Physico-Chemical Analysis of Groundwater, RO Water, RO Waste Water and Conservation Strategies

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 10 Issue: 01 | Jan 2023 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

Physico-Chemical Analysis of Groundwater, RO Water, RO Waste Water and Conservation Strategies

1Research Scholar, 2Professor, Department of Zoology, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India ***

Abstract - Water is the most essential component for life and in this challenging time of water stress conditions, our major concern is to have safe and contaminants free water. In order to achieve that, people are majorly dependent on RO treated water. The major disadvantage of RO units is the amount of water discharge as waste. For every unit of unfiltered water, only 25% is obtained as treated while 75% goes as waste water. So, our aim was to focus on the utilization of RO waste water for improving the urban waste water management. The paper presents comparative analysis of the physicochemical property of Ground water, RO water and RO waste water on the basis of this analysis and obtained values, effective ways of conservation and reusability in household and agriculture are recommended while considering their permissible limits.

Key Words: Potable Water, Physico-chemical Analysis, RO, conservation.

1. INTRODUCTION

Waterisoneofthefundamentalsourcesoflife.Assuch71% ofEarth’ssurfaceiscoveredwithwaterofwhichlessthan 3%isfreshwaterandoutofthis2%isfrozenintheformof icecapsandglaciers,onlytheremaining1%isaccessiblefor daily consumption in the form of surface and sub surface water(1). Agrafallsundersemi-aridhabitatandontheside of Yamuna basin and has sediments which comprises of sand,silt,clayandkankar.Thepopulationofthisregionis facingproblemswithavailabilityofdrinkingwaterproblems duetosalinityingroundwaterfromancienttimes.Agrahas a semi-arid climate which borders the humid subtropical climate.ThemonsooninAgraisverylightascomparedto therestofthenation.TheaveragerainfallbetweenJuneand Septemberis628.6mm.(2).

Alarmingly,inmostoftheRObasedwaterpurifiersforevery unitofrawwateronlyabout25%isobtainedaspurewater and75%isrejectedaswaste.Hereacomparativeanalysisof groundwater, RO water and RO waste water was made to estimatethedifferentphysicochemicalparameters.Aswe arealreadyinwaterstresssituation(3),theneedofthehour istoconservewateralonewithitspurificationandemploy efficient conservation strategies. With the increased in awareness about various water borne diseases and disorders,thedemandforreliablewatertreatmentsystemis increasingnotonlyinmetrocitiesbutalsoinsmalltowns

andruralpartsofthecountry.AccordingtotheConsumer goodsandretail,Indiaresidentialwaterpurifiermarketwas valuedat$391.4millionin2019andisprojectedtogrowat CAGRof13.3%andreach$818millionby2024.

S.No. Parameters Unit BIS-ISI

1 pH 6.5to8.5

2 Turbidity NTU 5-10

3 Electricalconductivity μS/cm -

4 TotalDissolveSolids mg/l 200-600

5 TotalHardness mg/l 200-600

6. CalciumHardness mg/l 75-200

7 MagnesiumHarness mg/l 30-100

8 TotalAlkalinity mg/l 200-600

9 Chloride mg/l 250-1000

10 Nitrate mg/l 45

11. Fluoride mg/l 1-1.5 12 Sodium mg/l 250-1000 13 Potassium mg/l 10

Table 1. Permissiblelimitsofdrinkingwater(4).

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

Thethreetypesofwatersampleweretakenforthisstudy: Groundwater,ROwaterandROwastewaterfromthesame sourceofwatersupply.Theanalysiswasfromtwodifferent sources,onefromHomeinstalledROunit(HU)andanother from a local Public RO water distributer (PU) in Agra city, UttarPradesh,India.

One litre of the water sample was collected from the respective source in the USP Class VI autoclavable plastic bottles which are chemically inert (5). In this study, the methodadoptedforsamplingwasthegrabsamplemethod.

2.1. Physicochemical Characterization

The procedures for testingphysicochemical parameters of water were according to “Standard methods for the

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 10 Issue: 01 | Jan 2023 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

examinationofwaterandwastewater”(6)andthemethods usedaretoconducttheexperimentaretabulatedinTable2. All the tests were performed in the NABL (National AccreditationBoardforTestingandCalibrationLaboratories) certified level II laboratory of Central Water Commission (CWC),GovernmentofIndia. Physicochemical

3. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Thedataobtainedexperimentallywasanalyzedstatistically through Mean and Standard Deviation using Graph Pad PrismSoftware.

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The resultof the physiochemical parameter testedforthe groundwater,ROwaterandROwastewateraretabulatedin table 3. The result shows the concentration of each parameteratdifferentstagesduringpurificationofground water through RO unit and indicates toward the idea of conservationofROwastewater.

4.1. Temperature

It is a critical parameter which influences the physicochemical and biological activities of water (7). The temperature of water mainly depended on the meteorological conditions and geographical location. The temperature of all the samples range from10.1-12.1°C is relatedtotheclimaticconditionsofAgrainwinterseason duringthetimeofstudy.

4.2 pH

It is an important operational water quality parameter of waterwhichstatestheacidity/basicityofthewater.From theobservedvalues,itcanbeseenthattheROwastewater ismorebasicthantheGroundwater(Table3,Graph1).On analyzingboththesample,itcanbeseenthatpHlevelofRO

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 10 Issue: 01 | Jan 2023 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

wastewaterincreaseby1%fromthegroundwaterandis almostintherange.Thatcomesunderthepermissiblelimit for different water usage like agriculture, automobile laundryB,householdchores,etc.

Graph 1. pHofHomeInstalledROunit(HU)andPublic Distributer:ROPlantUnit(PU).

4.3 Electrical conductivity

It is the measure of the saltiness of water. EC below 800 μS/cmisbeenconsideredtobegoodfordrinkingwater(8) ECiscontributed by numberof ionsand whichisdirectly relatedtoTDS.InPUsampleunithasveryhighECandeven afterROtreatmentbythelocalvendoritsqualityisnotgood enoughfordrinking.TheHUsampleunitproduceslowECof 120.1 μS/cm which is fit for drinking (Table 3, Graph 2). ThoughthewasteeffluentfromtheunithashighECandthe groundwaterhashighEC,duetowhichdilutionofthewaste effluentfromtheseplantscannothelpindecreasingitsEC. The RO discharge can be used only for purpose like agriculture,carwash,floormopping,cleaningandflushing toilets.

Graph 3. TurbidityofHomeInstalledROunit(HU)and PublicDistributer:ROPlantUnit(PU).

4.5. Total Dissolve Solids

Itisaveryimportantparameterfortheusabilityofwater. Waterispolarinnaturebecauseofwhichithastheabilityto dissolvewiderangeofinorganicandsomeorganicminerals and salts such as: Nitrate, Fluoride, chloride, Sodium, Potassium, calcium, bicarbonates, chloride, magnesium, sulphates etc. and the concentration of these minerals in water is responsible for taste and color of water. The acceptablepermissiblerangeforTDSvalueisupto600mg/l (Table1).Infirstsample,theTDSvalueishighevenafterRO treatmentbyPUwhileincaseofHUROunitproducedwater withTDS77.4mg/l(Table3,Graph4)whichisintherange of permissible limit and under the excellent category i.e., under300mg/l.ROdischargehashighTDSvalue.So,itcan beusedfordifferentpurposelikeagriculturewhereTDSup to2100mg/lispermissible(9)automobilelaundry(12001500mg/l)TDScanbesafelyused,floormopping,bathroom uses.

4.4. Turbidity

Itisthemeasureofcolloidalmatteranditisdependenton the quantity of suspended particles. On analyzing the obtainedvaluesofboththeROplant,itcanbeseenthatthe values are in the permissible range mentioned in Table 1, Graph3. So,interms oftheseitcan be used anypurpose includingthepotability.

Graph 4. TotalDissolveSolidsofHomeInstalledROunit (HU,series1)andPublicDistributer:ROPlantUnit(PU, series2).

4.6. Total Hardness:

Itisthemeasurementofdissolvedcalciumandmagnesium inthewater.Itisaveryimportantparameterinconsidering healthwhichindicateitsroleinhealth-relatedproblemslike heart problems, kidney stones, cancer, cerebro-vascular mortality,Alzheimer,bonemineraldensity,digestivehealth andconstipation,reproductivehealth(10).Thepermissible

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 10 Issue: 01 | Jan 2023 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

limit of total hardness given by BIS is 200-600 mg/l. On analyzing the PU sample results, it was seen the value of ground water and RO waste water were higher than permissiblelimitwhiletheROtreatedwaterwasbelowthe lower limit of permissible range which rises the health concernregardingthedeficiency.InthecaseofHU,thevalue obtainedforgroundwaterlieswithinthepermissiblelimit.

tooth enamel and skeletal fluorosis on prolonged high concentration by consuming water with higher level of fluoridethempermissiblelimit,i.e.,1-1.5mg/ml.Inboththe samples, the ground water values come within the permissiblelimiti.e.,1.1and1.2respectively.Whileinthe case of RO water of both sample values were below the permissiblelimitwhichisnotgoodforourhealth(12).The concentrationofROwastewaterwashigherby18%and8% thanthegroundwaterinsample1and2respectively,still theyfallunderpermissiblelimit(Table3,Graph7).So,this water can be used for various purposes like: washing clothes, automobile laundry, toilet flushes, floor mopping, andthiswatercanalsobereusedforpotablewater.

Graph 5. TotalHardnessofHomeInstalledROunit(HU) andPublicDistributer:ROPlantUnit(PU).

4.7. Total Alkalinity

ItisthemeasureofionswhichneutralizetheH+inwater, ionslikebicarbonate,carbonateandhydroxide,respectively. It affects the taste of water. The RO treated water of both samples are in the range of permissible range. While the level of RO waste water was 48% and 21% more than ground water of public distributer RO and home installed unit(Table3,Graph6).Thealkalinityhigherinwatercauses scalinganditslowerlevelismorelikelytobecorrosivein nature.AlkalinewaterwithuptopH8.5isbeneficialinmany wayslikecooking,cleaningasalkalinewaterhastheability tobreakdownoilandgreasestains.Whenusedwithgeneral washables,thepropertiesofalkalinewatermayallowyouto uselessdetergent.So,itwillbebeneficiaryforwallet,vehicle clean,theelectrolyzedwaterhastheabilitytogetridofdirt, clay,salt,asphalt,rustandoxide.

Graph 7. FluorideofHomeInstalledROunit(HU)and PublicDistributer:ROPlantUnit(PU).

5. CONCLUSION

In this study, it was seen that how enrich is RO discharge water in terms of the physical and chemical parameter concentrations.Thedischargewatermayormaynotbeused for Potable water treatment unit. But this water can very effectively be used vividly for different purposes as discussedalready. Thisishow wecan conservethewater wastagefromROunitsas75%ofwaterdischargesaswaste. Also, with the help of bioremediation technology waste watercanbereusedforpotableandotherusesasperthe requirements. For example, use of natural products like Tridax Procumbens extract, it helps in the reduction of fluoride in water; Moringa oleifera extract helps in the reductionofturbidityinwater.Bothoftheseextractshave medicinalusesalso,whichwillbeanadditionbenefit. This studyencourages,effectivemanagementandconservation methodsandtechniquesinthesechallengingtimesofwater stresscondition.

TotalAlkalinity

4.8. Fluoride

It is also an important parameter of water as it is been reportedthatdrinkingfluoridatorwaterhelpstheteethto bestronganditreducesthechancesofcavityby25%inall agegroup(11).Wateristhemajordietarysourceoffluoride (12). Intheotherway,itcancausenegativeimpactalsolike

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International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

[2] Government of Uttar Pradesh (GoUP), 2022, AGRA, Available on: https://agra.nic.in/, Accessed on 20 August2022.

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