Sediment Characteristic and Concentration of Heavy Metals in Water
and Sediment of the Effluent Discharging Water Body of Nagaon Paper Mill,
Assam, India
Affiliations: Department of Environmental Science, Tezpur
University, Napaam, Tezpur-784028, Assam, India | Kachar Paper Mill, Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd.,
Panchgram, Assam, India
Abstract: The impact of Nagaon Paper Mill effluent on the sediment of the
effluent discharging water course in water and sediment was studied. Analysis
of bed sediment samples showed a general decreasing trend of pH, alkalinity,
EC, organic carbon, and organic matter from sampling stations 1 to 6. Water
holding capacity, water content, bulk density, Ca^{2+},
Mg^{2+}, and sulphate of bed sediment samples collected from
sampling station 1 to 6 has an increasing trend. This means that the upstream
of the beel was polluted with respect to reference sampling station at 7. It
was revealed from the analysis of the results of heavy metals concentration in
effluent, beel water and sediment that their concentration lies far below the
tolerance limit. However, the heavy metals concentrations in beel water and
sediment samples at different sampling stations were higher than the
concentration of heavy metals at reference sampling station 7. Analysis of bed
sediment samples showed a general decreasing trend of heavy metals viz., Cu,
Cd, Pb and Zn from sampling station 1 to 6.
Keywords: Sediment, paper mill effluent, heavy metals, beel
