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Study of seasonal variations between coliforms and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in Hindon River: a statistical approach
Authors: Divya Ghildyal
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Ghaziabad also known as gateway of Uttar Pradesh India, has its boundary adjacent to Delhi. It is one of the highly populated districts, with major source of water from Hindon river. Since Ghaziabad is home to many industries which discharge their waste into the river which has become highly polluted. Another major problem is the dumpage of sewage waste into the river resulting in high Fecal Coliforms. The aim of our study was to statistically analyse the data of water samples collected from April 2017 to April 2018, to find out the effect of seasonal variation of different parameters under study ie DO, BOD, Other forms of Coliform and Fecal Coliform. All parameters were analysed with standard methods as stated by APHA. No DO was reported in any season, levels of BOD, Fecal Coliforms and Other forms of coliforms were found too high, compared to the standards stated by UPPCB. Correlation Matrix and Regression Analysis found an approximately similar correlation between BOD and Fecal Coliform in summer and rainy season, but totally different results were obtained in winter season. Our study is one of the first approaches to judge the level of correlation between BOD and Coliforms for summer, rainy and winter season. The study highlights the major problem associated with industrial, sewage and other forms of waste being dumped in the river without any treatment which leads to oxygen depletion, a major requirement for survival of aquatic life in water. Since BOD levels partly reflect the degree of organic pollution associated with fecal sources in this river system, it is of great significance to observe the relationships of coliforms and BOD levels. The study in itself suggests that faecal coliform and total coliform vs BOD can be used as pollution indicator for further research work on water pollution.