10 International Journal of Water Research 2016; 6(1): 10-19 ISSN 2348 – 2710 Original Article IMPACT OF HIGHWAY RUN OFF ON THE SURFACE AND GROUND WATER QUALITY IN THIRUCHIRAPALLI REGION, TAMIL NADU, INDIA 1) Vidyalakshmi Rajendran, Department of Environmental Management, School of Environmental Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli – 620 024 2) Thennasu Selvaraj, Department of Environmental Management, School of Environmental Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli – 620 024 3) Mohammed Aslam, Department of Environmental Management, School of Environmental Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli – 620 024 4) Rajakumar Sundaram, Department of Marine Biotechnology, National Facility for Marine Cyanobacteria (NFMC), Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli – 620 024 5) Prashanthi Devi Marimuthu, Department of Environmental Management, School of Environmental Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli – 620 024 Corresponding Author Dr. M. Prashanthi Devi Assistant Professor Department of Environmental Management Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli – 620 024 E-Mail: prashanthidevi@gmail.com Mobile: +91-9842802594 Fax: 91-431-2407045 Received 08 February 2016; accepted 04 March 2016 Abstract The runoff due to the pollutants caused by the road traffic significantly affects the receiving water bodies with high loads of particulate matter such as worn and torn out materials of automobiles, toxic substance like heavy metals, PCBs, salts such as chlorides and sulphates, and pathogenic bacteria. Our study assesses the impacts of highway/road run-off on the quality of adjacent drinking water sources. Water samples have been collected from 60 locations along the National Highways and other selected Metal Roads. The physico-chemical and biological parameters such as pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Chloride (Cl), Total Hardness (TH), Total Alkalinity (TA), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Phosphate (PO4), Sulphate (SO4) and Nitrate (NO3), Total coliforms were assessed. The heavy metals such as Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb) and Arsenic (Ar) have been assessed randomly for 14 samples along the roads. The results show that pH , EC, TA , Nitrate and Total Coliforms are the major factors affecting the water quality. Cr levels exceed the permissible limits compared to the other metals. Our study shows that highway run-off may also be a potential source of ground water contamination along the urban periphery. © 2016 Universal Research Publications. All rights reserved Key words:- Highway Runoff, Water Quality, GIS. 1.0 Highway Runoff – A Significant Source of Water Pollution Normally, storm water runoff is a composite of runoff from various land-use areas (residential, commercial, and industrial), in addition to road surfaces. Runoff from road surfaces is thought to be a significant source of nonpoint pollution to surface and ground waters (Gupta et.al, 1981). Highway runoff generally has been included as part of storm water studies, but in the 70s and 80s the Highway runoff was recognized as the potential source of pollution by numerous investigators (Sartor and Boyd, (1972); Shaheen, (1975); Novotny and Chesters, (1980); Gupta et.al, (1981) and isolated as a separate area of investigation. The authors noted that data available on Available online at http://www.urpjournals.com International Journal of Water Research Universal Research Publications. All rights reserved