ESTIMATION OF LIQUID EMISSION LOADS FROM INDUSTRIES WITHIN THE KELANI RIVER BASIN
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31357/fesympo.v0i0.1261Abstract
The Kelani River could be ranked as the largest recipient of industrialeffluents of the country. The pollution burden of this effluent is quite diverseranging from food manufacturing industries to heavy industrial dischargesfrom textile factories, tanneries, soap and cleaning preparationsmanufacturing plants and rubber factories. An attempt was made to estimatethe liquid emission loads released annually into the Kelani River Basin by theabove sectors.
Liquid emission loads were assessed in terms of Biological Oxygen Demand(BOD) and Total Suspended Solid (TSS) content. In certain cases specialparameters such as Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Chromium werealso assessed because of chemical contamination and hazardous potential. Inestimating emission loads Rapid Assessment Procedure and the Date BadeUrban Pollution Control Model were used as the guide.
The results of the study indicate that the Kelani River receives 766.73 tons ofBOD and 462.04 tons of TSS annually from the above mentioned industrialsectors and 3.8 million cubic meters of annual industrial wastewater volume.In addition, the tanneries and leather finishing factories discharge untreatedeffluent, which is contaminated with chromium, a hazardous heavy metalhaving bioaccumulation potential, into the river basin. The amount ofchromium released into the river is as high as 6.36 tons while the COD loadfrom rubber manufacturing sector is 48.71 tons annually.
