1IIT Roorkee.
2G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora, Uttarakhand.
Physico-chemical analysis is the prime consideration to assess the quality of water for its best utilization like drinking, irrigation, fisheries and helpful in the understanding the complex processes, interaction between the climatic and biological processes in the water.
The present paper shows with study of seasonal variations in physical- chemical parameters of Yamuna river (Proposed Lakhwar hydropower project study site) Deheradun. The river water is mainly used for irrigation drinking and domestic purpose. Few of the parameter are studied to asses the quality of water. The higher concentration of some parameters is probably due to road construction near by the river as a large amount of silt and rock salt (applied to road) generated due to road construction is washed to the nearby river water. The maximum EC level has been recorded during rainy season because the rainwater carried wastewater from various sources. The pH and hardness levels indicate the moderate quality of water. The average value of DO and COD levels indicate the absence of organic pollution sources. The other possibility is that since there are no major industries in the project area, the major source of organic pollutants is only the domestic source. Population density spread over sparsely located villages definitely contributes towards fecal coliform and E-coli presence as excreta of the villagers is dispersed over the hills due to lack of toilets in their houses. Thus present study concludes that river water was not polluted, all results are within permissible limit when compared with National River water quality standards and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The water from present or flowing in project study area is good for drinking. Some parameters like, Mg are found slightly higher than the limit, which require continuous monitoring and treatment process if the water is to be used for drinking purposes.
