Monitoring of Pollutant Levels in Stagnant and Flowing Water Bodies in and around Ahmedabad, India

Abstract

There are various water bodies in and around Ahmedabad, India which serve as source of water for irrigation and other recreational purposes. The stagnant water bodies available are lakes such as Kankaria lake and Vastrapur lake whereas flowing water can be seen in form of Kharicut canal, or Sabarmati river which flow across the city. With increasing anthropogenic activities, pollutants levels have increased in these water bodies. Nitrogen and phosphorus are known to be the primary causes of eutrophication (i.e., nutrient enrichment due to human activities) in those surface waters. Around 110 years ago Kharicut canal was built for providing potable water as well as for irrigation on peripheries of Ahmedabad district. Uncontrolled release of wastewater from various sources including municipal treatment plants, industrial treatment plants and common effluent treatment plants led to pollution of Kharicut canal and further adversely affected the farms and their crops. Apart from the orders given by High Court in 2016 for cleaning of canal and recent reports of the leading newspaper, Times of India also represented still worst conditions of canal. So providing adequate sanitation and clean water to villages and lakes through the Kharicut canal is a burning issue and economic challenge for the Gujarat Government. The water from various water bodies were collected and analysed for BoD, COD, TDS, Phosphate, pH, salinity etc. The water samples revealed alkaline water in all the locations. Most of the nutrients were in the range however COD in Kharicut Canal was alarming.