Heavy metal pollution in water and sediments in the Kabini River, Karnataka, India

The River Kabini in Karnataka, India carries natural and anthropogenic pollutants, mainly heavy metal concentrations of Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn which are released from industrial effluents, agricultural return flows and domestic sewage. Kabini, which is a tributary of the Cauvery, drains through the industrial area at Nanjangud, Karnataka, India. Heavy metals were determined in waters and sediment (2 mu m) of Kabini River. In the present investigation, chemical partitioning studies was carried out to know the association of base metals with various sedimentary phases. The concentrations of heavy metals are higher in loosely bonded fraction than the other studied fractions. Furthermore, the degree of sediment contamination was assessed by geochemical index. It should be pointed out that Cu and Cr show the highest pollution intensity. Cluster analysis was used to know about the inter correlation amongst the studied metals. It is evident that higher concentrations of metals are found in the vicinity of industrial effluents. The concentrations of Cr followed by Zn and Ni are rather higher than the maximum background values in the Kabini River sediment. This is especially true at the influx of paper mill effluents into the River.