Characterization of wastewater from Jhenaidah municipality area, Bangladesh: A combined physico-chemical and statistical approach

Abstract

There is a recognized need for the evaluation of the physico-chemical properties of municipal wastewater before discharging into rivers, canals, ponds, agricultural fields and/or further uses. Since physico-chemical parameters beyond its standard or safe limit may cause a substantial damage to the receiving ecosystem, these are finally being a threat to the public health. Therefore, physico-chemical properties of wastewater from five sewage points in Jhenaidah municipality area were analyzed followed by the standard methods provided by the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the references therein. Nine physico-chemical parameters of wastewater such as, pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Hardness as CaCO3, Total Solid (TS), Total Suspended Solid (TSS), Total Dissolved Solids (TSS), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5d at 20 oC), and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) were estimated. The experimental data suggested that, pH, EC, Hardness as CaCO3, TS, TSS, TDS, DO, BOD5d (at 20 oC), and COD were 7.17 ± 0.32, 0.0036 ± 0.0028 S/cm, 585.20 ± 126.08 mg/L, 256.16 ± 42.15 mg/L, 212.00 ± 27.68 mg/L, 110.40 ± 39.09 mg/L, 1.05 ± 1.01 mg/L, 48.60 ± 21.87 mg/L, and 175.4 ± 74.59 mg/L respectively. Most of the parameters except EC, TSS, and DO were within the Bangladesh standard limit. Besides, Pearson’s correlation analysis showed a significant positive correlation between TS vs TSS and BOD5d (at 20 oC) vs COD. On the contrary, pH with EC; DO with BOD5d (at 20 oC) and COD showed a significant negative approach. Finally, the findings of this research provided a timely and necessary output and indicated a moderate quality of wastewater of this municipal area, which might be motivated to take the future policies by the responsive authority in terms of development and necessary steps before discharging the wastewater into the nearby waterways.