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Monitoring of Water Quality Parameters in Uppanar River of Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu State, India

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Monitoring of Water Quality Parameters in Uppanar River of Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu State, India Journal of Water P.Sustainability Mullai et , al.Volume / Journal 3, Issue of 4, Water December Sustainability 2013, 179–192 4 (2013) 179-192 1 © University of Technology Sydney & Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology Monitoring of Water Quality Parameters in Uppanar River of Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu State, India P. Mullai 1* , M. K. Yogeswari 1, B. Oommen 1, K. Saravanakumar 2, K. Kathiresan 2 1Pollution Control Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar - 608 002, Tamil Nadu State, India 2Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai - 608 502, Tamil Nadu State, India ABSTRACT The Uppanar River is situated in the Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, India. The study was conducted to find out the physico-chemical characteristics of the river. 11 physico - chemical variables were analyzed in the water sam- ples collected every month for 3 years during November 2009 - December 2012. Continuous monitoring of the wa- ter quality is very important in order to protect the river and it reveals the pollution status of the river. Various pa- rameters like temperature, pH, redox potential, salinity, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, reactive silicates, total phos- phates, nitrate-nitrogen, nitrite-nitrogen and ammonia-nitrogen gave an outline of water quality of the Uppanar River. The results indicated that the water quality of the Uppanar River was moderately polluted might be due to the continuous discharge of municipal and industrial effluents. Keywords : Physicochemical characteristics; Uppanar River; permissible limits 1. INTRODUCTION day-by-day at a faster rate which is a fright- ening global problem at present (Mahananda et Water is the elixir of life, an essential natural al., 2010). Almost 70% of India’s surface water resource for the survival and sustainability of resources have been contaminated by biologi- life on earth. Though the water available in the cal, organic and inorganic pollutants (Agarwal universe is estimated to contain about 1.36 and Saxena, 2011; Joseph and Jacob, 2010). billion km 3, only 3% of the water existing as The addition of various kinds of pollutants fresh water in rivers, stream springs and aqui- and nutrients through the agency sewage, in- fers, is available for human use (Chinedu et al., dustrial effluents, agricultural runoff etc, into 2011; Usharani et al., 2010). Among the fresh the river bodies brings about a series of water only 5% are available for beneficial use. changes in the physicochemical characteristics The total water resource available in India is of water (Mullai et al., 2011, 2012; Singh et al., 1850 km 3, which is roughly 4% of the world’s 2010). Once the surface water is contaminated, fresh water resource (EPA-PWD, 2001). Water its quality cannot be restored by stopping the is a vital resource for agriculture, manufac- pollutants from its source. Hence, continuous turing and other human activities to lead life. monitoring of the water quality becomes cru- Fresh water resources are deteriorating cial in order to protect it (Yisa and Jimoh, *Corresponding to : [email protected] 180 P. Mullai et al. / Journal of Water Sustainability 4 (2013) 179-192 2010). In Indian estuaries and seas the physico- town and most part of Chidambaram Taluk and chemical characteristics have been determined confluences with the Bay of Bengal through a by many researchers (Damotharan et al., 2010; mouth of Gadilam River. It runs behind the Khare et al., 2011; Mahananda et al., 2010; SIPCOT (State Industrial Promotion Corpora- Manikannan et al., 2011; Sankar et al., 2010; tion of Tamil Nadu Limited) industrial com- Shraddha et al., 2011). In the present study, the plex covering an area of about 700 acres with influence of effluent discharge on physi- 70 industries (Mullai et al., 2013). It is specif- co-chemical characteristics in the Uppanar ically established for chemical, petrochemical, River was investigated from November 2009 fertilizers, pharmaceutical, dyes, soup, deter- to December 2012. gent, packing materials resins, pesticides, drugs, antibiotics etc., manufacturing indus- tries. Most of the industries are wet process 2. METHODOLOGY industries and they consume large quantity of water for their manufacturing process. The 2.1 Study area effluents of these industries are released un- treated into the estuary. In addition to the in- The Uppanar river is situated at Cuddalore (N dustrial wastes, the estuary receives also the 11° 43’E; N 79° 46’E) (Figure 1), 180 Km municipal wastes and domestic sewage from South of Chennai and 25 Km South of Pondi- Cuddalore old town. cherry. This river flows between Cuddalore Figure 1 Study area of the River Uppanar, southeast coast of India P. Mullai et al. / Journal of Water Sustainability 4 (2013) 179-192 181 2.2 Sampling stations minimum temperature was 24.2 °C during Oc- tober 2012 at station I. At many sampling time The four sampling stations, namely S1 – be- points, temperature was recorded above 25 °C, tween SIPCOT and Uppanar Estuary (N exceeding the WHO (1984) permissible limits. 11º42’11.4” E 079º46’18.6”), S2 – at the start The maximum temperature could be attributed of the SIPCOT industrial complex (N to high solar radiation, evaporation, freshwa- 11º39’28.0” E 079º44’59.7”) , S3 – near the ter influx and cooling and mixing up with ebb port office of the Uppanar Estuary (N whereas the minimum temperature was due to 11º42’11.8” E 079º46’18.3”) , and S4 – near sea breeze and precipitation (Damotharan et the site of plantation (N 11º43’51.4” E al., 2010; Sankar et al., 2010). This variation 079º46’18.8”) were selected along Uppanar in water temperature might be because of an River, as shown in Figure 1. increase in rate of chemical reaction and na- ture of biological activities, since temperature 2.3 Sampling and analysis governs the assimilative capacity of the Surface water samples were collected in acid aquatic system (Adefemi and Awokunmi, washed polythene bottles from 4 stations for 2010; EPA, 1976). every 30 days at the selected locations along Uppanar River. Water samples were analyzed 3.2 pH for water temperature, redox potential, hy- pH is an important parameter in evaluating the drogen ion concentration (pH), dissolved ox- acid - base balance of water. The hydrogen ion ygen, salinity, alkalinity, relative silicate concentration (pH) ranged from 6 to 9.8 at all (Strickland and Parsons, 1972), total phos- the 4 stations (Figure 3). The lowest pH 6 phorus (Murphy and Riley, 1962), nitrate - recorded at station III during February 2012 nitrogen, nitrite - nitrogen, and ammonia - ni- might be due to the dilution of alkaline sub- trogen according to the standard procedure of stances or dissolution of atmospheric carbon APHA (1995). dioxide, also due to the influence of effluent from the industries (Kumar et al., 2010), whereas the highest pH 9.8 indicating the al- 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION kaline nature of water during December 2009 at Station II might be due to high temperature 3.1 Temperature that reduces the solubility of CO 2, the influ- Temperature is one of the important physical ence of fresh water influx, dilution of sea wa- factors as it regulates the rate of photosynthe- ter, low temperature and organic matter de- sis and also affects the chemical and biologi- composition. The observed results exceeded cal reactions in water. The temperature varia- the permissible limit of ICMR, 1975 (6.5 - 8.5) tion may influence the physico-chemical at some sampling stations. Similar trend in pH characteristics, distribution and abundance of was reported by Gasim et al. (2007) from Be- flora and fauna (Manikannan et al., 2011; bar river, Malaysia, Prabu et al. (2008) from Soundarapandian et al., 2009). Water temper- Pichavaram mangroves, Damotharan et al. ature recorded was more or less similar at all (2010) from Point Calimere coastal waters, the stations but fluctuated during the sampling Sundaramanickam et al. (2008) from Paran- period (Figure 2). The maximum temperature gipettai and Cuddalore coast of India and recorded was 32.1 °C during May 2010 and Yadav and Srivastava (2011) from river Ganga. 2011 at station I; March 2011 at station IV and A change in water pH affects the aquatic life 182 P. Mullai et al. / Journal of Water Sustainability 4 (2013) 179-192 indirectly by altering water chemistry which water, photosynthesis of aquatic plants, meta- in turn alters the dissolved oxygen level in the bolic rates of aquatic organisms. 34 Station I Station II Station III Station IV 32 30 28 Temperature º C 26 24 Time (months) Figure 2 Monthly variations of temperature in the study area during the study period 10 Station I Station II Station III Station IV 9 8 pH 7 6 5 Time (months) Figure 3 Monthly variations of pH in the study area during the study period P. Mullai et al. / Journal of Water Sustainability 4 (2013) 179-192 183 3.3 Redox potential (Gasim et al., 2007). Redox potential measurement is an excellent 3.4 Salinity indicator of TDS, which is a measure of salin- ity that affects the taste of potable water. The Salinity is the measure of the salt content of redox potential of water samples at station I, water. Salinity of the Uppanar river ranged station II, station III, and station IV showed from 0 ppt to 29.1 ppt during the study period wide variations from 4.2 mv to 49 mv (Figure (Figure 5). The maximum salinity was rec- 4). The lowest Eh was seen at station II during orded during November 2009 at station II and June 2010 whereas highest Eh was recorded at minimum was during March 2010 at station I. station I during September 2011. The highest The lower salinity was due to heavy rainfall redox potential might be due to its proximity and large quantity of fresh water inflow to sea and high influx of surface run off (Manikannan et al., 2011; Soundarapandian et (Adefemi and Awokunmi, 2010; Chinedu et al., 2009).
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