Monitoring of phenolic compounds and surfactants in water of Ganga Canal, Haridwar (India)

Abstract

The Ganga Canal emerging out from Ganga River has great ritual importance among pilgrims and tourists at Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India. The Canal is being polluted due to mass bathing, washing, disposal of sewage, industrial waste and these human activities are deteriorating its water quality. To determine the impact of these activities, Ganga Canal water quality at five sites between Haridwar and Roorkee namely Pantdweep, Har Ki Pauri, Singhdwar, Piran Kaliyar and Old Bridge, Roorkee has been analyzed for organic pollutants phenolic compounds and surfactants, which have rarely been assessed and reported so far. The results of analysis show that phenolic compounds are not present in water samples of selected five sites during bi-monthly monitoring from January 2012 to November 2012. The Har Ki Pauri, Singhdwar, Piran Kaliyar and Old Bridge, Roorkee sites have been detected with surfactant concentrations (1.18, 1.63, 3.2 and 2.5 mg/l) more than permissible limit (1.00 mg/l). Also at most of the sites, surfactants’ concentration crossed the desirable limit of BIS during the period of analysis. This distribution of surfactants in water has potential risk for skin diseases and cancer and requires regular monitoring with appropriate measures.