Study on water quality and heavymetal distribution of river Damodar

摘要

Metals enter the riverine ecosystem through the indiscreet disposal of chemical and metal wastes from agricultural, industrial and mining activities and from various natural sources. Heavy metals are of much environmental concern as even if they are present in dilute, undetectable quantities, their recalcitrance and consequent persistence exhibits toxic characteristics and cause various health impairments. Therefore, monitoring of heavymetals is important for safety assessment of the environment in general and human health in particular. The present river water quality study is an attempt to detect heavymetal distribution and the changes in the water quality characteristics. The main objectives of the present study were to determine the distributionof some heavymetals like lead (Pb), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) and Cadmium (Cd) and characterize physicochemical parameters in river water. The presence of heavymetals (manganese, cadmium, iron, lead) was detected in river water samples within the rangesof 0.006-0.225 mg L~(-1), 0.00 - 0.0068 mg L~(-1),0.19-3.124 mg L~(-1) and 0.00-0.085 mg L~(-1) with an overall mean of 0.071,0.001,0.819 and 0.030 mg L~(-1) respectively. pH values were in the alkaline side. Small local differences were observed with no clear seasonal variations in the study aree In general the concentrations of analysed metals in the river water in the study area were well below the recommended levels for the drinking water set by the World Health Organization. The elemental concentrations in the river waters are different during the two investigation periods; the concentrations are higher during the post-monsoon season than in the monsoon season. The overall water quality of the study site remained with in the safe limits through out the study period.