Hydrochemistry and dissolved nutrient flux of two small catchment rivers, south-western India

This paper deals with the water chemistry and dissolved nutrient flux of two small mountainous and heavily dammed rivers - Periyar and Chalakudy - of Kerala on the south-west coast of India. The lower reaches of these rivers are affected by sea-water ingression from the Arabian Sea during the non-monsoon season. Human interference through agriculture, urbanization, and industrialization in the lower and middle stretches of the river basins induces marked concentration variations in the hydro-chemical parameters. Except for N & P, all other chemical constituents exhibit high values during the non-monsoon season. Industrial contaminants in specific locations of the Periyar river reduce the pH to lower levels. Nutrients in the two rivers reveal marked seasonal and regional concentration variations. During the monsoon season, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) predominates over dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), but the reverse trend is observed during the non-monsoon season. The Periyar river shows higher average concentrations of DIN (monsoon 801 g l-1 and non-monsoon 292 g l-1) than Chalakudy river (monsoon 478 g l-1 and non-monsoon 130 g l-1). Dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) has lower average values in the monsoon season (Periyar river, 38 g l-1; Chalakudy river, 42 g l-1) than dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) values (Periyar river, 107 g l-1; Chalakudy, 62 g l-1). The rivers show a marked difference in nutrient flux due to its difference in water discharge/basin characteristics and point/non-point sources of contaminants. The flux rates of DIN, DIP, and DOP during the monsoon are higher than during the non-monsoon season, while those of dissolved silicon (DSi), dissolved Fe (DFe), and DON are lower. On average, the Periyar river discharges 4953 t y-1 of DIN and 1626 t y-1 of DON to the coastal waters, and the corres-ponding values of the Chalakudy river are 772 t y-1 and 596 t y-1. The Periyar and Chalakudy rivers discharge 245 t y-1 and 70.8 t y-1 of DIP, respectively. The total flux of DOP is considerably higher (Periyar river 703 t y-1 and Chalakudy river 101 t y-1). The discharge of DSi into the Periyar river (40 193 t y-1) is nearly five times higher than that in the Chalakudy river (8275 t y-1). The discharges of DFe through the Periyar and Chalakudy rivers are 257 t y-1 and 36.7 t y-1, respectively. To sum up, this study addresses the water quality and nutrient flux of two tropical rivers and discusses the impact of urbanization and industrialization on river-water quality.