ASSESSMENT OF INLAND WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS OF DHAKA CITY, BANGLADESH

Abstract

Physicochemical parameters are the important indicators for determining the quality of water. This study was conducted to examine the water quality of two important water bodies located in Dhaka city namely Ramna Lake and Shahidullah Hall Pond of Dhaka University. It analyzed pH, DO, EC, TDS, BOD, HCO3-, Alkalinity and salinity as well concentration of heavy metals i.e., Iron, Lead, Nickel, Silver, Mercury, Chromium, Manganese and Zinc. It is found that the pH of four samples ranged from 6.53 to 6.72 whereas DO varied from 4.18 to 5.03 mg/l, EC 1.79 µS /cm to 2.34 µS/cm, TDS 85.7 to 111.7 ppm and BOD 1.32 to 2.43 mg/l, respectively. Along with physicochemical parameters, the hardness found ranging from 52.13 mg/l to 60.76 mg/l, Alkalinity 92.35 to 96.45, HCO3-79.06 to 110.23 while CO3 2-not detected of these water bodies. Moreover, this study found the presence of heavy metals in these water bodies such as Lead varied from 1.8 to 3.5 µg/l, Nickel 4.5 to 6.9 µg/l, Mercury 0.001 to 1.6 µg/l, Chromium 2.0 to 2.2 µg/l and Manganese 0.03 to 0.8 µg/l respectively in which some were exceeding the Bangladesh Standard. Thus, this study is portraying the pollution problem of these water bodies and suggesting the necessity of proper management action as early as possible.