Abstract


Research Report
PHYSICO-CHEMICALAND BACTERIAL STATUS OF DRINKING WATER SOURCES HARBORING HOSPITALAREAS: A CASE STUDY OF TEZPUR HOSPITALAREAS

Nisha Gaur, Guguloth Naresh, Dhiraj Dutta, Abhishek Das, Rama Dubey and Sanjai Kumar Dwivedi

Pages: 1-9

Abstract:

Access to potable water is one of the major concerns in the rural parts of North East India. Additionally, the water sources in and around the areas harbouring operational hospitals are prone to a plethora of organic and inorganic contaminants, and therefore the likelihood of any deterioration in their quality cannot be negated. To investigate such a possibility, samples were collected from 13 different potential areas surrounding the hospitals of in and around Tezpur town, Assam, India and several physico-chemical parameters were determined. The total hardness of 12 out of 13 samples was found to be significantly lesser than the standard range of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Similarly, TDS of 11 samples, resistivity of 7 and pH of 2 samples were found to be out of the acceptable range. Salinity and conductivity of 2 out of 13 samples were found to be very high. Analysis for turbidity revealed a vast range of data (0.09-418 NTU), which is way out of the permitted range. The amount of dissolved oxygen was lowest for the sample collected from hand pumps. Furthermore, only 3 samples showed any significant presence of Iron. Surprisingly, only 4 samples indicated the presence of bacterial contamination. Therefore, this study will be useful in taking proper remedial measures for water decontamination.

Keywords:

Physico-chemical parameters

Bacterial analysis

WHO

BIS

NE (North-East).