Assessment of Water Quality of Tolly`s Nullah using CCME Water Quality Index Method

Document by: Bharadwaj

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Abstract

Water quality index is a single value numerical expression which can evaluate the quality oI
given water body at particular position and time. Water quality index is subsequently Iormulated
by CCME process and the results obtained Ior each sample oI Tolly`s Nullah is reported. It has
been observed that the individual parameters vary quite widely whereas when it is converted to a
single value indicator like Water quality index, their values varied quite narrowly. It is observed
Irom the results that the depending on the seasonal variation, Water quality index value is also
changed. Thus it becomes more convenient to opine on the quality oI water with respect to its
pollution level.

Keywords: Water quality index; Pollutants; CCME process; Tolly`s Nullah.


Introduction

The water pollution occurs when a body oI water is adversely aIIected due to the addition oI large amount
oI materials to the water. When it is unIit Ior its intended use, water is considered polluted. Water pollution
|1-2| is not a problem that only takes nature's beauty away, but it also sabotages the living environment Ior
all organisms. For instance, Iish as well as other living things in water such as shrimp, jellyIish, etc. also
die or even become extinct due to the extensive amount oI water pollution that exists in the seas and
oceans. The poisonous substances that are Iound in these waters cause a harsh lack oI oxygen Ior these
aquatic organisms causing them to eventually die out. This pollution would also severely inIect water with
diIIerent types oI bacteria and diseases, this being the water that we drink and wash with |3 10|.
ThereIore, the disadvantages oI water would gradually transIer to us, causing horrible illnesses as well as
other miserable conditions.

Tolly's Nullah is a canal, which connects the river Hugli in the west with the east Kolkata wetland. It is also
known as Adiganga oI Kolkata. Adiganga originates Irom Hugli at Hastings near Dholaghat Bridge. The
canal passes through the Kidderpore area and Keorapukur Khal is generated Irom it near Kudghat.
ThereaIter it runs along the N.S.C Bose Road at Tollygunge till it reaches Garia. Beyond Garia the Ilow oI
Adiganga is completely died out but Major William Tolly reexcavated the canal in the year 1770 to 1777
and extended the canal eastward Irom Garia to Samukpota, where it met Bidyadhari. So Adiganga` was
renamed Tolly`s Nulla aIter the name oI Mr. William Tolly. Beyond Garia the Ilow eastward remains
severally restricted till it meets the Bidyadhari at Samukpota. The load oI domestic sewage and other
sewage sludge oI Kolkata metropolis make the stupendous change in its ecosystem and ecological
behaviour. Water quality management is urgently needed Ior human welIare as well as Ior the maintenance
oI ecological balance keeping the other creatures in tranquil environment. Observations in physico
chemical environment oI both the river water courses are compared to those oI the relatively non-polluted
water bodies in and around Kolkata.

Water Irom Tolly's Nullah are collected Irom diIIerent locations (six) at diIIerent times to analyzed the
characteristics oI the water. Samples had been collected Irom these locations during Ebb Time and Full
Tide conditions. The six locations are: (1) Hastings, (2) Alipore Bridge, (3) Kalighat, (4) Tolly Phari, (5)
Shiriti Crematorium, (8) Kudghat.

Due to the construction work oI the Metro Railway oI Kolkata during the time span at which the samples
were taken, the canal was blocked in between Shiriti and Kudghat. The various chemical physical
properties oI water collected Irom diIIerent locations oI Tolly`s Nullah during diIIerent season are used to
evaluate the water quality index which integrates the data pool generated aIter allocating due weights to the
diIIerent parameters. Water Quality Index can play a big role in mitigating the water characteristics
problems oIten-encountered in diIIerent surIace water bodies. The number oI physical and chemical
parameters such as pH, DO, alkalinity, conductivity, total solids, hardness, inorganic and organic trace
elements etc. That needs to be monitored Ior proper assessment oI water quality oI any water resource is
very large. In water resource management, where classiIication and comparison oI diIIerent water resources
on the basis oI water quality is oIten requisite, it will be more convenient to integrate the data pool in some
way to produce a single number. Water Quality Index (WQI) |11-18| achieves these objectives and is oI
great value in water resource management.

Materials and methods
The parameters like temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, Chemical Oxygen demand, Biochemical Oxygen
demand, Oil & Grease, Turbidity, Total suspended solid, total dissolved solid etc are determined using
standard procedure. The water quality index value are calculated using CCME (Canadian Council oI
Ministers oI the Environment) Water Quality Index method |19|. The advantages oI an index is the ability
to represent measurements oI a variety oI variables in a single number, its ability to combine various
measurements in a variety oI diIIerent measurement units in a single metric and its eIIectiveness as a
communication tool. When the same objectives and variables are used, the index can be used to convey
relative diIIerences in water quality between sites over time. The Components oI WQI are-

Factor I: Scope
It has been adopted directly Irom the British Columbia Index as:

1
var
100
var
number of failed iables
F x
total number of iables


where variables indicate those water quality parameters with objectives which were tested during the time
period Ior the index calculation.

Factor 2: Frequency
F2 (Frequency) represents the percentage oI individual tests that do not meet the objectives (Iailed tests`):
1
100
number of failed tests
F x
total number of tests


Factor 3: Amplitude
F3 (Amplitude) represents the amount by which the Iailed test values do not meet their objectives, and is
calculated in three steps:
(i) When the number oI times by which an individual concentration is greater than (or less than, when
the objective is a minimum) the objective, it is termed as excursion` and is expressed as Iollows.
When the test value must not exceed the objective:
1
i
i
f
Failed test value
excursion
Obfective


For the cases in which the test value must not Iall below the objective:

1
f
i
i
Obfective
excursion
Failed test value

ii) The collective amount by which individual tests are out oI compliance is calculated by summing the
excursions oI individual tests Irom their objectives and dividing by the total number oI tests. This variable,
reIerred to as the normalized sum oI excursions, or nse, is calculated as:
1
.
n
i
i
excursion
nse
no of tests

iii) F
3
is calculated as:
3
( )
0.01 0.01
nse
F
nse

,

The WQI is Iinally calculated as:

2 2 2
1 2 3
100
1.732
F F F
WQI



Once the WQI value has been determined, water quality can be ranked by relating it to the characteristics
category |Table 1|.


#esults and discussion
From the experimental values oI Chemical Oxygen Demand (Fig. 1) |20|, it is observed that the nature oI
the curve as that oI is same with the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (Fig 2) curve. As Chemical Oxygen
Demand indicate oxidation oI both the biologically degradable & unbiodegradable substances both,
Chemical Oxygen Demand will be greater than Biochemical Oxygen Demand, but the nature oI the curve
will be same. At Ebb Tide, Chemical Oxygen Demand values are greater than the Chemical Oxygen
Demand values oI Full Tide due to the dilution oI some Iresh water coming Irom Hoghly river at Full Tide.
At Post Monsoon, Chemical Oxygen Demand values at Alipore Bridge , Tolly Phari, Shiriti Crematorium
are higher than 100 mg/l, i.e. beyond permissible limit. But Chemical Oxygen Demand value oI Shiriti
Crematorium is more than any other regions. BOD at Shiriti during post-monsoon is 66 mg/l. So water oI
this region is considered to be very polluted with organic waste. The water oI Kudghat is stagnant, as there
is no Ilow because oI the ongoing construction oI Metro Railway. So, the quality oI water is polluted but
not so as Shiriti. The low values oI BOD may be due to the stabilization oI organic waste by the bacteria
present in water.

When Biochemical Oxygen Demand |20| levels are high, there is decline in Dissolved Oxygen levels (Fig.
3) as the demand Ior oxygen by the bacteria is high. At the Full Tide (Pre Monsoon & Monsoon),
Dissolved Oxygen levels are low. Dissolved Oxygen levels |20| oI Shiriti is much more lower than other
places at every seasons. II Dissolved Oxygen level is low, there will be less Oxygen present in that region
and it is expected that living organism do not survive in this region. Except the Full Tide, Dissolved
Oxygen levels are very low except at Hastings.

pH oI the samples (Fig. 4) are in the permissible range. Present oI nitrates & sulIates may result in lower
pH. The pH value |20| is within the range 6 to 7.9. From the nature oI the curve oI Oil & Grease (Fig. 5), it
is observed that Oil & Grease oI the regions Hastings, Alipore Bridge are more than any other places. At
the time oI Ebb Tide, this value is more than Full Tide. The low value oI Oil & Grease may be due to the
consumption oI Oil by the microorganism present. Turbidity reIers to any solid or organic matter that
doesn`t settle out oI water. This means that the material is not dissolved but is in suspension. Such material
includes dust particles, and colloidal organic matter along with others. At Alipore Bridge, turbidity levels
are more than any other regions.

WQI oI the river are calculated Ior the samples oI water collected Irom diIIerent locations using CCME
water quality index method. When water Irom river Ganga enters into the canal the quality oI water
deteriorates partly due to drastic reduction in the volumetric Ilow oI water and partly due to the polluting
eIIect oI the contaminants being poured into the canal Irom various sources. From the calculation oI Water
Quality Index (Fig. 6), it is observed that all the locations Water Quality Index indicate marginal to Fair
category oI surIace water. But water collected Irom Alipore Bridge & Shiriti Crematorium are more
polluted than any other regions. From COD values (Fig. 1) also it is observed that COD is higher in Alipore
Bridge and Shiriti Crematorium than other places and the eIIect is also observed in the result oI WQI. It
signiIies that the conditions oI the water quality sometimes depart Irom natural or desirable levels. The
region has long been subjected to rapid increases in population and in spite oI all the preventative measures
taken by the local authorities, it is clear those domestic discharges, industrial pollution and agricultural
activities are major threats to reservoir water quality.


Conclusion
The provision oI better quality water was one logical step in this direction. Once we use the water, we
aIIect its quality. From the experimental values and nature oI the curve, it is seen that the water oI Tolly`s
Nullah is somewhat polluted and except Full Tide, the pollution rate is increased time to time. The
experimental values oI Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Chemical Oxygen Demand, Dissolved Oxygen,
Total Dissolved Solids, Total Suspended Solids etc shows that water sample oI Shiriti Crematorium cross
the permissible limit in every respect at Post Monsoon. Water oI Kalighat, Alipore Bridge, Kudghat, Tolly
Phari are in critical position. So, we must conscious now & we have to take a proper step now so that
Iurther pollution cannot be occurred and the level oI pollution can be decreased in Iuture.

ReIerences
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Francisco, London, 1977, pp 51-56.

2. S A Abbasi. Water Quality: Sampling and Analysis. Discovery Publishing House. New Delhi (1998). pp
200 250.

3. The American Water Works Association, Inc. Water Quality and Treatment. McGraw Hill Book
Company, 3rd Edition, 1971, pp 1-49.

4. CPCB. Pollution Control Acts, Rules and NotiIications Issued there Under.. CPCB, New Delhi,
September 2001.

5. APHA . AWWA . WPCF. .Standard Methods Ior the Examination oI Water and Waste Water.. 14th
Edition, 1976, pp 513-554.

6. S Hooda and S Kaur. .Laboratory Manual Ior Environmental Chemistry. S Chand and Company Limited,
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7. MetcalI and Eddy. Wastewater Engineering Treatment, Disposal and Reuse.. Tata McGraw Hill
Publishing Company Limited, 2nd Edition, 1992, pp 56-116.

8. R S Ramalho. Introduction to Wastewater Treatment Process, Academic Press Inc., end Edition, 1983,
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9. G L Karia, R A Christian. Wastewater treatment: Concepts & design approach. Prentice Hall oI India
Publication, pp 1 11.

10. R. M. Brown, N. I. Mcclelland, R. A. Deinnings, and R. G. Tagore. A Water Quality Index, Do we
dare? Water and Sewage Works, volume 11, pp. 339 343, 1970.

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38 no.1, pp. 21-34, 1996.

12. J.M.Landwehr & R.A.Deininger, A comparison oI several Water Quality Index, J.Water Pollution
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quality index and dissolved oxygen deIicit as simple indicators oI watersheds pollution, ecological
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Table 1. Description of Water Quality Index value
WQI Description
0 - 44 Poor - water quality is almost always threatened or impaired; conditions usually depart Irom natural or
desirable levels.
45 - 64 Marginal - water quality is Irequently threatened or impaired; conditions oIten depart Irom natural or
desirable levels.
65 - 79 Fair - water quality is usually protected but occasionally threatened or impaired; conditions sometimes
depart Irom natural or desirable levels.
80-94 Good- water quality is protected with only a minor degree oI threat or impairment; conditions rarely
depart Irom natural or desirable levels.
95-100 Excellent - water quality is protected with a virtual absence oI threat or impairment; conditions very
close to natural or pristine levels. These index values can only be obtained iI all measurements are
within objectives virtually all oI the time.















Fig 2: Variation of BOD values at
different locations
0
5
10
15
20
Locations
B
O
D
,

m
g
/
l
t
1 2 3 4 5 6

Fig 1: Variation of COD values at
different locations
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Locations
C
O
D
,

m
g
/
l
t
1
2
3
4
5
6

Fig 4: Variations of pH at different
locations
6
6.5
7
7.5
8
Locations
p
H
,

m
g
/
l
t
1 2 3 4
5 6

Fig 3: Variation of DO at different
locations
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Locations
D
O
,

m
g
/
l
t
1 2 3 4 5 6




















1: Hastings, 2: Alipore Bridge, 3: Kalighat, 4: Tolly Phari, 5: Shiriti Crematorium, 6: Kudghat
Fig 5: Variation of Oil & Grease at
different location
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Locations
O
i
l

&

G
r
e
a
s
e
,

m
g
/
l
t
1 2 3 4 5 6

Fig 6: Variati on of WQI at different
l ocati on
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
W
Q
I
Ha Alipo Kali Tol S
1 2 3 4 5
6