Article Citation: Raghavan K and Ramesh U Quality assessment of water samples from the river Tamiraparani: a physico-chemical parameter analysis. Journal of Research in Ecology (2015) 2(2): 115-120

Quality assessment of water samples from the river Tamiraparani: a

physico-chemical parameter analysis

Keywords: Tamiraparani river, physicochemical characteristics, water quality

115-120 | JRE | 2015 | Vol 2 | No 2

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Journal of Research

in Ecology An International

Scientific Research Journal

Authors:

Raghavan K and

Ramesh U

Institution:

Department of Molecular

Biology, School of

Biological Sciences,

Madurai Kamaraj

University,

Madurai - 625 021,

Tamil Nadu, India.

Corresponding author:

Raghavan K

E.mail:

Web Address: http://eologyresearch.info/

documents/EC0027.pdf

Dates: Received: 15 January 2015 Accepted: 15 April 2015 Published: 14 June 2015

An International Scientific Research Journal

Original Research

Jou

rn

al of R

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Ecology

Journal of Research in Ecology

www.ecologyresearch.info

ABSTRACT: Water is an essential natural resource on earth that plays a vital role in our life. Surface water and ground water are the major sources of water. Quality of the water samples collected from the Tamiraparani basin were analyzed for its physico-chemical properties. The water samples were collected from the randomly selected 13 sampling stations. Water analysis for physico-chemical parameters such as temperature, pH, Total Dissolved solids (TDS), Electrical Conductivity (EC), salinity and turbidity were performed to ascertain its quality. Some sites showed significantly increased levels of Temperature (22-39°C), TDS (22.6-286 mg/L), EC (24.8-318 μmhos/cm), pH (6.8-8.5), Salinity (23.4-319 mg/L) and turbidity (1.02-3.45NTUs) than the standard IS 10500: 2012 limits.

INTRODUCTION

Water is one of the abundantly available resource

on earth. Tamiraparani river is a perennial river

categorized as a major river of Southern India.

Tamiraparani river water is used for various agricultural,

industrial, household and environmental purposes

(Garrels et al., 1975), natural factors, such as rainfall,

temperature, weathering of rocks and anthropogenic

activities that significantly alter the hydrochemistry of

the river water (Raj and Azeez, 2009).

Tamiraparani river basin is located at 8°30′ to 9°

15′N and 77°10′ and 78°10′E. The main river originates

on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats at an altitude

of 2,000 m above mean sea level, and runs for about 125

km in the hills and plains, where it drains an area of

5,869 km2 (Ravichandran et al., 1996; Kumarasamy et

al., 2012). This river is being used, intensively, for

agricultural purposes (>90%) in Tirunelveli and

Tuticorin districts. The irrigated land is supplied with

48% of direct water irrigation (34,934 ha) and the other

52 % is accomplished by indirect methods through

numerous tanks, which are available in the river basin

(IWS, 1988) .The mainly planted crop varieties are

paddy, banana, groundnut and coconut. Additionally,

cotton, sorghum, ragi, pulses and ginger are the other

crop varieties planted in the rain fed lands of

Tamiraparani river basin. The present study was initiated

in order to assess the quality of water in the random sites

of Tamiraparani river to study the effect of pollutants of

the river.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Collection of water samples

Water samples were collected in one liter

capacity plastic bottles. Prior to the collection, the plastic

bottles were rinsed once with distilled water and thrice

with the respective water sample. During collection, care

was taken to avoid the trapping of air within the bottle,

by completely immersing the bottle with the respective

water sample, until the bottle is completely filled.

Samples were analyzed for various physico-

chemical parameters such as Temperature, pH, Electrical

Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS),

Turbidity and Salinity, as per standard procedures

(APHA, 2006). The quality of water was assessed by

comparing each parameter with the standard desirable

limit, as prescribed by BIS 10500: 2012.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

pH, salinity, turbidity, total dissolved solids,

electrical conductivity were measured as per standard

protocols. The results obtained are summarized below,

Temperature

Temperature was measured using thermometer.

Temperature values varied between 24°C and 36°C, were

found to be in accordance with the limits prescribed by

IS 10500: 2012.

pH

Most of the waters analyzed were slightly acidic

in nature. The pH values of water samples varied

between 6.5 and 8.4 and were found to be in accordance

with the limits prescribed by (BIS 10500: 2012). The

highest pH 8.4 and lowest 6.8 are observed at locations

Raghavan and Ramesh, 2015

116 Journal of Research in Ecology (2015) 2(2):115-120

Site

ID Location Latitude Longitude

S1 Agasthiyar Falls 08°42’15.2’’ 77°21’49.0’’

S2 Papanasam 08°42’46.5’’ 77°22’09.6’’

S3 Kallidaikurichi 08°41’36.3’’ 77°27’48.8’’

S4 Cheranmadevi 08°42’15.2’’ 77°33’54.0’’

S5 Melapalayam 08°42’54.9’’ 77°41’56.5’’

S6 Kokkirakulam 08°44’15.5’’ 77°43’03.4’’

S7 Narayamaal-

puram

08°45’25.3’’ 77°44’20.7’’

S8 Seevalaperi 08°46’53.5’’ 77°48’35.9’’

S9 Vallanadu 08°42’57.5’’ 77°50’03.0’’

S10 Srivaikundam 08°37’42.0’’ 77°54’36.6’’

S11 Eral 08°37’08.6’’ 78°01’06.1’’

S12 Athoor 08°37’33.4’’ 78°04’04.1’’

S13 Punnakauyal 08°38’28.7’’ 78°06’23.8’’

Table 1. List of sample collection sites and their

geographic location

S13 and S1 respectively which are concordant to the

results of Mophin et al. (2010).

Electrical Conductivity (EC)

Electrical conductivity is a measure of the

capacity of water to conduct electric current. It signifies

the total amount of dissolved salts in water (Dahiya et

al., 1999). The observed EC values were in the range of

24.8 μmhos/cm to 318 μmhos/cm. The site S4 showed a

significant increase of EC. This could be due to the

presence of the ionized form of the dissolved inorganic

substances as per Kumarasamy et al. (2013).

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)

The levels of total dissolved solids indicate the

presence of anion chemical compound and salts sodium,

potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, carbonates,

bicarbonates, chlorides, phosphates, organic maters and

other particles which affects the salinity. The water

containing more than 500 mg/L of TDS is not

considered for drinking but in certain cases, 1500 mg/L

is allowed, but only, for domestic purposes (Rao et al.,

2000). The maximum value (286 mg/L) is recorded at

location S13 and the minimum value 22.6 mg/L is

recorded at location S1. In some places (Site ID: S4, S12

and S13), the TDS levels were found to be higher due to

the increased turbidity levels .The higher TDS levels also

cause increased EC levels. The location S5 showed

sudden decreases (80.2 mg/L) in TDS and it may be

cation chemical compound mixed with industry effluent.

Observed TDS values varied from 22.6 mg/L to

286 mg/L as per Krishna kumar et al. (2013). These

values were found to be higher than the prescribed limit

given by (BIS 10500: 2012).

Turbidity

Turbidity is mainly influenced by the presence of

colloidal and extremely fine dispersions (Mophin and

Murugesan 2011). The maximum value 3.45 NTUs is

recorded at location S5 and minimum value 1.02 NTUs is

recorded at location S1. The turbidity values varied

between 1.02 to 3.45 NTUs and were found to be in

accordance with the limits prescribed by BIS 10500:

2012.

Raghavan and Ramesh, 2015

Journal of Research in Ecology (2015) 2(2):115-120 117

Site ID Temperature

(°C) pH

EC

(μmohs/cm)

TDS

(mg/L)

Salinity

(mg/L)

Turbidity

(NTUs)

S1 22 6.8 24.8 22.6 23.4 1.02

S2 24 6.9 34.1 23.5 22.1 1.06

S3 25 7.1 75.4 53.5 40.1 1.04

S4 27 7.5 210 157 121 1.87

S5 27 7.7 118.4 80.2 56.8 3.45

S6 29 7.6 117 104 82 2.10

S7 30 7.6 124 116 105 1.76

S8 30 7.8 156 137 127 1.79

S9 31 7.9 175 159 167 1.56

S10 32 8.0 189 170 170 1.93

S11 34 8.1 220 196 196 2.09

S12 34 8.3 256 249 249 2.15

S13 35 8.4 318 286 319 2.39

Table 3. Summary of the parameters analyzed in 13 different sampling stations

Parameters IS: 10500

pH 6.5 – 8.5

Electrical conductivity μmhos/cm -

TDS 500

Turbidity 10

Salinity -

Table 2. Standard values of parameters analyzed as

per IS: 10500:2012

ISI - Indian Standard Institution

Salinity

The salinity levels range between 23.4 mg/L and

319 mg/L. The site S13 showed the highest salinity levels

due to its close vicinity to the coastal area of Bay of

Bengal. The maximum value (319 mg/L) is recorded at

location S13 and minimum value 22.1 mg/L is recorded at

location S2. In other sites, the subsurface water was more

saline than surface water. The salinity levels increased

gradually from the original site of the river (Mophin and

Murugesan 2011). It is also due to the influx of sea water

into the river. High salinity levels could considerably

affect the soluble oxygen levels of water.

Raghavan and Ramesh, 2015

Figure 4. Measurement of TDS using

electrode method

Electrical Conductivity

m

oh

s/c

m

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9S10S11S12S130

100

200

300

400

Turbidity

(NT

Us

)

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9S10 S11 S12 S13

0

1

2

3

4

Salinity(m

g/l)

S1

S2

S3

S4

S5

S6

S7

S8

S9

S10

S11

S12

S13

0

70

140

210

280

350

Figure 1. Measurement of salinity using

electrode method

Figure 2. Measurement of turbidity using

reflection

Figure 3. Measurement of EC using

electrode method

Total Dissolved Solids

(mg

/l)

S1

S2

S3

S4

S5

S6

S7

S8

S9

S10

S11

S12

S13

0

100

200

300

pH

pH

S1

S2

S3

S4

S5

S6

S7

S8

S9

S10

S11

S12

S13

6

7

8

9

10

Figure 5. Measurement of pH using digital pH

meter

118 Journal of Research in Ecology (2015) 2(2):115-120

Based on this study, the pH, salinity, turbidity,

total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity in site S1

was 6.8, 23.4, 1.02, 22.6, 24.8 and S13 8.4, 319, 2.39,

286, 318 was respectively. Interestingly, the turbidity of

station S5 was 3.45 which is significantly higher than

other stations. The significant variation from S1 to S13

may possibly be due to the pollutants which affects the

quality of water.

CONCLUSION

In this study, the entire Tamiraparani river water

was analyzed. Some sites water are found to be polluted

by industrial and anthropogenic domestic utilization. The

site S1 is found to have good quality and S13 has very low

quality of water when compared to the standards.

Therefore there is needed to initiate some remedial

measures in polluted sites to reduce the pollutants

causing decrease in water quality .

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project was funded by Department of

Science and Technology, Government of India, New

Delhi.

REFERENCES

American Public Health Association (APHA). (1998).

Standard Methods of Examination of Water and Wastewater,

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Raghavan and Ramesh, 2015

Journal of Research in Ecology (2015) 2(2):115-120 119

Figure 7. Sample collection site S2

Figure 8. Field test on water quality at Site S4 Figure 9. Sample collection site S6

Figure 6. Sample collection site S1

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