Paper Title
Environmental Improvement Study On Selected Canals In Alappuzha-Kottayam Region
Abstract
Inland Water transport (IWT) is free of pollution, accidents and is affordable. The use of inland waterways is
more significant especially in Kerala where the vehicle population is doubled in every six years and availability of land for
road development is very less. This study therefore focuses on detailed investigation for the improvement of feeder canals in
the Alappuzha-Kottayam districts [Alappuzha-Kottayam (AK) Canal, Kottayam –Vaikom (KV) Canal, Alappuzha –
Changanserry (AC) Canal and Athirampuzha Canal] for its betterment. From the detailed reconnaissance, inventory and
condition survey it was found that there were several bottlenecks in bank protection, transportation, and environmental
constraints. Also the drawbacks identified were wastewater and solid waste disposal, weed growth as well as eutrophication
due to fertilizers and sewage. The physical, chemical and biological parameters was analysed from 12 different locations of
the study area and it was found that, the water stagnation, weeds growth and other existing wastes in the canal caused the
higher levels of pollutants and this can be rectified by providing sanitary sewer pipeline and solid waste disposals. From the
socio-economic survey, base year total population for the study area was found to be 11560 and the water demand and
wastewater generation was estimated as 1.56MLD and 1.17MLD respectively. Similarly solid waste generation for the base
year was estimated as 1.78T/day. In this context, two Sewage Treatment Plants (STP’s) were proposed at locations Kainady
(STP 1) in Alappuzha district and Maniyamparambu (STP 2) in Kottayam district. Projection was done for the year 2035 and
wastewater generation for projected population for each canal was estimated. Design of sanitary sewer was based on this
estimated wastewater generation and the total Average Design Flow (ADF) for the study area is 1,27,980 m3/day. For
management of solid waste, disposal sites identified at different locations.
Keywords— Inland Water Transport, Water Pollution, Canals in Alappuzha, Sewer system.