Study of water quality index of brahmani river water in talcher-angul industrial vicinity, odisha

The world’s thirst for water is likely to become one of the most pressing issues of the 21st century. Rapid pace of industrialization, concurrent growth of urbanization, need and change of life style of ever expanding population have the potential to damage the environment and degrade the available surface and ground water sources. Since there has been growing concern about pollution in Angul-Talcher area due to industrial, mining and other anthropogenic activities, Central Pollution Control Board and Ministry of Environment & Forests have identified this zone as one of the hot spots in respect of pollution hazards. The present study is an attempt to provide a qualitative and quantitative status indicating the suitability of water sources for drinking purpose. The study on seasonal variations of physico-chemical characteristics along with its water quality of Brahmani river fluctuated from one season to other. Though most of the parameters varied within the recommended limit for drinking water yet BOD, COD, TDS, were recorded as some of the limiting parameters for making the source unfit for human consumption. Water Quality Index (WQI) values for river water in different seasons have been calculated to classify the sources according to pollution level and suitability for drinking water purpose.