HYDROLOGY AND ASSESSMENT OF LOTIC WATER QUALITY IN CUTTACK CITY, INDIA

J. DAS and B. C. ACHARYA

Mineralogy and Metallography Department, Regional Research Laboratory, Bhubaneswar (CSIR), India ( author for correspondence, e-mail: bcacharya@yahoo.com)

(Received 1 February 2002; accepted 6 June 2003)

Abstract. A total of 120 water and sewage samples were collected from 20 stations over six consecutive seasons in two years in order to study the possible impact of domestic sewage on the lotic water in and around Cuttack, India. A majority of samples exceeded the maximum permissible limit set by WHO for NH+ and NO contents. Total viable count (TVC) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) 4 3 counts in all the samples were high and the waters were not potable. The nutrient characteristics of the study area exhibited drastic temporal variation indicating highest concentration during the summer season compared to winter and rains. The persistence of dissolved oxygen (DO) decit and very high biochemical oxygen demands (BOD) all along the water courses suggest that the deoxygenation rate of lotic water was much higher than reoxygenation. Hierarchical cluster analysis of the various physico-chemical and microbial parameters established three different zones and the most contaminated zone was found to be near the domestic sewage mixing points. Keywords: nutrients, pollution, sewage, water

1. Introduction Surface water resources have played an important role throughout history in the development of human civilization. About one third of the drinking water requirement of the world is obtained from surface sources like rivers, canals and lakes. But, these sources serve as the best sinks for the discharge of domestic as well as industrial wastes. This unscientic disposal of wastes has caused immense problems not only to human beings but also to the aquatic environment world wide. In India, this problem started long back but intensied during the last few decades and now the situation has become alarming. Consequently, studies on the major river ecosystems indicate that the major Indian rivers are grossly polluted, especially beside the cities (Upadhyaya et al., 1982; Srivastava, 1992). Potability of the lotic water bodies in and around Cuttack, a major city in eastern India, has not been established, though huge domestic efuents generated have been discharged untreated over the years. Hence, an investigation was carried out to examine the water quality through various physico-chemical and microbiological parameters, and to determine the
Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 150: 163175, 2003. 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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Figure 1. Location map showing the sampling stations of the study area.

factors contributing to the pollution load of the lotic water bodies in and around Cuttack. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. S TUDY AREA Cuttack city (20 26 02 to 20 29 55 N, 85 48 20 to 85 56 30 E) is surrounded by river Mahanadi and its tributary Kathajodi and the city is elongated in east-west direction. The annual ow of the Mahanadi is 66 640 106 m3 , but accounted for about 75% during monsoon period (Das and Sahoo, 1996). The ow of the river Kathajodi also reaches the peak during the rains. The width and volume in the ow decrease to a great extent during rest of the year, particularly during summer months. Besides the rivers, Taladanda canal originating at a barrage on Mahanadi, passes through the city in an east-west direction and serves as a source of water for the residents. The ow of the canal is fully controlled by the barrage, but maximum ow occurs during rainy season. River Kathajodi receives raw domestic sewage from the city, at two points, viz. Khannagar and Mattagajapur. Sometimes during summer, water of the river Kathajodi becomes black near the discharge points.

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Similarly, the Mahanadi receives a part of the sewage near station 11 (Figure 1), but the volume is much less than the amount of run-off. The Taladanda canal is also not free from pollution load put in by the residents of the city. The dangerous and infectious wastes produced by the S.C.B. Medical college and hospital, organic garbage from the nearby vegetable godowns and markets nd their way to the canal. The presence of a number of dairy farms and high density of human population along the canal add more waste products in the form of animal and human excreta to the water of the canal. 2.2. S AMPLING AND PRESERVATION Water samples were collected from 17 stations located along Mahanadi, Kathajodi rivers and Taladanda canal during different seasons (winter, summer and rainy) over a period of two years from 1996 to 1997. The stations include upstream and downstream of sewage discharge points of the rivers and the canal (Figure 1). Sewage samples were also collected at 3 stations along the sewerage during the time of water sampling. Surface water samples were collected about 10 cm below the water surface using a glass bottle. Standard procedures were followed for the collection of water samples for chemical (Laxen and Harrison, 1981) and biological (APHA, 1985) analysis. Since the BOD of a number of samples exceeded the concentration of DO, the samples with an expected high BOD were diluted before incubation. The samples for physico-chemical analysis were kept in an ice box and transported to the laboratory for immediate analysis. 2.3. A NALYTICAL METHODS The temperature and pH of water samples were measured in the eld. Samples were subjected to ltration prior to chemical analysis. The TDS was determined by a gravimetric process. The determination of sulphate was also done by a gravimetric process as described by Vogel (1968). The argentometric titration method was adopted for the determination of Cl , while the total hardness was carried out by EDTA complexometric titration method, (APHA, 1976). The Winklers method was followed for the analysis of DO and BOD. Nitrate and ammonium were determined by colorimetric procedure. The TVC (total viable count) was determined by pour plate procedure by incubating at 28 C in nutrient agar for 24 hr. The pour plating method using Mac Conkey agar, incubating at 37 C for 24 hr was taken up to check the lactose positive organisms. Plating on Eosin-Methylene-Blue agar at 37 C for 24 hr has given rise to E. coli counts.

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TABLE I Physico-chemical and microbial characteristics of raw sewage (mean values of 3 samples) Parameters Temperature pH DS (mg/L) NH+ (mg/L) 4 NO (mg/L) 3 SO2 (mg/L) 4 Total hardness (mg/L) Cl (mg/L) D.O. (mg/L) B.O.D. (mg/L) T.V.C. (million/100 ml) E. coli (thousands/ml)
a S.D. = standard deviation.

Winter 24.0 7.4 1564.0 5.5 173.0 122.0 225.0 294.0 0.5 357.0 954.0 0.2

S.D.a 0.5 0.1 129.9 1.1 6.1 21.6 28.2 10.5 0.0 44.1 63.5 0.1

Summer 31.3 7.5 1486.0 11.6 130.0 103.0 207.0 311.0 0.1 466.0 3320.0 1.0

S.D.a 0.7 0.1 56.4 1.0 5.0 18.9 23.5 19.3 0.1 26.5 400.0 0.3

Rainy 27.1 7.0 1281.0 4.4 155.0 116.0 140.0 199.0 1.0 247.0 2246.0 0.7

S.D.a 0.5 0.1 58.0 1.0 9.0 11.2 8.7 6.6 0.1 14.2 104.1 0.2

3. Results and Discussion 3.1. R AW SEWAGE The mean values for the physico-chemical and microbial characteristics of the three stations of sewerage are presented seasonally (Table I). This showed very high concentrations of different ions, TDS, TVC and E. coli count. The lowest value was observed in the rainy season as a result of dilution of components by rain water. High concentrations of NH+ , NO , Cl and heavy depletion of DO 4 3 with increase in the BOD values (Dhillon et al., 1997) were observed throughout the study period. Some of the parameters like NH+ , Cl and BOD registered 4 maximum values during summer while minimum values were obtained for NO 3 and SO2 . Concentration of the ions did not vary much along the length of the 4 sewerage. Presence of biodegradable organic matter and utilization of DO by micro and macro fauna could be the reasons for such low content of DO and very high BOD in the sewerage of Cuttack. Raw sewage contained excess concentrations of Cl , NH+ , NO , PO3 , and 4 3 4 SO2 as reported earlier by several authors (Hegde et al., 1992; Behnke, 1975; 4 Tryon, 1976). It has been estimated that human excreta adds about 5 kg of nitrogen per person per annum to the environment (WHO, 1984). Addition of various biological wastes like septic tank efuent, dung and urine from the dairies to the sewerage may be the major cause of high concentration of the ions observed throughout

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the study period in Cuttack. In the aquatic environment reduction of NO to NH+ 3 4 starts when the DO level goes below 0.4 ppm (Ghose and Sharma, 1992). During summer the reduction of NO to NH+ under anaerobic condition and decreased 3 4 water input could be the reasons for the highest NH+ and lowest NO concentra4 3 tions in the sewage. Due to the same anoxic condition, the decomposition of SO2 4 by anaerobic bacteria might have taken place resulting in minimum values during the summer. The domestic sewage of Cuttack contains a considerable proportion of septic tank efuent. The efuent can be an important source of Cl as reported by Alhajjar et al. (1990) and Sekhar et al. (1994). Limited input of fresh water during summer may be the reason of higher concentration of the ion during the period. Very high TVC counts obtained in the sewage of Cuttack may be due to addition of excretory products of large human population as well as dairies. 3.2. L OTIC WATER Mean values pertaining to each season were calculated for the river and canal stations and the results are shown in Figure 2, which provides characteristics of different zones of lotic water bodies in and around the city with respect to the various physico-chemical and biological indicators determined. 3.2.1. Temperature, pH and TDS Temperature values did not show any spatial change but indicated temporal variation. The pH of the investigated samples was within the potable range varying between 7.38 and 7.81. The TDS of water samples collected during different seasons varied from 348 to 599 mg L1 , which is well within the permissible limit of WHO. In general, TDS increased from rainy to winter and summer seasons (Figure 2). The stations 1, 10 and 13 which are apparently free from municipal sewage contamination exhibited lower TDS values compared to stations downstream. There was a sudden rise in the TDS value at stations 2 and 5 which receive the sewage directly. The domestic sewage which had very high TDS made the water more mineralised particularly during summer and winter seasons. 3.2.2. Ammonium, Nitrate and Sulphate The ammonium concentration ranged from 0.32 to 2.68 mg L1 . Higher concentration of the ion was observed in the Kathajodi river (stations 2 to 9) and Taladanda canal (stations 14 to 17) particularly during winter and summer seasons (Figure 2). All the samples collected during rains were well below the maximum permissible limit set by WHO but 59% of samples collected during winter or summer exceeded the WHO limit. Steep peaks of NH+ (Figure 2) at stations 2 and 5 of the Kathajodi 4 river reect NH+ rich domestic sewage discharges at Khannagar and Mattagajapur. 4 The decrease in the concentration of the ion downstream of the rivers and canal could be attributed to the partial utilization of the ion by phytoplankton, and to the effect of dilution (Ghose and Sharma, 1992). The NO concentration varied from 3

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Figure 2. Seasonal distribution of various parameters in different stations.

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Figure 2. (continued).

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Figure 2. (continued).

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14 to 126 ppm. Samples collected during rains registered the maximum concentration of the ion so far as upstream of sewage discharge points of rivers Kathajodi and Mahanadi are concerned. The NO ion is usually derived from anthropogenic 3 sources like agricultural elds, domestic sewage and other waste efuents containing nitrogenous compounds. The concentrations at stations upstream of the sewage discharge points could be related to runoff of large catchment area. Sudden increase in the concentration at stations 2 and 5 along the Kathajodi river was highest during summer which is attributed to the addition of domestic sewage (Jain et al., 1996). The sulphate content ranged from 21 to 105 mg L1 . It increased in water at sewage discharge points i.e., stations 2 and 5; and gradually decreased in the downstream stations. The sulphate content also increased at station 14, where hospital wastes are discharged. Higher incidence of sulphate near stations 2 and 5 in the downstream of the Kathjodi river could also be attributed to the inux of domestic sewage which decrease gradually downstream. Similar inferences have been made on earlier observations in different rivers of India (Kataria and Jain, 1995; Sharma et al., 1998; Jain et al., 1996). 3.2.3. Total Hardness and Chloride The hardness of the water is not a pollution parameter but it indicates the water quality, mainly in terms of Ca and Mg content (Baruah et al., 1993). Total hardness value varied from 136 to 199 mg L1 , with slight increase observed at stations 2 and 5 on the Kathajodi. Although the domestic efuents added some hardness to the lotic water, the total hardness was within the acceptable limits. Concentration of Cl varied from 22 to 145 mg L1 and none of the samples exceeded the WHO permissible limit. Chloride is widely distributed in nature as salts of Na, K, and Ca and enters into the natural water through dissolution of salt deposits. However, concentration of chloride at sewage mixing stations was much higher than the upstream stations which may be due to the inuence of domestic sewage and this gradually decreased in the downstream of both rivers and canal (Figure 2). 3.2.4. DO and BOD The DO concentration ranged from 1.35 to 7.60 mg L1 with a sudden depletion of DO recorded at stations 2 and 5 on the Kathajodi river and station 11 of Mahanadi river (Figure 2). Very low DO recorded at stations downstream of sewage disposal points of the river Kathjodi may be due to the addition of high organic contents leading to oxygen depletion. The DO decit persists all along the water courses of the river Kathajodi and Taladanda canal indicating that the deoxygenation rate due to biological decomposition of organic matter is higher than the reoxygenation from the atmosphere. A minimum of 12 to a maximum of 242 mg L1 of BOD values were observed in the investigated samples. Sudden increase in the BOD values at stations 2 and 5 was observed particularly during summer season. However, this was less evident during rains (Figure 2). High BOD values at stations located downstream of the sewage discharge points indicated that the river water of Kathajodi is

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largely polluted by organic matter. Stations located along the Taladanda canal were also not free from organic load. The problem is acute during summer season as the metabolic activities of various aerobic and anaerobic micro-organisms accelerated with increase in water temperature and there was considerable decrease in the ow of water. But during rains a huge volume of fresh water diluted the organic matter resulting in the decrease in the BOD values (Bagde and Verma, 1985; Palharya and Malvia, 1988). It has been reported that in case of high load of organic matter discharged into lotic water, the oxidation of the same occurs in the downstream. But in the present case of Kathajodi river, high BOD values persisted up to a distance more than 7 km. This suggests that the self-purication system of the river Kathajodi has been inhibited for a long distance by heavy and unabated inux of domestic sewage. 3.2.5. Total Viable Count (TVC) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) The total viable count varied from 1 to 8.7 million/100 mL. The TVC were highest in summer followed by rains and winter. The TVC suddenly increased at station 2 and continued up to station 9 along the Kathajodi river. The count also increased at station 11 and continued down stream in the Mahanadi river. In a similar fashion, the TVC increased from stations 13 to 17 in the Taladanda canal. These were possibly due to the discharge of untreated domestic sewage. During rains contamination from overowing sewerage and organic wastes are responsible for the existence of TVC at all the stations. The E. coli count varied from 350 to 6750/100 mL in the lotic waters. The count was maximal during summer and the minimum coincided with winter season. Like TVC, the E. coli count also increased suddenly at stations 2 and 5, likely due to the inux of domestic wastes containing faeces of human and animals. Highest E. coli value during summer seasons could be related to much decreased water volume and higher temperature. 3.3. C LUSTER ANALYSIS Mean values of all the six seasons were worked out and the physico-chemical and microbial parameters of lotic water samples were subjected to hierarchical cluster analysis on the basis of distance correlation coefcients to show possible zonation of observation points. The clusters were represented as dendograms (Figure 3). From the dendograms three clusters of samples were established. Group-1 was comprised of most stations showing least concentrations of all the ions including the total dissolved solids. Two of these (1 and 10) were located upstream of sewage and domestic wastes mixing zones and so no contamination was observed. The rest of the stations were located at the points where impact of domestic sewage was insignicant. The Group-2 cluster might be considered as a moderately polluted zone which comprised stations 4, 8 and 9 in the Kathajodi river (far away from the sewage mixing zone) and stations 14, 15, 16 and 17 along the Taladanda canal. All these

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Figure 3. Dendogram showing clustering of stations.

stations exhibited relatively higher concentrations of the dissolved oxygen and lower concentrations of nutrients compared to that of Group-3 polluted zone. This indicated that a little dilution of the pollutants occurred after moving over some distance along the downstream. The group-3 clustering can be regarded as the most polluted zone of the lotic water of the area of investigation. As the stations 2 and 5 were located just at the mixing zone of domestic sewage very low concentrations of dissolved oxygen, very high BOD, nutrients and TVC counts were observed. The stations located after the discharge points (3, 6, 7), were also badly affected showing almost similar concentrations of NO , Cl and TVC. 3

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4. Conclusion A detailed physico-chemical and microbial study of the lotic water of Cuttack city over a period of two years brought out the following facts. The main source of pollutants is residential areas, generating both organic and inorganic wastes. These wastes are allowed to join the sewers untreated and are ultimately contaminating the lotic water bodies. Of the three lotic water bodies investigated, river Kathajodi was found to be the most polluted followed by Taladanda canal and Mahanadi river, although the origin of all the three lotic water bodies is the same. Stations 1 and 10 located upstream of the river Kathajodi and Mahanadi respectively, are found to be least polluted. But the contamination of river water, specically Kathajodi, starts from station 2 and continues to the last stretches of the study area. Kathajodi and Taladanda canal are highly polluted in summer season followed by the winter and the rains. During summer, reduced water volume and accelerated growth of microbes in higher temperature are responsible for higher degradation of organic matter, which eventually depleted the DO concentration, thus making the water most polluted. Domestic sewage appears to be the major source of pollutant in these water bodies. Results also indicate that the river Kathajodi cannot sustain any further sewage discharge.If proper alternative arrangements like sewage treatment before discharge are not made then the situation may be alarming to the inhabitants in the study area and to those downstream. So the domestic sewage produced daily by the city residents should be treated before it is discharged. Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to Prof. B. K. Sinha, Ex-Professor, Sambalpur University, Sambalpur for his fruitful suggestions during manuscript preparation. Thanks are due to the colleagues of Regional Research Laboratory, Bhubaneswar (CSIR) for their help and cooperation during sampling and analysis in the laboratory. The authors are grateful to Dr. V. N. Misra, the Director Regional Research Laboratory, Bhubaneswar (CSIR) for his keen interest and necessary permission for publication. References
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