Pollution status of river Periyar

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

Volume: 09 Issue: 06 | Jun 2022 www.irjet.net p ISSN: 2395 0072

Pollution status of river Periyar

Najla K K1

1Student, Department of Environmental Engineering, MCET, Desamangalam 679532, Kerala, India ***

Abstract – Water plays a vital role in the socio economic development of a country. Therefore, the availability of fresh water is of utmost importance in all aspects. The present study deals with the analysis of pollution status of Periyar river and suggestion of a natural treatment method for the removalofturbidityusingnaturalcoagulant,moringaoliefera leaves. For analyzing water quality, samples were collected from 5 different sampling points of Periyar River and performedtests forphysico chemicalparameterslikepH,BOD, COD, TSS, Turbidity, heavy metal concentration etc. The samplingsites were chosenbystudyingvariousanthropogenic activities and industrial operations carried out that cause heavy pollution by discharging large amount of sewage effluents into the river The sampling sites were Aluva, Pathalam, Eloor, EloorFerry, Edayar. Theresults showedthat the river is heavily polluted and there exist an unhealthy condition along the industrial stretch of Periyar river. After performing these tests, the project continues with experimenting the turbidity removal efficiency of Moringa Oliefera leaf powder The optimum dosage and pH were 400 mg/L and 9 with turbidity removal efficiencies of 91% and 96% respectively. The study also point out the importance of ZeroLiquidDischargeTechnology inall industriesandproper effluent treatment methods

Key Words: Turbidity, Coagulant, Anthropogenic activities, Sewage, Effluent

1. INTRODUCTION

Keralaisoneofthemostpopulatedlocationsintheworld. Consequently,theriversofKeralaisbeingheavilypolluted duetovariousdomesticandindustrialactivities.Periyaris the longest river of Kerala, known to be the ‘Lifeline of Kerala’, since it serves as the source of all socio economic activities of the state. It has role in fields like power generation, domestic water supply, irrigation, tourism, industrial production, collection of fisheries and various resources. The Eloor Edayar belt with almost 25% of Kerala’sindustriesisthe industrial hubof Kerala Dueto increasedindustrialactivitiesandeffluentdischargewithout proper treatment, river Periyar is dying day by day. The conditionisverypoorintheaspectofwaterquality.Inthis circumstance,studyofpollutionstatusofPeriyarriverand suggestionoftreatmentmethodsarecrucial.

1.1 Causes of Pollution

Themainreasonsofpollutionofriverineecosystemare

SewageandGarbage

AgriculturalRun off

IndustrialPollution

Theriverrecieves effluentsfromtownshipslikeAluva, Paravur, Perumbavur, Kalady, Malayattur, Cheruthoni, Munnar,Vandiperiyar.Thelocalbodieslackpropersewage treatment facilities which lead to direct discharge of untreatedwastestotheriver.

The intensive use of pesticides and fertilizers in agriculturallandforlargecropyieldenrichtheriverwater with harmful inorganic pollutants which cause serious threatstoaquaticspeciesandhumanbybio magnification.

Thereareabout250industries manufacturingchemical petrochemical products, pesticides, rare earth elements, fertilizers etc. These industries use large quantity of river waterasrawmaterialandinturndischargetoxiceffluents withoutpropertreatment.Thiscausedeteriorationof water quality and thus lead to damage to various species in the environment.

Coagulationistheprocessofdestabilizationofcolloidsby theadditionofchemicalsthatneutralizethenegativecharge byrapidmixing.Thechemicalusedforcoagulationiscalled coagulants and generally possess positive charge. The dissolvedandsuspendedparticlesinthewatercarrynegative charge which is neutralized by the positive charge of coagulants. The particles bind together and agglomerate whilethereactionoccurs.Thus,theincreasedweightofthe agglomeratedparticlesmakethemsettleinthebottomwhich iscalledsedimentation.Aschemicalelementsareexpensive andmaycauseharmfuleffects,thisstudyrecommendsthe useofnaturalcoagulant‘MoringaOlieferaLeaf’ascoagulant forturbidityremovalofsample.

2. METHODOLOGY

ForstudyingpollutionlevelofriverPeriyarandsuggesting treatment methods, process was carried out by following steps:

Fieldstudy

Selectionofsamplingpoints

Samplecollection

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

Volume: 09 Issue: 06 | Jun 2022 www.irjet.net p ISSN: 2395 0072

Waterqualitytesting

 Experimenting natural treatment method for turbidityremovalusingMoringaOlieferaleaves.

2.1 Field Study

Theprimaryprocedurewasthoroughstudyofthearea.This helps to identify the causes of pollution which include domesticandindustrialactivities.Basedonthisstudy,some industriescausingpollutionarelistedbelow

Table -1: Variousindustriesresponsibleforpollutionof Periyarriver

INDUSTRIES PRODUCT POLLUTANTS EFFECTS

FACT(Fertilise rand Chemicals Trvancore)

FACTAMFOS, Ammonium Sulphate, Ammonium Phosphate

Heavy metals likeMercury, Lead, Cadmium, Copperetc

TCC(Travancor eCochin Chemicals)

Causticsoda lye(32%), Causticsoda lye(48%), Causticsoda flakes,Liquid Chlorine, Hydrochloric acid

Diseases likecancer, Birth defects, Depression

2.2 Selection of sampling sites

Differentsamplingsiteswereselectedbyunderstatingthe major cause of pollution is industrial discharge. The sampling sites were Aluva, Pathalam, Eloor, Eloor Ferry, Edayar.

HIL(Hindustan Insecticides Ltd.)

Hg,Nacl Asthma, Bronchitis, Cancer, birth defects

IREL(Indian RareEarth Ltd.)

Insecticide, Pesticide, Herbicide, Fungicide, Sanitizer, Weedicide, Biopesticide

Mercury, Copper,Zinc, Lead, Chromium

Cancers, Allergic dermatitis, stomach ulcers, birth defects, Asthma

Ilmenite, RutileZircon, Garnet Silliminate, RareEarth Chloride, Thorium Nitrate,

Lead,Zinc Lead,Zinc Cancer

CMRL(Cochin Mineralsand RutileLtd.)

Rutileor Titanium oxidecrystals

Ferrous Chloride Brown huesto water

Fig -1:Samplingsites

2.3 Collection of samples

Sampleswerecollectedfromthefivedifferentlocations,20 cmbelowthesurfaceoftheriver.About3 liters ofsample was collected in sterile containers from each location for testingphysico chemicalparameterstodeterminethewater quality

2.4 Performance of physico chemical tests

TestslikepH,DO(DissolvedOxygen),BOD(BiologicalOxygen Demand), COD(Chemical Oxygen Demand), TSS(Total Suspended Solids). Chloride, Heavy metal concentration, (Lead, Mercury, Cadmium) and turbidity was performed accordingtothelocationandindustrialdischargeregulated

2.5 Coagulation using natural coagulant to remove turbidity

Inordertoremovetheturbidityofwatersample,anatural coagulant,Moringaolieferaleafpowderwasused.Theleaves werecollectedfromhouseholdsinmylocality.Afterdrying theseleavesfor3daysandgrindedindomesticblenders,it wasusedforperformingjartest.Testwasperformedunder varriedpHconditionbyadding0.1MHClsolutionandalso variedcoagulantdosage.

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

Volume: 09 Issue: 06 | Jun 2022 www.irjet.net p ISSN: 2395 0072

BOD 55 30 83

COD 170 120 41 TSS 6 10 40 Chloride 320 250 28

Fig 2:Moringaolieferaleaf

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Theobservationsoftestsperformedareasfollows

Table-2: WaterqualityParametersofthesamples

Sampli ng site

Water quality parameter s

Observed Value(mg /L)

Permissi ble limit(mg /L)

% variati on

Aluva pH 8.5 7.5 13 DO 5 30 BOD 29 20 COD 140 120 TSS 108 10 98 Chloride 240 250 4 Pathal am pH 6.5 7.5 13 DO 6.3 30 79 BOD 55 30 83 COD 150 120 25 TSS 18.4 10 84 Chloride 240 250 4 Eloor pH 7.8 7.5 4 Turbidity(N TU) 45 5 2

DO 7.2 30 79 BOD 55 30 83 LEAD 0.42 0.3 40 TSS 19 10 90 Mercury 0.052 0.03 73 Nitrate 180 160 12.5 Eloor Ferry pH 7.2 7.5 4 DO 12 30 60 BOD 40 30 33 COD 150 120 25 TSS 7 10 30 Chloride 325 250 30

Cadmium 1.2 0.003 39900 Nitrate 170 160 6 Edayar pH 6.5 7.5 15 DO 6.3 30 79

Chart 1:Percentagevariationofparameterswith permissiblelimit

Chart 2:Percentagevariationofparameterswith permissiblelimit

From the above results, it is clear that the samples show unhealthyconditionoftheriverwater.Thelargevariationof differentparameterssaysthattheriverishighlypolluted.

Table below shows the turbidity removal efficiency of MoringaOlieferaleafpowderasthecoagulantwithvarying dosageandPh.

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

Volume: 09 Issue: 06 | Jun 2022 www.irjet.net p ISSN: 2395 0072

Table 3: Turbidityremovalefficiencywithrespectto varyingdosage

Dosageof Coagulant (mg/l)

Initial turbidity (NTU)

Final turbidity (NTU)

Turbidity removal efficiency (%) 100 45 39.6 12 200 45 32.85 27 300 45 16.65 63 400 45 4.05 91 500 45 22 51.11

Table-4:Turbidityremovalefficiencywithrespectto varyingpH pH Initial turbidity (NTU)

Chart 4:

TurbidityremovalefficiencyversusvaryingpH

Turbidity removal effeciency (%) 5 45 37.8 16 6 45 26.1 42 7 45 20 55.55 8 45 14.9 67 9 45 1.8 96

Final turbidity (NTU)

Chart 3: Turbidityremovalefficiencyversusvarying coagulantdosage

From the results, it is clear that the efficiency of turbidity removal increases as the coagulant dosage and pH is increased. Therefore, the turbidity removal efficiency is directlyproportionaltothepHandcoagulantdose.Also,the optimum dosage of coagulant and the optimum pH was observed as 400 mg/L and 9 respectively. The maximum turbidityremovalefficiencieswerefoundtobe91%and96 %incoagulationwithvaryingcoagulantdosageandvarying pHrespectively

4. CONCLUSIONS

Water pollution is a serious problem due to rapid urbanization. The increasing population and the water demand raises the necessity of proper treatment and disposalof industrialeffluentsasthisleadstosurfacewater deterioration, poor ground water quality etc. The study shows that Periyar river is highly polluted due various domestic and industrial activities carried out. Industries muststrictlyfollowZeroliquiddischargetechnology.Thisis theprimarysteptobefollowedtoreducedischargeoftoxic substances. State and Central authorities must take necessaryactionagainsttheviolationofrulesandregulation regarding these operation. Also, appointing monitoring committeescanalsobringchanges.

Since,sewagetreatmentsusingchemicalsiscostlyandposes a problem of large quantity of sludge disposal, a natural coagulant was experimented for turbidity removal ie, moringa oliefera leaf powder. The study shows that it is effectiveinturbidityremoval.AsthePh

And coagulant dosage increases, the turbidity removal efficiencyalsoincreased.Theoptimumdosageofcoagulant and the optimum pH was observed as 400 mg/L and 9 respectively. The maximum turbidity removal efficiencies werefoundtobe91%and96%.

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

Volume: 09 Issue: 06 | Jun 2022 www.irjet.net p ISSN: 2395 0072

REFERENCES

[1] Lakshmi.E,G.Madhu.“Anassessmentofwaterqualityin river Periyar, Kerala, South india using water quality index”, IOSR Journal of Environmental Science, ToxicologyandFoodTechnology,Volume8,Issue8Ver II(Aug.2014),pp11 16

[2] Akhila Rupesh, Dr.J.V Muruga Lal Jeyan “Systematic surveyofriverPeriyartoencountthermalpollution” ,, International Journal of Advanced Technology in EngineeringandScience,Vol.No.4,IssueNo.03,March 2016

[3] Greenpeace Report on Pollution in Periyar Aditi Wanchoo,GreenpeaceIndia

[4] N. Stambuck Gilijanovic, Water quality evaluation by indexinDalmatia,WaterResearch,33(16),1999,3426 3440.

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