Water Quality Assessment of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh is situated in the lower part of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) river basin, which is one of the most populated countries in the world. The Buriganga river system is located in the southern part of the north-central region of the country, which passing through west and south of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. A total of 96 water samples were collected from eight different points along the river and considered 10 physiochemical parameters such as Temperature, pH, DO, BOD, COD, TDS, TSS, T. Alkalinity, EC, and Chloride during March 2015 to February 2016. Therefore, the study has investigated the status of the river water quality by above parameters and followed the Environmental Quality Standard (EQS) set in Bangladesh Environmental Conservation Rules (ECR, 1997), United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Water-Quality Standards (1994), and Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS, 1991). The mean values for the parameters in both dry and wet seasons were compared with the surface water quality standards measured by ECR. The result showed spatial and temporal variation of Temperature, pH, DO, BOD, COD, TDS, TSS, T. Alkalinity, EC, and Chloride from 21.4 to 30.0°C, 6.9 to 7.9 (mg/L), 0.0 to 4.9 (mg/L), 1 to 23 (mg/L), 8 to 63 (mg/L), 63 to 566 (mg/L), 16 to 72 (mg/L), 46 to 295 (mg/L), 138 to 1133 (µS/cm), and 8 to 119 (mg/L) respectively. Where almost all the mean values from the samples were cross the standard limit. This study revealed that the water quality of Buriganga is not safe for aquatic life.

Keywords: Buriganga River, Water Quality, Pollution, Water Quality Parameters, Bangladesh Environmental Conservation Rules (ECR), Department of Environment (DoE), Bangladesh

DOI: 10.7176/JEES/11-2-09

Publication date: February 28^th 2021