The effect of industrial effluent stream on the groundwater

This study was performed to investigate the effect of the industrial wastewater stream on the groundwater. Wastewater was characterized in terms of inorganic and organic constituents. Inorganic constituents included Na/sup +/, Ca/sup 2+/ K/sup +/, Cl/sup -/, NO/sub 3//sup -/ and SO/sub 4//sup 2-/ coupled with heavy metal elements such as, Cd, Cr, Pb, Mn, Cu, Ni, Fe and In. Organic load of the stream was determined in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD/sub 5/) and ammonia-nitrogen (NH/sub 3/-N) contents. Other characteristics were pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and total dissolved solids (TDS). The correlation coefficients between quality parameter pairs of stream water and groundwater were determined to ascertain the source of groundwater contamination. At station 1, BOD/sub 5/ and COD contents were 20 times and Cr concentration was 10 times higher than the permissible limits for stream water [1]. Contents of these parameters reflected the level of industrial and domestic pollution coming from India. However, large variations in the levels of these parameters at down stream sites of the drain were characteristic of type and nature of industrial effluents and domestic sewage joining the stream. Analysis results of more than one hundred groundwater samples from shallow and deep wells around the drain showed that groundwater of shallow aquifers was contaminated due to drain water. A comparison of the contents of these parameters in shallow wells with WHO standards showed that some parameters such as turbidity, TDS, Na/sup +/, F -and heavy metals like Cr were found higher than the permissible limits. (author)