Water Quality Analysis of River PAMBA using WQI Method and GIS Mapping

Water Quality Analysis of River PAMBA using WQI Method and GIS Mapping

Subha Lekshmi 1, Athira Somarajan2, Merlin Daniel3, Vishak Sasidhar 4

1Assistant Professor ,

234 Student Civil Department,

Musaliar College of Engineering & Technology, Pathanamthitta

Abstract : River Pamba is the third longest river in the South Indian state of Kerala. One of the most famous pilgrim centre in South India , Sabarimala dedicated to Lord Ayyappa is located in the banks of Pamba. During pilgrimage season, pilgrims use river water for various sanitary purposes and the water gets contaminated. This paper deals with the water quality analysis of River Pamba in three stages before, during and after pilgrimage season and assess the water quality using Water Quality Index method and GIS mapping. The parameters analysed are pH, Turbidity, Conductivity, Chloride, Total Alkalinity, Total Acidity, Total Hardness, Total Dissolved Solids, Coliforms and E-coli.

Keywords- pH, Turbidity, Conductivity, Chloride, Total alkalinity, Total acidity, Total Hardness, TDS, Coliforms, E- coli,pilgrim season,GIS mapping, River Pamba, Water Quality Index,

1. NTRODUCTION

   River Pamba is one of the major source of drinking water in Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha District of Kerala. Around thirty lakh people depend on this river and its tributaries for their different needs. The pilgrim season at Sabarimala starts from November to January every year. During this period, the water gets polluted more due to the sanitary activities done by pilgrims. So the water quality analysis should be done to check the extent of pollution.

   Fig 1. River Pamba

   1. OBJECTIVES

      • To assess the water quality of River Pamba at different wards of Perunad panchayath.

        1. SCOPE

           The water samples were collected and analysed- before , during and after pilgrimage season. Later on the next years, this information will be useful for taking pollution preventive measures before pilgrimage season starts. This method can be extended to the areas where Pamba river flows and affected by the pilgrim season . This methods helps to determine the polluted areas.

        2. METHODOLOGY

           Samples were collected from 14 wards of Perunad Grama panchayath. The selected wards are Mukkam(S1),Perunad(S2),Madathummoozhy (S3) Puthukkada(S4),Arayanjilimon(S5),Thulappally

           (S6), Naranamthodu (S7), Sabarimala(S8), Manakkayam (S9), Kannanumon (S10), Nedumon

           (S11), Mampara (S12), Kakkad(S13), Madamon (S14).

           The water was tested for pH, Turbidity,

           Conductivity, Chloride, Total Alkalinity, Total Acidity, Total Hardness, Total Dissolved Solids, Coliforms and E-coli.

           TABLE 1 DESIRABLE LIMITS OF PARAMETERS

           Parameters	Remarks
           pH	6.5 8
           Turbidity	1 NTU
           Alkalinity	200 mg/L
           Acidity	150mg/L
           TDS	500mg/L
           Total Hardness	200mg/L
           Chloride	250mg/L
           Coliforms	Zero
           E-coli	Zero

           After finding the values of these parameters, Water Quality Index of each point is calculated. The calculation of WQI is done using Weighted Arithmetic Mean Method.

           =1

           =1

           =1

           =1

           WQI is calculated by the following equation:

           To analyse the water quality before, during and

           after pilgrimage season using WQI method and

           WQI=

           /

           (1)

           GIS mapping.

      • To check whether the water quality is within the standards, and hence suitable or not for domestic

      and other purposes.

      • Wn = k/sn (2)

        Wn = unit weight for nth parameter

        Sn = standard permissible value for nth parameter

        k = proportionality constant.

        qn=100 (vn-vi) / (vs-vi) (3)

        vs = Standard value, vn = observed value, vi = ideal value

        In most cases vi=0 except in certain parameters like pH

        q pH = 100 (v pH 7.0) / (8.5 1.0) (4)

        TABLE 1 SUITABILITY OF WQI FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION

        Range	Remark
        0-25	Excellent
        26-50	Good
        51-75	Bad
        76-100	Very bad
        100 & above	Unfit

        • GIS Mapping is done using Arc GIS.

          1. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

             1. Test Results

                The test results of water samples collected from different wards of Perunad grama panchayath before pilgrimage season are shown in TABLE 3.

                TABLE 3 TEST RESULTS BEFORE PILGRIM SEASON

                Site	pH	Turbidity	EC	TDS	Total Acidity	Total Alkalinity	Total Hardness	Chloride	Coliform	E-coli
                S1	5.94	1.1	74	34	10	20	20	8	1100	20
                S2	6.5	1.4	65	21	11	22	16	6	540	17
                S3	6.06	8	37	20	16	24	16	4	1100	29
                S4	5.45	6.1	52	36	14	19	22	12	960	24
                S5	6.1	1.7	44	41	10	20	18	10	890	13
                S6	6.45	2.5	40	50	12	22	14	6	1090	19
                S7	5.59	6	64	27	11	23	19	12	460	10
                S8	5.57	1.3	55	30	10	20	24	6	400	15
                S9	6.12	7.8	32	51	14	24	15	7	750	21
                S10	6.3	5	47	43	12	18	20	4	680	18
                S11	5.81	4.1	51	32	14	21	22	10	980	24
                S12	5.75	1.3	74	47	10	18	18	5	460	28
                S13	5.63	1.1	76	28	10	22	26	8	870	16
                S14	6.21	5	69	31	10	19	24	4	800	15

                Remarks

      • Low pH in all wards (less than 6.5) except Perunad, which showed a value of 6.5.

      • Turbidity is within the desirable limits in all wards, but for drinking purpose, it is not safe (should be less than 1NTU).

      • TDS, total hardness, chloride, alkalinity, acidity is within the desirable limit.

      • E-coli and Coliforms are present

        The test results of water samples collected from different wards of Perunad grama panchayath during pilgrimage season are shown in the TABLE 4

        Hardness

        Hardness

        TABLE 4 TEST RESULTS DURING PILGRIM SEASON

        Site	pH	Turbidity	EC	TDS	Total Acidity	Total Alkalinity	Total	Chloride	Coliform	E-coli
        S1	7.1	6.1	80	40.4	9.3	20.5	28	12	1500	41
        S2	7.6	7.2	68	34	10	23.1	25	10	950	30
        S3	6.9	10.4	41	29	11.5	25.4	26	9.3	1320	48
        S4	7.54	9.8	63	45	10.3	21	29	14.6	1200	40
        S5	7.4	7.3	49	48	9.1	20.6	24	13.3	1100	32
        S6	7.45	8.7	51	55	11.1	22.4	21	8.09	1400	39
        S7	6.6	9.9	68	39	10.5	25.6	25	15.2	960	28
        S8	7.3	12.1	63	41	9.6	25	34	12.1	1650	41
        S9	7.9	11.3	45	60	13	26	20	19.2	900	42
        S10	7.74	8.2	50	49	11.5	19.4	21	10	1250	40
        S11	6.9	7.7	68.6	41	12.4	23	26	13.2	1400	42
        S12	6.89	6.1	79	52	8.6	20.1	20	14.2	1080	44
        S13	7.09	5.4	81	32	9.2	24	30	13.6	1350	36
        S14	7.81	9.5	72	44	9.4	20	29	9.4	1150	29

        Remarks

      • pH, TDS, Total acidity, Total alkalinity, Total hardness, Chloride is within the limit.

      • The value of turibidity is high compared to the values in before pilgrimage season.

      • E-coli and coliform are present and have greater value compared to before pilgrimage season.

        The test results of water samples collected from different wards of Perunad grama panchayath after pilgrimage season are shown in the table 5.

        TABLE 5 TEST RESULTS AFTER PILGRIM SEASON

        Site	pH	Turbidit y	EC	TDS	Total Acidity	Total Alkalinit	Total Hardness	Chloride	Coliform	E-coli
        S1	7	6	82	41	9.5	21	26	11.5	1520	50
        S2	7.3	6.8	69	36	10.6	25	23	9	990	35
        S3	6.7	9.6	43	31	12	26	25	9.1	1400	50
        S4	7.4	8.9	64	47	10.5	21.5	25	13.2	1290	45
        S5	7.1	7.1	51	61	9.6	21	21	12	1200	38
        S6	7.2	8.4	52	57	11.9	23.6	20	7	1490	42
        S7	6.3	9	70	43	10.8	25.9	22	14	1010	31
        S8	7.25	11.9	65	46	10.1	26	29	12	1800	49
        S9	7.5	10.6	46	61	13.5	27	19	18.9	990	48
        S10	7.6	7.8	54	50	12	20.5	19	9.5	1300	43
        S11	6.6	7.3	69	42	13.1	24.2	24	13	1450	44
        S12	6.8	6	81	55	8.9	21.1	18	13.9	1100	49
        S13	7	5.1	82	34	9.8	25.4	26	13.3	1400	40
        S14	7.6	9	73	45	9.9	21.3	24	9	1250	35

        Remarks:

      • Ph, Total acidity, Total alkalinity, EC, TDS, Chloride is within the limit.

      • Turbidity is above the limit and there is a slight decrease in the value compared to during pilgrimage season.

      • E-coli and coliform content increased.

        1. Water Quality Index

           • Calculation of Wn

             TABLE 6 CALCULATED VALUES OF Wn

             Sl.no	Parameter	Sn	1/Sn	Wn=k/Sn
             1	pH	8.5	0.117	0.216
             2	Turbidity	5	0.2	0.368
             3	EC	400	0.0025	0.004
             4	TDS	500	0.002	0.0036
             5	Total Acidity	150	0.00667	0.0122
             6	Total Alkalinity	200	0.005	0.00921
             7	Total Hardness	200	0.005	0.00921
             8	Chloride	250	0.004	0.007368
             9	Coliform	10	0.1	0.1842
             10	E-coli	10	0.1	0.1842
             	TOTAL		0.542	1

             The value of = 1/ ( 1 ) =1.845

             TABLE 7 CALCULATION OF WQI

             Sl.no	Station	WQI
             		Before pilgrim	During pilgrim	After pilgrim
             1	Mukkam	2086.78	2885.291	2936.499
             2	Perunad	1043.76	1867.21	1942.766
             3	Madathumoozhy	2152.39	2598.24	2746.218
             4	Puthukkada	1880.13	2364.43	2530.718
             5	Arayanjilimon	1689.14	2145.02	2334.37
             6	Thulapally	2069.44	2721.54	2886.988
             7	Naranamthodu	930.59	1898.96	1994.177
             8	Sabarimala	794.97	3208.66	3497.35
             9	Manakkad	1490.63	1831.748	1997.596
             10	Kannanumon	1332.94	2447.57	2540.015
             11	Nedumon	1897.08	2714.73	2811.755
             12	Mampara	926.82	2117.27	2163.82
             13	Kakkad	1660.24	2594.20	2690.346
             14	Madamon	1549.76	2253.729	2442.15
             	Average WQI	1689.81	2403.49	2536.76

             Since the Water Quality Index of Pamba river was in the range of 1000 3000 which is above 100 in all the 3 seasons(before , during and after pilgrim season), the water is unfit for human consumption. High value of WQI may be due to the large amount of coliform present in the river water.

        2. GIS Mapping

        Fig 3.Map before pilgrim season

        Fig. 2. Boundary map

        Fig 4.Map during pilgrim season

        Fig 5. Map after pilgrim season

        The GIS map is obtained using IDW Interpolation method. The map is plotted with X axis as longitude, Y axis as latitude and Z axis as WQI. In fig 3,4 and 5, the shades of different colours shows intensity of WQI within the selected boundary. The green colour shows areas with comparatively less WQI and red colour shows areas with high WQI.

        1. CONCLUSION

In Pamba River, all physic-chemical and biological parameters were fluctuated in the three seasons and in different stations. Raised values of certain parameters like turbidity, total coliform , e-coli clearly indicated pollution of Pamba River. From the test results, it is clear that certain parameters crossed the permissible limit. The high

amount of coliform count may be due to the human excreta during pilgrim season. Low discharge of river water during and after pilgrim season is also a factor the increased amount of coliforms. The increased turbidity observed during pilgrim season may be due to the input of organic matter and sewage effluents into the river. The high value of WQI in all places is due to the high value of coliform content.

Remedies to reduce the level of pollution:

• Proper collection and mangament system for different types of waste generated during pilgrim season.

• Proper latrine facilities should be provided at places where pilgrims used to take rest, bathing etc.

• Also, a certain level of water should be maintained by releasing water from storage dams.

• Turbidity can be reduced by stopping the usage of soaps while pilgrims take bath in the river water.

• Powdered roots and shoots of Vetiveria Zizanioides (phytoremediation using plants) can be used for removing bacterias and pollutants.

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