Physicochemical quality assessment of the Kushiara River Water in Bangladesh

Abstract

Water is the most vital element among the natural resources and is crucial for food production, economic development, and above all the survival of all living organisms including humans. The water quality of the river Kushiara has been assessed through all the seasons of the years 2018 to 2020 by investigating the major water quality parameters. All measurements were done by strictly following accepted standard testing methods. Water Temperature, pH, Electrical Conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids, Iron Concentration, Total Hardness, Total Alkalinity, and Chloride Concentration in the water samples were found to the ranges from 18 °C to 30 °C, 6.50 to 7.82, 40 µS/cm to 195 µS/cm, 26.0 mg/L to 126.8 mg/L, 0.2 mg/L to 3.0 mg/L, 19.5 mg/L to 62.5 mg/L, 22.0 mg/L to 79.4 mg/L, and 1.77 mg/L to 7.08 mg/L respectively. The content of total iron exceeded the acceptable limits for drinking water in the rainy season. All other water quality parameters studied remained within the acceptable limits throughout all seasons of the years 2018 to 2020. Comparison with available data for some of the parameters in the literature in previous years showed that the water quality of the river Kushiara remained persistent throughout the years from 2010 to 2020.