AccScience Publishing / AJWEP / Volume 3 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.3233/AJW-2006-3_1_21
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Role of Electrical Conductivity as an Indicator of Pollution in Shallow Lakes

Rajib Das1 Nihar Ranjan Samal1 Pankaj Kumar Roy1 Debojyoti Mitra2*
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1 School of Water Resources Engineering Jadavpur University, Kolkata-700032, India
2 Department of Mechanical Engineering Jadavpur University, Kolkata-700032, India
AJWEP 2006, 3(1), 143–146; https://doi.org/10.3233/AJW-2006-3_1_21
Submitted: 10 April 2005 | Accepted: 17 December 2005 | Published: 1 January 2006
© 2006 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract

A major portion of water based recreational activity of human race centres around the thousands of lakes, reservoirs and other small, relatively quiescent bodies of water, which has drawn the attention of the researchers to a great extent during the recent times. Water quality is closely linked to many physical and chemical aspects of lake. Control on various physical, thermophysical and chemical properties of lake water has to be maintained so that their values remain within permissible limits. Electrical Conductivity (EC) is such a thermophysical property of lake water, which has strong interrelationship with pollution level. Experiments carried out at Subhas Sarovar (lake) and Rabindra Sarovar (lake), Kolkata, indicates that EC has a linear relationship with Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), which is validated by the findings at various other lakes throughout the world. Since EC increases with temperature, the values are corrected to a standard value of 25 and then are technically referred to as specific electrical conductivity. It is also observed that EC increases with increase in TDS, which in turn indicates increased concentration of sulphates and other ions. Therefore, measured value of EC indirectly indicates the level of pollution in lake waters and further studies on the sources of pollutants and possible remedies can then be made. Moreover, measurement of EC is much easier than direct measurement of TDS, thus showing an easier path for pollution monitoring in shallow lake waters.

Keywords
Electrical conductivity
lake
pollution monitoring
total dissolved solids
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
References

Gray, N.F. (1999). Water Technologyn Introduction for Environmental Scientists and Engineers (London NW1 NBH UK). p. 63.

Imboden, D. and A. Wuest (1995). Physics and Chemistry of Lakes, Springer, pp.91-93.

Michaud, J.P. (2001). A citizen guide to understanding and monitoring lakes and streams, Washington State Dept. of Ecology, Publications Office, Olympia, WA, USA (360) 407-7472.

Samal, N.R. (2001). Physiochemical and Biological Characteristic of Water of Lake, Rabindra Sarovar, the National Lake, Kolkata, India. Thesis submitted to School of Water Resources Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

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Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, Electronic ISSN: 1875-8568 Print ISSN: 0972-9860, Published by AccScience Publishing