Ecological study of micro flora in assessment of pollution level of river water

The river watershed is one of the main drinking water resources. In addition it provides many recreational usages. Knowledge about the composition of waste water is of paramount importance viewing the fact that these wastes are generally discharged into the rivers. Algae which thrive well in wastes not only reduce the pollution potential of the waste water by cleaning nutrients but also constitute indices to provide information regarding the nature of the effluents. The present study was undertaken to know the algal flora of a municipal drain caring waste effluents from `Panki´ industrial area, Kapur, and discharging them into the river Pandu flowing on the southern outskirts of the Kanpur city. Algae and water samples were collected mostly from three sites as per standard procedures. Random sampling (monthly) was done at these sites to get the maximum possible representations. Considering the physico-chemical and phycological findings of the present study, it is concluded that drain water is grossly polluted. Effluents are highly toxic and contaminated with heavy metals; hence it supported only few pollution tolerant algae. Biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia, urea and phosphate coupled with persistent an oxygenic condition. Dominance of blue green algae over other algal groups also points to the same fact. All the ten algae found in the present study are well known for their pollution tolerance. As this drain discharges its waste into the river Pandu, there is great apprehension that this may leads to disastrous condition of the river in due course of time, if not now, which should be avoided by taking appropriate steps to prevent and alleviate pollution of the river.