ASSESSMENT OF POLLUTION INDUCED BY ANTHROPOGENIC ACTIVITIES IN INDUS TRIBUTARY (RAWAL DAM)

Abstract

Amidst the high-water quality issue, dams and river are being polluted due to anthropogenic activities and contaminated inflows. Pakistan has moved from water surplus country to water scarce country. Rawal Dam being the only water reservoir of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, serves the water needs of millions of people for their domestic and drinking usage. There is a serious need for appropriate water quality monitoring for future planning and management of water resource. Present study was designed to address water quality issue of Rawal Dam. Surface water samples were collected according to standard protocols from 9 sites i.e. Rawal dam, Ratahutar stream, Nurpur stream, Jinnah stream, Shahdra stream, Small korang, Large korang, Barakahu stream and Korang river. Samples were analyzed for physicochemical and microbiological parameters these include Electrical conductivity, pH, Total dissolved solids, Turbidity, Temperature, Chemical oxygen demand, Nitrate, Nitrite, Phosphate, Total Kjheldahl Nitrogen, Water hardness and Total alkalinity whereas for Escherichia coli using (MPN) most probable number method was performed. Study revealed that contamination level in all streams (Up-stream, Mid-stream and Down-stream) at all sampling sites were gradually increasing due to continuous discharge of poultry waste, domestic waste, agriculture activities and solid waste dumping directly into the sites. For Heavy metal analysis sediment samples were collected from two sites i.e. Rawal dam and Korang river at different depths. Almost all heavy metals exceed WHO permissible limits and showed positive linear correlation which is due to the polluted discharge of domestic, industrial, poultry and agricultural waste. Statistical methods i.e. ANOVA, Tukey test and Pearson correlation were used to identify the relationship among different parameters and which tributary contributes more in polluting Rawal dam.