18-Assessment of Water Quality of River Ganga At Haridwar

Abstract

The present study deals with physico-chemical and bacteriological analysis of sacred water of river Ganga at five sites namely, Chilla Dam, Bheem Goda Barrage, Kashnik Ghat, Har Ki Pauri and Vishnu Ghat. Water quality of river Ganga was observed to be deteriorating due to mass bathing, floral offerings, cremation of dead bodies on its banks, discharge of untreated waste water from ashrams,construction of dams, barrages and discharge of industrial and domestic sewage which causes both organic and bacteriological pollution. Water samples were collected and analyzed for a period of three months from February 2016 to April 2016. The different parameters measured were pH, Electrical conductivity ,turbidity, Total dissolved solids (TDS), Dissolved oxygen (DO), Biological oxygen demand (BOD) and Total coliform. From the analyzed data it was found that The value of turbidity was also quite high making it aesthetically unpleasant for bathing at ghats. The total coliform count exceed significantly the permissible values for `Organized Outdoor Bathing' or 'Use class-B' according to CPCB standards at all the five sampling location.