High Levels Of Amonia In Yamuna Water – Free PDF Download

Yamuna

• Yamuna river accounts for more than 70% of Delhi’s water supply.
• At Hathini Kund Barrage in Haryana, most of the water of Yamuna river is diverted.
• Delhi – Drinking water is extracted from the river at Wazirabad (North East Delhi)
• After Wazirabad barrage, what flows is mostly untreated sewage and refuse from homes, run off from storm water drains and effluents from unregulated industry.

Ammonia

• Ammonia is a colourless gas with a pungent smell.
• It is used as an industrial chemical in the production of fertilisers, plastics, synthetic fibres, dyes and other products.
• Ammonia occurs naturally in the environment from the breakdown of organic waste matter
• Anthropogenic sources of Ammonia – Industrial effluents, sewage.

Ammonia in Yamuna

• Effluents from dye units, distilleries and other factories in upstream districts in Haryana
• Raw sewage inflow into Yamuna.
• Haryana had opened the gates of drains that had stagnant water with a high pollutant concentration, following heavy rainfall.**

Ammonia Toxicity

• Concentration above 1 ppm – toxic to fishes.
• Ingestion of water having ammonia levels of 1 ppm – May cause damage to internal organs in humans.
• The acceptable maximum limit of ammonia in drinking water, as per the Bureau of Indian Standards, is 0.5 ppm.

Delhi Jal Board

• Delhi Jal Board said that the concentration of the Ammonia was 3 ppm in raw water of Yamuna.
• The DJB presently has the capacity to treat approximately 0.9 ppm.
• DJB treats ammonia by mixing non polluted water from other sources.

Solution

• Maintain Sustainable minimum flow, called the ecological flow.
• This is the minimum amount of water that should flow throughout the river at all times to sustain underwater and estuarine ecosystems and human livelihoods, and for self regulation.

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