Analysis of Water Quality of River Ganga from Digha Ghat to Gai Ghat in Patna District, Bihar, India

This study is an attempt to analyze the water quality of river Ganga in Patna district. Water samples were collected from 16 different Ghats during March-May 2017. Due to heavy discharge of municipal waste and anthropogenic activities in the river the biological, chemical and physical characteristics of water have changed to a considerable extent. The objectives of this study were to find out the changes in physicochemical nature as well as biological health of river Ganga. Samples were analyzed on various physicochemical parameter i.e. Total Hardness, pH, B.O.D., and D.O. by using the standard methods and procedures. The result shown that the average pH -7.95, average, D.O.-2.91 mg/L, average B.O.D. -2.41 mg/L, average total hardness -114.72 mg/L. Microbial analysis was also conducted in terms of Most Probable Number [MPN] of total coliforms in the water sample and it shown the highest value for all samples. The presence and absence of the gas bubble in each tube were used to calculate an index known as the Most Probable Number. Key-wordsGanga, Patna, Physicochemical, Microbial, Coliforms, MPN, D.O., B.O.D., Hardness, pH INTRODUCTION Water is an essential natural resource in the world on which existence of life depends. From the history, it is well known fact that all the great civilization around the world evolved around the rivers . Due to growing population, unorganized urbanization and fast industrialization along the rivers, the quality and quantity of water resources declining. Water quality is defined in terms of its physicochemical and biological parameters . The major pollution source in river Ganga at Patna are untreated domestic sewage waste water, industrial effluents and dead bodies . Today over 29 cities, 70 towns and thousands of villages extend along the Ganga banks. All of their sewage over 1.3 billion liters per day goes directly to the river . The present investigation was carried out along 16 different Ghats of River Ganga in Patna district .Under this investigation physicochemical quality of Ganga water i.e. pH, D.O, B.O.D, and Total hardness were determined by using standard protocols. Access this article online Quick Response Code Website: www.ijlssr.com DOI: 10.21276/ijlssr.2017.3.5.14 The bacteriological examination of water has a special significance for pollution studies as it is a direct measurement of effects of pollution on human health. Total coliforms are indicator organism of fecal contamination in water . Microbial analysis was performed in terms of most probable number . Presences of fecal coliform were seen in all sample of Ganga water obtained from 16 different Ghats from Digha to Gai Ghat in Patna district. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was conducted between March-May, 2017 in Patna district, India. In the present investigation water sample were collected from 16 different Ghats of river Ganga in Patna district, Bihar state, India. Analysis of physicochemical biological properties of water samples Determination of Physicochemical properties Determination of pH: pH indicates acid base balance of water and mainly depends upon carbonic acid and interaction between carbonates and bicarbonates. The pH value was determined by using digital pH meter (Systronics Model 361). Determination of D.O. and B.O.D: The samples for the determination of dissolved oxygen were collected in RESEARCH ARTICLE Int. J. Life. Sci. Scienti. Res., 3(5): 1350-1354 SEPTEMBER 2017 Copyright © 2015-2017| IJLSSR by Society for Scientific Research is under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International License Page 1351 B.O.D. bottle (Borosil 300ml) and they were fixed at the site and brought immediately to laboratory and were analyzed by Wrinkler’s method . D.O., and B.O.D. were analyzed as per the norms of APHA . Determination of Total Hardness: To determine the total hardness of water samples, 50 ml of the water samples was pipette out in conical flask. One ml of ammonia ammonium chloride buffer solution and 2-3 drops of Eriochrome black T indicator were added in the sample, the color of the solution turns wine red. This solution was titrated against previously standardized EDTA solution taken in the burette until the color changes from wine red to sky blue which indicates the end point. The final reading of the burette was noted and the titration was repeated to get total concordant value. Finally using the analytical calculation, total hardness of water samples was determined in terms of mg/L of CaCO3 . Determination of Bacteriological analysis The bacteriological analysis was carried out for the indicator organism i.e. Total and Fecal coliform . Total 10.3 gm of MacConkey broth were dissolved in 100 ml of distilled water and is autoclaved at 121C For 15 minutes and then cooled in room temperature. Ten ml of this solution were filled in the test tubes and a Durham’s tube was added in inverted position in each test tube plugged with non absorbent cotton plug. Again 5.15 gm of MacConkey broth was dissolved in 100 gm of distilled water and is autoclaved at 121C for 15 min and then cooled at room temperature. 10 ml of this solution were filled in test tubes and a Durham’s tube was added in an inverted position in each test tube plugged with non absorbent cotton plug. Fifteen tubes filled with MacConkey broth (Hi media Pvt. Ltd Mumbai, India) arranged in three set of test tubes. First set containing 10 ml of double strength MacConkey broth was inoculated with 10 ml of water sample. Second row containing 10 ml of single strength MacConkey broth was inoculated with 1 ml of water sample. The third row containing 10 ml of single strength MacConkey broth was inoculated with 0.1 ml of water sample respectively in an incubator at 37C for 48 hours. After incubation, the acid and gas production in forms of bubble was counted and the MPN of coliform in 100 ml water sample was estimated . RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The present study deals with the physicochemical and microbial analysis of Ganga Water collected from 16 Ghats of Patna region, Bihar, India. The collected water samples were analyzed for their physicochemical properties like: pH, D.O., B.O.D. and Total hardness. The values are enlisted in Table 1. Table 1: Physicochemical analysis of different Ganga Ghats of Patna ID Sampling sites D.O B.O.D Hardness pH 1A Kurji Ghat 3.2 1.2 128 7.82 2A LCT Ghat 2.4 0.4 123 8.02 3A Dheere Ghat 2.4 0.4 132 8.15 4A Kali Ghat 1.6 0.4 128 8.04 1R Pipapul (Down) 3.6 0.4 112 8.03 2R Pipapul (Up) 4.4 0.4 107 8.13 3R Nariyal Ghat 2.4 0.4 104 7.15 4R Nasriganj Ghat 4.0 0.4 111 8.06 1A Digha Ghat 3.2 0.4 118 7.86 2A Janardhan Ghat 3.2 0.4 114 8.25 3A Makhdumpur Ghat 3.0 0.3 7.62 7.62 R1 Raja Ghat 2.8 1.2 116 7.84 R2 Hanuman Ghat 2.4 0.4 106 7.88 R3 Pathri Ghat 2.8 0.4 112 8.11 R4 Gagha Ghat 2.8 0.8 108 8.08 R5 Gandhi Ghat 2.8 0.8 106 8.25 D.O; B.O.D; Hardness were measured in (mg/L) The highest pH was recorded 8.25 for Janardhan Ghat as well as Gandhi Ghat whereas lowest pH was recorded 7.15 for Nariyal Ghat. The pH values of all 16 Ghats are shown in Fig. 1. 6.6 6.8 7 7.2 7.4 7.6 7.8 8 8.2 8.4 pH