The impact of urbanization on the water quality of the Wangchhu River in Thimphu Town, Bhutan | |
| Author | Kinzang Norbu |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-97-31 |
| Subject(s) | Water quality--Bhutan--Wangchhu River Urban ecology--Bhutan--Thimphu |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Thimphu, the capital city of Bhutan has a population of about 35,000. The fate and future of urbanization in the capital city is linked to the processes of urban agglomeration in the country as a whole. It can be expected that increased urbanization will occur in the Wangchhu River valley of the capital town. This research is an attempt to study the effect of urbanization on water quality in the Wangchhu watershed. Since the commencement of a proposal study for sewerage scheme, water quality has been observed from 1988 to 1992. During this time, monitoring was performed for limited water quality parameters at irregular periods. In the present study, monitoring also faced constraints of limited period of field data collection. Hence, the study could not be performed for different hydrometeorological conditions. Based on the previous and current field analysis data , the Wangchhu River is highly polluted with bacteria counts in the section of Thimphu from Sunday Market to Lungtenphu. The grab samples collected measured maximum fecal coliform count as high as 25,200 to 39,200 Nos./100 mL. This has potential to cause significant health risks from water contact diseases. The water quality has significantly deteriorated from fecal contamination during the past few years, due to increased population in the town. Other aspects of water quality are still intact with very high organic waste assimilative capacity. Dissolved oxygen along the entire reach of the river is super-saturated with 111% to 123%. The initiative of the Royal Government of Bhutan towards environmental management in the capital is commendable. Water supply infrastructure is augmented, solid waste management established and a new piped gravity sewerage scheme for 60% population coverage has been commissioned since mid 1996. Despite the availability of these facilities, the threat to public health and the aquatic environment is significant due to the residents' inadequate knowledge and awareness of the relation between water, sanitation and diseases. The critical issue is that the population comes from rural background whose living habits leads to poor sanitation practices. There is also an absence of ownership towards the urban installed facilities. Owing to this and the tendency to take the water resource environment for granted, future impacts on the natural water quality seems grave with the current level of public participation and indiscriminate littering and weak refuse management by the concerned agencies. |
| Year | 1997 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering and Management (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Samorn Muttamara |
| Examination Committee(s) | Suphat Vongvisessomjai;Eckhardt, Heinz; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) ; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1997 |