Abstract

Field survey was carried out to collect soil and water samples of thirty-five numbers representing in and around the factory area covering Mandaraikadu, Devanapuram, P. Thekkampatti, C. Thekkampatti, C. Kandiyur and R. Rajapuram villages. Five hundred grams of soil samples were collected once in three months from September 2000 to September 2001 to assess the changes in soil quality parameters if any due to effluent contamination. One litre volume of water sample was collected at monthly intervals from October 2000 to September 2001 to monitor the changes in the ground water quality due to effluent discharge for crop production. The qualities of groundwater samples from different locations were compared with samples collected near intake river water (control) where the possibility of ground water pollution due to paper mill effluent was remote. The soil was analyzed for its chemical properties viz., pH, EC, OC, Available NPK, Exchangeable Na and SAR. The pH, EC, OC, available nutrients (NPK), exchangeable Na and SAR were high in effluent irrigated soils in and around the factory regions compared to the Bhavani river water irrigated soils. The above soil properties increased due to continuous effluent irrigation at periodical intervals of analysis. Observation wells in and around the factory region had high pH than that of Bhavani river water. The EC, chloride, sulphate and sodium were high in the effluent irrigated area. The BOD in the well water samples varied from 7.7 to 8.9 mg L whereas river water recorded the BOD ranged from 6.2 to 7.2 mg L'. The COD of the well water samples were also high in effluent irrigated area (67 to III mg L'). The potential salinity was lesser than 6 e mol L and the SAR was below 2.

Keywords: pH, EC, treated paper mill effluent, potential salinity, sodium absorption ratio (SAR)