Water Quality Assessment Using Water Quality Indicators and Multivariate Analyses of the Old Brahmaputra River

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

1 Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh

2 Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Chittagong, Bangladesh

3 Bangladesh Oceanographic Research Institute, Ramu, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Abstract

The study has been carried out to assess surface water quality of Old Brahmaputra River from September 2015 to March 2016. DO, BOD5, COD, pH, EC, Chloride, Alkalinity, and Hardness concentrations in water samples have been found to range within 0.66-2.9 mg/L, 21-138 mg/L, 45-250 mg/L, 7.1-7.8, 185-1080 uS/cm, 10-98 mg/L, 85-197 mg/L, and 84-148 mg/L, respectively. Multivariate statistical analyses such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Correlation Matrix (CM) reveal significant anthropogenic intrusion of pollutants in water, while Cluster Analysis (CA) gives decent results that render three different groups of resemblance between the two sampling sites, reflecting the different water quality indicators of the river system. Very strong positive linear relations have been found between Alkalinity vs. Chloride (0.998), COD vs. BOD (0.994), Chloride vs. EC (0.981), Alkalinity vs. EC (0.976), and Hardness vs. EC (0.952) at the significance level of 0.01, which direct their common origin from industrial effluents, municipal wastes, and agricultural activities. River Pollution Index (RPI) indicates that the water of the Old Brahmaputra River varies from low to high pollution.

Keywords


Ahmed, M.F. and Rahman, M.M. (2000). Water Supply and Sanitation. ITN-Bangladesh, Centre for Water Supply and Waste Management, BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Ahmed, M.J. and Nizamuddin, M. (2012). Physicochemical Assessment of Textile Effluents in Chittagong Region of Bangladesh and Their Possible Effects on Environment. Inter. J of Res. in Chemis. Environ. 2: 220-230.
Allen, H.E., Perdue, E.M. and Brown, D.S. (1993). Metals in groundwater. Chelsea, MI: Lewis.
Alam, M.M., Islam, M.A., Islam, S. and Haider, S.Z. (1996). Surface water quality of various polluted locations. J Bangladesh Chemi. Soci. 8: 129-137.
Amacher, M.C., Day, W.J., Schumacher, B.A., Walthall, P.M. and Miller, B.J. (1989). A Guide to the Classification of Soils of Louisiana. Bull. 803. La. Agric. Exp. Stn., Baton Rouge.
APHA (American Public Health Association), (2005). Standard methods for the examination of water and waste water. 21st ed American Public Health Association (APHA). Washington DC: USA Port City Press.
Ayers, R.S. and Westcot, D.W. (2000). Water Quality for Agriculture. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 29.
Bhuyian, A.M. (1979). Effect of industrial pollution on the biology of the Karnafully River. M. Phil Thesis, Department of Zoology, University of Chittagong, 164 pp.
Bhuyan, M.S., Bakar, M.A. (2017). Water Quality assessment of the Halda River (the Major Carp Breeding Ground) of Bangladesh. Pollution (University of Tehran) 3: 429-441.
Bhuyan, M.S., Bakar, M.A., Akhtar, A., Hossain, M.B., Islam, M.S. (2017). Analysis of Water Quality of the Meghna River Using Multivariate Analyses and RPI, Asia. Society J. 43: 23-35.
Bhuyan, M.S., Akhtar, A., Islam, M.S. (2016). Effects of Industrialization on Fish and Fishing Community. Scholar press, Germany. 104p. ISBN: 978-3-659-84546-8.
Campbell, I.C. (1978). A biological investigation of an organically polluted urban stream in Victoria. Austr. J Mari. Fresh. Res. 29: 275-91.
Chen, Y.C., Yeh, H.C. and Wei, C. (2012). Estimation of river pollution index in a tidal stream using Kriging analysis. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Heal. 9: 3085-3100. doi:10.3390/ijerph9093085
Chowdhury, Q.M. (2001). Water and Environment, Forum of Environmental Journalist of Bangladesh, ISBN- 983-756-004-8.
Colborn, T., Dumanoski, D. and Myers, J.P. (1996). Our stolen future. New York: Dutton Press.
De, A.K. (2007). Environmental Chemistry. New age international limited. New Delhi.
Dreher, T. (2003). Evaluation of graphical and multivariate methods for classification of water chemistry data. Hydro. J. 11: 605–606.
ECR, (1997). The Environment Conservation Rules. Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Ministry of Environment and Forest. pp. 205-207.
Effendi, H., Romanto and Wardiatno, Y. (2015). Water quality status of Ciambulawung River, Banten Province, based on pollution index and NSF-WQI. Procedia Environ. Sci. 24: 228-237. doi: 10.1016/j.proenv.2015.03.030
Effendi, H. (2003). Water quality analysis for aquatic resources management. Yogyakarta: Kanisius.
Fatoki, O.S., Muyima, N.Y.O. and Lujiza, N. (2001). Situation analysis of water quality in Umtata River catchment. Water SA. 27: 467-74.
Farshad, H. and Venkataramana, G.V. (2012). Impact of Physico-Chemical Parameters of Water on Zooplankton Diversity in Nanjangud Industrial Area, India. Inter. Res. J Environ. Sci. 1: 37-42.
Florescu, D., Ionete, R.E., Sandru, A., Iordache and Culea, M. (2010). The Influence of Pollution Monitoring Parameters in Characterizing the Surface Water Quality from Romania Southern Area. Rom. Journ. Phys., 56: 1001–1010.
Gasim, M.B., Ismail, B.S., Toriman, E., Mir, S.I. and Chek, T.C.  (2007). A Physico-chemical Assessment of the Bebar River, Pahang, Malaysia. Glo. J Environ. Res. 1: 7-11.
Gustafson, D.I. (1993). Pesticides in drinking water. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Hoque, M.M.M., Roy, S., Hoque, M.N. and Isla, M.Z. (2012). Assessment of Some Water Quality Parameters of Bansi River in Monsoon and Winter Seasons. J. Environ. Sci. & Nat. Resour. 5: 53 -57.
Hossain, M.M., Mahmood, N. and Bhuyian, A.L. (1988). Some water quality characteristics of the Karnafuli River estuary. J Asia. soci. Bang.  21: 183-188.
Hossain, T. and Khan, Y.S.A. (1992). Study on the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) of the effluent discharge of the Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited (CUFL) on the Karnafuli River estuary. M. Sc. Thesis, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Chittagong.
Hoseinzadeh, E., Khorsandi, H., Wei, C., Alipour, M. 2014. Evaluation of Aydughmush River water quality using the National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index (NSFWQI), River Pollution Index (RPI), and Forestry Water Quality Index (FWQI). Desalin. Water Treatm., 54: 2994-3002. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19443994.2014.913206
Huq, S.M.I. and Alam, M.D. (2005). A Handbook on Analysis of Soil, Plant and Water. BACER-DU, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. pp. xxii-246.
Islam, M.M. and Khan, Y.S.A. (1993). Study on the influence of the effluent discharged by the KPM and KRC on the physiochemical parameters of the Karnafully River, Chittagong. M. Sc. Thesis, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Chittagong.
Islam, M.S., Akbar, A., Akhtar, A., Kibria, M.M., Bhuyan, M.S. (2017). Water Quality Assessment Along With Pollution Sources of the Halda River, Asia. Soci. J. 43: 61-70.
Jashimuddin, S.M. and Khan, Y.S.A. (1993). Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the municipal sewage discharge through majhirghat canal on the Karnafuli River water, Chittagong. M. Sc. Thesis, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Chittagong.
Jiang-Qi, Q., Qing-Jing, Z., Pan, L., Cheng-Xia, J. and Mu, Y. (2013). Assessment of Water Quality Using Multivariate Statistical Methods: A Case Study of an urban Landscape Water, Beijing. Int. J. Biosci. Biochem. Bioinforma. 3: 196-200.
Joshi, D.M., Kumar, A. and Agrawal, N. (2009). Studies on Physicochemical Parameters to Assess the Water Quality of River Ganga for Drinking Purpose in Haridwar District, Rasayan J Chem. 2: 195-203.
Kazi, T.G., Arain, M.B., Jamali, M.K., Jalbani, N., Afridi, H.I. and Sarfraz, R.A. (2009). Assessment of water quality of polluted lake using multivariate statistical techniques: A case study. Ecotox Environ Safe. 72: 301-309. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2008.02.024
Kataria, H.C., Gupta, M., Kumar, M., Kushwaha, S.S., Kashyap, S., Trivedi, S., Bhadoriya, R.R. and Bandewar, N.K. (2011). Study of Physico-chemical Parameters of Drinking Water of Bhopal city with Reference to Health Impacts. Current W. Environ. 6: 95-99.
Khan, Y.S.A., Mahmood, N., Quader, O., Bhuyian, A.L. and Ahmed, M.K. (1976). Studies on the hydrology of the Karnafuli estuary. J Asiatic soci. Bang. 2: 89-99.
Khan, H.R. (1999). Irrigation Water Pricing in Bangladesh. In: Proceedings of the expert group meeting on water pricing. United Nations Water Resources Series no. 55, pp. 5566.
Kowalkowski, T., Zbytniewski, R., Szpejna, J., Buszewski, B. (2006). Application of chemo metrics in water classification. Water Res. 40: 744-752. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2005.11.042
Kumar, G.N.P., Srinivas, P., Chandra, K.G. and Sujatha, P. (2010). Delineation of groundwater potential zones using Remote sensing and GIS techniques: A Case Study of Kurmapalli Vagu Basin in Andhra Pradesh, India. Intern. J Water Resour. Environ. Engin. 2: 70-78.
Lai, Y. C., Tu, Y.T., Yang, C.P., Surampalli, R.Y., Kao, C.M. 2013. Development of a water quality modeling system for river pollution index and suspended solid loading evaluation. Journal of Hydrolo. 478: 89-101. DOI:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.11.050
Larson, S.J., Capel, P.D. and Majewski, M.S. (1997). Pesticides in surface waters. Distribution, trends, and governing factors. Pesticides in the Hydrologic System, Vol. 3. Chelsea, MI: AnnArbor Press.
Liou, S.M., Lo, S.L. and Wang, S.H. (2004). A generalized water quality index for Taiwan. Environ. Monit. Assess. 96: 35-52.  doi:10.1023/B:EMAS.0000031715.83752.a1
Loomer, H.A. and Cooke, S.E. (2011). Water quality in the Grand River watershed: current conditions & trends (2003–2008). Grand River Conservation Authority.
Mahmood, N. and Bhuyian, A.M. (1988). Some water quality characteristic of the Karnafuli River estuary.  Mahassagar Bull. Nati Inst. Sci. Ind. 22: 183-188.
Manjare, S.A., Vhanalakar, S.A. and Muley, D.V. (2010). Analysis of water quality using physico-chemical parameters Tamdalge tank in Kolhapur district, Maharashtra. Inter. J Advan. Biotech. Res. 1: 115-119.
May, A.M., Mutasem, E., Mark, D.S. and John, N.L. (2006). Factors influencing development of management strategies for the Abou Ali River in Lebanon. Sci. Total Environ. 362: 15-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2005.09.079
Moore, P. (1972). Studies on the pollution of the Bhadra River fisheries and Bhadravathi (Mysore state) with industrial effluents. Nat. Inst. Sci. Ind. 22: 132-160.
Miah, M.S. (2012). Cost-effective Treatment Technology on Textile Industrial Wastewater, in Bangladesh. J Che. Eng. 27: 32-36. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jce.v27i1.15855
National Academy of Sciences (1983). Risk assessment in the federal government. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Nian, Y.G., Xu, Q.J., Jin, X.C., Yan, C.Z., Liu and Jiang, J. (2007). Effects of chitosan on growth of an aquatic plant (Hydrilla verticillata) in polluted waters with different chemicaloxygen demands. J of Environ. Sci. 19: 217.
Noori, R., Sabahi, M.S., Karbassi, A.R., Baghvand, A. and Taati Zadeh, H. (2010). Multivariate statistical analysis of surface water quality based on correlations and variations in the data set. Desalination, doi:10.1016/j.desal.2010.04.053.
Nowell, L.H., Capel, P.D. and Dileanis, P.D. (1999). Pesticides in stream sediment and aquatic biota. Distribution, trends, and governing factors. Pesticides in the Hydrologic System, vol. 4. New York: Lewis.
Ott, W.R. (1978). Environmental indices: theory and practice. Michigan: Ann Arbor Science.
Ouyang, Y., Nkedi-Kizza, P., Wu, Q.T., Shinde, D., Huang, C.H. (2006) Assessment of seasonal variations in surface water quality. Water Res. 40: 3800-3810. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2006.08.030
Paul, G. (1999). Environment and Pollution, Poribes Dushan (Ed), Dasgupta and Company Ltd, India. Pp. 323.
Qadir, A., Malik, R.N. and Husain, S.Z. (2007). Spatio-temporal variations in water quality of NullahAik-tributary of the river Chenab, Pakistan. Environ. Monit. Assess. 140: 43-59. DOI:10.1007/s10661-007-9846-4
Roy, H.K. (1955). Plankton ecology of the River Hoogly in Patna. West Bengal. Eco. 36: 169-175.
Ritter, L., Solomon, K., Sibley, P., Hall, K., Keen, P., Mattu, G., Linton, B. (2002). Sources, Pathways, and Relative Risks of Contaminants in Surface Water and Groundwater: A Perspective Prepared for the Walkerton Inquiry, J Toxico. Environ. Heal. Part A: 65: 1, 1-142.
Rim-Rukeh, A. (2016). Assessment of Water Quality in a Tidal River System using River Pollution Index (RPI). Journal of Environ. Sci. and Pollut. Res., 2: 72–75.
Sarma, V.V., Raju, G.R.K. and Babu, T.R. (1982). Pollution characteristics and water quality in the Visakhapatnam harbour. Mahassagar Bull. Nati. Inst. Oce. 15: 15-22.
Said, A., Stevens, D.K. and Sehlke, G. (2004). An innovative index for evaluating water quality in streams. Environ. Manag. 34: 406-14. DOI:10.1007/s00267-004-0210-y
Saksena, D.N., Garg, R.K. and Rao, R.J. (2008). Water quality and pollution status of Chambal River in National Chambal Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh. J Environ. Biolo. 29: 701-10.
Selle, M., Schwientek, M., Lischeid, G. (2013). Understanding processes governing water quality in catchments using principal component scores. Journal of Hydrolo. 486: 31–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2013.01.030
Sharif A.S.M, Bakar M.A., Bhuyan M.S. (2017). Assessment of Water Quality of the Lower Meghna River Estuary Using Multivariate Analyses and RPI. Intern. J Chem. Pharm. Technol. 2: 57-73.
Sikder, M.N.A, Huq, S.M.S., Mamun, M.A.A., Hoque, K.A., Bhuyan, M.S. and Bakar, M.A. (2016). Assessment of physicochemical parameters with its effects on human and aquatic animals giving special preference to effective management of Turag River. J of Environ. Sci. Toxico. Food Tech. 10: 41-51.
Singh, K.P., Malik, A. and Sinha, S. (2005). Water quality assessment and apportionment of pollution sources of Gomti river (India) using multivariate statistical techniques- a case study. Anal. Chim. Acta. 538: 355-374. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2005.02.006
Singh, K.P., Malik, A., Mohan, D. and Sinha, S. (2004). Multivariate statistical techniques for the evaluation of spatial and temporal variations in water quality of Gomti River (India) - a case study. Wat. Res. 38: 3980-3992. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2004.06.011
Talukder, A., Mallick, D., Hasin, T., Anka, I.Z. and Hasan, M.M. (2016). Spatio-temporal variability in hydro-chemical characteristics of coastal waters of Salimpur, Chittagong along the Bay of Bengal. J. Fish. 4: 335-344. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17017/jfish.v4i1.2016.104
Venkatesharaju, K., Somashekar, R.K. and Prakash, K.L. (2010). Study of seasonal and special variation in surface water quality of Cauvery river stretch in Karnataka. J. Ecol. Nat. Environ. 2:1-9.
Wang, Y.B., Liu, C.W., Liao, P.Y. and Lee, J.J. (2014). Spatial pattern assessment of river water quality: implications of reducing the number of monitoring stations and chemical parameters. Environ. Monit. Assess. 186: 1781-1792. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3492-9
Wang, X., Cai, Q., Ye, L. and Qu, X. (2012). Evaluation of spatial and temporal variation in stream water by multivariate statistical techniques: A case study of the Xiangxi River basin, China. Quarter. Inter. 1: 1-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2012.05.015
Wang, X.L., Lu, Y.L., Han, J.Y., He, G.Z. and Wang, T.Y. (2007). Identification of anthropogenic influences on water quality of rivers in Taihu watershed. J Environ Sci-China. 19: 475-481. doi:10.1016/S1001-0742(07)60080-1
Winkler, L.W. (1988). The determination of dissolved oxygen in Water. Berlin. Deut. Chem. yeas. 21.2845 Nov; 133.
Yu, S. and Shang, J. (2003). Factor analysis and dynamics of water quality of the Songhua River, Northeast China. Water Air Soil Poll. 144: 159-169. DOI: 10.1023/A: 1022960300693