Skip to main content

Comprehensive evaluation of water quality status for entire stretch of Yamuna River, India

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment volume 191, Article number: 208 (2019) Cite this article

Abstract

This study represented the first comprehensive assessment of the physicochemical water quality status of the entire Yamuna River stretch in India. The upper zone had “excellent-to-good” water quality index (WQI) with mean 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) values of 2.1 and 2.4 mg/L during monsoon and non-monsoon, respectively. The middle region was described by “poor-to-marginal” WQI with average BOD5 values of 13.1 mg/L (monsoon) and 32.3 mg/L (non-monsoon). The low WQI observations at the midstream region were due to the negative impact of two major drains, namely Najafgarh and Shahdara, that carry partially treated effluents from industrial units. Further, BOD5 decreased to 1.9 mg/L (monsoon) and 1.8 mg/L (non-monsoon) in the lower zone, and the WQI values improved to “good” and “excellent”. The dilution and depuration effects of the Chambal, Sindh, Betwa, and Ken Rivers recovered the environmental conditions in downstream stations. The oxygen sag curve complied with the water quality status along the river stretch. Based on the principal component analysis, the Yamuna River was strongly influenced by dissolved mineral salts originating from atmospheric deposition, weathering of soils and rocks, and application of deicing chemicals and landfills. Moreover, organic and nutrient substances and biological activities resulting from the discharge of sewage, and the utilization of fertilizers in agriculture, were the second contributors to pollution. The statistical techniques employed in this work could be beneficial for decision-makers (government and stakeholders) to identify the pollution sources/factors and to determine the viability of water bodies for domestic applications.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

References

  • APHA. (1998). Standard method of water and wastewater analysis. Washington, D.C.: American Public Health Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • APHA. (2005). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater (21th ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Public Health Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayers, R., & Westcot, D. (1994). Water quality for agriculture. Rome: FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 29. Rev. 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhardwaj, R., Gupta, A., & Garg, J. (2017). Evaluation of heavy metal contamination using environmetrics and indexing approach for River Yamuna, Delhi stretch, India. Water Science, 31(1), 52–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CCME (2001). CCME Water Quality Index 1.0. Users Manual. Canadian Water Quality Guidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Life. Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment.

  • CPCB. (1980–1981). The Ganga River—Part I—The Yamuna basin, ADSORBS/2. Delhi: Central Pollution Control Board.

    Google Scholar 

  • CPCB. (1982–1983). Assimilation capacity of point pollution load, CUPS/12. Delhi: Central Pollution Control Board.

    Google Scholar 

  • CPCB. (1999–2000). Water quality status of Yamuna River, ADSORBS/32. Delhi: Central Pollution Control Board.

    Google Scholar 

  • CPCB. (2003). Annual Report 2002–2003, Water Quality Status of River Yamuna in Delhi. Delhi: Central Pollution Control Board.

    Google Scholar 

  • CPCB. (2006). Water quality status of Yamuna River (1999–2005), Assessment and Development of River, Basin Series: ADSORBS/41/2006-07. Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India.

  • Dash, M. (2009). Fundamentals of ecology 3E. Bengaluru: McGraw-Hill Education (India) Pvt Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Djemai, M., Saibi, H., Mesbah, M., & Robertson, A. (2017). Spatio-temporal evolution of the physico-chemical water characteristics of the Sebaou river valley (Great Kabylia, Algeria). Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 12, 33–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gholizadeh, M., Melesse, A., & Reddi, L. (2016). Water quality assessment and apportionment of pollution sources using APCS-MLR and PMF receptor modeling techniques in three major rivers of South Florida. Science of the Total Environment, 566, 1552–567, 1567.

  • Gupta, S., Ansari, F., Nasr, M., Chabukdhara, M., & Bux, F. (2018). Multivariate analysis and health risk assessment of heavy metal contents in foodstuffs of Durban. South Africa. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 190(3), 151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IS. (1982). Indian standard tolerance limits for inland surface, waters subject to pollution (IS: 2296-1982). New Delhi: Indian Standards Institution.

    Google Scholar 

  • IS (1991). Indian Standard for Drinking Water - Specification (IS: 10500-1991). Bureau of Indian Standards.

  • Jankowska, J., Radzka, E., & Rymuza, K. (2017). Principal component analysis and cluster analysis in multivariate assessment of water quality. Journal of Ecological Engineering, 18(2), 92–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, V., Sharma, A., Thukral, A., & Bhardwaj, R. (2017). Water quality of river Beas, India. Current Science, 112(6), 1138–1157.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • MathWorks (2017). Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox™ User’s Guide. https://www.mathworks.com/help/pdf_doc/stats/stats.pdf ed. The MathWorks, Inc.

  • Mutiyar, P., Gupta, S., & Mittal, A. (2018). Fate of pharmaceutical active compounds (PhACs) from River Yamuna, India: An ecotoxicological risk assessment approach. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 150, 297–304.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nasr, M., & Zahran, H. (2016). Performance evaluation of agricultural drainage water using modeling and statistical approaches. The Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research, 42(2), 141–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paliwal, R., Sharma, P., & Kansal, A. (2007). Water quality modelling of the river Yamuna (India) using QUAL2E-UNCAS. Journal of Environmental Management, 83, 131–144.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parmar, K., & Bhardwaj, R. (2015). Statistical, time series, and fractal analysis of full stretch of river Yamuna (India) for water quality management. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 22(1), 397–414.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parmar, D., & Keshari, A. (2012). Sensitivity analysis of water quality for Delhi stretch of the River Yamuna, India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 184(3), 1487–1508.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, D., & Kansal, A. (2011). Water quality analysis of River Yamuna using water quality index in the national capital territory, India (2000–2009). Applied Water Science, 1(3–4), 147–157.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, D., & Singh, R. (2009). DO-BOD modeling of River Yamuna for national capital territory, India using STREAM II, a 2D water quality model. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 159(1–4), 231–240.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, A., Das, M., Vass, K., & Tyagi, R. (2017a). Patterns of fish diversity, community structure and ecological integrity of River Yamuna, India. Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management, 20(1–2), 30–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, D., Kansal, A., & Pelletier, G. (2017b). Water quality modeling for urban reach of Yamuna River, India (1999–2009), using QUAL2Kw. Applied Water Science, 7(3), 1535–1559.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, K., Malik, A., Mohan, D., & Sinha, S. (2004). Multivariate statistical techniques for the evaluation of spatial and temporal variations in water quality of Gomti River (India)--a case study. Water Research, 38(18), 3980–3992.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, N., Kaur, M., & Kaur Katnoria, J. (2017). Spatial and temporal heavy metal distribution and surface water characterization of Kanjli Wetland (a Ramsar site), India using different indices. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 99(6), 735–742.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Streeter, H. W. & Phelps, E. B. (1925). A study of the pollution and natural purification of the Ohio River. Public Health Bull. 146, U.S. Public Health Service, Washington D.C.

  • WHO. (2011). Guidelines for drinking-water quality 4 th edn. Geneva: World Health Organization (WHO).

  • Willet, P. (1987). Similarity and clustering in chemical information systems. New York: Research Studies Press, Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Central Water Commission, 110016, New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Maneesh Jaiswal & Jakir Hussain

  2. Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, 110016, New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Maneesh Jaiswal, Sanjay Kumar Gupta & Arvind Kumar Nema

  3. Sanitary Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21544, Egypt

    Mahmoud Nasr

Authors
  1. Maneesh Jaiswal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jakir Hussain
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sanjay Kumar Gupta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mahmoud Nasr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Arvind Kumar Nema
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Arvind Kumar Nema.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 28 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jaiswal, M., Hussain, J., Gupta, S.K. et al. Comprehensive evaluation of water quality status for entire stretch of Yamuna River, India. Environ Monit Assess 191, 208 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7312-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7312-8

Keywords

  • Indian water standards
  • Monsoon and non-monsoon
  • Multivariate analysis
  • Water quality index
  • Yamuna River