A study on the effect of plywood factory effluents on the water quality of receiving streams and nearby wells in Perumbavoor, Kerala, India

Abstract

Perumbavoor, in Eranakulam district is a region well known all over Kerala for its plywood industries.Pollution due to these industries is a sensational issue in this region. The effect of plywood factory effluents on the water quality of receiving streams and nearby wells in Perumbavoor was assessed for a period of five months from December 2016 to April 2017. Samples were collected from streams and wells near randomly selected five different plywood factories in Perumbavoor. In streams, samples were taken from the point of effluent discharge, 100 m upstream from and 100m downstream from the point of effluent discharge. While analyzing the parameters like pH, nitrate, phosphate, Total Dissolved Solids, Biological Oxygen Demand, Chemical Oxygen Demand, copper, chromium and formaldehyde it was found that there is a general increase of the concentration of these parameters in downstream as opposed to upstream. Comparison of these values with BIS guidelines showed that the concentration of these parameters in downstream were higher than the permissible levels except in the cases of copper and chromium. The present study showed that the effluents from the plywood industries have a big impact on the water quality of receiving streams and nearby wells.