Water Quality Management Plan for Patalganga River for Drinking Purpose and Human Health Safety

Abstract

Deteriorating water quality of rivers is of major concern in India; this is especially true for rivers being used as drinking water sources. One such river considered in this study is the Patalganga, which is located about 60 km from Mumbai and is a significant source of water supply for Panvel, Alibaug and Rasayani. This paper aims to determine the polluting sources responsible for the poor water quality of the Patalganga River and to suggest a scientifically sound water quality management plan to improve the same. A total of 14 water samples from different point sources of pollution were collected and tested for physico-chemical parameters (pH, temperature, DO, BOD, COD, TSS, TDS, EC, PO4 3- , NO3-N and NH3-N), metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) and microbiological parameter using World Health Organization (WHO) and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) standards. Based on, the water quality at most of the sampling stations was found to be unsuitable for drinking. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) classified the 14 sampling stations into three clusters. The HCA identified a uniform source of parameters (physico-chemical and nutrients) for all the sampling stations, excluding two sampling stations (7 and 12) that exhibited anomalous concentrations. Furthermore, as per the WQI, the water quality status of Patalganga River fell under good category, except at the sampling station 7 and 12 where the water quality index were bad (49) and medium (51) category, respectively, and were totally unfit for drinking purpose. Water quality management plan specific to the individual sites has been delineated in the paper.