[Gupta, 3(1): January, 2014]

ISSN: 2277-9655 Impact Factor: 1.852

IJESRT
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES & RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY

Assessment of Physico-chemical Water Quality Parameters of Surajkund Pondin Gorakhpur City

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Sushil Kumar Gupta*1, Govind Pandey2 P.G. Student (Environmental Engineering), Department of Civil Engineering, Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur- 273010 (Uttar Pradesh), India 2 Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur- 273010 (Uttar Pradesh), India email2sushilgupta@gmail.com Abstract

Water bodies in urban areas have been facing the adverse effects of anthropogenic pollution for so many years. The water quality in lakes and ponds being used for religious bathing and cultural gathering is of paramount importance from the view point of public health and safety. In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the physico-chemical water quality parameters of Surajkund pond, which is an ancient water body located in Gorakhpur city. Water quality parameters like pH, total hardness, chloride, alkalinity, total solids, DO, BOD and COD are observed from the samples taken from the pond. It is found that the pond is rendered in eutrophic state by the organic pollution and needs to be restored and managed in the form of a fresh water body in near future. It is suggested that an awareness programmes should be taken up in the adjoin area to educate people about the adverse effect of water pollution. Also, periodic monitoring of water quality in the pond to ensure no further degradation has been recommended. Keyword: Surajkund Pond, Water Quality, Organic Pollution, Monitoring

I. Introduction
Ever since the origin of civilization towns and cities have come up near streams and water bodies. Most of the temples and religious places are also located near water bodies as such the adverse effects of anthropogenic pollution are likely on such water bodies, particularly, during festivals, religious bathing and cultural gatherings. Gorakhpur city, which is a principal town in eastern U.P., is situated near the confluence of river Rohin with river Rapti. In addition, Ramgarh Tal and Chillua Lake are the two big water bodies located near the peripheral regions of the city. Among a large number of other water bodies located within the city, Surajkund pond is an ancient water body and is a focal point of various types of religious and cultural practices throughout the year. Thousands of people gather near the pond and offer their worship by virtue of religious bathing and offering worship materials in the form of flowers, garlands, banana plant, painted earthen pots, oil, earthen lamps etc. Notably, during Deepdan held the next day of Deepawali festival, about 25,000 earthen lamps are lighted around the pond. The spilling of vegetable oil could eventually, lead to its spreading on the water surface, thereby, preventing the exchange of gases with atmosphere, while also causing organic pollution in the pond. Fish kills have also been reported in the pond on some occasions. Considering the importance of water bodies, an attempt has been made in the present study to look into the physico-chemical parameters of water quality of Surajkund pond, whose scenic appearance is shown in Fig.1.

II. Literature Review

Water bodies have attracted the researchers and scientists since early days. However, some water bodies have been studied by many investigators whereas there remain many others that are yet to be covered.Sarnelle, O (1992) showed that temperature variation in lakes might be caused by the influence of environmental factors and human activities in or around the lake or pond.Jeppessengeret al. (2001) state that the rate of phosphorus release into the water can double, when sediments are frequently disturbed.Bidoia, E.D. et al (2010) report that the oil spread affects badly the aquatic ecosystem. According to Alisi, C (2009), physicochemical study is necessary to make strategy for the purification of water bodies. Some more workers have

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[Gupta, 3(1): January, 2014]

ISSN: 2277-9655 2277 Impact Factor: 1.852

Table1.Physico-chemical Water Quality Data D of Surajkund Pond

also reported the significance of physico physico- chemical assessment of water bodies. Considering the outcome of literature review, it is realized that parameters like colour, r, pH, t temperature, total hardness, total Solid, olid, DO , BOD, COD, a alkalinity, chloride, total phosphate and total nitrate itrate need to be investigated after carrying out sampling of water from Surajkund pond, whose water quality assessment has not been reported so far.

Fig.1. Surajkund Pond at Gorakhpur city

III. Material and Method

In the present study water sampl samples from the pond were collected in plastic bottles s of 2 l litrecapacity in the month of April, 2013. The physico physico-chemical characteristics like colour, pH, temperature temperature, alkalinity, total hardness, total solids, , total phosphate, total nitrate and chloride were analyzed using standard methods in Environmental and P.H.E. Laboratory of M.M.M. Engineering College, Gorakhpur. During the study a sample was collected from the sampling site A A, which is located in the centre of the pond and the other one was collected from sampling site B, which is located near the northern side of the pond. Both the samples were collected at 15 cm depth from water surface of the pond. The physico-chemical chemical water quality characteristics data observed in the sample samples collected from the pond are given in Table 1.

IV. Results and Discussion iscussion

It is found that pH, total hardness, alkalinity and chloride are within limits. The presence of phosphate and nitrate in pond water exhibits that the pond is in a eutrophic condition. The light green colour is due to the algal growth. The comparison of observed water quality parameters with the water quality criteria for designated desig best use reveals that, due to the value of BOD exceeding 5 mg/l, the pond water quality is found to be beyond class E.

V. Conclusion
The analysis of physico-chemical physico water quality characteristics of Surajkund Pond has revealed that the pond water is adversely affected by anthropogenic pollution. As exhibited by BOD and COD of water, water the http: // www.ijesrt.com(C)International Journal of Engineering Sciences & Research Technology [23-25]

[Gupta, 3(1): January, 2014]

ISSN: 2277-9655 Impact Factor: 1.852

organic pollution in the pond is high enough to render it unfit even for the bathing. As a matter of fact, an action plan needs to be undertaken to prevent the inflow of organic pollution into the pond and to ensure the availability of fresh water in the pond throughout the year. As the pond attracts many gatherings of religious and cultural nature on various occasions, it would be worthwhile to take up awareness programmes in the adjoining area to educate the people about the adverse effects of water pollution and the safeguards to be adopted regarding the same. As the pond is surrounded by temples, it should be ensured that no waste materials of any kind are thrown into the pond. It would also be necessary to have a periodic monitoring of water quality of pond with a view to ensure that no further degradation in water quality takes place in future and the pond is restored and managed in the form ofafresh water body.

References
[1] Alisi, C. (2006) Comparison of microbial communities native to three differently polluted ecological niches in the industrial sites of Bagnoli (Naples, Italy). In: Recent research developments in multidisciplinary applied microbiology. ISBN 3-527-31611-6 [2] Bidoia, E. D. (2010) Microbial biodegradation potential of hydrocarbons evaluated by colorimetric technique: a case study, pp.12771288. In A. Mendez- Vilas (ed.), Current Research, Technology and Education.Topics in Applied Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology, FORMATEX, Spain. [3] Jeppessenger, E. (2001). Change in the abundance of planktivorous fish in Lake Skanderborg during the past two centuriespalaeoecological approach, Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, 172: 143-152. [4] Sarnelle, O., 1992. Nutrient enrichment and grazer effect on phytoplankton in lakes, Ecology, 73: 551-556.

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