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Monitoring the impact of urban effluents on mineral contents of water and sediments of four sites of the river Ravi, Lahore

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Abstract

We assessed the impact of urban effluents on the concentrations of selected minerals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Zn, Mn, Ni, and Hg) in river Ravi before and after its passage through Lahore city. Water and sediment samples were collected from three lowly to highly polluted downstream sites (Shahdera (B), Sunder (C), and Balloki (D)) alongside the least polluted upstream site (Siphon (A)) during high and low river flow seasons. All the mineral concentrations increased up to site C but stabilized at site D, showing some recovery as compared to the third sampling site. The trend of mean mineral concentration was significantly higher during the low than the high flow season at all the sites. The mean Hg concentrations approached 0.14 and 0.12 mg/l at site A which increased (%) up to 107 and 25 % at site B, 1,700 and 1,317 % at site C, and 1,185 and 1,177 % at site D during low and high river flows, respectively. All mineral concentrations were much higher in the sediment than the water samples. Mean Cd (917 %), Cr (461 %), Cu (300 %), Fe (254 %), Pb (179 %), Zn (170 %), Mn (723 %), Ni (853 %), and Hg (1,699 %) concentrations were higher in riverbed sediments sampled from site C in comparison with the sample collected at site A during low flow season. The domestic and industrial discharges from Lahore city have created undesirable water qualities during the low river flow season. As majority of the mineral levels in the river Ravi were higher than the permissible and safe levels, this is of immediate concern for riverine fish consumers and the users of water for recreation and even irrigation. The use of these waters may pose health risks, and therefore, urgent intervention strategies are needed to minimize river water pollution and its impact on fish-consuming communities of this study area and beyond.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan, for funding the first author under Indigenous Ph.D. 5000 Fellowship program (pin no. 074-1921-BM4-146) and IRSIP to support this research at the University of the Punjab, Pakistan, and Newcastle University, UK.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

    Hafiz Abdullah Shakir & Javed Iqbal Qazi

  2. School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK

    Hafiz Abdullah Shakir & Abdul Shakoor Chaudhry

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  1. Hafiz Abdullah Shakir
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  2. Javed Iqbal Qazi
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  3. Abdul Shakoor Chaudhry
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Correspondence to Abdul Shakoor Chaudhry.

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Shakir, H.A., Qazi, J.I. & Chaudhry, A.S. Monitoring the impact of urban effluents on mineral contents of water and sediments of four sites of the river Ravi, Lahore. Environ Monit Assess 185, 9705–9715 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3284-2

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