TITLE:
Metals Assessments in the Water Bodies of Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone, Nepal
AUTHORS:
Narayan Prasad Ghimire, Bharat Babu Shrestha, Pramod Kumar Jha, Gianumberto Caravello
KEYWORDS:
Water Quality; Solid Waste; Tourism; Open Defecation; Anthropogenic Pressure; Poor Septic Tank
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Water Resource and Protection,
Vol.6 No.2,
February
14,
2014
ABSTRACT:
Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest)
National Park (SNP) of Nepal is a popular international eco-touristic
destination. In the last few years, tourist flow has increased tremendously
generating anthropogenic pressure on natural environment. Generation of huge
solid waste, open defecation and poor septic tank condition of toilets have
been considered as
the major sources of pollution to
water bodies in the area. Heavy metals, such as cadmium, copper, lead, chromium
and mercury, are important environmental pollutants, particularly in areas with
high anthropogenic pressure. Their presence in the atmosphere, soil and water,
even in traces can cause serious problems to all organisms, and heavy metal
bioaccumulation in the food chain especially can be highly dangerous to human
health. Heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Mn, Fe and Zn) and metals (Na, Mg) were analyzed.
Thirty nine (13 samples in each year) water samples were collected from river
and springs to assess the water quality in the SNP and its buffer zone. Water
quality in the SNP has been found degraded in terms of heavy metals;
particularly Na and Mg contents were found higher when compared with the
earlier report. Iron content in 46% samples was found more than WHO and
Nepalese standard for drinking water. The river water quality in general still
stands good in terms of standard for drinking water (WHO, Nepal standard)
however degradation process has accelerated.