Ammonia as pollutant

Ammonia as pollutant

Subject: Environment

Context: An inspection done by expert committee from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in 2018 reported high levels of Ammonia in Yamuna river between Haryana’s Hathnikund and Delhi’s Wazirabad barrage coming from Haryana drains.

Concept:

• National Green Tribunal-appointed Yamuna Monitoring Committee (YMC) share detail with Haryana govt and also appraised Supreme Court on a plea to direct Haryana to stop discharging pollutant in river.
• It has not only impacted the quality of water in Yamuna, but also created problem of water supply due to high ammonia level.

Expert committee recommendation to check Ammonia pollution in Yamuna:

• Construction of a dividing wall was recommended by committee between two drains in Sonepat area in which drain carries freshwater and the other carries industrial and domestic wastewater, which at the time included untreated waste. It concurrently leads to both water mixing and polluting the river Yamuna.
• In-situ bioremediation
• Phytoremediation has to be undertaken in drains to stop untreated effluents going into the river.

Other measures could be: Treating with freshwater, chlorination and restoring ecological flow of river.

About Ammonia and Ammonia pollution in River:

• Ammonia (NH3) is a colourless gas and used as an industrial chemical in fertilisers, plastic, synthetic fibres and dues etc.
• Natural source of ammonia is breakdown of organic waste. On the other hand, industrial effluent and agriculture run-off is major man-made contribution to rise in ammonia levels.
• Ammonia concentration above 1 ppm is dangerous for fishes.
• Ammonia also reduces dissolved oxygen in water by combining with the oxygen to form oxidised form of Nitrogen.
• Water intake with high ammonia level may damage internal organs of human as well.
• Bureau of Indian Standards has put maximum permissible limit of Ammonia in water at 0.5 ppm.