Chennai: As in famous beaches in developed countries, Marina beach also will soon have water quality prediction system which can give real time information about water quality to beach goers. Union ministry of earth sciences will set up the system at a cost of Rs 1 crore. The sensors will be placed approximately 1.5 km off the coast of Marina.
“The digital display will have information about temperature, salinity and oxygen level in water and details about chlorophyll and bacterial contents. With this information, a person can decide whether entering the water is safe or not,” said Pravakar Mishra, Scientist –E, Integrated Coastal and Marine Area Management Project Directorate (ICMAM PD), Chennai.
“If the water is highly polluted then it is not recommended for the public to enter the waters. The system may be set up in May or June. We will provide the information. But the regulators have to plan how to use the information for safety of the public,” he added.
Polluted water can cause skin irritation, rashes and other side effects if one comes into contact with it. ICMAM is monitoring water quality and sediment parameters at 36 locations along 30 km of Chennai coastline from Kottivakkam to Ennore since 2013.
Recently, ICMAM scientists published a research paper on ‘Coastal water quality monitoring and modelling off Chennai city’ in ‘ScienceDirect’ journal.
They observed that phytoplankton blooms were commonly reported due to high nutrient and low oxygen condition on account of discharge of untreated domestic and industrial sewage through Adyar and Cooum rivers.
“The bacterial analysis of 360 samples indicates that E.Coli is predominant and the total coliforms are exceptionally higher than the permissible limit of 100 CFU/100 ml,” Mishra said. “The present pollution level is an impending issue and needs to be addressed immediately,” he said.
In developed countries if pollution exceeds in coastal waters, beaches will be closed for the public. Indhumathi Nambi, associate professor, civil engineering, IIT-Madras, said, “The waste water problem can be solved if we increase the number of sewage treatment plants and prevent direct discharge of waste water into waterways.”
