Study of physico-chemical quality of the industrial waste water effluent from Gove industrial area of Bhiwandi City of Maharashtra, India

Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, Vol. 11, No. 4, 2010 Study of physico-chemical quality of the industrial waste water effluent from Gove industrial area of Bhiwandi City of Maharashtra, India P.U. Singare* Department of Chemistry, Bhavan’s College, Munshi Nagar, Andheri (West), Mumbai 400058, India E-mail: pravinsingare@vsnl.net *Corresponding author R.S. Lokhande Department of Chemistry, University of Mumbai, Santacruz, Vidyanagari, Mumbai 400098, India E-mail: rama.lokhande@yahoo.com A.G. Jagtap Department of Chemistry, Vani Junior College, Mulund, Mumbai 400081, India E-mail: asmi.jagtap@rediffmail.com Abstract: This paper advocates water pollution study of Gove industrial area of Maharashtra, India with special reference to the physico-chemical characteristics of common industrial waste water effluent. The physico-chemical parameters like temperature, pH, solid content, total hardness, chloride content, dissolved oxygen (DO), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were studied by collecting samples bimonthly for 12 months. The authors point out that as India moves towards stricter regulation of industrial effluents to control water pollution, greater efforts are required to reduce the risk to public health as toxic pollutants which are mainly colourless and odourless are released into the ecosystems. Keywords: industrial pollution; physico-chemical characteristics; Gove industrial area; Bhiwandi City; Maharashtra; India; dissolved oxygen; DO; biological oxygen demand; BOD; chemical oxygen demand; COD; USPH standard; ISI standard. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Singare, P.U., Lokhande, R.S. and Jagtap, A.G. (2010) ‘Study of physico-chemical quality of the industrial waste water effluent from Gove industrial area of Bhiwandi City of Maharashtra, India’, Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp.263–273. Biographical notes: Pravin U. Singare completed his Masters in Inorganic Chemistry (1997) and PhD in Chemistry (1999), both from University of Mumbai, India. He has worked at Sikkim Mining Corporation, Sikkim, India, on a project related to the concentration of Cu/Pb/Zn sulphide ores. He is presently a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at Bhavan’s College, Andheri, Copyright © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. 263 264 P.U. Singare et al. Mumbai. His research areas of interest are radioanalytical nuclear chemistry, ion exchange techniques, studies on Ayurvedic Indian medicinal plants and environmental analysis. He is a member of many scientific societies like ISAS, NAARI and INS all from BARC, Mumbai, and the Indian Council of Chemists, India. Ram S. Lokhande completed his Masters in Physical Chemistry from Mumbai University in 1976, PhD (Chemistry) from Advanced Study Centre in Nuclear Chemistry, University of Pune in 1981. He is presently working as a Professor of Chemistry and has many research papers published and presented at national and international level. His research areas of interest are radioanalytical nuclear chemistry, environmental chemistry, solvent extraction, and ion exchange techniques. He is a member of many scientific societies like ISAS, NAARI and INS all from BARC, Mumbai, and the Indian Council of Chemists, Agra, India. Asmita G. Jagtap completed her Masters in Analytical Chemistry (2001) and Bachelors in Education (BEd) (2003) both from University of Mumbai. She has completed her Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Chemistry (2009) from Madurai Kamraj University. She is working as a Lecturer in Chemistry with Vani Junior College, Mulund, Mumbai. At present, she is actively involved in research related to environmental pollution monitoring in and around Mumbai City. 1 Introduction During the past few decades Indian industries have registered a quantum jump, which has contributed to high economic growth but simultaneously it has also given rise to severe environmental pollution. Consequently, the water quality is seriously affected which is far lower in comparison to the international standards. Waste water from manufacturing or chemical processing industries contributes to water pollution. Industrial waste water usually contains specific and readily identifiable chemical compounds. It is found that one-third of the total water pollution comes in the form of effluent discharge, solid wastes and other hazardous wastes. Out of this, a large portion can be traced to the processing of industrial chemicals and to the food products industry. The surface water is the main source of industries for waste disposal. Untreated or allegedly treated effluents have increase the level of surface water pollution up to 20 times the safe level in 22 critically polluted areas of the country. It is found that almost all rivers are polluted in most of the stretches by some industry or the other. Although all industries function under the strict guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) but still the environmental situation is far from satisfactory. Different norms and guidelines are given for all the industries depending upon their pollution potentials. Most major industries have treatment facilities for industrial effluents. But this is not the case with small-scale industries, which cannot afford enormous investments in pollution control equipment as their profit margin is very slender. In fact, a number of large- and medium-sized industries in the region covered by the Ganga Action Plan do not have adequate effluent treatment facilities. As a result in India there are sufficient evidences available related with the mismanagement of industrial wastes (Rajaram and Das, 2008). Most of these defaulting industries are sugar mills, distilleries, leather processing industries, paper mill, Study of physico-chemical quality of the industrial waste water effluent 265 agrochemical and pesticides manufacturing industries and pharmaceutical industries. Consequently, at the end of each time period the pollution problem takes menacing concern. The problem is still worse in the case of water pollution. Therefore in the present investigation, we have carried out a systematic study of physico-chemical characteristics of waste water effluent from Gove industrial area located at Bhiwandi City of Maharashtra, India. The industrial belt has grown rapidly in last few years with different types of industries like sugar mills, distilleries, leather processing industries, paper mill, agrochemicals/pesticides manufacturing industries and pharmaceutical industries. All the industrial waste water effluent is discharged in Ulhas River flowing nearby which further find its outlet in Arabian Sea of Mumbai. The objective of the present work is to throw light on the pollution level around the Gove industrial belt, suggesting the need for regular scientific studies, which will help to gauge the extent of pollution. 2 Materials and methods 2.1 Area of study The Gove industrial area lies near Saravali Village of Bhiwandi City in Thane District. Its total area is 23,672 square feet, coordinates are between latitude 19°.30’ N and longitude 73°.07’ E. A narrow stream of Ulhas River flowing by the industrial area, joins the Arabian Sea at Mumbai. The area is situated on the Kalyan-Bhiwandi road at a distance of about 53 km from Mumbai City. The Gove industrial area is under the jurisdiction of Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation. The industrial area is linked to Mumbai and other cities and town by major highways and railways. It is well connected with the rest of the country by Mumbai-Agra National highway (NH3). The geographical location of Gove industrial area is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 Geographical location of Gove industrial area (see online version for colours) 266 P.U. Singare et al. Figure 2 Common industrial waste water effluents from Gove industrial area (see online version for colours) 2.2 Climatic conditions The weather of Gove industrial area is typical humid and humidity is 74%. The average rainfall recorded is from 1,500 mm to 2,000 mm. The temperature is between 31°C (maximum) to 18°C (minimum). The rains are restricted for four monsoon months from June to September. 2.3 Requirements All the glassware, casserole and other pipettes were first cleaned with tape water thoroughly and finally with de-ionised distilled water. The pipettes and burette were rinsed with solution before final use. The chemicals and reagent were used for analysis were of A.R. grade. The procedure for calculating the different parameters were conducted in the laboratory. 2.4 Sample collection and preservation Polythene bottles of 2.5 L and 2.0 L were used to collect the Grab water samples from common industrial waste water effluent from Gove industrial area. The sampling location is shown in Figure 2. The bottles were thoroughly cleaned with hydrochloric acid, washed with tape water to render free of acid, washed with distilled water twice, again rinsed with the water sample to be collected and then filled up the bottle with the sample leaving only a small air gap at the top. The sample bottles were stoppard and sealed with paraffin wax. The samples were collected bimonthly three times a day, during the period Study of physico-chemical quality of the industrial waste water effluent 267 of January to December 2009. Water samples (500 mL) were filtered using Whatman No. 41 (0.45 µm pore size) filter paper for estimation of dissolved metal content. Filtrate (500 mL) was preserved with 2 mL nitric acid to prevent the precipitation of metals. The samples were concentrated to tenfold on a water bath and subjected to nitric acid digestion using the microwave-assisted technique, setting pressure at 30 bar and power at 700 Watts (Clesceri, 1998; Paar, 1998). 2.5 Physico-chemical study The samples collected were analysed for pH, conductivity, alkalinity, salinity, hardness, chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved oxygen (DO) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). The techniques and methods followed for collection, preservation, analysis and interpretation are those given by Rainwater and Thatcher (1960), Brown et al. (1970), ICMR (1975), Hem (1985) and APHA (1995). 3 Results and discussion The common industrial waste water effluent samples collected from Gove industrial area of Bhiwandi City were analysed for their physico-chemical properties and the experimental data is presented in Table 1. Temperature is one of the most important ecological features. It controls behavioural characteristics of organisms, solubility of gases and salts in water. The basis of all life functions is complicated set of biochemical reactions that are influenced by physical factors such as temperature. Disease resistance is also linked to temperature. Increase in temperature also increases the rate of microbial activity. As the temperature of water rises, the available quantity of DO decreases. Temperature increase may become barrier to fish migration and in this way seriously affect on reproduction of species. The major sources of thermal pollution are industrial cooling systems working in a manufacturing plant or a power plant. In the present study, the temperature of waste water effluent varies between 27.0°C to 31.0°C, with the average value of 28.9°C. The monthly variation in temperature of waste water effluent collected is graphically represented in Figure 3. pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of water and is one of the stable measurements. pH is a simple parameter but is extremely important, since most of the chemical reactions in aquatic environment are controlled by any change in its value. Anything either highly acidic or alkaline would kill marine life. Aquatic organisms are sensitive to pH changes and biological treatment requires pH control or monitoring. The toxicity of heavy metals also get enhanced at particular pH. Thus, pH is having primary importance in deciding the quality of waste water effluent. Waters with pH value of about ten are exceptional and may reflect contamination by strong base such as NaOH and Ca(OH)2 (Langmuir, 1997). The range of desirable pH of water prescribed for drinking purpose by ISI (1991) and WHO (1984) is 6.5 to 8.5. The pH values of waste water effluents collected in the present investigation varied from 6.45 to 8.67, with an average value of 7.65, which lies within the permissible limits. The monthly variation in pH values of waste water effluent collected is graphically represented in Figure 3. 268 P.U. Singare et al. Table1 Physico-chemical data of common waste water industrial effluent samples collected from Gove industrial area Study of physico-chemical quality of the industrial waste water effluent 269 Figure 3 Monthly variation in temperature, pH and DO of industrial waste water effluent collected from Gove industrial area (see online version for colours) Temperature pH DO Physico-Chemical parameters 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 -November December -September October July-August May-June March-April -January February 0 Months Figure 4 Monthly variation in TDS, total hardness, chloride content, BOD and COD values of industrial waste water effluent collected from Gove industrial area (see online version for colours) TDS Total Hardness Chloride content BOD COD Physico-Chemical Parameters (mg/L) 18000 15000 12000 9000 6000 3000 0 NovemberDecember SeptemberOctober July-August May-June March-April JanuaryFebruary Months Total dissolved solids (TDS) content in water is a measure for salinity. A large number of salts are found dissolved in natural waters, the common ones are carbonates, bicarbonates, chlorides, sulphates, phosphates, and nitrates of calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, iron, and manganese, etc. A high content of dissolved solid elements 270 P.U. Singare et al. affects the density of water, influences osmoregulation of freshwater in organisms, reduces solubility of gases (like oxygen) and utility, of water for drinking, irrigational, and industrial purposes. In the present investigation, the TDS content in waste water effluent lies in the range of 6,237 to 16,933 mg/L, with an average value of 10,125 mg/L. Waters can be classified based on the concentration of TDS (ICMR,1975; Wilcox,1955) as, desirable for drinking (up to 500 mg/L), permissible for drinking (up to 1,000 mg/L), useful for irrigation (up to 2,000 mg/L), not useful for drinking and irrigation (above 3,000 mg/L). Based on the above classification the waste water effluent cannot be considered safe even for irrigation purpose. The monthly variation in TDS content of waste water effluent collected is graphically represented in Figure 4. Hardness is the property which prevents the lathering of soap. The temporary hardness is due to dissolved bicarbonates of Ca, Mg while permanent hardness is due to chloride, sulphate and nitrates of Ca and Mg (Hem, 1985).The hard water have number of adverse effects on industrial process and it affect the quality of fabrics, dyes, organic matter, sugar, etc. In the present study, total hardness of waste water effluent lies between 302 mg/L to 382 mg/L, with an average value of 329 mg/L. This indicates that, the total hardness content is above 300 mg/L, which is the maximum permissible limit set by ISI. The monthly variation in total hardness content of waste water effluent collected is graphically represented in Figure 4. Chloride occurs in all natural waters in widely varying concentrations. Excessive chloride in potable water is not particularly harmful and the criteria set for this anion are based primarily on palatability and its potentially high corrosiveness (Bhujangaiah and Nayak, 2005). Chloride in excess (> 250 mg/L) imparts a salty taste to water and people who are not accustomed to high chlorides may be subjected to laxative effects. The chloride content in the waste water effluent ranged between 990 and 1,793 mg/L, with an average value of 1,377 mg/L. The results indicate that the chloride content is very much above the acceptable limit of 200 mg/L set by WHO and 250 mg/L according to ISI. The monthly variation in chloride content of waste water effluent collected is graphically represented in Figure 4. Oxygen is an important parameter which is essential for the metabolism of all aquatic organisms that possess aerobic respiration. Concentration of DO indicates water quality and its relation to the distribution and abundance of various algal species. Presence of DO in water may be due to direct diffusion from air and photosynthetic activity of autotrophs. Oxygen is measured in its dissolved form as DO. The addition of a variety of biodegradable pollutants from industrial sources stimulates the growth of microorganisms, which consume the DO. DO content in water is also lowered due to inorganic fertilisers such as phosphates and nitrate which over stimulate algal growth. If more oxygen is consumed than is produced, DO levels decline and some sensitive animals may move away, weaken, or die. DO levels fluctuate seasonally and over a 24-hour period. They vary with water temperature and altitude. Cold water holds more oxygen than warm water and water holds less oxygen at higher altitudes. Thermal discharges, such as water used to cool machinery in a manufacturing plant or a power plant, raise the temperature of water and lower its oxygen content. Aquatic animals are most vulnerable to lowered DO levels in the early morning on hot summer days when stream flows are low, water temperatures are high, and aquatic plants have not been producing oxygen since sunset. Low DO levels can be the result of elevated temperature and thus the inability of the water to hold the available oxygen. Low DO levels also Study of physico-chemical quality of the industrial waste water effluent 271 indicate an excessive demand on the oxygen in the system. Some pollutants such as acid mine drainage produce direct chemical demands on oxygen in the water for certain oxidation-reduction reactions. Other pollutants such as sewage or agricultural runoff result in the build-up of organic matter and the consumption of DO by microbial decomposers as they break down the organic matter. The DO quickly erodes and pits boilers-tubes; hence its determination is important. In the present study, the average DO content was found to vary between 1.10 mg/L to 3.70 mg/L, with the average value of 1.95 mg/L, which is very much below the minimum DO content of 4.0 to 6.0 mg/L according to USPH standard. The monthly variation in DO content of waste water effluent collected is graphically represented in Figure 3. It is important here to note that DO levels below 3 ppm are stressful to most aquatic organisms. Fish growth and activity usually require 5–6 ppm of DO. Levels below 5 ppm will not support fish at all (Banerjea, 1967). Decrease in DO may lead to changes in the composition of aquatic life, such as fish deaths and reduced fishery. BOD may be defined as the rate of removal of oxygen by microorganisms in aerobic degradation of the dissolved organic matter in water over a 5-day period. Increases in BOD can be due to animal and crop wastes and domestic sewage. BOD values have been widely adopted as a measure of pollution effect. It is one of the most common measures of pollutant organic material in water. It indicates the amount of putrescible organic matter present in water. Sources of BOD include leaves and woody debris, dead plants and animals, animal manure, effluents from pulp and paper mills, wastewater treatment plants, feedlots, and food-processing plants, failing septic systems, and urban storm water runoff. In the present study the average BOD values varies between minimum of 245 mg/L and maximum of 876 mg/L with average value of 651 mg/L. The values obtained here are very much high than the maximum permitted BOD content of < 100 to 300 mg/L according to UN Department of Technical Cooperation for Development. The monthly variation in BOD content of waste water effluent collected is graphically represented in Figure 4. It is important here to note that low BOD content is an indicator of good quality water, while a high BOD indicates polluted water. BOD directly affects the amount of DO in rivers and streams. The greater the BOD, the more rapidly oxygen is depleted in the stream. This means less oxygen is available to higher forms of aquatic life. The consequences of high BOD are the same as those for low DO: aquatic organisms become stressed, suffocate, and die. All organic compounds with few exceptions can be oxidised by the action of strong oxidising agents under acidic condition. The COD determination is a measure of the oxygen equivalent of that portion of the organic matter in a sample that is susceptible to oxidation by a strong chemical oxidant. During COD determination; oxygen demand value is useful in specifying toxic condition and presence of biologically resistant substances. It is an important, rapidly measured parameter for industrial waste water studies and control of waste treatments. COD test is used to measure the load of organic pollutants in the industrial waste water. The COD and BOD values both are a measure of the relative oxygen-depletion effect of a waste contaminant. Both have been widely adopted as a measure of pollution effect. COD is also one of the most common measures of pollutant organic material in water. COD is similar in function to BOD, in that both measure the amount of organic compounds in water.In the present investigation the COD values varies between 452 mg/L to 4,200 mg/L with average value of 1,981 mg/L, which 272 P.U. Singare et al. is very much higher than maximum allowed limit of 4.0 mg/L according to USPH Standard. The monthly variation in COD content of waste water effluent collected is graphically represented in Figure 4. 4 Conclusions Around the world as countries are struggling to arrive at an effective regulatory regime to control the discharge of industrial effluents into their ecosystems, Indian economy holds a double edged sword of economic growth and ecosystem collapse. The present experimental data indicates high level of pollution at Gove industrial area of Bhiwandi City of Maharashtra, India. The experimental data suggests a need to implement common objectives, compatible policies and programmes for improvement in the industrial waste water treatment methods. It also suggests a need of consistent, internationally recognised data driven strategy to assess the quality of waste water effluent and generation of international standards for evaluation of contamination levels. The existing situation if mishandled can cause irreparable ecological harm in the long-term well masked by shortterm economic prosperity. Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to the editorial board of Interdisciplinary Environmental Review (IER) for their valuable suggestions; all errors remain to the authors. References American Public Health Association (APHA) (1995) Standard Methods for Estimation of Water and Wastewater, 19th ed., American Water Works Association, Water Environment Federation, Washington. Banerjea, S.M. (1967) ‘Water quality and soil conditions of fish ponds in some States of India in relation to fish production’, Indian J. Fish., Vol.14, Nos.1/2, pp.115–144. Bhujangaiah, N.S. and Nayak, P.V. (2005) ‘Study of ground water quality in and around Shimoga City, Karnataka’, J. Ind. Coun. Chem., Vol. 22, No. 1, pp.42–47. Brown, E., Skougstad, M.W. and Fishman, M.J. 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