International Journal of ChemTech Research

CODEN( USA): IJCRGG ISSN : 0974-4290

Vol.5, No.1, pp 278-283, Jan-Mar 2013

Assessment Of Water Quality Index Of Industrial Area

Surface Water Samples
*1Vinod Jena, 1Satish Dixit & 2Sapana Gupta
1
ICFAI University, Raipur, India.
2
Department of Chemistry, Central Institute of Technology, Raipur India.

Corres.author: jenavinod02@gmail.com
Ph: 0788-2982555, 2982444, Fax: 07821-247485

Abstract: Water quality index (WQI) is a dimensionless number that combines multiple water quality factors
into a single number by normalizing values to subjective rating curves. The present work is aimed at assessing
the Water Quality Index (W.Q.I) of surface water of Bhilai Steel Plant industrial area. Physicochemical
parameters were monitored for the calculation of W.Q.I for the summer seasons 2011. The physicochemical
parameters namely pH, Total hardness, TDS, Calcium, Chloride, Sulphate, Phosphate, Sodium, Potassium, EC
and DO was determined and it is found that their values were within the permissible limits on the other hand
total alkalinities and magnesium values were exceeding the permissible limits as prescribed by Indian
Standards. The analysis reveals that the surface water of the area needs some treatment before consumption, and
it also needs to be protected from the perils of contamination.
Key Words: physicochemical parameters, Water quality standards, Water Quality Index, Drinking water
quality.

INTRODUCTION industrial effluents, domestic sewage and solid

waste dump causes the groundwater to become
Water is an essential component for survival of
polluted and created health problems (10). Water
life of Earth, which contains minerals, important
quality index (W.Q.I) provides a single number that
for human beings as well as plant and aquatic life.
expresses overall water quality at a certain location
The availability of water both in terms of quality
and time, based on several water quality parameters
and quantity is essential for the very existence
(11-12). The objective of water quality index is to
of mankind (1-3). Water is mainly used for
turn complex water quality data into information that
drinking, bathing, fisheries and other domestic
is understandable and used by the public. A water
purposes. Lack of awareness and civic sense, use
quality index based on some very important
of inefficient methods and technology lead to
parameters provides a single indicator of water
more than 50% of water wastage in the
quality. In general, water quality indices incorporate
domestic, agriculture & industrial sectors (4-7).
data from multiple water quality parameters into a
Water pollution is rendering much of the available
mathematical equation that rates the health of a
water unsafe for consumption. There is heavy
water system with number (13-15). Physicochemical
extraction of water for domestic, industrial and
properties of water in any aquatic ecosystem are
agricultural purpose. In India, most of the
largely governed by the existing meteorological
population is dependent on surface water (damp
conditions and are essential for determining the
water) as the only source of drinking water
structural and functional status of natural water (16).
supply (8-9). The groundwater is believed to be
The present study was under taken to define the
comparatively much clean and free from pollution
quality of water samples with special reference to
than surface water. But prolonged discharge of
Vinod Jena et al /Int.J.ChemTech Res.2013,5(1) 279

physicochemical properties to decide its WQI. The parameters by following the established procedures.
analyzed data were compared with standard values The parameters pH and dissolved oxygen were
recommended by BIS & ICMR (17-18). monitored at the sampling site and other parameters
like total dissolved solids, total alkalinity, total
STUDY AREA hardness, calcium, magnesium, chloride and
The Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) was set up in year sulphate were analyzed in the laboratory as per the
1955-56 to produce pig iron in this region. Its standard procedures of APHA (19).
production rate is 2  3.15 MT iron year-1. The In this study the W.Q.I has been calculated by using
surface water samples were collected from different the standards of drinking water quality
sites of BSP in May- June 2011 Figure 1. recommended by BIS (1993) and ICMR (1975).

METHODOLOGY
The water sample from the industrial area were
collected and analyzed for 11 physicochemical

Figure1: Sampling location of surface water

Table 1 Water Quality Index (W.Q.I.) and status of water quality

Water Quality Index Water Quality Status
0 – 25 Excellent Water Quality
26 – 50 Good Water Quality
51 – 75 Poor Water Quality
76 – 100 Very Poor Water Quality
> 100 Unfit for drinking
Vinod Jena et al /Int.J.ChemTech Res.2013,5(1) 280

Table 2 Drinking Water standards recommending agencies and unit weight.

(All values except pH is in mg/L)

Parameters Standards Recommended Agency Unit weight(Wn)

pH 6.5-8.5 ICMR / BIS 0.2188
Total Alkalinity 120 ICMR 0.0155
Total Hardness 300 ICMR / BIS 0.0062
EC(µS/cm) 300 ICMR 0.371
TDS 500 ICMR / BIS 0.0037
Calcium 75 ICMR / BIS 0.025
Magnesium 30 ICMR / BIS 0.061
Chloride 250 ICMR 0.0074
Sulphate 150 ICMR / BIS 0.0124
DO 5.0 ICMR / BIS 0.3723
Nitrate 45 ICMR / BIS 0.0413
∑Wn =1.1346

The weighted arithmetic index method has been the photosynthesis and respiration cycles in the
used for the calculation of W.Q.I. Further quality presence of algae in water bodies. The pH is
rating or sub index (qn) was calculated using the measure of the intensity of acidity or alkalinity and
following expression- the concentration of hydrogen ion concentration. pH
has no direct adverse effects on health; however,
Qn = 100 x [Vn-Vo] / [Sn-Vo] higher values of pH hasten the scale formation in
water heating apparatus and also reduce germicidal
Where, qn = Quality rating for the nth water quality potential of chloride. High pH induces the
parameter. formation of tri halo methane which is toxic. The pH
Vn = Estimated value of the nth parameter at a given values of water samples of present study ranged
sampling station. from 6.35 to 6.9 which are within the prescribed
Sn = Standard permissible value of the nth limit of standards. Calcium and Magnesium
parameter. concentration is higher in sampling site 5 are slightly
Vo = Ideal value of nth parameter in a pure water. higher than the standard limit given by BIS.
Unit weight was calculated by a value inversely Chloride, sulphate, nitrate and pH values of all the
proportional to the recommended standard values Sn investigated samples are within the prescribed limit
of the corresponding parameters. given by WHO, ICMR and BIS (17- 18, 20). Other
Wn = parameters like, Alkalinity, Hardness, EC and TDS
Where, Wn = Unit weight for the nth parameter. are found above the permissible limit of the surface
Sn = Standard value for nth parameter. water. All observed physicochemical parameters of
K = Constant for proportionality surface water from different locations are shown in
the Box and Whisker Plot Figure 1.
The overall Water Quality Index (W.Q.I) was WQI is established through the measurement of
calculated by aggregating the quality rating with the various important physicochemical parameters of the
unit weight linearly. surface water. The values of various
WQI = ∑qn Wn ⁄ ∑Wn physicochemical parameters for the calculation of
WQI are presented in Table 3. The values of WQI
showed the higher percent of poor category of
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
surface water was found in the sampling site. It may
The physicochemical parameters of water quality be due to the effective ionic leaching, over
were analysed using standard methods given in exploitation and anthropogenic activities such as
APHA (American Public Health Association). The discharge of effluents from industrial, agricultural
observation and graphical representations of and domestic uses. It is found that the 47% of
physicochemical characteristics of collected water surface water on the sampling location are of very
samples are given in Table 3. It should be poor quality. This clearly indicates that water
recognized that, like dissolved oxygen, pH also samples for this region are highly polluted. They are
varies in streams naturally throughout the day due to not suitable for drinking purpose and other useful
Vinod Jena et al /Int.J.ChemTech Res.2013,5(1) 281

human activities. The water quality index (WQI) sites. These four sites are near to industrial waste
indicates that sampling site S6 is highly polluted dumping yard so they are more polluted due to
(Figure 3). The order of WQI for different sampling collection of industrial effluents, wastes and sewage
sites follows: water. We observed that, the water quality from
S6 > S3 > S4 > S5 > S9 > S1 > S2 > S7 > S8. various stations is not used for human consumption
by local people.
The surface water collected from four sampling site
(S6, S3, S4 and S5) are more polluted as than other 5

Table 3 Physicochemical parameters of surface water samples (mg l-1) except pH values

Parameters S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9
pH 6.5 6.8 6.4 6.9 6.4 6.3 6.6 6.4 6.5
Alkalinity 178 194 167 187 174 148 159 156 179
Hardness 328 412 615 712 614 523 459 618 478
EC 807.6 918.6 977.2 1164.6 890.6 989.6 903.2 894.6 915.6
(µS/cm)
TDS 452.3 542.2 654.6 745.2 614.5 568.7 546.2 505.7 618.3
Calcium 38.4 62.3 27.2 40 100 36 44.4 43.2 50
Magnesium 14.2 34.1 11 14.3 39 12 14.5 14 12.1
Chloride 96 58 101 77 109 97 71 66 112
Sulphate 40.4 35.6 22 37.6 32.2 26.7 25.2 36.4 27.2
DO 5.14 5.57 6.14 5.35 5.06 4.78 6.47 6.91 5.47
Nitrate 0.26 0.34 0.37 0.48 0.52 0.37 0.41 0.28 0.34

WQI (WQI)1 (WQI)2 (WQI)3 (WQI)4 (WQI)5 (WQI)6 (WQI)7 (WQI)8 (WQI)9

=80 =79.8 =86.8 =83.9 =84.2 =94.2 =76.4 =75.4 =81.8

Figure 2: Box and Whisker Plot for different water quality parameters
Vinod Jena et al /Int.J.ChemTech Res.2013,5(1) 282

Figure 3: WQI values for different sampling site

CONCLUSION methods. WQI can play a big role in mitigating the

pollution problems after encountered in different
The water quality indices (WQI) were in the range surface water bodies. Application of Water Quality
80- 94.2 indicating very poor water qualities around Index (WQI) in this study has been found useful in
the industrial area. The four sampling sites close to assessing the overall quality of water and to get
the steel plant increasing to severe pollution along ride of judgment on quality of the water. This
the rest of the sites. It is recommended that the method appears to be more systematic and gives
surface around the steel plant should not be used for comparative evaluation of the water quality of
human activities before being treated by appropriate sampling stations.

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