B.S.Krishnamoorthy et al./ Elixir Pollution 68 (2014) 22496-22497 22496 Introduction Water is essential for life and access to clean drinking water is a necessity for good health. However, clean drinking water is not available everywhere, due to water scarcity and pollution of existing water resources. The pollution can be in the form of natural or anthropogenic activities (Trivey and Pandey, 1990). The quality of river water is influenced by various natural factors such as rainfall, temperature and weathering of rocks and anthropogenic activities which alter the hydrochemistry of river water (Indrani Gupta et al., 2011). Turbidity, nutrients and biological oxygen demand of river indicates the pollution level (Rajmohan and Elango, 2005). Unplanned urbanization and rapid growth of industrialization increase river pollution crisis in river ecosystem. The problem of water quality deterioration is mainly due to human activities such as discharge of industrial and sewage wastes and agricultural runoff which cause ecological damage and pose serious health hazards (Bhattacharya et al., 2012). Water sources available for drinking and other domestic purposes must possess high degree of purity, free from chemical contamination and microorganisms. The rapid growth of urban areas has further affected the water quality due to over exploitation of resources and improper waste disposal practices. The study on physico-chemical parameters of surface water in river Vaigai has been observed for the period of three months (October 2013 to December 2013). The physic-Chemical parameters like color, electrical conductivity, odor, total dissolved solids, pH, dissolved oxygen, BOD, COD, total alkalinity, calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Manganese, Free ammonia, Nitrate, Chloride, Fluoride, Sulphate, Phosphate were recorded in all seven samples. Study Area: Madurai is situated in South India of TamilNadu State. The city has grown on both sides of Vaigai River. The city is situated on 9°48’ N longitude and 78°06 E longitude. The sampling sites were selected on the basis of their distance, such as Scholavandan (S1), Thiruvedakam (S2), Thenur (S3), Kochadai (S4), Arappalayam (S5), Goripalayam (S6) and Teppakulam ((S7). Materials and Methods: Water samples were collected from October 2013 to December 2013. Water samples were collected in sterilized clean high density polythene bottles. Acidifying the water samples after every collection and take to the samples at laboratory within a day. The samples were analyzed (Physical and chemical Parameters) by (BIS, 1983 and APHA,1998) method. The following parameters were analyzed such as Color, Odour, Turbidity, TDS, Electrical conductivity, pH, Total Alkalinity, Total Hardness, Ca, Mg, Fe, Manganese, Free NH 3 , NO 2 , NO 3 , Cl, F, SO 4 and PO 4 . Results and Discussion: In this present study, analysis of surface river water quality in seven locations was carried out to determine the physical and chemical characteristics of water. The Water Samples are collected from Vaigai River bed area flowing on the West and East of Madurai city respectively and receiving domestic, industrial and agricultural pollutants from their catchments areas, using clean polythene bottles and taken to the laboratory and preserved by using HNO3. pH is determined by using pH meter; Dissolved Solid is determined by using TDS meter. The other parameters are measured by using different standard methods. (APHA, 1985). Total alkalinity was determined by visual titration method using methyl orange and phenolphthalein as indicator. Total hardness and calcium were measured by EDTA titrimetric method using EBT indicator respectively. Chloride is determined by Argentometric method using potassium chromate indicator. Anthropogenic impact on Vaigai river surface water at Madurai with special reference to physico-chemical analysis B.S.Krishnamoorthy, V.K.Kanaga Durga Lakshmi and S.Vijay Department of Zoology, The Madura College, Madurai-11. ABSTRACT In this present study, analysis of surface river water quality in seven locations was carried out to determine the physical and chemical characteristics of water.The sampling sites were selected on the basis of their distance, such as Scholavandan (S1), Thiruvedakam (S2), Thenur (S3), Kochadai (S4), Arappalayam (S5), Goripalayam (S6) and Teppakulam ((S7). The pH value 7.0 is considered as best and ideal. The pH is range from 7.38 to 7.87 which was the permissible limit. Total dissolved solids and Electrical conductivity were found moderate in S1 to S6 site and S7 were recorded maximum. The total hardness and alkalinity also recorded maximum in S7 site than that remains. The Calcium, Mg, and Fe were recorded maximum in S7 site rest of others were permissible limit. Free NH 3 was found maximum in S5 (1.2mg/L), S6 (1.5mg/L) and S7 (2.5mg/L) site. Nitrite was observed high in S3 (1.5mg/L). Phosphate was found objectable limit in S3 (1.2mg/L) and S7 (2.0mg/L). Finally, the result was concluding that the surface running water was contaminated at few sampling sites namely S5 (Arappalayam), S6 (Goripalayam) and S7 (Teppakkulam) due to the anthropogenic activity. But the sampling sites S1, S2, S3 and S4 are recommended for use to drinking and other purpose. © 2014 Elixir All rights reserved ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received: 14 February 2014; Received in revised form: 26 February 2014; Accepted: 15 March 2014; Keywords Vaigai River, Water Quality, Physico-chemical, Anthropogenic activity. Elixir Pollution 68 (2014) 22496-22497 Pollution Available online at www.elixirpublishers.com (Elixir International Journal) Tele: E-mail addresses: drkrishna83@gmail.com © 2014 Elixir All rights reserved