Urbanization Impact on Various Physicochemical Parameters and Developing an Eco-Heart Index

Abstract

In the present study, the quality of Vaigai River at two distinct places Madurai and Manamadurai were studied. The river water samples from three places in the upstream side and downstream side of each of the sites were collected and used for water quality analysis. The samples were subjected to various physicochemical parameters like pH, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity, chlorides, and heavy metals as per the standard procedure. The obtained values were used to prepare the community friendly Eco-heart index. The river water samples at the upstream of Madurai were found to be having concentrations of pH-8.32±0.28, turbidity-32±8 nephelometric turbidity unit and total dissolved solids-1765±55 mg/L (moderately contaminated) compared to downstream side (pH-8.77±0.25, turbidity-107±12 nephelometric turbidity unit and total dissolved solids-2180±95 mg/L (highly contaminated). Similarly, in the Manamadurai site also the concentrations were higher in downstream side (pH-8.94±0.15, turbidity-235±18 nephelometric turbidity unit, total dissolved solids-2755±32 mg/L) than upstream side (pH-8.72±0.23, turbidity-74±22 nephelometric turbidity unit and total dissolved solids-2110±25 mg/L). Similarly, the Eco-Heart index value also shows that there is no proper heart shape at any point, symbolizes that Vaigai River water is unfit to drink in Madurai and Manamadurai. Hence, the results conclude that the river water has to be extensively treated before used for drinking or cooking purpose. The dumping of solid waste and discharge of wastewater in the course of the river body has to be avoided.

Towards Sustainable Development—Increasing Public Participation by Simplifying Water Quality Data Presentation in the Form of Eco-Heart Index

“…Water is the most important natural resource for the existence of life on earth. Owing to industrialization and urbanization, the quality of surface and groundwater has been degrading at a very high rate (Ramprasad, et al, 2020;Uddin, et al, 2021). Considering surface water; rivers, lakes, ponds, and canals play a vital role as drinking water resources.…”

“…Theoretical and empirical work on the "Heartware" approach to integrated watershed management (IWM) in Malaysia led to the concept of employing the heart shape. A broken heart represents polluted or dirty water, while a full heart represents clean water (Bakar et al, 2013; Ramprasad et al, 2020;Sakai et al, 2018). Various parameters like pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen (DO), phosphate, nitrate, and faecal coliforms are determined, and their levels are labelled using a categorization table.…”