Water Quality Analysis of Karnaphuli River Water near Industrial Areas

Abstract

Due to the facilities of transporting raw materials and industrial products through the Bay of Bengal, the bank of the Karnaphuli river in Chittagong has been one of the busiest Industrial zone of Bangladesh. Various oil refining industries, garments and fertilizer industries have been established here which are throwing their industrial wastes in the Karnaphuli river and it is hindering availability of pure water near the bank of the river. As a result, the increasing rate of water pollution in the river Karnaphuli has been a matter of huge concern these days for the dwellers of Chittagong. The aim of this study is to assess the water quality in the Karnaphuli river. The water samples were taken from two points (upstream and downstream near the industrial zones of Patenga) in a difference of one week for three consecutive weeks and have been tested to assess the water quality indicating parameters such as pH, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Total Dissolved Solid (TDS), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), salinity and conductivity. The results have been compared with that of the non-polluted standards of river water. And these findings prove that water of Karnaphuli river is being highly polluted due to the industrial waste from that specific region. This pollution is causing a direct impact in the human health and the lives of the organisms living in the water.