Seasonal Variation in Physical Characteristics of Tamdil Lake, Mizoram, Northeast India

Lalzahawmi Chenkual et.al. / International Journal of Modern Sciences and Engineering Technology (IJMSET) ISSN 2349-3755; Available at https://www.ijmset.com Volume 3, Issue 6, 2016, pp.24-29

Seasonal Variation in Physical Characteristics of Tamdil Lake, Mizoram, Northeast India.

3 *Lalzahawmi Chenkual 1 Laltanpuia 2 BP Mishra Department of Environmental Science Department of Environmental Science Department of Environmental Science Mizoram University Mizoram University Mizoram University Aizawl, Mizoram Aizawl, Mizoram Aizawl, Mizoram [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Abstract The present study deals with the physical properties of Tamdil lake, Mizoram, India, for a period of two years, i.e. from March, 2014 to February, 2016. The physical characteristics namely temperature, turbidity and total dissolved solids were analyzed monthly and the results are computed on seasonal basis i.e. pre-monsoon, monsoon, postmonsoon and winter seasons. From the study it was observed that, seasonally, temperature ranged from 120C – 290C; turbidity from 5.6 NTU – 24.3 NTU and total dissolved solids ranged from 77.3mg/L- 125.3mg/L. Statistically, there was a positive relationship between water temperature and TDS and turbidity, and a significant and positive relationship between TDS and turbidity. Keywords: Physical characteristics, Temperature, Turbidity, Total Dissolved Solids, Water quality standards.

1. INTRODUCTION: A lake is a body of relatively still water of considerable size, localized in a basin that is surrounded by land apart from a river, stream, or other form of moving water that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes are used for domestic and irrigation purposes, and provide ecosystem for aquatic life especially fish, thereby functioning as a source of essential protein, and for significant elements of the world’s biological diversity. They have important social and economic benefits as a result of tourism and recreation, and are culturally and aesthetically important for the people throughout the world1. The health of lakes and their biological diversity are directly related to health of almost every component of ecosystem. Lakes are subjected to various natural processes taking place in the environment like the hydrological cycle, with unprecedented developmental activities; human beings are responsible for choking several lakes to death. Storm water runoff and discharge of sewage into the lakes are few of the common causes where various nutrients enter the ecosystems resulting in their death. Of all the water quality issues facing lakes everywhere, eutrophication is of great concern. Eutrophication is the term used to describe the aging of the lake, resulting due to the accumulation of nutrients, sediments, silt and organic matter in the lake from the surrounding watershed2. Mizoram is one of the north-eastern states of India, having a total geographical area of 21,081 sq km with a population of 1,091,014, the density being 52 per sq km2. Amidst the precipitous terrain of Mizoram, there are only a few natural lakes. They are formed at places, where hills and ridges serve as natural embankment on all sides. Lakes are locally called ‘Dil’. The large lakes to be mentioned are Palak Dil and Tamdil, which are included under National Wetland Conservation Programme in 2005. The other smaller lakes, which are tiny pools or marshy depressions, are Rengdil (0.6 sq.km), Rungdil (0.75 sq.km), Diltlang (0.5 sq.km), Hmawngbu (0.7 sq.km). Tamdil is the only lake that has been developed and created as the most important and productive fish pond by the state government3.

© IJMSET-Advanced Scientific Research Forum (ASRF), All Rights Reserved “IJMSET promotes research nature, Research nature enriches the world’s future” 24 Lalzahawmi Chenkual et.al. / International Journal of Modern Sciences and Engineering Technology (IJMSET) ISSN 2349-3755; Available at https://www.ijmset.com Volume 3, Issue 6, 2016, pp.24-29 2. STUDY AREA AND STUDY SITES: Tamdil, a freshwater lake is located at 12kms towards the north-west side of Saitual town, Aizawl District. Mizoram, North East India. The lake lies between 23044’20.4”N Latitude and 92057’10.8”E Longitude. It is situated at an altitude of 717m above sea level. The circumference of the lake is 890 running meters, with a maximum depth of about 7 meters; it has a catchment area of 13.5sq.km. The lake lies within Aizawl district and is about 110 kms from Aizawl city, the state capital of Mizoram, N.E.India. Tamdil lake is one of the two wetlands identified under National Wetland Conservation programme. The water samples of Tamdil lake were collected from five sampling sites at monthly intervals for analysis of various water quality parameters for a period of two years. The selected sampling sites are as follows: Site I - inflow from Dilkhan village side. Site II - inflow from Tualbung village side. Site III - mid-Lake region. Site IV - corner of the Lake near the outlet. Site V - outlet of the Lake.

Figure 1: Map showing Location of Study site

Figure 2 : Picture of Tamdil Figure 3: Google Earth picture of Tamdil

© IJMSET-Advanced Scientific Research Forum (ASRF), All Rights Reserved “IJMSET promotes research nature, Research nature enriches the world’s future” 25 Lalzahawmi Chenkual et.al. / International Journal of Modern Sciences and Engineering Technology (IJMSET) ISSN 2349-3755; Available at https://www.ijmset.com Volume 3, Issue 6, 2016, pp.24-29

3. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Water samples were collected at monthly intervals in triplicates from each sampling site for a period of two years (i.e., from March, 2014 to February, 2016) for analysis of physical characteristics of water namely, temperature, turbidity and total dissolved solids. The methods outlined in the Standard methods for the examination of water and waste water4 and Handbooks of methods in environmental studies, water and waste water analysis5 were used for the analysis. Temperature was analyzed at the sampling sites by using a mercury filled centigrade thermometer. Samples for Turbidity and total dissolved solids were taken to the laboratory and were determined by Nephalometer and by evaporation and filtration methods respectively. 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: a) Temperature: Temperature is a key factor, which regulates the biogeochemical activities in the aquatic ecosystems6. Water temperature increases correspondingly with the increasing atmospheric temperature7. During the present study, it was observed that minimum and maximum temperature of water were120C during February, 2016 (site 1 and site 2) and 290C during May, 2015 (site 2, site 3 and site 4) respectively. The site showing most consistent temperature was site 2 with a standard deviation of 4.370C while the site showing most varying temperature was site 4 showing maximum standard variation of 4.460C (Figure 4). There is a positive relationship between temperature and TDS (0.430) and between temperature and turbidity (0.490). As it is shown in Figure 5, it was observed that water temperature was decreased from monsoon season to winter season and raised again to monsoon season. The water temperature followed the change in solar radiation and ambient air temperature8. The findings are in conformity with the work of Mishra9, Lalchhingpuii10 and Thasangzuala11.

30 30

25 25 20 20 PREMONSOON MINIMUM 15 MONSOON MAXIMUM 15 10 POSTMONSOON MEAN 10 5 WINTER 5 0 0 I II III IV V I II III IV V

Figure 4: Minimum, Maximum and Mean Figure 5: Seasonal Variation in Temperature Temperature (0C) values for 2 years (0C) values for 2 years average data b) Turbidity: Turbidity is a measurement of cloudiness of water. Cloudiness is caused by materials caused suspended in water. Clay, silts, organic matter, plankton and other microscopic organisms cause turbidity in natural water12. During the present study, the minimum and maximum turbidity value was found to be 5.7 NTU during February, 2015 at site 5 and 24.3 NTU during October, 2015 at site 2 respectively (Figure 6). The site with minimum standard deviation of turbidity is site 1 with 3.21 NTU while the site with maximum standard deviation is site 2 with 3.88 NTU, showing that turbidities of this source was exhibiting most varying performance. As shown in Figure 7, seasonal turbidity values were found to be higher during monsoon and post-monsoon periods, followed by winter season. This may be due to sewage influx, flooding and © IJMSET-Advanced Scientific Research Forum (ASRF), All Rights Reserved “IJMSET promotes research nature, Research nature enriches the world’s future” 26 Lalzahawmi Chenkual et.al. / International Journal of Modern Sciences and Engineering Technology (IJMSET) ISSN 2349-3755; Available at https://www.ijmset.com Volume 3, Issue 6, 2016, pp.24-29 sedimentation during heavy rainfall. The sewage influx and setlable solids have tremendous effect on the aquatic environment by increasing the turbidity which in turn decreases productivity and photosynthesis13.

20 20 15 PREMONSOON 15 MINIMUM 10 MONSOON 10 MAXIMUM POSTMONSOON

MEAN 5 WINTER 5 0 0 I II III IV V I II III IV V Figure 6: Minimum, Maximum and Mean Figure 7: Seasonal Variation in Turbidity Turbidity (NTU) values for 2 years (NTU) values for 2 years average data c) Total dissolved solids (TDS): TDS is a measure of all the dissolved substances, both organic and inorganic in water14. In natural water, dissolved solids are composed mainly of carbonates, bicarbonates, chlorides, sulphates, nitrates, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, iron and manganese, etc15. In the present study, minimum TDS value of 52 mg/L was found in March, 2015 at site 4 and 5 and maximum TDS value of 128mg/L was found during October, 2014 at site 1 (Figure 8).The site having most consistent TDS was site 2 with minimum standard deviation of TDS as 13.04 in mg/L; while the site showing most varying TDS concentration was site 5 with maximum standard deviation of TDS as 16.08 in mg/L. Seasonal TDS values were found to be higher in post-monsoon and monsoon periods, followed by winter and pre-monsoon periods (Figure 9). This may be due to consequent increase of salt present in water during summer months and surface runoff containing organic and inorganic impurities, and accumulation of nutrients during rainy months. There is a positive and significant relationship between TDS and turbidity (.928**).

140 140 120 120 100 100 PREMONSOON 80 MINIMUM 80 MONSOON 60 MAXIMUM 60 40 40 POSTMONSOON MEAN 20 20 WINTER 0 0 I II III IV V I II III IV V

Figure 8: Minimum, Maximum and Mean Figure 9: Seasonal Variation in TDS (mg/L) TDS (mg/L) values for 2 years values for 2 years average data

© IJMSET-Advanced Scientific Research Forum (ASRF), All Rights Reserved “IJMSET promotes research nature, Research nature enriches the world’s future” 27 Lalzahawmi Chenkual et.al. / International Journal of Modern Sciences and Engineering Technology (IJMSET) ISSN 2349-3755; Available at https://www.ijmset.com Volume 3, Issue 6, 2016, pp.24-29 5. CONCLUSION: The result obtained from the present study are compared with the standards for drinking water given by various scientific agencies like WHO standard (2008)16, USPH17 (1962), ICMR (1996)18 and BIS (2012)19. It was found that turbidity values of all sites were above maximum permissible limits of 5 NTU in all the seasons. High turbidity value might be attributed to sewage influx, higher concentration of sand and silt, colloids and other organic debris caused by heavy rain. Regarding temperature and total dissolved solids, the results obtained from all sites were well within the permissible limits given by different agencies.

6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors are thankful to the Mizoram University for providing infrastructural and laboratory facilities and to Mizoram Pollution Control Board, Aizawl, Mizoram for extending analysis facilities.

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© IJMSET-Advanced Scientific Research Forum (ASRF), All Rights Reserved “IJMSET promotes research nature, Research nature enriches the world’s future” 28 Lalzahawmi Chenkual et.al. / International Journal of Modern Sciences and Engineering Technology (IJMSET) ISSN 2349-3755; Available at https://www.ijmset.com Volume 3, Issue 6, 2016, pp.24-29

AUTHOR’S BRIEF BIOGRAPHY:

LALZAHAWMI CHENKUAL : She finished M.Sc (Zoology) from North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya, India. She has 22 years of teaching experience in Degree college. She has many papers in her credit.

LALTANPUIA : He finished M.Sc (Biochemistry) from North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya, India. His research interest include Application of modern biotechnology and water pollution. He has published papers in national and international journals.

B.P MISHRA : A Professor and Head of Department of Environmental Science, Mizoram University, Aizawl, Mizoram. He has successfully supervised many research student and has a wide range of publication to his credit.