An Analysis of Water Quality Evaluation of River Yamuna, With Respect to Primary and Biological Water Quality Criteria |

ABSTRACT:

Clean to slight pollution in biological water quality wasobserved in River Yamuna at Yamunotri and Hanuman chetti, in terms BiologicalWater Quality Criteria. River Yamuna was moderately polluted from Okhla Barrageto Allahabad throughout the year. At Etawah, the water quality became severelypolluted during summer season. Water quality of River Yamuna at Yamunotri,meets the Primary Water Quality Criteria in terms of pH of 8.1, DO of 7.8 mg/l,BOD of <2 mg/l and Total Coliform count of <2 MPN/100 ml used fordrinking water without conventional treatment but after disinfection Class Aand Outdoor bathing Class B and Class ‘C’ and drinking water source afterconventional treatment. Average Total Coliform counts of 24775 – 66357500MPN/100 ml did not meet the criteria of Total Coliform counts of 5000 MPN/100mlfor drinking water source with conventional treatment followed bydisinfection(Class ‘C’) in River Yamuna at downstream Yamunotri. Free Ammonialevels of 1.4-6.6 mg/l were unsuitable for propagation of wildlife, fisheriesunder Class ‘D’ in River Yamuna from Okhla Barrage to Etawah. Entire stretch ofRiver Yamuna was found to meet the desired criteria for irrigation, industrialcooling and controlled waste disposal (Class ‘E’) in terms of conductivitylevels of 83-1087 μmhos/cm. The flow of the Yamuna River varies significantly duringmonsoon and non-monsoon seasons. The river constitutes maximum flow i.e. around80% of the total annual flow during monsoon period. During non-monsoon periodthe Yamuna cannot be designated as a continuous river but segregated into fourindependent segments due to the presence of three barrages from where almostthe entire water is being diverted for various human activities. The riverwater is used for both abstractive and in stream uses. Irrigation is theimportant use of Yamuna Water followed by domestic water supply, industrial andother uses. The ground water quality of adjoining areas of riverYamuna in Delhi has been assessed to see the suitability of ground water for irrigation and domesticapplications. Thirty eight ground water samples from shallow and deep wellswere collected each during pre-monsoon and post monsoon seasons in the month ofJune and November 2000 respectively. Various physicochemical, trace elementsand bacteriological parameters have been determined. The data was analyzed withreference to BIS and WHO standards, ionic relationships were studied, hydrochemical facies were determined and water types identified. The study hasclearly indicated higher concentration of total dissolved solids, electricalconductivity, nitrate, sulphate and sodium. The presence of total colifoimsindicates bacterial contamination in ground water. The presence of heavy metalsin ground water though recorded in many samples butthese were not significantlyhigher. The water quality standards have been violated for TDS, nitrate,sulphate and sodium at few places.