Untreated Industrial Effluent and the Status of Physio-chemical Parameters in Buriganga River Water

Abstract

Buriganga River is originated from Dhaleshweri and it is referred as one of the most polluted rivers around Dhaka. On the last three decades significant numbers of textile and tannery industries have been established on the banks of the river, apart from the industrial establishment a substantial amount of domestic waste has been dumping into the river water which dramatically contributed the pollution increase of the river water. To investigate the quality of Buriganga river water we analyzed the status of 10 physio chemical parameters including pH (potential hydrogen), EC (electrical conductivity), TDS (total dissolved solids), Do (dissolved oxygen), alkalinity, acidity, total hardness, free carbon dioxide, magnesium hardness and calcium hardness of Buriganga River, we collected 11 water samples from 11 different locations of Buriganga River which we further analyzed in laboratory using different tools and methods including pH meter, EC meter, TDS meter and titration method. Our result indicate that most of the parameters we analyzed exceed the limited standard set by WHO (world health organization) and DoE (department of environment) peoples republic of Bangladesh for healthy water. In addition to that our result highlighted a strong correlation between some parameters, this indicates that the parameters were corresponding to one another; we had found this correlation using correlation and linear regression methods. Our research has shown the deteriorating situation of Buriganga River and surrounding environment and suggested a strong recommendation to the concerned authorities however a wide scale research are needed to be conducted to further develop a realistic mechanism to cope the increasing pollution.