Water Quality of Boalia Khal Tributary of Halda River by Weighted Arithmetic Index Method

Water quality index is a helpful tool to understand the pollution level of any water body. Out of 16 tributaries in lower Halda, Boalia Khal (canal) is one of the important tributaries, well known for capture fishery and also for carrying local agricultural and urban discharges to the Halda River, a well-known spawning ground of Indian major carps. This study was undertaken to know the water quality status of Boalia Khal by weighted arithmetic index method. For knowing this status ten physicochemical parameters from three selected stations of the tributary were studied for two years period from January 2017 to December 2018, which ranged as: water temperature 24.84±2.96°C to 29.71±1.72°C, transparency 24.17±4.40cm to 36.89±5.67cm, Electrical Conductivity 86.39±33.86µS/cm to 161.11±11.52µS/cm, TDS 30±10mg/l to 70±10mg/l, pH 7.04±0.18 to 7.44±0.06, DO 3.91±0.81mg/l to 7.93±1.98mg/l, Calcium 5.03±2.00mg/l to 10.78±2.40mg/l, Total Hardness 23.83±9.1mg/l to 47.83±4.69mg/l, Total Alkalinity 34.89±15.93mg/l to 44.22 ±11.56mg/l and BOD5 1.23±0.83mg/l to 1.55±1.06mg/l. The Water Quality Index (51.72±4.36 to 54.68±7.11) classified the water of three stations as poor (Grade-C) during different seasons except in winter (47.36±1.17) (Grade-B). However, annually, overall water quality of Boalia Khal was poor (53.24±1.31) (Grade-C) and detected as unsuitable for drinking without treatment, but could be used for irrigation and fish culture. The condition of water quality in present study felt the necessity to adopt proper management policy and conservation efforts to protect the water of the tributary from further deterioration and hence to protect the River Halda. This study might help to grow awareness among the users and policy makers to save the Halda River by keeping well its source water like Boalia Khal and also other tributaries.