This article was originally published here
App Water Sci. 2022;12(6):115. doi: 10.1007/s13201-022-01625-3. Published online April 15, 2022.
ABSTRACT
Rivers are the lifeline of all living beings, whether human or animal. Clean water is essential for everyone. However, increased urbanization and rapid industrialization have led to an increase in the level of pollution in the rivers. COVID-19 on the contrary has changed the whole ecosystem. Limited industrial activities, reduced movement of people during times of COVID has led to an improvement in the environment, be it the atmosphere or the hydrosphere. The current work aims to study the impact of COVID-19 on the water quality index of the Yamuna River as it crosses from the Himalayan segment to the upper segment. Five sites are chosen over a stretch of more than 60 km and samples are taken during the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. The physico-chemical parameters (pH, turbidity, sulphate, phosphate, fluoride, chloride, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, dissolved oxygen, BOD, COD, alkalinity), the water quality index and the correlation coefficient of Pearson were calculated for all selected sites. Since the study was launched during COVID, early results show the impact of reduced industrial and urban activities on improving overall water quality.
PMID:35441072 | PMC:PMC9010712 | DOI:10.1007/s13201-022-01625-3