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Water quality modeling-based assessment for the scope of wastewater treatment of the urban reach of River Yamuna at Delhi, India

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Abstract

River water quality management is a tedious job as it comprises multiple variables. The River Yamuna, Delhi’s urban reach, is highly contaminated with very low or zero freshwater flow during the non-monsoon periods. The river quality has been appraised for pre- and post-monsoon periods of 10 years of data collected from the Delhi Pollution Control Council (DPCC). A sharp declination of dissolved oxygen and acceleration of BOD have been observed after the outfalling of drain 1. The wastewater treatment plants data for 2020–2022 have been analyzed, and the removal efficiencies of BOD and COD were found between 65 and 94%. The BIOFORE technology has shown maximum removal efficiencies, around 94% and 89% for BOD and COD, respectively. The level of treatment has been evaluated by developing a water quality model with the existing QUAL2kw framework. Twelve strategies have been generated for four levels of treatment and three different flow conditions. The severely polluted reach of Yamuna has low self-purification capacity; flow augmentation has little effect on the existing load. Hence, the level of treatment required to increase. After the introduction of outfalling drain D13–D16, a sag of DO has been observed; to improve the DO concentration, external aeration is suggested before wastewater disposal into the river. The study is a novel effort to manage the river quality by developing scenarios, including the level of treatments and flow augmentation, and keeping up the desired DO concentration assigned for this river reach.

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Data availability

Data are available on the domains of Delhi Pollution Control Committee and Central Pollution Control Board, India.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are also grateful to reviewers for giving valuable time and comments to improve the quality of the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Delhi Technological University, New Delhi, Delhi, 110042, India

    Nibedita Verma & Geeta Singh

  2. Civil Engineering Department, Jamia Millia Islamia University, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi, 110025, India

    Naved Ahsan

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  1. Nibedita Verma
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  2. Geeta Singh
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  3. Naved Ahsan
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Contributions

Nibedita Verma has completed the research work under the supervision of Dr. Geeta Singh and Prof. Naved Ahsan. Nibedita Verma prepared the manuscript. Dr. Geeta Singh and Prof. Naved Ahsan reviewed the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Geeta Singh.

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Verma, N., Singh, G. & Ahsan, N. Water quality modeling-based assessment for the scope of wastewater treatment of the urban reach of River Yamuna at Delhi, India. Environ Monit Assess 196, 155 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-024-12315-9

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