Studies on Physico-Chemical Properties of Ulhas River Water along Dombivli City Near Mumbai

Abstract

Ulhas River is one amongst the polluted rivers. The Ulhas River has its origin in Sahyadri hills near Khandala. It flows down through the industrial areas of cities such as Badlapur Ambernath, Ambivli, Ulhasnagar, Kalyan, Dombivli and finally meets the Arabian Sea. The Dombivli city is situated near Mumbai in the Maharashtra State of India. The city has tremendously industrialized, which subsequently increased the generation of wastes from these industries. Major industries have waste treatment facilities set up. However, most of the industries are small scale industries and have very slim profit margins. Hence they may not afford to spend large amounts on the waste treatment facility. This has resulted in to the alleged discharge of large amount of contaminated and untreated industrial waste into the nearby flowing Ulhas River. This indicates the improper environmental planning and the ineffectiveness in the implementation of Environmental Protection Rules. This effluent waste has a significant adverse impact on the water of Ulhas River. The pollution load is tremendously increasing day by day and the situation may become severe and out of control. This has triggered and provoked us to conduct a systematic and detailed study of physico chemical properties of water samples collected along the Ulhas River along the Dombivli City, near Mumbai. The study was conducted in year 2012 and 2013, near the discharge of effluents from Dombivli industrial belt Phase I and Phase II. Sampling of water was performed at four different sampling locations, along the Ulhas River, where effluent waste is discharged from the nearby Dombivli industrial belt. The analysis of physico-chemical parameters like pH, Alkalinity, Chloride, Sulphates, Phosphate, Cyanide, Fluoride Content, Conductivity, Hardness, Dissolved Solids, Suspended Solids, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) in water samples was done. The results of study revealed that there is an urgent need for systematic and regular monitoring of pollution level along the Ulhas River which will help to improve the adopted industrial waste treatment procedure. Such scientific studies will facilitate the determination of the extent of pollution to avoid long term irreparable damage to the ecosystem.

Keywords: Ulhas river, physico chemical properties, water, industrial pollution, Dombivli

Cite this Article

Amol M. Jadhav, Pravin U. Singare. Studies on Physico-Chemical Properties of Ulhas River Water along Dombivli City near Mumbai. Journal of Modern Chemistry & Chemical Technology. 2015; 6(2):1–12