Spectrophotometric Quantification Of Phosphate Levels In Water Samples From The Terna River, Maharashtra, India

Water in the ecosystem has different uses involving drinking, agriculture, industrial activities, and hydropower generation, and these uses, quality, and availability of water are affected by population growth, urbanization, and various human activities^{1, 2} (Al-Ansari, 2013; Amin et al., 2016). Its quality and availability are significantly affected by population growth, urbanization, and various anthropogenic activities ^{3, 4, 5} (Alauddin et al., 2012; Mahadevan et al., 2020; Pradhan & Pokhrel, 2013). The majority of rivers in developing nations like India suffer from water pollution ^{3, 6, 4} (Alauddin et al., 2012; Kharat & Pagar, 2009; Mahadevan et al., 2020). Consequently, maintaining water quality to appropriate standards for drinking, agriculture, and industry has proven challenging ⁴ (Mahadevan et al., 2020). Phosphate serves as one of the key indicators for evaluating water quality ^{3, 6} (Alauddin et al., 2012; Kharat & Pagar, 2009). Specifically, the over-enrichment of aquatic environments by anthropogenic phosphorus runoff facilitates eutrophication, leading to algal blooms and a subsequent reduction in dissolved oxygen levels ⁷ (Ahmed & Arshad, 2023).

One of the major water pollutants of Terna River is phosphate. In Dharashiv District, the main crops like soybean, jawar, chickpea plants, sugarcane, main fruits like papaya, pomegranates, and main vegetables like tomatoes, brinjals are cultivated. Many farmers use organophosphorus insecticides including Malathion, Parathion, and Diarithion. A large amount of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides are used on crops, and the organophosphate insecticides used on fruits and vegetables in the field may get washed by rainwater and may reach the river through agricultural run-off. Detergents are important contributors of phosphate ⁸ (Federico Maggi et al., 2023).

Huge quantities of detergents are used annually. Most of it is flushed in to the sewer systems from bathrooms, kitchens, laundries, factories, and other industrial establishments.

Phosphate reflects BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand); therefore the number of microbes like Escherichia coli (bacterium) also increase tremendously³ (Odum EP, 1971). Municipal wastewater networks receive vast quantities of point-source nutrient pollution flushed directly from residential bathrooms, kitchens, commercial laundries, and diverse industrial establishments ⁹ (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 2021). Although inorganic phosphates do not directly exert an oxidative demand on their own, their heavy introduction into wastewater drains serves as a powerful accelerator of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) by triggering rapid microbial eutrophication and subsequent organic decomposition processes that exhaust dissolved oxygen ^{10, 11} (Correll, 1998; Mainstone & Parr, 2002). Concurrently, this highly enriched, elevated-BOD environment removes standard nutrient limitations for enteric pathogens like Escherichia coli. Equipped with highly responsive phosphate-specific transport systems, E. coli cells aggressively accumulate available environmental phosphorus to fuel nucleic acid synthesis and cellular division, which leads to tremendous bacterial proliferation and prolonged survival outside the host intestinal tract ^{12, 13}  (Hsieh & Gardner, 2024; Prado et al., 2019).

 

Fig. 1-Water sample collection site T₁   (Terkheda goan, Dist. Dharashiv, Maharashtra, India)

Fig.2-Linearity curve graph of Standard Phosphate solution

Table 3 - Absorbance and concentration of phosphate in ppb of water samples  of Terna River

Water Samples	Absorbance	Concentration of Phosphate (ppb)
T1	0.0353	56
T2	0.0373	60
T3	0.0437	70
T4	0.0606	98
T5	0.0709	116
T6	0.0761	124

 

Fig.3- Graphical representation, of absorbance and concentration of  Phosphate in ppb of water samples of Terna River

CONCLUSION

The higher concentration of phosphate at this site (T₆) arises because of a number of factors as-The large influx of pilgrims (thousands during major festivals like Wari days) generates a massive amount of solid waste. Offerings like flowers, garlands, and coconuts are often thrown into the river, contributing to the waste build-up, Sludge water. Water containing molasses from Terna sugar factory, Dhoki, Dharashiv district, Cremation ashes (holy belief).Phosphate level in the sample T₁ to T₆ increased. Fairly satisfactory results were obtained (as shown in Table 3 and Fig.3).

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