Assessment of the impact of the different point sources of pollutants on the river water quality and the evaluation of bioaccumulation of heavy metals into the fish ecosystem thereof

Abstract

The present study focuses on the evaluation of the river (Ganga) water quality by estimating various quality indicators (also termed the physicochemical parameters) such as pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC), chlorides, sulfates, phosphates, hardness, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5). Rise in the concentration of the pollution signifies an upsurge in a load of pollution due to the different sources namely, sewage arising from domestic sources, effluents arising from industrial discharge, and effluents arising due to various anthropogenic activities. For the purpose of the comparative evaluation of the river water quality, the water samples were collected from the three different banks of the Ganga River for a well-organized interpretation.Obtained results indicate thatthe discharge of the various effluents has a grave impact on the water quality of the river. Industrial effluents mixing with the river water were noted to have the most deleterious impact on the deterioration of the water quality parameter. The extended aim of the study was to collect the fish samples from the three above-mentioned sampling points and thereby detect the presence of the heavy metal concentration (determined through atomic absorption spectroscopy or AAS). Obtained results also indicates that the fish specimen collected from the sampling point where the industrial effluents are mixing have the highest levels of heavy metals in the tissues of the selected fish sample. Accordingly, the study indicated a novel approach toward the characterization of the river water and thereby indicating the impact of bioaccumulation of heavy metals into the fishtissues which indicates the novelty of this work. The authors strongly believe that this work will be beneficial to various stakeholders and will be definitely helpful to various competent national and international authorities for decision-making and strategies formulation.