HEAVY METALS IN WATERHeavy Metal Pollution in Sutlej, Beas & Ghagger River from Industrial Effluents

Alok Srivastava

Department of ChemistryPanjab University, Chandigarh

Water Conservation and Management - Every Drop Matters

PHD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CHANDIGARH

19.8.2015

Water Conservation and Management - Every Drop Matters

Volume of water stored inthe water cycle's reservoirs

Reservoir Volume of water(106 km³)

Percentof total

Ocean 1370 97.25Ice caps & glaciers 29 2.05Groundwater 9.5 0.68Lakes 0.125 0.01Soil Moisture 0.065 0.005Atmosphere 0.013 0.001Streams & rivers 0.0017 0.0001Biosphere 0.0006 0.00004

Sources of Water Pollution

• 70-80% due to domestic sewage• 10% Industrial Waste

distilleries, sugar, textile, electroplating, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, pulp & paper mills, tanneries, dyes and dye intermediates, petro-chemicals, steel plants

• 10%Fertilizers and pesticides in rural areas• 10%Biomedical waste & Solid Waste

(Garbage)

HEALTH IMPACTS OF CONTAMINATED WATER

• More than 50 % of India’s Health Problems are due to water-borne diseases like diarrhea, typhoid, cholera and infective hepatitis

• Diarrhea kills more than 300,000 children in India every year

• 1 in 5 deaths under 5 year is due to diarrhea.

• Burden of Malaria, Filaria and Worm Infestations

POISONING FROM RE-USE OF PLASTIC BOTTLES

• polyethylene terephthalate or PET • bottle contains a potentially carcinogenic, poisonous element diethyl hydroxylamine (DEHA). (diethylhexyl adipate )• Repeated washing and rinsing besides heating can cause the plastic to break down and the carcinogens and poison can leach into the water

PLASTIC BOTTLES• How to avoid:

Check on the bottom of the bottle there is a triangle sign and there will be a number in it. If the number is higher than or equal to 5 ,then this bottle is safe to reuse.

Any number under 5 will release the chemical. For most water bottle, the number is 1 *Please destroy it use• Water is a human right and not a commodity to be

bought and sold for profit• 40% of bottled water in India is sourced from

municipal tap water

Threats to Fresh Water Resources

• Climate change causes change in frequencies of droughts and floods.

• Depletion of aquifers caused by over-consumption as a result of population growth.

• Pollution and contamination by sewage, agricultural and INDUSTRIAL runoff and effluents.

Problems related to Water crisis

• Inadequate access to safe drinking water by over 1.1 billion people

• Groundwater overdrafting leading to diminished agricultural yields

• Overuse and pollution of water resources harming BIODIVERSITY

• Regional conflicts over scarce water resources sometimes resulting in warfare.

HARIKE SITE

WATER HYCINTH BIOMONITOR

Heavy Metal pollution study is of utmost importance when discussing key

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Metals are non biodegradable and are placed second only to pesticides in terms

of environmental importance.

It is now well established that it is the chemical form (SPECIATION) of the

heavy metals and not their total concentration alone which determines

Bioavailability, Accumulation, Enrichment and ultimately their Toxicity.

MESURMENT BASED ON ICP-OES

Elements Cd Cr Fe Ni Pb Zn CuDetection Limit

( DL)mg/L

0.0006 0.005 0.005 0.008 0.02 0.002 0.003

Wavelength ( λ ) nm

228.8 357.9 248.3 232.0 217.0 213.9 324.7

Water Hyacinth Samples were thoroughly washed to remove all adhered soil particles. Samples were cut into small pieces, air dried for 2 days and finally dried at 90oC in hot air oven for two hours. In warm condition, the Stem, leaves and shoot samples were air dried and ground into fine powder using pestle and mortar and passed through 1mm sieve. Water hyacinth 2-5 g of fine powder of samples was taken in a conical flask to which 8 ml of Aqua Regia and 50 ml of DM water were added. The final extractant was measured using ICP-OES

Element Harike Ghaggar Probable Source mg/L mg/L Cd 0.13 BDL Leather, Sports, Dyeing Cr 29 5 Dyeing, Machine Tools, Leather Fe 6472 2984 Foundaries, Geogenic Ni 24 BDL Dyeing, Textile, Machine Tools Pb 25 6 Leather, Sports (MAGGIE LEAD) Zn 83 19 Hand Tools, Machine Tools Cu 42 11 Hand Tools, Machine Tools

Heavy metal concentration in Water Hycinth

Root Shoot LeavesCd ND 0.13 0.08Cr 40.75 1.93 0.89Fe 3766.00 1708.42 1204.41Ni 20.76 1.12 NDPb 19.23 2.87 2.5Zn 72.1875 20.05 11.79Cu 17.9275 10.44 9.61

Site Season Copper(Cu)

Iron(Fe)

Lead(Pb)

Cadmium(Cd)

Zinc(Zn)

Nickel(Ni)

Chromium(Cr)

Harike wetland

Winter 0.283 2.23 0.536 0.026 1.003

- 0.042

Spring 0.10 0.03 0.702 0.034 - - 0.251 Summer 0.5435 1.90 - - 0.91 0.042 0.217Autumn 0.116 1.07 0.91 0.011 0.87 0.029 -

Mean±S.D.

0.26±0.20

1.30±0.98

0.53±0.38

0.01±0.01

0.6±0.46

0.0±0.02

0.12±0.12

WHO PL(mg/l)

0.02(10)

1

0.05 (10)

0.005 (2)

1 0.02 0.05(2)

BCF 163 4978 48 13 120 2410 244

BCF / METAL CONCENTRATION IN HARIKE WATER (mg/L)

POINTS TO PONDER

Harike feeds the two canals SW Punjab and Rajasthan

Dilution cannot take care of the load being received even as far as Harike

SW Panjab people drink water from canal as GW is hard and tasteless

Irrigation is being carried out using canal water in SW Panjab

Dam on Ghaggar in Panchkula heavy metal status from Pinjore and Kalka !

Downstream water quality in Chatbir area receiving effluents from local Industries

 This is the year 2070

I have just turned 50, but I my appearance is of somebody of 85.

I suffer from serious kidney problems, because I do not drink enough water.

I'm afraid I do not have much time left to live.

I am one of the oldest people in this society.

I remember when I was a child of 5.

There were lots of trees in the parks, houses with beautiful gardens, and I could enjoy having a shower for half an hour. 

Everything was very different then.

Nowadays we use towels with mineral oil to clean our skin.

Before, women had beautiful hair.

Then, my father washed his car with water coming out of a hosepipe.

Now, my son does not believe that water could be wasted that way.

Now, we have to shave our heads to keep them clean without the use of

water.

I remember there were SAVE WATER

warnings on outside posters, radio and TV, but nobody paid attention.

We thought that water was to last forever.

Now, all the rivers, lakes, dams and underground water beds are either dry

or contaminated.

Industry came virtually to a standstill and unemployment reached dramatic proportions.

Desalination plants are the main source of employment and workers receive part of their salary in drinkable water.

Assaults at gun point on the streets for a jerrycan of water are very common.

Food is 80% synthetic.

Before, the recommended quantity of water to drink for an adult was 8 glasses a day.

Nowadays, I am only allowed half a glass.

We now have to wear disposable clothing, and this increases the amount of litter.

We are using now septic tanks,

because the sewerage system does not work for lack of water.

The outside appearance of the population is horrible: wrinkled, emaciated bodies, due to dehydration, full of sores caused by ultra violet radiation,

now stronger without the protective shield of the ozone layer.

Skin cancer, gastrointestinal infections and of the urinary tracts are the main causes of death.

Due to the excessive drying of the skin young people of 20 look like 40.

Water cannot be produced, oxygen is also degraded due to the lack of trees and vegetation, and the intellectual capacity of the

new generations is severely impaired.

Scientists investigate, but there's no solution to the problem.

The morphology of spermatozoa in many men has changed.

As a consequence, babies are born with deficiencies, mutations and

physical deformities.

Government makes us pay for the air we breathe, 137 m3 per day per adult person.

People who cannot pay are expelled from the "ventilated zones", with huge

mechanical lungs driven by solar power. The air is not of good quality, but at least

people can breathe.

The average life expectancy is 35 years.

In some countries, where there are still some green zones crossed by rivers, these are guarded by heavy armed soldiers.

Water became a very coveted treasure, more precious than gold and diamonds.

Where I live, there are no trees, because it seldom rains. When it happens to register some precipitation, it is of acid rain.

The seasons have been severely affected by the atomic tests and by contamination from the 20th century polluting industries.

We were warned to look after the environment, but nobody cared.

When my son asks me to talk about my youth, I tell him about the green fields, the beauty of the flowers, the rain, how pleasant was to swim and fish in the rivers

and dams, to drink all the water we could, and how healthy people was.

Then, I feel a lump in my throat!

He asks: Daddy! Why there is no water?

I cannot help feeling guilty, because I belong to the generation who

contributed to the destruction of the environment or simply did not take into

account all the warning signs.

Now our children pay a very high price!

I sincerely believe that within a short time life on earth will not be possible, as the destruction of nature reached now an irreversible stage.

How I would like to go back and make mankind understand…

...that we still had time to save our Planet Earth.

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