MITHI MORPHOSIS

University Seat Number:

TYBSc

Life Sciences

MITHI MORPHOSIS

CONTENTS‘MITHI’ morphosis! Biggest ever river rejuvenation

experiment in Mumbai!!! Will it succeed???

ABSTRACT:.........................................................................2

ARTICLES............................................................................4

OBJECTIVE:.........................................................................6

EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED:.........................................6

MATERIALS:.......................................................................6

METHOD:.............................................................................7

RESULT:.............................................................................11

OVERALL RESULTS......................................................15

DISCUSSION......................................................................16

CONCLUSION...................................................................18

INTERVIEW.......................................................................19

REFERENCES....................................................................20

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...................................................21

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MITHI MORPHOSIS

‘MITHI’ morphosis! Biggest ever river rejuvenation experiment in Mumbai!!!

Will it succeed???

ABSTRACT:

River eco systems play a vital role, inter alia, in protecting a city from natural calamities like

floods. However, Mithi river, located in Mumbai, has long been famous for its stink, filled

with debris and sewage. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the changes in the

water quality in the river Mithi in response to the probiotic treatment viz., PERSNICKETY

713 being executed, at present, by government of Maharashtra to reduce odour, sludge, silt

and to improve its purity.

The treatment PERSNICKETY 713 is a Bioremediation process, wherein the

anaerobic micro-organisms that are introduced into the water would purify the water with

respect to its colour, odour and decrease the levels of the pollutants in Mithi river and bring

back the quality to its best uses. Water samples were collected from two different areas of

the river - one where the probiotic solution is diffused directly from the tanks through pipes

into the river and the second sample from Vakola Nullah, up-stream, in order to determine

the physical, chemical and microbial properties of water. These samples were then compared

and results were obtained. It was observed from our study that bioremediation treatment was

indeed effective during the period under study, and the levels of BOD, COD and other

elements such as phosphorus were in accordance with the standard WHO values

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MITHI MORPHOSIS

INTRODUCTION: Mithi River also known as Mahim River is located in Salsette Island on which the

Mumbai city is situated. The river is 18 km long and actually the merging of the tail water

that is discharged from the Pawai and Vihar lakes. It is a seasonal river which feeds on

monsoons. It merges with Arabian Sea at Mahim creek. The area where the river meets

Arabian Sea is a nominated bird sanctuary where migratory birds come for nesting. This part

is full of mangroves. As it is polluted today, it has been used as a sewer over the years, its

importance as a storm water drain has reduced.

How the river got polluted?

Citizens have dumped raw sewage, industrial waste and municipal waste into the

river. Besides this, illegal activities like washing vessels, animals and oily drums, discharge

of unauthorized hazardous waste are also carried out along the course of this river. The

organic waste, sludge and garbage dumping has reduced the carrying capacity of the river.

The water with mixture of sewage and industrial waste has caused death of aquatic fauna.

It is for this reason that an anoxic (anaerobic decomposition) bioremediation process

has been undertaken to clean up the river and reduce its odour. The organic matter which is

decomposed with the help of biological products to remove the pollution is called

“bioremediation”. Hence a probiotic solution named Persnickety 713 is used. It is precisely

balanced blend of naturally occurring strict and facultative anaerobic live bacterial strains that

start dispersing immediately as diluted in water. This is highly effective biological product to

control odour generation and emission and to reduce BOD, COD and oil accumulation in

sewage, polluted water and solids.

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MITHI MORPHOSIS

ARTICLES

1) MUMBAIMMRDA looks at new ways to rid Mithi of stink

July 14, 2010 | TNN

MUMBAI: A Rs 1.2-crore experiment has not been able to rid the Mithi of its stink. So the MMRDA is back to its favorite olfactory laboratory in the city, the bed of the Mithi. The MMRDA will commission on July 23 a new experiment to stop the stench at the Vakola nullah. "Earlier, the Florida-based Environmental Consulting & Technology Inc (ECT) had installed two machines to purify a 300-metre stretch of the Mithi in BKC a year ago. Though it improved the water quality and removed the stink, it was not an effective solution to treat the massive quantity of flowing water," said MMRDA commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad . The new method will diffuse the poisonous gases in the river to bring down the biological oxygen demand (BOD).

2) MUMBAI

Mithi river project set to get costlier by Rs 1.15 crore

December 6, 2011 | Shawan Sen, TNN

MUMBAI: The Mithi River Development Project Phase 2 is set to get a little more expensive. The civic administration has floated a Rs 1.15 crore proposal to allow the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) to check for the presence of rocks on the riverbed. The proposal will be tabled in the civic standing committee this week. The project involves the construction of a retaining wall, beautification along the river and constructing service roads.

3) MUMBAI

Discord over who will desilt Mithi river as rains near

Ashley D'Mello May 13, 2011, 12.54am IST, DNA

MUMBAI: With only three weeks to go before the monsoon hits the city, there is discord over who should desilt the Mithi River, which had flooded its banks, causing havoc and destruction in 2005.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is in charge of part of the river's desiltation and beautification, had made it clear that it was not interested in doing the work, and felt it should instead be done by the municipal corporation. The state government has not taken a clear stand on the issue.

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MITHI MORPHOSIS

4) MUMBAI

Choked Mithi joins world river conscience

25 March 2010, Hindustan Times

About 50 people joined a world movement to perform the Wild River Dance near the

badly polluted Mithi River, to bring in World Water Day, which was last Monday. Gathering

at Vakola Nullah, they recorded individual dances on video, to be later uploaded on the

website of International Rivers, a California-based welfare group working to save the rivers

of the world. The idea of the movement is to focus awareness on local water bodies, and get

people to appreciate them.

The Wild River Dance contest was launched by the group on International Day of

Action for Rivers on March 14. Concerned citizens from across the world were invited to

dedicate a recorded dance at a river near them. The videos will be put together and aired on

US television.

Janak Dafftary of the NGO Mithi Nadi Sansad, who organised the programme, said:

“For the first time, the Wild River Dance will take the problem of Mithi’s pollution before a

world community.”

5) MUMBAIRemove debris from Mithi river in 10 days: HC

Mumbai, December 03, 2011, HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times

The Bombay high court has given the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development

Authority (MMRDA) and the state government 10 days to rid the Mithi River of debris and

encroachment. Despite this, both the government and the civic agency have conveyed their

inability to evict encroachers from around the river.

The counsel for MMRDA argued that mangroves weren't always present around the

Mithi and it was the civic agency that had planted 10 lakh mangrove saplings. “You have to

maintain it then,” justice Dalvi told the MMRDA.

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MITHI MORPHOSIS

OBJECTIVE: To check the working of the probiotic solution in reducing the pollution in the river

and to create awareness amongst the people as crores of rupees of public money is

involved.

EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED:I. Biological: colour, odour, pH, turbidity, hardness.

II. Chemical: DO, BOD, COD and estimation of phosphorus.

III. Bacteriological: Coliform count using most probable number (MPN)

MATERIALS:- Total Hardness :

0.01M EDTA, Alkaline Buffer – Ph1, Erichrome black T indicator, Burette,

Pipettes and Conical Flask.

- DO :

0.025N Sodium Thio Sulphate, Winkler’s A Reagent, Winkler’s B Reagent,

Starch, Conc.H2SO4, Conical Flask, Pipettes, Beaker, and Amber Coloured

Bottles.

- BOD :

0.025N Sodium Thio Sulphate, Winkler’s A Reagent, Winkler’s B Reagent,

Starch, Conc.H2SO4, Conical Flask, Pipettes, Beaker, and Amber Coloured

Bottles.

- COD :

80N KMnO4, 1:4 H2SO4, 80N Na2S2O3, KI, Starch Indicator, Burette, Pipettes

and Conical Flask.

- Estimation of Phosphorous:

Standard Phosphorus, Distilled Water, Ammonium Molybdate, ANSA,

Colorimeter. Cuvettes, Pipettes and Test tubes.

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MITHI MORPHOSIS

- MPN :

Sterile Double strength Mac Conkey’s broth, Sterile single strength Mac

Conkey’s broth, Sterile pipettes, Sterile tubes, Durham’s tube, Platinum loop

and Mac Crady’s table.

METHOD:I. BIOLOGICAL:

- Colour, odour and turbidity are checked.

- pH is checked using pH meter.

- For Total Hardness :

i. Take 10ml of sample into a conical flask.

ii. Add 1ml of alkaline buffer solution and mix well.

iii. Add a pinch of Erichrome black T indicator. At this point the solution

turns purple or wine red.

iv. Titrate against o.o1M EDTA solution.

v. At the end point, colour changes from wine red to blue

II. CHEMICAL:

- DO :

i. Fill the DO bottles with the sample avoiding any air bubbles

ii. Add 2ml of Winkler’s A reagent and 2ml of Winkler’s B reagent to the

sample.

iii. Replace the stopper of the Do bottles without allowing air bubbles to

enter

iv. Invert the bottle and mix the contents thoroughly.

v. Allow the flocks to settle for a few minutes.

vi. Remove the stopper and add 2ml of conc. H2SO4 carefully to dissolve

the flocks. Mix well till the liberated I2 is uniformly dispersed.

vii. Take 100ml of sample in a conical flask and titrate against 0.025N

Na2S2O3 till the pale yellow colour appears.

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MITHI MORPHOSIS

viii. Add a few drops of starch indicator and continue titrating till the blue

colour disappears.

- BOD :

i. Incubate the sample water in BOD bottles filled completely for 5 days

at 20oc

ii. Fill another BOD bottle with the sample water. This is the non-

incubated sample

iii. Add 2ml of Winkler’s A reagent and 2ml of Winkler’s B reagent to the

samples.

iv. Replace the stopper of the bottles without allowing air bubbles to enter.

v. Invert the bottles and mix the contents thoroughly.

vi. Allow the flocks to settle for a few minutes.

vii. Remove the stopper and add 2ml of conc. H2SO4 carefully from the

sides of the bottles to dissolve the flocks. Mix well till the liberated I2

is uniformly dispersed.

viii. Take 100ml of each sample in separate conical flask and titrate against

0.025N Na2S2O3 till the pale yellow colour appears.

ix. Add a few drops of starch indicator and continue titrating till the blue

colour disappears.

- COD:

i. Take 10ml of water sample in a conical flask (B). Dilute the sample to

50ml using distilled water (i.e. 40ml).

ii. Take a 50 ml of distilled water in a 250 ml conical flask (A).

iii. Add 10 ml of 1:4 H2SO4 and add 40ml of 80N kmno4 in each flask.

iv. Mix well by gentle rotation and plug it with cotton.

v. Place it in hot water bath at 70ocfor 30 min.

vi. Cool and add 3.5gms of KI in each flask and gently swirl till it

dissolves. Plug it again and keep it for 30 mins.

vii. Titrate against 80N nas2o3 using starch indicator.

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MITHI MORPHOSIS

- For estimation of phosphorous :

Follow the given table:

Tube

No.

Standard

phosphorus

(ml)

D/W

(ml)

Ammonium

molybdate

(ml)

ANSA

(ml)

Amount of

phosphorus

(mg/ml)

1 - 5.0 1 0.4 -

2 0.5 4.5 1 0.4 0.004

3 1.0 4.0 1 0.4 0.008

4 1.5 3.5 1 0.4 0.012

5 2.0 3.0 1 0.4 0.016

6 2.5 2.5 1 0.4 0.020

7 3.0 2.0 1 0.4 0.024

8 3.5 1.5 1 0.4 0.028

9 4.0 1.0 1 0.4 0.032

10 4.5 0.5 1 0.4 0.036

11 5.0 - 1 0.4 0.040

Probiotic

sample5.0 - 1 0.4 -

River

sample5.0 - 1 0.4 -

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MITHI MORPHOSIS

III. BACTERIOLOGICAL

- Coliform count using Most Probable Number

i. Using a sterile pipette, add the following amounts of sample water

a) 10ml of water sample to each of the 5 tubes with 10ml of sterile

double strength Mac conkey’s broth.

b) 10ml of water sample to each of the 5 tubes with 10ml of sterile

single strength Mac conkey’s broth.

c) 0.1ml of water sample to each of the 5 tubes with 10ml of sterile

single strength Mac conkey’s broth.

ii. Incubate all the tubes for 37oc for 24 hours.

iii. After incubation examine all the tubes for:

Growth

Acid production (a pink colouration of Mac conkey’s

broth)

Gas (trapped in durham’s tube)

iv. Now derive the Mac crady index

v. Now refer to Mac crady’s table to determine the most probable number

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MITHI MORPHOSIS

RESULT:I. BIOLOGICAL

Thus colour, odour, turbidity, pH for the two samples were observed.

- Total hardness

1) Solution in burette: 1M EDTA

2) Solution in conical flask: 10ml sample + 1ml alkaline buffer solution

3) Indicator: Erichrome Black T

4) End point: Wine red to blue

5) Pilot reading: R.S. = 1.0 cm3 to 2.0 cm3

P.S. = 4.0 cm3 to 5.0 cm3

Observation table:

Sr.no.Initial reading

(cm3)

Final reading(cm3)

Difference(cm3)

C.B.R(cm3)

R.S P.S R.S P.S R.S P.S1 0.0 7.9 22.9 7.9 22.9

7.9 22.92 0.0 7.9 22.9 7.9 22.93 0.0 7.9 22.9 7.9 22.9

Therefore, total hardness due to calcium in river sample is 320.4 mg/L and in

probiotic sample is 921.8 mg/L.

II. CHEMICAL

- DO:

1) Solution in burette: 0.025N Na2S2O3

2) Solution in conical flask: 100ml of sample + Winkler’s A + Winkler’s B

+ Conc. H2SO4

3) Indicator: 1% Starch solution

4) End point: Blue to colourless

5) Pilot reading: nil

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MITHI MORPHOSIS

a) For Plain River Water:

CBR = 0.0 cm3

b) For Probiotic Sample

CBR = 0.0 cm3

Therefore, dissolved oxygen was found to be nil for both samples.

- BOD:

1) Solution in burette: 0.025N Na2S2O3

2) Solution in conical flask: 100ml of sample + Winkler’s A + Winkler’s B +

Conc. H2SO4

3) Indicator: 1% Starch solution

4) End point: Blue to colourless

For non incubated samples:

(R.S. - river sample; P.S. –probiotic sample)

Pilot reading: R.S. = 1.0cm3 – 2.0cm3

P.S. = 0.0cm3 – 1.0cm3

Observation table:

Sr.no.Initial reading

(cm3)

Final reading(cm3)

Difference(cm3)

C.B.R(cm3)

R.S P.S R.S P.S R.S P.S1 0.0 1.4 0.6 1.4 0.6

1.4 0.62 0.0 1.4 0.6 1.4 0.63 0.0 1.4 0.6 1.4 0.6

For incubated samples (after 5 days):

(R.S. - river sample; P.S. –probiotic sample)

Pilot reading: R.S. = 0.0cm3 – 1.0cm3

P.S. = 0.0cm3 – 1.0cm3

Observation table:

Sr.no.Initial reading

(cm3)

Final reading(cm3)

Difference(cm3)

C.B.R(cm3)

R.S P.S R.S P.S R.S P.S1 0.0 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.3

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MITHI MORPHOSIS

2 0.0 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.33 0.0 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.3

Therefore, BOD was 0.9 mg/L for river sample and 0.3 mg/L for probiotic

sample by calculations.

- COD

For blank-

1) Solution in burette: N/80 Na2S2O3

2) Solution in conical flask: 50ml of d/w + 10 ml of 1:4 H2SO4 + 40ml

KMnO4 + 3.5g KI

3) Indicator: 1% Starch solution

4) End point: Blue to colourless

5) Pilot reading: 38.0cm3 to 39.0cm3

Observation table:

Sr.no.Initial reading

(cm3)Final reading

(cm3)Difference

(cm3)C.B.R(cm3)

1 0.0 38.1 38.138.12 0.0 38.1 38.1

3 0.0 38.1 38.1

For sample water-

1) Solution in burette: N/80 Na2S2O3

2) Solution in conical flask: 40ml of d/w + 10 ml of sample 1:4 H2SO4 +

40ml KMnO4 + 3.5g KI

3) Indicator: 1% Starch solution

4) End point: Blue to colourless

(R.S. - river sample; P.S. –probiotic sample)

5) Pilot reading: R.S. = 31.0cm3 to 32.0cm3

P.S. = 32.0cm3 to 33.0cm3

Observation table:

Sr.no. Initial reading(cm3)

Final reading(cm3)

Difference(cm3)

C.B.R(cm3)

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MITHI MORPHOSIS

R.S P.S R.S P.S R.S P.S1 0.0 31.7 32.0 31.7 32.0

31.7 32.02 0.0 31.7 32.0 31.7 32.03 0.0 31.7 32.0 31.7 32.0

Therefore, COD for river sample is 64 mg/L and for probiotic sample is 61

mg/L.

- Estimation of phosphorus

Tube

No.

Standard

phosphorus

(ml)

D/W

(ml)

Ammonium

molybdate

(ml)

ANSA

(ml)

Amount of

phosphorus

(mg/ml)

OD at

660nm

1

(blank)- 5.0 1 0.4 - 0.0

2 0.5 4.5 1 0.4 0.004 0.01

3 1.0 4.0 1 0.4 0.008 0.09

4 1.5 3.5 1 0.4 0.012 0.16

5 2.0 3.0 1 0.4 0.016 0.23

6 2.5 2.5 1 0.4 0.020 0.29

7 3.0 2.0 1 0.4 0.024 0.36

8 3.5 1.5 1 0.4 0.028 0.42

9 4.0 1.0 1 0.4 0.032 0.49

10 4.5 0.5 1 0.4 0.036 0.55

11 5.0 - 1 0.4 0.040 0.62

Probiotic

sample5.0 - 1 0.4 - 0.14

River

sample5.0 - 1 0.4 - 0.43

Therefore, the amount of phosphorus present in the river sample is 29 mg/L and

in the probiotic sample is 9 mg/L.

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OVERALL RESULTS

SR.NO. TESTSPLAIN RIVER

WATER

SAMPLE WHERE

PROBIOTIC SOLUTION

IS ADDED

I BIOLOGICAL1 COLOR Colorless Colorless

2 ODOUR Strong rotten egg odour No specific odour

3 TURBIDITY Slightly turbid No turbidity

4 pH 6.24 7.32

5 TOTAL HARDNESS 320.4 mg/L 921.8 mg/L

II CHEMICAL1 DO Nil Nil

2 BOD 0.9 mg/L 0.3 mg/L

3 COD 64 mg/L 61 mg/l

4 PHOSPHORUS 29 mg/L 9mgL

III BACTERIOLOGICAL1 MPN >1800/100ml >1800/100ml

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DISCUSSIONWater quality assessment remains a useful tool for pollution control. Observations of

some of the physical and chemical properties are presented in the table.

BOD tests only measure biodegradable fraction of the total potential DO consumption of a water sample, while COD tests measure the oxygen demand created by toxic organic and inorganic compounds as well as by biodegradable substances [Sawyer et al., 1994; Donaldson, 1977).

High BOD levels indicate decline in DO (Table 1) because the oxygen that is available in the water is being consumed by the bacteria leading to the inability of fish and other aquatic organisms to survive in the river. The high BOD/COD ratios indicate that water is polluted and is relatively biodegradable. The high concentrations of phosphates in river waters indicate that the polluted Mithi river will eventually lead to the quick growth as well as death of plants and algae.

The treated river water samples however showed an improved BOD/COD levels indicating the decrease in the aerobic microbial growth. The decrease in the phosphorous levels also shows the efficacy of the treatment. After the probiotic treatment, it was observed that there is a significant improvement in the physical properties of the water like Odour, turbidity, pH, etc. which again proves the efficacy of the treatment.

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MITHI MORPHOSIS

CONCLUSION The sample containing the probiotic solution has decreased concentration of odor and

silt to a large scale. The high readings of total hardness and coli form count show that Mithi river water is

not potable for household as well as for industrial use, as said by the project officials. The WHO (1971) permissible standard for phosphate is 0.4 mg/l. The high readings

indicate that the polluted waters have above the permissible levels. However after the probiotic treatment the marginal decrease in the levels indicates that the treatment is effective.

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MITHI MORPHOSIS

INTERVIEWIn order to get more knowledge MMRDA’s main aim behind the project and to know the

working of persnickety a few questions were asked to the project head Mr. S.V. Arlikar,

Superintendent engineer, MMRDA and his colleague Mr. S.R. Patil, Executive engineer,

MMRDA and their team to give us more details on the project and we came to know that:

1) Before persnickety oxygenators named DYNAMOX units were planted. These units

were removed because they didn’t gave approximate results. Only during the initial ½

hr ,i.e. only during the diffusion of liquid oxygen. As soon as its working was ceased,

the river again started to stink and became polluted.

2) The latest used is a bioremediation method in which certain probiotic factors are

implanted so that non aerobic environment in river gets converted to aerobic bacteria.

In this method aerobic bacteria feeds on anaerobic bacteria. This reduces odour and

pollution and suppresses an aerobic bacterial growth.

3) This idea came to them from an incident that occurred in Virar where probiotic

powder was added and thus the river was cleaned.

4) Earlier the dissolved oxygen in the river was 0mg/l, but thanks to this method the

expected rise in DO is 2mg/l per month.

5) After cleanup the water will not be portable.

6) Due to inflow and outflow of water the solution is to a greater extent mixed.

7) This project is conducted in the entire river under the MMRDA control.

8) The basic chemical tests performed are DO, BOD, COD, pH and ammonia.

9) The residents and the industries still continue to leave waste and effluents in the river

thus polluting the water.

10) The company providing the PERSNICKETY 713 solution is JM Enviro Technologies

Pvt. Ltd.

11) This method is still on trial and error method for a period of 6 months.

12) If this method is successful then the river will start to clean itself further because of

the thermal rays. This is not possible now due to the black coloration caused by

sludge, sewage and silt deposited not allowing the sun rays to pass through.

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REFERENCES1. Asadi SS, Azeem S, Prasad AVS, Anji RM (2008). Analysis and mapping of soil

quality in Khandaleru catchment area using remote sensing and GIS. Curr. Sci., 95(3): 391-396.

2. Sawyer, C.N. Mc Carty, P.L. and Parkin, G.F. 1994.Chemistry for Environmental Engineering 4th Ed. McGraw- Hill Int. Editions.

3. Trivedy RK, Goel PK (1986). Chemical and Biological methods for water pollution studies. Env. Publishing, Karad, India.

4. World Health Organization (WHO, 1971): International standards for drinking water. 3rd edition. World Health Organisation, Geneva

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Mr. S. V. R. Srinivas

IAS, AMC, MMRDA

Mr. S.V. Arlikar

Supritendent engineer, MMRDA

Mr. S.R. Patil

Executive engineer, MMRDA

And their team to give us more details on the project

Mrs. Yasmina Dordi Avari

Head of Life Science Department

Jai Hind College

For permitting us to perform the practical in the lab

Mrs. Srilatha Srinivas

Assistant professor, Jai Hind College

For guiding us through out the project

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