Rivers from Banat (Romania)

3) G.Balaji (2017) Evaluating the Impact of Urbanization on the Physicochemical Parameters of the Urban River

System: A Study on Vaigai River, Madurai

4) Pankaj. V. Sharma & Monika Bhadauria (2019) Yamuna River Water Pollution-A Review 5) Tandon Abhilash Borthakur, Digvijay Kumar et al (2016) Assessment of water quality of river Brahmaputra in Guwahati city, Assam

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