Water quality status of Mumbai (Bombay) harbour - an update

Abstract

<span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-in;mso-fareast-language:en-in;mso-bidi-language:="" hi"="" lang="EN-IN"> Mumbai (Bombay) harbour receiving effluent waste from the discharge points located in an adjoining tidal basin is polluted. The concentrations of inorganic constituents such as nitrite, nitrate, ammonia and phosphate monitored for a period of 20 months were near critical values. Chlorophyll <i>a </i>content was low. The semidiurnal to diurnal tidal flow in the bay characterised by high velocity movement particularly during ebb-tide, replaces one third of bay water at every cycle per day. This helps to maintain normal dissolved oxygen concentrations as well as to reduce the organic load as the water moves into the open sea.</span>