1. Dept. of Civil Engineering , GIT, GU
Effect of habitation on the water
quality of a fresh water stream –
GIS Approach

2. ABSTRACT
Dept. of Civil Engineering , GIT, GU
•The main objective of the project is to study the effect of inhabitation on
the water quality of a natural stream, aimed at finding a relation between
the water quality and the inhabitation in the vicinity of the stream.
•The stream heading from bakkannapalem reservoir to the shore of the
beach, having a length of 6.12 km has been considered for this purpose.
•The first part of the project involves the study of the water quality of the
stream, by collecting samples at a successive intervals of 0.5 km throughout
the stream.
•The second part of the project involves the study of the kind of in
habitation in the vicinity of the stream, at an offset of 0.5km on both sides
of the stream, to be done using Google Earth.
•The project will culminate with the entire water stream, its water quality
details being geo-coded using GIS

3. SIGNIFICANCE OF CHOOSING PROJECT
• The idea behind choosing this project is to aid the
GVMC in having a geo-coded profile of this
natural stream, serving as a sub-project of the
bigger project being handled by the department
of civil engineering.
• It also gives us a chance to explore the
possibilities of GIS, which is new for us.
• Trying to derive a relation between habitation
and water quality, we believe will give us an
insight on real-time research projects which
generally are done on similar lines, in the field.
Dept. of Civil Engineering , GIT, GU

4. Objectives
• THE ASSESSMENT OF THE WATER QUALITY OF THE FRESH WATER STREAM.
THIS IS ACHIEVED BY LOCATING SEVERAL ACCESSIBLE POINTS ON THE STREAM,
AT ALMOST EQUAL INTERVALS OF DISTANCE, SUCH THAT THE QUALITY OF THE
WATER AT THAT PARTICULAR LOCATION WOULD GIVE AN IDEA OF THAT PART
OF THE STREAM AND HENCE, GETTING A PICTURE OF THE QUALITY OF THE
ENTIRE STREAM.
• STUDY OF THE HABITATION AROUND THE STREAM. THIS IS ACHIEVED BY
ASSUMING AN INFLUENCE AREA OF RADIUS OF 500 MTS, FROM THE
LOCATION OF THE POINT OF SAMPLE LOCATION AND STUDYING THE
SETTLEMENTS AND THE LAND USE PATTERNS OF THE AREA.
• GEOCODING THE ENTIRE DATA OBTAINED FROM THE WATER ANALYSIS OF THE
STREAM AND ALSO THE SUBSEQUENT HABITATION AND LAND USE PATTERN.
• ANALYSING AND DRAWING INFERENCES AS TO HOW THE HABITATION AND
THE LAND USE HAS AFFECTED THE WATER QUALITY OF THE STREAM.
Dept. of Civil Engineering , GIT, GU

5. THE STUDY AREA
The area of the Bakkanapalem reservoir is of 131,134.84 m² with a perimeter
of 5.02 km, holds a total of 2.05 % of the water which is supplied to all over
the city
Dept. of Civil Engineering , GIT, GU

7. SCOPE OF STUDY
• Only the parameters of PH, Alkalinity, Solids (Total, Dissolved, Suspended),
Total Hardness, Chlorides, Sulphates and Dissolved Oxygen are tested with
respect to quality analysis of water
• Only the main stream of fresh water which flows from the reservoir is
considered and not its 2 tributaries.
• The influence area that is considered is just a circumferential area of
radius 500mts. This has been assumed taking into consideration the
accuracy required and the accessibility of the stream.
Dept. of Civil Engineering , GIT, GU

8. THE WATER STREAM CONTAMINATION
The following factors were the major factors that were observed during the
field study as the primary factors for contamination of the water stream:
1. Liberal use of water for Domestic Activities
Dept. of Civil Engineering , GIT, GU

9. 2. Human and Animal Excreta 3. Sewage Disposal
4. Dumping of Plastics

10. METHODOLOGY
STEPS INVOLVED IN METHODLOGY
Dept. of Civil Engineering , GIT, GU
Collection of water samples at suitable points of the stream
Analysing water quality with standard parameters
Geo-coding using Q-GIS and Analysis

11. SAMPLE COLLECTION
A sample of 2 liters has been collected in well-cleaned plastic bottles at a
successive intervals of 0.5 km throughout the stream of length 5.3 km. A total
of 9 points have been considered throughout the stretch of the stream.
Dept. of Civil Engineering , GIT, GU

12. • The red markers on the stream represent the points of collection.

13. WATER ANALYSIS
After the completion of sampling, the samples were taken to the lab and the
following tests were conducted:
1. PH Test
2. Solids
i) Total solids
ii) Total dissolved solids
iii) Total suspended solids
3. Alkalinity Test
4. Total Hardness
5. Chlorides
6. Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
7. Sulfates Test
Dept. of Civil Engineering , GIT, GU

14. PH Test
Limits – 6.5-8.5

19. Q-GIS : GEO-CODING AND ANALYSIS
The GIS tool being used in this study is Q-GIS. QGIS (previously known as "Quantum GIS") is
a cross-platform free and open-source desktop geographic information system (GIS)
application that provides data viewing, editing, and analysis capabilities
A step by step process is as follows:
1. The first step in this part of the methodology begins during the sampling process, i.e.
locating the point of sampling in a GPS enabled device which can actually give the
output in the form of an ‘.xml’ file. This was achieved with the help of the “My Tracks”
mobile app,
2. The process is very simple. All that needs to be done is to record the location of
mobile, by pressing the record button, while standing adjacent to the sampling point.
This has to be done for all the sampling points.
3. Once this is done, the mobile is connected to any computer which has Google Earth
already installed in it. The ‘.xml’ files of each location is loaded into Google Earth. Once
this is done, all the points of sampling can be saved as a single ‘.xml’ file as well as a
‘.shp’ file. It is the shape file that is necessary for taking things forward in Q-GIS.
Dept. of Civil Engineering , GIT, GU

20. Project team, locating the sample
collection points
Screenshot of My tracks App

21. • A new Q-GIS browser is now opened. The Sampling Points are
added as a vector later with the help of the 'shape' file.
• Now each point is selected with the selector option, and a buffer is
created with a radius of 500m and the center as the sampling point
itself. The buffer option is available in the 'vector' menu under
'geoprocessing tools'. Each buffer is which is created is saved as a
separate shape file.
• Hence, buffer zones for all the 9 sampling points are obtained as
separate shape files.
• Now, the Data of the various features of the area is obtained from
GVMC. The main shape files which came in handy for this study are
the water bodies-polygon file, the water bodies-lines file, the roads
files, the structures file, and the land use patterns file.

22. • Various other features like playgrounds, cricket stadiums, worship
places, public utility, industries etc were also obtained. But none of
these features were located in the vicinity of the stream and hence
could not be used in a proper manner.
• With the help of the 'clip' tool, which is available in the
'geoprocessing' tools under the 'vector' menu is made use of to find
all those features of the various shape files which intersect with the
buffer region of each sampling point, along with their attributes and
are saved as separate shape files.
• After all the features have been processed, the original shape files
are removed and the newly made clipped shape files of all features
are added.

23. • For the features of structures and land use patterns, the attribute
table is opened and the types of structures and land uses available
are studied and noted.
• The browser is saved in the form of a '.jpeg' file which is used in this
report to show the various features of all the sampling points which
fall in their respective influence area, are as follows:

28. RESULTS & INFERENCES
The observations made by the quality analysis of the water in the fresh water
stream is compared with the observations made on the habitation around the
stream with the help of Q-GIS. The following inferences are made:
1.PH Test:
Variation with respect to Uninhabited Land
No inference can be made
Variation with respect to Settlements
The first set of settlements, has alter the PH
value to increase gradually, while the second
set of settlements which include minor
settlements such as small houses and huts
have caused a sudden spike in the PH value

29. RESULTS & INFERENCES
2.Solids:
a.Dissolved Solid
Variation with respect to Uninhabited Land
It can be easily inferred that as the amount of
inhabited land increases, the quantity of
dissolved solids reduces drastically
Variation with respect to Settlements
The first set of settlements, which consist
of Apartments and Independent Houses
mostly, has more input of dissolved solids
through sewage, while the second set of
settlements which include minor
settlements such as small houses and huts
have caused little change in the variation of
dissolved solids

30. RESULTS & INFERENCES
2.Solids:
b.Suspended Solids:
Variation with respect to Uninhabited Land
It can be inferred that as the amount of
inhabited land increases, the quantity of
suspended solids reduced drastically, but with
the reduction in the area, the quantity of solids
slightly improved
Variation with respect to Settlements
The first set of settlements, has improved the
quantity of suspended solids. With the
decrease in the no.of settlements, the solids
have also considerably reduced but again, with
the increase in settlements, the quantity
improved as well

31. RESULTS & INFERENCES
2.Solids:
c.Total Solids
Variation with respect to Uninhabited Land
It follows the trend of dissolved solids, wherein
it can be easily inferred that as the amount of
inhabited land increases, the quantity of
dissolved solids reduces drastically
Variation with respect to Settlements
The first set of settlements, which consist of
Apartments and Independent Houses mostly,
has more input of dissolved solids through
sewage, while the second set of settlements
which include minor settlements such as small
houses and huts have caused little change in
the variation of dissolved solids

32. RESULTS & INFERENCES
3. Alkalinity:
Variation with respect to Uninhabited Land & Settlements
It can easily be noted that the values of alkalinity continuously
decrease with the passage of the stream and have no resemblance

33. RESULTS & INFERENCES
4.Total Hardness
Variation with respect to Uninhabited Land & Settlements
It can easily be noted that the values of total hardness have a
series of dips and falls and have no resemblance

34. RESULTS & INFERENCES
5.Chlorides
Variation with respect to Uninhabited Land
It can be noted that, the fall in amount of
chlorides is a major factor of the increase in
the amount of uninhabited area.
Variation with respect to Settlements
The rise and fall of the no of settlements seem
to have no impact at all, and as such no
correlation can be drawn

35. RESULTS & INFERENCES
6.Dissolved Oxygen (DO):
Variation with respect to Uninhabited Land
It can be noted that, there is an incredible
increase in the amount of DO, with the
increase in the amount of uninhabited land.
Variation with respect to Settlements
The isn’t seem to be any correlation between
DO and the no of settlements in the
surrounding area

36. RESULTS & INFERENCES
7.Sulphates:
Variation with respect to Uninhabited Land
It can be noted that, as soon as the
uninhabited land appears in the graph, the
value of suphate content seems to reduce and
it does so, till the last point.
Variation with respect to Settlements
There is no correlation between settlements
and the amount of sulphates.

37. FUTURE SCOPE OF STUDY
There is a huge scope of study in the future as this study is just a peek into vastness of
the subject in hand
key points in which the study can be further expanded is as follows:
• The influence area that is considered is just a circumferential area of radius 500mts.
• The duration of the study should in years, for some concrete evidence and not just a
span of a few months
•The GIS data taken from GVMC is dated at 2010. There was no other source and the
effort to draw these shape files on our own was too strenuous and also quite time taking
and hence, we had to adjust with the data available. If the new data was available, our
inferences would have been more accurate.
• A wider plain or a larger stream can be considered, where the scope for sampling will
be more. Even if the same stream is considered, taking to consideration the other 2
tributaries can be a good way forward.
• Other parameters of water quality such a turbidity, phosphates, BOD, nitrates etc can
also be done which might lead to a better understanding of the impact under
consideration
Dept. of Civil Engineering , GIT, GU

38. REFERENCES
1) IS10500 – Standards of Drinking Water Quality
2) Environmental Engineering Laboratory Manual – IIT Madras (CE4030)
3) You tube Tutorials on Q-GIS – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOtdogz2GWQ
4) Relationship of Land-Use/Land-Cover Patterns and Surface-Water Quality in The
Mullica River Basin – by Robert A. Zampella, Nicholas A. Procopio, Richard G. Lathrop
and Charles L. Dow - JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association -
Volume 43, Issue 3.
5) Spatial and temporal variation in nutrient parameters in stream water in a rural-
urban catchment, Shikoku, Japan: Effects of land cover and human impact – Goro
Mouria, Satoshi Takizawab, Taikan Okic - Journal of Environmental Management –
Volume 92, Issue 7
6) Wikipedia – for information on Water, Importance of Water Monitoring, and
introduction to Q-GIS
Dept. of Civil Engineering , GIT, GU

40. ANY Questions…?