INTRODUCTION:

The world’s water resources are under pressure and must be managed for human survival. It is, therefore, necessary to own most relevant information for arriving at rational decisions that will end in the utmost benefit to the majority. The real and reliable water management is vital for sustainable utilization in next future.

The small rivers are used earlier times as a regular water resources in India. However, the pollution in local water resources are resulting through disposition, soil organics, detergents, fishing operations and agricultural chemicals (Usha et al., 2006; Hasan et al., 2007).

Recently, their importance has somewhat declined because of technological advancements resulting in more centralized installation systems. There could be also an emerging attitude observed among ecologists and planners to conserve ponds as perspective water resource in rural populations (Park and Park, 2005). This study is an endeavor about the water quality of selected ponds for its sustainable exploitation for multi-purpose task in future.

METHODS AND MATERIALS:

The study was performed at three selected sites in Sona river of Siwan district. The water samples were collected fortnightly from February to April, 2017 from the side of river in PVC and BOD bottles (for estimating dissolved oxygen).

The trace elements like Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu and Zn were also estimated (Gupta, 1996) by atomic absorption spectro-photometer. The detection limits for Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu and Zn were 1.0, 0.1, 3.0, 1.0 and 0.8 μgl,^-1respectively. The plankton sampling was performed by filtering a known volume of water through plankton net. These planktons were fixed in formalin and sedgewick rafter used for quantitative determination. Statistical analysis performed with window based minitab software.

RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS:

The water quality variables in studied ponds showed also diverse phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish populations. There are different phytoplankton groups in these ponds due to variation in water parameters.

Figure1. Dominant Phytoplankton groups in studied ponds

Table - 1: Variation of chemical parameters in ponds.

Variables

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Free CO₂

Cnd.

TDS

Nitrate

Phosphate

Calcium

Magnesium

Iron

Copper

Zinc

6.37(1.01)

12.47(3.36)

20.00(3.60)

7.40 (0.34)

123.8 (8.26)

56.30 (3.79)

0.720 (0.38)

0.850 (0.01)

0.013 (0.01)

5.15 (0.05)

1.13 (0.01)

0.081 (0.01)

0.820 (0.03)

8.19(1.07)

13.27(4.68)

11.00 (3.6)

7.47(0.25)

29.63(1.7)

14.00(1.0)

0.210(0.11).

0.00

0.03(0.01)

2.05(0.05)

0.71(0.045)

0.07(0.01)

0.39

5.91(2.38)

23.47(16.66)

47.87(56.23)

7.5(0.21)

114.3(36.96)

52.67(16.56)

0.38(0.32)

2.56(0.25)

0.14(0.001)

3.37 (0.01)

0.49 (0.01)

0.09 (0.02)

0.30 (0.01)

Correlation coefficients computed among the chemical parameters of three river sites showed significant relationships (Table 2).

DISCUSSIONS:

The characteristic of an aquatic ecosystem depends on the physicochemical qualities of small rivers and also on the biological diversity of the system (Tiwari and Chauhan, 2006).

The ponds 1 and 3 were previously used for laundry and bathing then Cyanophyceae and Euglenophyceae also encountered during the study which are generally seen to appear near sewage outfall (Pandit, 2002). The highest dissolved oxygen value and nearly neutral pH in pond 2 will be observed due to the diversified plankton population.

All river sites were favorable for fish productivity as nitrate value of those sites ranged between 0.1-2.56 mgl^-1. The low range of phosphate value in the river sites were experienced because of high level of temperature (Manna and Das, 2004).

It was also observed that iron is below limit in site I and site III, whereas in site II comparatively lower iron value is associated with moderate abundance of Euglenophyceae. This confirms that magnesium also has a great role in stimulating and maintaining Euglena blooms (Dutta Gupta, 2004). This is possible because calcium increases the content of other ions and magnesium acts as a carrier of phosphorus (Wetzel, 1984).

The classical inverse relationship between dissolved oxygen and CO2 was significant (Wetzel, 1984), however, it also confirmed during this study with low nitrate value except pond 2 which ultimately resulted in phytoplankton variation.

Significant positive correlations of conductivity with phosphate and magnesium indicate that they are the most minerals governing the conductivity regimes of the ponds investigated.

Calcium and magnesium are significantly correlated which can be attributed to the concept that both are integral part of plant structures and contribute to the hardness of water (Wetzel, 1984). Further they neutralize the surplus acid produced in the water resources (Das, 2002). This also justifies the contributing effect of calcium with alkalinity. Iron showed significant direct correlation with copper and zinc. These are essential micronutrients for plants and many animals, required in trace amounts, and thus vital in the molecular architecture of various proteins, enzymes and vitamins.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

We are thankful to Principal, ZA Islamia College, Siwan (Bihar) to provide laboratory facility and Prem Kumar for mutual support during study period.

REFERENCES:

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Received on 21.09.2020 Modified on 10.10.2020

Research J. Science and Tech. 2020; 12(4):257-259.

DOI: 10.5958/2349-2988.2020.00034.0