A study on selected water quality parameters along the river Buriganga, Bangladesh

Abstract

The Buriganga river system is located in the southern part of the north central region of Bangladesh, passing through west and south of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The river receives wastewater from numerous numbers of sources along its way, which are discharged as industrial effluents, municipal sewage, household wastes, clinical wastes and oils. The purpose of this study is to investigate into the impact of this wastewater on the river water and thus to provide an updated report on the state of water quality of the river Buriganga. The water samples were collected in year 2008-09 during both dry and wet seasons from different points along the river and analysed for various physiochemical quality parameters, which includes: temperature, pH, EC, DO, BOD , COD, PO -P, NH -N, Pb and Cr. The mean values for the parameters in both dry and wet seasons were compared with the surface water quality standards as set by the Department of Environment (DOE) in Bangladesh. The water quality test results have also been summarised and presented through box and whisker plots