Water Quality

Water quality standards Physical, chemical and biological water quality parameters Water quality index Quality for designated uses of water Classification of water bodies

Water Quality and Standards

As per the 11th 5 year plan (2007-12) document, 2.17 lakh habitations in India affected by water quality problems
>50% by excess iron, fluoride, salinity, nitrate and arsenic Annually 10 million diarrhoea cases, 7.2 lakh typhoid cases and 1.5 lakh viral hepatitis cases

Unclean water supply and poor sanitation the culprits Dealing with water quality issue is important focus is on
Community participation and awareness campaigns Water quality surveillance and monitoring (setting up labs. with qualified manpower, equipment and chemicals)

IS 10500: 2004 Drinking Water - Specifications (2nd revision) upgradation over IS 10500: 1991 - aligns with international specifications
EU Directives and Council Water Quality Directive USEPAs Nat. Prim. Drinking Water Standard, 2002 WHO Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality, 2008 Now IS 10500: 2012 is available

Water Quality and Standards

IS 10500: 2012 Drinking Water Specifications Prescribes requirements and methods for sampling and testing of drinking water Specifies Acceptable Limits and Permissible Limits in the absence of alternate source
If the values exceed the limits indicated under the permissible limits, the water source will have to be rejected

Different from ISO 10500: 1991

Additional requirements for ammonia, chloramines, barium, molybdenum, silver, sulphide, nickel, polychlorinated biphenyls and trihalomethanes are incorporated Requirements for colour, turbidity, total hardness, free residual chlorine, iron, magnesium, mineral oil, boron, cadmium, total arsenic, lead, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides and bacteriological requirements are modified Requirement and test method for virological examination is included Requirements and test methods for Cryptosporidium and Giardia are also been specified.

IS 10500: 2012 Drinking Water Specifications

Includes 6 tables Table-1: Organoleptic and physical parameters (7 parameters:
colour, odour, taste, turbidity, dissolved solids, and pH

Table-2: General parameters concerning the substances undesirable in excess amounts (24 parameters: copper, iron,
manganese, nitrate, fluoride, zinc, aluminum, chloride, selenium, sulfate, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, free residual chlorine, phenolic compounds, mineral oil, anionic detergents, boron, barium, sulfide, total hardness, ammonia, chloramines and silver) Table-3: Parameters concerning toxic substances (11 parameters: Mercury, cadmium, arsenic, nickel, lead, total chromium, cyanide, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides residues (listed in table-5), polychlorinated biphenyls, and tri halo methanes (bromoform, chloroform, dibromo chloro methane, and bromo dichloro methane) Table-4: Parameters concerning radioactive substances (2 parameters: Alpha emitters and Beta emitters)

IS 10500: 2012 Drinking Water Specifications

Drinking water shall comply with bacteriological, virological and biological requirements Bacteriological requirements are given in table-6 (MPN) Testing should be done according to IS 1622. Samples shall test negative for E.coli or thermotolerant coliform bacteria in 100 mL sample in
All waters intended for drinking Treated water entering the distribution system Treated water of the distribution system (over 12 months period 95% samples must give negative results, in the rest of the 5% samples MPN should be <10/100 mL)

In case of positive test results, resampling should be done to confirm the results in case of confirmed positive results, immediate investigation to discover the source of contamination and its removal are recommended

IS 10500: 2012 Drinking Water Specifications

Virological requirements Virological testing shall be done by PCR test method (Annex-B) All samples taken from the distribution system shall be free from virus (enterovirus, reovirus and adinovirus) Typical sewage treatment methods fail to yield virus free water
Enterovirus is resistant to chlorine Exponential relationship exists between the virus inactivation rate and the redox potential 650 mV redox potential of can cause instantaneous inactivation Low levels of free residual chlorine can give this redox potential Iodine, ozone, potassium permanganate also give this potential

2 to 3 mg/L of free chlorine for 1 hr. is enough to inactivate the viruses even when the water is organically polluted Sedimentation and slow sand filtration can also contribute to virus removal

IS 10500: 2012 Drinking Water Specifications

Biological examination
Water should be free from biological organisms algae, zooplankton, flagellates, parasites and toxin producing organisms. Biological water quality is important for water that has not gone through conventional flocculation and filtration process Chlorination may be ineffective at normally employed doses against certain parasites, while filtration is effective

Table-1: Organoleptic and physical parameters

Parameter Colour (Hazen units) Desired limit 5 Permissib Method le limit 25 IS 3025 part-4 Remarks Extended to 25 if no toxic substances are suspected Consumers accetance decreases Cold and heated samples tested at several dilutions

Odour

Agreeable Agreeable IS 3025 part-5

Taste
Turbidity (NTU) Dissolved solids

Agreeable Agreeable IS 3025part-7&8 Testing to be done only after establishing safety

5 500 mg/L 10 2000 mg/L 6.5-8.5 IS 3025 part-10 IS 3025 part-16 Consumers accetance decreases Palatability decreases and cuases gastrointestinal irritation Beyond the range affects mucous membrane and water supply system

pH

6.5-8.5

IS 3025 part-11

Table-2: General parameters undesirable in excessive amounts

Parameter Copper (mg/L) Iron (mg/L) Manganese (mg/L) Desired Permissi Method limit ble limit 0.05 0.3 0.1 1.5 1.0 0.3 45 IS 3025 part-42 IS 3025 part-53 IS 3025 part-35 IS 3025 part-34 Remarks Can cause taste, discolourization and corrsion Taste and appearance are affected Promotes iron bacterial growth Taste and appearance are affected Cause methaemoglobinemia

Nitrate (mg/L 45 as NO3)

Fluoride (mg/L)
Zinc (mg/L) Aluminium (mg/L) Chloride (mg/L)

1.0
5.0 0.03 250

1.5
15.0 0.2 1000

IS 3025 part-23
IS 3025 part-49 IS 3025 part-55 IS 3025 part-32

Causes fluorosis
Causes astringent taste and opalescence Has cumulative and causes dementia Taste, corrosion and platability are affected

Table-2: General parameters undesirable in excessive amounts

Parameter Selenium (mg/L) Sulfate (as SO4 mg/L) Desired Permissi Method limit ble limit 0.01 0.01 IS 3025 part-56 or IS 15303 (referee method) IS 3025 part-24 Remarks Water becomes toxic.

200

400

Can be 400 mg/L if Mg level is <30 mg/L. causes gastrointestinal irritation if Na/Mg are present

Alkalinity (mg/L as CaCO3)

Calcium (mg/L) Magnesium (mg/L) Residual Cl2 (mg/L)

200

600

IS 3025 part-23

Taste becomes unpleasant

75 30 0.2

200 100 1.0

IS 3025 part-40 IS 3025 part-46 IS 3025 part-26

Encrustation of piping occurs Encrustation of piping occurs Tested at consumer end. (0.5 for virus deactivation)

Table-2: General parameters undesirable in excessive amounts

Parameter Desired Permissi limit ble limit Method Remarks

Phenolic compounds (mg/L as C6H5OH)

Mineral oil (mg/L) Anionic detergents (mg/L as MBAS) Boron (mg/L) Barium (mg/L) Molybdenum (mg/L) Sulfide (mg/L as H2S)

0.001

0.002

IS 3025 part-43

Causes objectionable taste or odour.

0.01 0.2

0.03 1.0

IS 3025 part-39 APHA 5520C Annex K IS 13428

Causes undesirable taste and odour after chlorination Causes light froth in water

0.3 0.7 0.07 0.05

1.5 0.7 0.07 0.05

IS 3025 part-29 Annex F IS 13428 or IS 15302 IS 3025 part-2/ ISO 11885: 1996 IS 3025 part-29

--Can cause cardiovascular problems Causes ostioporosis/ bone disorders Causes objectionable taste and odour

Table-2: General parameters undesirable in excessive amounts

Parameter Ammonia (mg/L as NH3-N) Silver (mg/L) Total hardness Chloramines (mg/L as Cl2) Total hardness (mg/L as CaCO3) Desire d limit 0.5 0.1 200 4.0 300 Permissi ble limit 0.5 0.1 600 4.0 600 Method IS 3025 part-34 Annex J of IS 13428 IS 3025 part-21 IS 3025 part-26 or APHA 4500-Cl.G IS 3025 part-21 Chloramines (mg/L as Cl2) Encrustation of piping occurs Remarks

Table-3: Parameters concerning toxic substances

Parameter Mercury Desire d limit 0.001 Permissi Method ble limit 0.001 IS 3025 part-48/ mercury analyser Remarks Turns water toxic

Cadmium
Arsenic Cyanide as CN Hexavalent chromium Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons

0.003
0.01 0.05 0.01 0.05

0.003
0.05 0.05 0.01 0.05

IS 3025 part-41
IS 3025 part-37 IS 3025 part-27 IS 3025 part-47 IS 3025 part-52 APHA - 6440

Turns water toxic

Turns water toxic Turns water toxic Turns water toxic May prove carcinogenic May prove carcinogenic

0.0001 0.0001

Pesticides
Nickel Polychlorinated biphenyls

Limits and methods stated in a separate table

0.02 0.02 IS 3025 part-54 ASTM 5175/ APHA - 6630 May cause allergic reaction May prove carcenogenic

0.0005 0.0005

Trihalomethane : includes bromoform, dibromochloromethane, bromodichloromethane and chloroform.

Table-5: Pesticide residues

Trihalomethanes
Method: ASTM D 3973-85/APHA Bromoform: 0.1 mg/L; Dibromo chloro methane: 0.1 mg/L; Bromo dichloro methane: 0.06 mg/L and Chloroform: 0.2 mg/L

Parameters concerning radioactive substances (table-4)

Alpha emitters: 0.1 Bq/L is both desirable and permissible limit IS 14194 Part-2 is used for measurement (may be carcinogenic). Beta emitters: 1.0 Bq/L is both desirable and permissible limit IS 14194 Part-1 is used for measurement (may be carcinogenic).

Water Quality Index (WQI)

Water quality - measured by a multitude of parameters
Organoleptic and physical parameters 6 General parameters 24 Toxic parameters 11 categories: heavy metals, pesticide residues, polynucleated aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and trihalomethanes Radioactive parameters (Alpha emitters and Beta emitters) Bacteriological, virological and biological water quality parameters

All parameters are not equally important, Units of measurement can be different, Ranges of values are different Too many parameters to monitor prove costly, time and resource consuming, and requiring sophisticated labs Interpretation of quality is a specialized job of experts, and communication with public/administrator is a challenge Water Quality Index is solution

Water Quality Index (WQI)

WQI can use specific (industrial and municipal, irrigational, and ecological) Transforming water quality monitoring data into a simple number that can be easily understood by all Water Quality Index calculation
Select finite number of parameters and monitor quality against the parameters Develop transformation functions/curves and use them to transform the monitored values into Environ. common scale units Assign relative importance values to the parameters and obtain weighted values to the parameters Aggregate the parameter values
Take a) sum or b) average or c) geometric mean or combination of these Or use maximum operator or minimum operator Obtain sub-indices and aggregate the sub-indices into WQI

Relative Importance Values

S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Parameters Final weights Fecal Coliform 0.134 Chloride 0.090 Fluoride 0.088 Turbidity 0.087 Nitrate-N 0.085 pH 0.083 TDS 0.079 Hardness 0.072 Iron 0.067 Ammonical-N 0.060 Alkalinity 0.054 Conductivity 0.051 Sulfate 0.050

Transformation functions or curves

Parameters

Concentration Range
2.7 5.0 5.0 7.5 7.5 9.5 9.5 12.0 0 4500 (S/cm) 0-5 (NTU) 5-80 (NTU) 50 3000 (mg/L) 0-1000 (mg/L) 0-600 (mg/L) 0 2 (mg/L) 2 40 (mg/L) 0 23 (mg/L) 0 1.5 (mg/L) 1.5 8.0 (mg/L) 0 30 (mg/L) 0-1200 (mg/L) 0-1000 (mg/L) 0 1000 (mpn/100ml) 1000-100000 (mpn/100ml) 0 16 0 16

Transformation Equation
y = 6.889x2 - 40.00x + 57.79 y = -10.66x2 + 161.9x - 513.8 y = -22.33x2 + 346.3x - 1242.8 y = 2.666x2 - 69.33x + 448 y = 8E-07x2 - 0.025x + 104.1 y = 99.42e-0.07x y = -22.3ln(x) + 102.9 y = 6E-06x2 - 0.046x + 96.90 y = 7E-05x2 - 0.158x + 100.7 y = -35.1ln(x) + 234.4 y = -7x2 - 1x + 100 y = -20.5ln(x) + 84.61 y = 0.161x2 - 7.953x + 104.5 y = -24x2+16x+100 y = 105.61e-0.327x y = -18.0ln(x) + 70.32 y = 7E-05x2 - 0.157x + 99.60 y = 7E-05x2 - 0.158x + 100.7 y = 80.702e-0.001x y = -4.7772ln(x) + 63 y = 101.9e-0.15x y = 101.9e-0.15x

pH Conductivity Turbidity TDS Total Alkalinity Total Hardness Ammonical-N Nitrate-N Fluoride Iron Chloride Sulfate Fecal Coliform Heavy metal conc. ratio Pesticides and toxic organics conc. ratio

Sample WQI calculation scheme

Water quality parameter (i) 1. 2. I N Monitored value of the parameter (Pi.Mon.) P1.Mon. P2.Mon. Pi.Mon. Pn.Mon. Parameter value in CESU (PCESU) at the scale of 0-1 P1.CESU P2.CESU Pi.CESU Pn.CESU Relative weight assigned to the parameter (W) W1 W2 Wi Wn

Classification of Waters
Designations applied to surface water bodies
Rivers, streams and canals or their stretches Lakes, reservoirs and impounded waters

Define the best uses to be protected within a water body

Water uses can be off-stream and in-stream uses
Aqua-cultural use and ecological use (fish, wildlife and aquatic life) Agricultural use, aqua-cultural use, municipal use and industrial use Power generation !

Further or next level of classification is also possible

Class-A to Class-E and MS-1 to MS-5 classes Same water body can become subject of more than one classifications

Classifications of water are used as tools for the management and protection of water bodies
Water quality standards are also specified for the best uses to be protected within the water bodies

Classification of waters

(Primary recreation and secondary recreation)

IS 2296: 1982 specifies tolerance limits for different classes of water

Tolerance limits for class A surface water

Tolerance limits for class B surface water

Tolerance limits for class C surface water

Tolerance limits for class D surface water

Tolerance limits for class E surface water

Water Teatment
Suspended solids, colloidal solids and dissolved solids
Settling: sedimentation tanks; and Filtration: rapid gravity filter and slow sand filter. Coagulation-flocculation-settling RO process, ion-exchange process, and multiple effect evaporator

Bacteriological, virological and biological requirements

Chlorination, filtration, coagulation-flocculation-settling

Hardness
Water softening by lime-soda process Ion-exchnage process and membrane process

Other contaminants
Ion-exchange process, adsorption, precipitation and filtration

Removal by design and coincidental removal