Present Status of Water Quality of the Bangshi River, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh Md
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Bangladesh Journal of Environmental Research, Vol.10, 17-30, 2012 ISSN: 1996-8914 Present Status of Water Quality of The Bangshi River, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh Md. Delwar Hossain1a,2, Md.Mostafizur Rahman1a, Joti Bikash Chandra1, Mashura Shammi1, and M. Khabir Uddin1* 1 Department of Environmental Sciences, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka-1342, Bangladesh 2Department of Patent, Design and Trademark, Ministry of Industries. 91, Motijheel, C/A, Dhaka-1000. Abstract The present study was carried out on the Bangshi River (near DEPZ area), Savar, Dhaka, with a view to the partial assessement of the water quality of the river. A Total of eighteen samples were collected in February, 2011, of which, fourteen samples were collected from the main stream of the Bangshi river, two samples were collected from the joint canal of the Dhalai Beel and Bangshi river and two samples were collected from the Karnapara canal connected with the river. Physico-chemical parameters, Temperature, pH, Total dissolved Solid (TDS), Electrical conductivity (EC), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5) , Chemical oxygen demand (COD) were determined by the standard method. Some heavy metals such as Cu, Cd, Zn and Pb were also determined by Flame AAS (GFA-7000 unit of AAS-7000 instrument of Shimatzu Corporation). The results revealed that the pH and DO values of all the sampling points were exceed the standard limit setted by the Department of Environment (DoE). In case of the COD and BOD, the results were significantly above the surface water quality standard declared by the DoE. But in case of salinity, TDS, and EC the results showed some variable patterns like near the industrial establishment the samples contained higher value than the other sampling points. The untreated industrial effluents with high pollution load discharged into the river caused the deterioration of the water quality. The results were also varried in different sampling points. But overall concentration of heavy metals were below the detection limit and some were within the standard limit setted by the DoE. The water quality in terms of the physicochemical parameters was not good at all in the period of the study area. Keywords: DEPZ, Effluents, COD, pollution, BOD Introduction Pure water is essential for human life. For leading a healthy, safe and disease free life pure water is must. The quality and quantity of water available are vital factors in determining human well being. But a huge amount of water have contaminated every day. Contamination of aquifer water is now a days a subject of much discussion. Industrial development and increasing usage of industrial goods and their wastage discharged in water, wastewater as it contain huge amount of heavy metals and other pollutants and consequently deposits in the aquifer. Industrial pollution is one of the uncompromising problems presently facing Bangladesh and all over the world. The environmental pollution is the undesirable effect of a Both the authors contributed equally. *corresponding author:[email protected] Bangladesh Journal of Environmental Research, Vol.10, 17-30, 2012 Hossain et al. increasing industrialization and the congregation of industrial near the area, which is already heavily industrialized and the unchecked population growth. At present, industrialization can be observed almost all over Dhaka. Tejgaon, Hazaribagh, Mirpur, Kamrangirchar, Dholaikhal, Postogola, Savar, Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ) etc. are well- established industrial zone of Dhaka. Textile, garments, manufacturing, dyeing, food processing, tanneries, jute mills and glass factories are the main source of production of these industries. The main features of these industries are that they are developed in an unplanned manner and mostly just in front of water bodies. The unplanned industrial expansion of Dhaka and surrounding areas are adversely affecting the environmental quality causing air, water and soil pollution (BBS, 2006). The surface water is highly polluted due to untreated textile effluents discharged into Shitalakhya and other major river systems around Dhaka city (Kabir et al., 2010). Savar is one of the largest industrial belts near Dhaka in Bangladesh and DEPZ is also located at Savar. About 91 industries now exist at DEPZ Table 01 (Khan et al., 2011). And the numbers of industries are increasing day by day. These industries generate a large amount of effluent every day and most of the industries are being directly discharged into the adjacent Dhalai beel (wet land), land, agricultural fields, irrigation channels and surface water and finally enter into the Bangshi River. For this a large number of villages are now being threatened by this industrial effluent. There is a good number of research works done on the river Buriganga and Shitalakkah but a little attention has given on the river Bangshi but it has a tremendous load of pollution due to the adjacent DEPZ and scattred industries at Savar area. Huge amount of effluents discharged from DEPZ has been polluting the surface and groundwater. Surface water contamination by industrial effluents released from DEPZ (Khan et al., 2011). The ultimate destination of the major portion of the discharged water drained into Dhalai beel and finally into Bangshi river. That is why the present study aims to assess the water quality of the Bangshi river. Table 1: Types and Number of Industrial Units in DEPZ (Khan et al., 2011). No. Industry type Number of Units 1 Cap/Accessories/ Garments 42 2 Textile/Knitting 22 3 Miscellaneous 11 4 Plastic Goods 6 5 Footwear/Leather Goods 4 6 Metal Products 2 7 Electronic Goods 2 8 Paper Products 1 9 Chemical and fertilizer 1 Total 91 18 Present Status of Water Quality of The Bangshi River, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh Methodology Study area: Physiogaphically the study area belongs to Madhupur Tracts, which is a Pleistocene elevated landscape distinct from the surrounding Fluvio-deltaic plains by Ganges, Brahmaputra and meghna River. The Bangshi River is one of the distributaries of Turag River located at Savar Upazilla (most of its length). Savar is in Dhaka District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is located at a distance of about 24 km to the northwest of Dhaka city. The Bangshi River connected with Dhaka Export processing Zone (DEPZ) through Dhalai beel. The satellite image shows the actual view of the area in figure 1(Khan et al., 2011). Hydrology of the study area is governed by rainfall intensity and distribution, permanent or ephemeral water bodies and flow of rivers or canals. The study was conducted in the month of February 2010, the rainfall in this month is very low. The rain fall pattern was shown in Figure 2. The DEPZ located at the upstream portion of the Bangshi River. The river is driven into the Turag river and finally falls into Buriganga. Figure 1: Satellite Image shows the Connection between DEPZ and Bangshi River(Khan et al., 2011). Figure 2: Rainfall data of a year (Khan et al., 2011) 19 Bangladesh Journal of Environmental Research, Vol.10, 17-30, 2012 Hossain et al. Sample Collection: The water samples were collected from 18 different points along the Bangshi river at a regular interval of 0.5 to 1.0 Km between each sampling point. The GPS position were taken from each point and it was shown in the GIS map in Figure 3. The samples were taken in plastic containers of 1000 ml capacity and prior sampling the bottles were washed with 20% (V/V) HN03 solution and then rinsed thoroughly with de-ionized water. The containers were completely filled with sample water to the brim. Later the containers were labeled and sealed carefully. The sampling points and coding numbers were marked on the containers by a permanent marker pen. The sampling was started from the upstream of the river near the Dhalai beel down to the downstream upto the Karapara canal. Figure 3: GIS Map of sampling points. Methods of the Study: Before attempting detail field survey a reconnaissance survey over the study area has been conducted. It revealed that the general status of the physical environment. Sampling location has been selected from this initial survey with the help of GPS (Table 2). The depth of the 20 Present Status of Water Quality of The Bangshi River, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh sampling was fixed at 2.5 ft for avoiding the surface interference. Detailed field study includes samples collection from appropriate locations, field measurements (pH, DO, Temperature, etc.). Photographs were taken to document the status of the study area and sampling locations. In this study there were a number of physical and chemical parameters studied through different standard methods. The EC, TDS, Salinity, DO, BOD, COD were studied by EC meter of model Hanna,EC 241 conductivity; Hanna HI 8734 TDS meter, C- 114; Hanna instument for Salinty meter; HI 9141, microprocessor auto cal DO meter; 5-day BOD by Winkler method and Closed refluxed titrimetric method for COD, respectively. Heavy metals were studied by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry(AAS)- Model: AA-7000 instrument of SHIMADZU corporation. Table 2: GPS location of the sampling points Sampling Latitude Longitude Location (Left) Location points (Right) 1 23056'41'' N 90018'5'' E Nolam Nolam 2 23056'40'' N 90013'56'' E Nolam Nolam 3 23056'12'' N 90013'48'' E Nolam Nolam 4 23055'49'' N 90013'41'' E Nolam Nolam 5 23056'24'' N 90013'34'' E Hajipur Kakran 6 23054'53'' N 90013'42'' E Hajipur Kakran 7 23054'20'' N 90013'50'' E Hajipur Kakran 8 23053'48'' N 90013'49'' E Pathalia pathalia 9 23053'17'' N 90013'50'' E Pathalia Pathalia 10 23052'44'' N 90014'01'' E Pathalia Pathalia 11 23052'11'' N 90014'02'' E Noyerhat (Bata) Islampur 12 23051'43'' N 90014'18'' E Ghughudia (Textile) Islampur 13 23051'11'' N 90014'27'' E Ghughudia (Textile) Noyapara 14 23050'37'' N 90014'32'' E Ghughudia (Textile) Noyapara 15 23050'08'' N 90014’44'' E Sinduria Noyapara 16 23049'37'' N 90014'54'' E Sinduria Noyapara 17 23049'23'' N 90015'11'' E Savar Savar 18 23049'21'' N 90015'12'' E Savar Savar Results and Discussion The water quality data of collected samples from the 18 sapmling points of the Bangshi river were presented in the table-2.