International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)
Analysis of Sediment and Pore Water samples of a
Contaminated Lake - A Case Study of Hussain Sagar
S.Umamaheswara Reddy1, Dr.P.Venugopal Rao2
1
General Manager, Department of Construction Technology, Soma Enterprise Limited, Hyderabad
2
Professor in Civil Engineering (Retired), Jawaharlal Nehru Technological Institute, Hyderabad.
Abstract— Lakes sediments consists of biological and non
biological matter accumulated since from formation of the
lake. Sediment sequence in lake represents information
about the activities within the lake and in its catchment area
over a period of time since its inception. Hussain Sagar
Lake located in the heart of Twin Cities of Hyderabad and
Secunderabad receives toxic substances from the industrial
effluent discharges in to it through incoming nallas.
Pollutants entering the lake undergo either absorption or
adsorption by fine particles present in the lake water, which
may in turn settle down in the form of sludge. The sludge is
further classified into pore water and sediments. This paper
aims to explain the Physico chemical characteristics of
sediments and pore water of Hussain Sagar Lake.
The experimental results show that the mean value of
organic content in sediment is 5.6% with almost 100%
settlement of suspended particles in the detention time of
about 317 days. Higher pollutant concentrations observed
in sediments and pore water is attributed to accumulation
of pollutants generated in the catchment area and
transported through inlet nallas in to the lake. The
concentrations of heavy metals like Chromium and Lead
have shown relatively elevated over a period of one decade.
Keywords— Lake Sediments, Pore Water, Physico
Chemical Parameters, GPS, Modified Ekman sampler,
Toxic Substances
I. INTRODUCTION
Hussainsagar, the picturesque lake situated between
the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad is an
ecological and cultural landmark in Hyderabad. Lake was
excavated in 1562 AD, mainly to harvest drinking water
from Musi River by Balkapur Canal. However with
passage of time the lake lost its importance as a source of
drinking water supply with the increase in pollution
levels. The deterioration of lake water quality is due to
unplanned industrialization and urbanization around the
lake after 1960’s.
The pollution of aquatic ecosystem by heavy metals
has assumed serious proportions due to their toxicity and
accumulative behaviour. Heavy metals entering into an
aquatic system by natural and anthropogenic sources
distributed between different compartments of aquatic
ecosystems such as water, sediments.
841
The added heavy metals then undergo different
chemical changes whereby high degree of variations in
metal concentration occurs. Sediments play an important
role in buffering higher metal concentrations in water
particularly by adsorption and/or precipitation.
Important limnological studies on Hussain Sagar lake
have been conducted during 1998 [1], 2004 [2], 2008 [3]
& [4] and these studies have shown progressive
deterioration in the sediment quality. In 1992, EPTRI has
estimated an inflow of settleable solids with the
concentration of 280 mg/l in dry weather inflow of 25.73
M.Cum / year, the maximum siltation would be 3602
tons per year assuming only 50% of the solids are settled
and the study further added that there is an inflow of 18
tons and 70 tons of phosphorus and nitrogen along with
settleable solids.
The studies conducted on the lake reveled that there
has been considerable increase of contamination level
since past four decades and accumulation of pollutants in
the lake bed in the form of sediments posing a potential
threat of contributing pollution to the surrounding ground
water.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
As part of research project sponsored by All India
Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Sediments
from sixteen sampling locations in the water spread area
of Hussain Sagar Lake were collected and analysed.
Sample collection, preservation, Physico-chemical
analysis was carried out as per standard methods (APHA,
1998 and US EPA SW-846) at Environmental
Engineering Laboratory of CBIT. Geographical
Positioning System (GPS) was used to navigate sample
collection within the lake. Modified Ekman sampler was
used to collect top layer sediment samples and Kemmer
depth sampler was used for collection of core samples.
Pore water samples were extracted from the sediments
using filter presses and centrifuges and then filtered
through Wattman filter paper before analysis. Sediment
Sampling locations in the lake are displayed in Fig 1.
 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)
Table I
Percentage Loss on Ignition values of sediment samples of Hussain
Sagar lake

S.No Sample % Loss on Ignition

1 A1 6.33
2 A2 4.54
3 A3 5.94
4 A4 6.65
5 B1 5.64
6 B2 5.91
7 B3 6.42
8 B4 6.70
9 B5 7.20
10 C1 6.90
11 C2 7.05
12 C3 3.20
13 D1 2.48
14 D2 5.20
15 D3 6.38
map data ©2011 Google
16 D4 3.04
Graphical representation of variation in Ignition
Figure 1: Sediment and Pore Water Sampling Locations in Losses among sediment samples are shown in Figure 2.
Hussainsagar Lake.
8
In the present paper an effort is made to represent Average 5.6%
Physico chemical characteristics of Sediments and pore 7
water and increase in concentrations of Lead (Pb), 6
% Loss on Ignition

Chromium (Cr) and Cadmium (Cd) in the Sediment

samples over a period of one decade from 1998 to 2008.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Sediments and Pore water samples extracted from core
and grab sediment samples were analysed for several
parameters which are essential to assess the Sediment
Quality of water body. Sediment samples after extraction
of pore water have been analysed for Physico chemical
parameters. The analysis was carried out as per
Guidelines for Analysis of Contaminated Soils, USEPA –
1995.
A. Physical Analysis of Sediments:
1) Loss of Ignition: Loss of Ignition is frequently used
as a measure of the organic content of lake sediments.
The Loss on Ignition values of sediment samples are
represented in Table I. The mean value of Loss on
Ignition was 5.6 % with maximum value of 7.2% in B5
and minimum value of 2.48% in D1. These results
indicate presence of high organic content in the
sediments located in the middle of the lake and low in the
periphery of the lake where there is presence of inert
material/sand.
5
4
3
2
1
0
A1 A2 A3 A4 B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 C1 C2 C3 D1 D2 D3 D4
Sample Location
Figure 2: Loss on Ignition of Sediment samples in %
2) Grain Size Distribution: Grain size distribution
forms one of the key parameters of understanding nature
of sediments. This test is carried out on both grab
samples and core samples. The analysis is done for
bottom 1ft of the core samples, which is extremely hard
in nature and has a lot of clay material. The grain size
distribution test was carried out on dry sediment samples
using sieve analysis. The results indicates that the
particles are well graded and size varies between <0.075
mm to 4.75 mm. Results of grain size distribution of
different samples are provided in Table II and graphical
representation is shown in Fig. 3.

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)
Table II Table III
Dry Sieve analysis of Sediment Samples. Hydrometric analysis of Sediment Samples.

Particle size Cumulative % Finer Elapsed Mean Max Min

D in
Distribution Samples S.No Time in
mm % Finer particles
(mm) min (t)
C1 C3 A1 D4
1 0.5 0.0554 97.98 99.99 91.60
4.75 97.55 98.77 98.6 80.56
2 1 0.0411 94.08 99.99 91.60
2 93.87 96.3 90.2 69.45
3 2 0.0295 92.13 99.99 88.25
1 75.47 83.91 62.04 50.57
4 4 0.0213 89.89 99.99 86.50
0.6 61.98 72.76 50.84 42.24
0.5 59.53 69.05 49.44 41.69 5 8 0.0126 86.87 96.57 84.92
6 20 0.0099 82.69 93.24 79.92
0.425 49.72 55.42 34.04 31.14
0.3 42.36 46.75 27 25.59 7 60 0.0061 73.54 88.25 71.60
8 120 0.0044 67.98 81.58 66.60
0.15 16.66 17 12.92 10.04
0.075 1.94 0.89 1.72 0.6 9 240 0.0032 61.33 74.30 59.94
<0.075 0.72 0.28 0.32 0.05 10 1440 0.0014 45.23 61.61 39.96

Graphical representation of variation in Physical

parameters by Grain size distribution is given in Fig 3.

120
120

100
100
80
% Finer

C1
60 80
C3
40 A1
% Finer

60 Max
20 D4
Min
0
40 Mean

Particle size in mm 20
Figure 3: Graph showing % Finer particles of dried sediments
passing through respective sieve sizes.
0
3) Sedimentation Analysis: As per APPCB report
(1990), the volume of the Hussain Sagar Lake is 28.6
M.Cum with an Inflow of 90.3 MLD providing settling D in mm
time of about 317 days for the water entering through
various Nallahs. This settling time is too long and
facilitates sediments with micron size also find its place Figure 4: Hydrometer Analysis of Sediment samples with
in the sediment bed. The sedimentation analysis of the maximum, minimum and Mean values.
samples was carried out using a hydrometer to find out
the settlability of sediment particles. The mean, minimum B. Chemical Analysis of Sediments and Pore water:
and maximum values of percentage of settlement of Chemical analysis of Sediment and Pore water
different sizes of sediment particles over a period of time samples was conducted in the year 1998 and compared
are represented in Table III. Graphical representation of these values with the present status to observe the change
Hydrometer Analysis of various sediment samples as occurred over a period of one decade.
shown in Fig 4.

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)
Mean values of chemical parameters of Sediments and 190

Concentration in ppm (except pH)

Pore water are represented in Table IV and Fig 5, and 180
variation in concentrations of Cadmium and Lead in the 170
160
sediment samples collected in 1998 and 2008 are 150
represented in Fig 6. The levels of Cadmium and Lead 140
130
shows 150 to 200% increase in pollution level of the 120 Lake Sediment
lake. 110
100 Pore water
90
Table IV 80
Characteristics of sediments and Pore Water, increased levels of 70
Cadmium and Lead from 1998 to 2008. 60
50
Year of Studies 40
S.N 30
Parameters Pore 20
o Sediments
water 10
0
1 pH 8.4 (8.0)* 8.0
2 Cadmium (mg/Kg) 6.8 (17.4)* -
3 Chlorides (ppm) 21.0 113 Pollutants
4 Sulphates (ppm) 41.0 7.85
i) Difference in concentrations of pH, Dissolved Solids and Heavy
5 Chromium (ppm) 40.0 46 Metals in lake sediments and Pore Water.
6 Lead (ppm) 39.2 (121.0)* 0.13
7 Potassium (ppm) 7.0 34
2400
8 Sodium (ppm) 15.5 175 2200
9 Total Hardness (ppm) 98.0 2117.3 2000
10 Mg Hardness(ppm) 45.0 1627 1800
Concentration (ppm)

12 Ca Hardness (ppm) 52.6 498 1600

Lake Sediment
13 Calcium Ions (ppm) 25.5 199.4 1400
14 Magnesium Ions 10.8 393 Pore Water
1200
15 Zinc(mg/kg) 68.0 1.08 1000
16 Phosphates 0.0179 800
* Values indicated in brackets are in the year 2008 600
Analytical results of Sediment and Pore water quality 400
of lake are shown separately to highlight the difference in 200
concentrations of various parameters. Concentrations of 0
Chloride, Sodium, Chromium, Total Hardness, Hardness Mg Ca Ca+ Mg+
Hardness Hardness
Potassium, Magnesium Hardness, Calcium Hardness and
Calcium & Magnesium ions are higher in the Pore Water Pollutants
and considerably low in dried sediments. The
concentrations of pH, Zinc, Lead and Sulphates are ii) Difference in Hardness levels and Ca and Mg ions in lake
sediments and Pore Water.
marginally lower in the Pore Water than in Sediments.
Figure 5: Variation in concentration of Pollutants in Sediment and
Pore water samples of the Lake

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)
120
Conc in mg/kg (except for pH)
100
80
60
40
20
0
pH Cd
Figure 6: Variation in pH, Cd and Pb concentrations in lake
sediments from 1998 to 2008.
Analytical results of Sediment and Pore water quality
of lake are shown separately to highlight the difference in
concentrations of various parameters. Concentrations of
Chloride, Sodium, Chromium, Total Hardness,
Potassium, Magnesium Hardness, Calcium Hardness and
Calcium & Magnesium ions are higher in the Pore Water
and considerably low in dried sediments. The
concentrations of pH, Zinc, Lead and Sulphates are
marginally lower in the Pore Water than in Sediments.
IV. CONCLUSION
Physical characteristics of Sediments indicate well
graded distribution of the particles and presence of
organic content in it. Hydrometric test conducted on
microns indicate very good settling rate of the particles in
still water. Chemical analysis conducted on Sediments
and Pore water indicates relatively higher concentrations
presence in the pore water than in the dry sediments.
A higher concentration of chemical parameters present
in the Pore water indicates potential threat of ground
water pollution where lake is the source of water
1998 recharge. Increased concentrations of Lead and Cadmium
from 1998 to 2008 in the sediments indicate increase of
manmade activities in the catchment and the measures
2008
undertook to abate pollution of the lake are inadequate.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the authorities of
Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT) for
allowing to make use of Environmental Engineering
Lead
Laboratory for Physico chemical analysis of lake
sediments and All India Council for Technical Education
(AICTE) for sponsoring the project.
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