International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology
Vol-7, Issue-3; May-Jun, 2022
Journal Home Page Available: https://ijeab.com/
Journal DOI: 10.22161/ijeab
Peer Reviewed
Effect on Humans due to Deposition of Heavy Metals in
Weras River and Remediation Techniques
IE Vidyananda1, MB Samarakoon2
1Department of Civil Engineering, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka.
Email: [email protected]
2
Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka.
Email:[email protected]
Received: 17 May 2022; Received in revised form: 05 Jun 2022; Accepted: 11 Jun 2022; Available online: 17 Jun 2022
©2022 The Author(s). Published by Infogain Publication. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Abstract—This study was carried out to determine the deposition of heavy metals in Weras River and how in
turn these metals would affect the lives of people. Heavy metals enter Weras River by natural and anthropogenic
activities. Excess accumulation of heavy metals such as Pb, Hg, Cd, Cr, Zn and Cu can cause severe problems in
living organisms. To ascertain the harmful effects on humans due to heavy metals deposited in Weras River,
water samples were collected from the river, tested, and analysed. Lead concentration exceeded the safety
standard specified for aquatic life and, zinc concentration increased over the past years. Through this study the
level of contamination of water in Weras River was determined intending to emphasize the harmful effects of
heavy metals on humans and to minimize diseases and complications caused by it as there is a serious effect on
the long run if heavy metal contamination of water in Weras River is not remediated. Due to the severity of
heavy metal contamination in Weras River treatment methods were suggested and a mathematical model to
predict heavy metal concentrations in Weras River was developed.
Keywords—Heavy metals, Contamination, Bioaccumulation, Treatment, Weras River
I. INTRODUCTION chemicals in the human body. Some heavy metals such as
With the growing urbanization and industrialization in the iron and copper are naturally included in the human body
past several decades, the environment has been greatly and are needed for metabolism. However, soft tissues in
polluted by the excess deposition of heavy metals. the human body easily accumulate heavy metals and cause
Increasing population in Sri Lanka has led to the pollution toxicity hindering the regular functioning of the
of waterbodies and these waterbodies undergo heavy metal body.(Jaishankar et al., 2014)
contamination due to heavy metals released from industrial Considering heavy metal contamination, it can be detected
waste, automobiles, garbage dump sites and human waste. by measuring the metal level in water, soil, and biota. Out
Heavy metals such as Pb, Hg, Cd, Cr, Cu and Zn are of all the heavy metals Pb and Hg have a significant effect
extremely toxic and consuming even very low levels of on humans as they are directly toxic, and the threshold
these metals can be harmful to humans.(Pandey & level is low in humans. World Health Organization has
Madhuri, 2014) studied about the effect of heavy metals to humans and
Considering human health there are some metals deemed they possess a rather serious threat causing reduction in
necessary, yet these metals react to cause harmful effects if foetal growth, chronic diseases and even cause
the safety limits exceed. Heavy metals can enter a human cancer.(WHO, n.d.)
body through ingestion, respiration, and skin. These metals Heavy metals mainly enter the human body due to
mainly become toxic as they form toxic soluble consumption of food fish and by drinking contaminated
compounds due to the presence of many minerals and water. Heavy metals can easily accumulate in fish gills and
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cause the fish to be poisonous. Some heavy metals can be selected as the heavy metals to be tested.The site was
essential nutrients in the human body. Yet heavy metals analyzed regularly to detect the areas where people were
like lead, mercury and cadmium have no importance in the gathered frequently and where sources of contamination
role of a living organism and only cause serious health were located.
risks. Overall heavy metals are considered to be
nonessential elements for humans as most heavy metals
are not necessary for the functioning of the human
body.(Masindi & Muedi, 2018)
Due to the toxicity of heavy metals treatment methods are
used to reduce the metal concentration in water. However,
most of these remediation techniques are applied for
drinking water and not specifically to surface water. With
the development in technology and due to rapid
urbanization proper prevention measures should be
imposed for natural water bodies and models to predict
contamination levels can be designed to obtain the level of
contamination in aquatic systems.
Fig.1- Contaminated Water in Medha Lake
II. MATERIALS AND METHOD Table 1- Sample Locations
2.1 Weras Riverof Sri Lanka Location Co-ordinates Description
Sri Lanka known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean lies in (Northing,
the bay of Bengal between 5º55" and 9º51" latitudes north Easting)
and between 79º41" and 81º53" south east longitude near 1 6.8170612, Location selected from
the equator with an extent of the land area of 65610 km2. 79.8994751 the small lake created by
Out of many waterbodies that flow in the country, Bolgoda water flowing from Weras
lake located in the Western Province of Sri Lanka is the River and MedhaLake
largest natural freshwater body with a total basin area of 2 6.818050, Point selected towards the
394 square kilometers. The lake is divided into the North 79.898571 North of WerasRiver
Lake and South Lake connected by the BolgodaRiver. The close to the Borupana
northern end of the Bolgoda Lake is WerasRiver with a bridge
total drainage area of 55.5 square kilometers and is divided
into seven subbasins. 3 6.8102016, Point towards the South
79.9030317 of WerasRiver
Two subbasins namely, Thumbowila and Ratmalana-
Moratuwa were chosen for the site of the research study. 4 6.8146683, Towards the middle of
Considering these two subbasins WerasRiver flows 79.9006791 WerasRiver in front of the
passing the Karadiyana dump site and a part of it divides Karadiyana dumpsite
into a sub lake called MedhaLake and flows adjacent to the 5 6.8141183, Point selected from the
dumpsite towards Bokundara. This area has been exposed 79.9026264 MedhaLake
to higher sources of contamination, considering not only
the dump site but hospitals, factories and industries and the
cluster of houses built along the WerasRiver and therefore After selecting the sample locations, five water samples of
can be regarded as a crucial site for the testing of heavy 300ml were collected to polyethylene (PE) bottles from the
metal contamination of WerasRiver. selected five locations each. Sample collection process was
carried out from 7.30 a.m. to 9.00 a.m. and the locations
2.2 Data Collection
selected were accessed by a boat and the water was
Preliminary actions were taken by studying previously collected from the bow of the boat. Prior to collecting, the
collected data, to obtain the best sample locations in order water was muddled to obtain a maximum concentration
to collect data. The number of heavy metals to be tested considering the whole water column. The muddled water
and selected was decided upon learning the most toxic and was collected at a depth of about 1m. As soon as the water
abundantly available heavy metals in Sri Lanka. Thereby, was collected to the PE bottles it was then transferred to an
six heavy metals such as Pb, Hg, Zn, Cu, Cd and Cr were ice box to avoid any changes to the original composition of
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the samples. Thereafter, the collected samples were Chromium 4.00 - 1.00 1.00 -
immediately transferred to the National Water Supply and
Copper 5.00 0 4.00 1.00 -
Drainage Board in Thelawala. The transferred samples
were stored in a refrigerator at 4℃ in the chemical Zinc 48.00 17.00 39.00 28.00 29.00
laboratory of the Water Supply and Drainage Board until Mercury 0.155 0.017 0.063 0.030 -
the samples were tested. Then the samples transferred were
tested using the icap 7400 Inductively Coupled Plasma
Optical- Emission Spectrometer (ICP- OES).
Then, the results obtained from testing were analysed with
safety standards specified by the Central Environmental
Authority and Sri Lanka Standards Institution. After
analysing the results, treatment methods were suggested
for Weras River, and a mathematical model was built to
predict the heavy metal concentration in water in Weras
River using MATLAB Software.
2.3 Treatment and Prediction of Heavy Metals
Due to the increase in contamination many methods have
been implemented to remediate heavy metal pollution. Fig.2- Analysis of Heavy Metals in Weras River
However, some of these approaches cause the pollutant to
be destroyed rather than averting the heavy metals entering
the food chain. There are methods adopted to minimize the The above graph depicts the concentration of metals
toxic substances entering the food chain. varying with the location tested. By analysing, it is evident
Phytoremediation, microbial culture, rhizofilteration and that zinc has a higher concentration deposited in water of
other remedial methods can be used without causing Weras River compared to the other metal levels. The metal
disturbances to the environment.(Mishra et al., 2019) levels in water deposited follow the order Zn> Pb> Cu>
Cr> Cd> Hg.
With the development in technology, empirical formulas
can be used to predict the concentration of pollutants in a The highest concentrations of metals were detected in
system. This can be applied to heavy metal contamination sample location 1, where a small lake was formed by water
in water bodies. Data needs to be measured initially that flowing from Weras River and Medha Lake. Location 2
can be used as variables in a predictive model that can has relatively the lowest concentrations of metals
relate to the concentration of a metal present in water. deposited compared to all other locations. It is important to
When a mathematical model is developed it should be notify that the concentration at location 1 is high because
developed such that it will have a minimum error this location was selected due to the fact that locals engage
maximizing the predictive variables accuracy.(Lindstrom, in fishing activities on a regular basis. Overall analysis
2000) showed that zinc and lead were detected from all five
locations while chromium was detected in three locations,
and cadmium has been detected from only one location but
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION in low concentrations. However, mercury which is the
3.1 Heavy Metal Concentration in Weras River most toxic metal considered in the study was detected from
four locations in minute concentrations.
Results of concentrations of Pb, Hg, Cd, Cr, Cu and Zn
were obtained and graphically analysed to determine the 3.2 Analysis of Past Data and Safety Standards
heavy metals with the higher risk. Metal levels of lead, chromium, cadmium, zinc, and
copper present in water in the year 2007 were tabulated
and analysed with results obtained by testing water
Table 2- Heavy Metal Concentration in Weras River- 2020
samples in the year 2020.
Heavy Metal Concentrations of Sample Locations (µg/l)
1 2 3 4 5
Lead 17.00 6.00 11.00 8.00 7.00
Cadmium - 0 2.00 0 0
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Table 3- Results of Heavy Metal Concentrations- 2007 vs Cu 5.0 100
2020
Zn 48.0 1000
Metal Average Highest Heavy Metal
Hg 0.155 1
Heavy Metal Heavy Metal Concentrations
Concentrations Concentration in Weras
in Weras detected in River- 2007 By obtaining the safety standards specified in Sri Lanka it
River- 2020 Weras River- (ppb) was learned that there are no particular safety limits
(ppb) 2020 (ppb) specified for bathing and contact recreational water except
for mercury. Likewise, agriculture and irrigation has been
Pb 10.0 17.00 29.5 specified standards for zinc and mercury, however
standards have been specified for all metals when
Cd 2.0 2.00 8.3
considering water suitability for aquatic life.
Cr 2.0 4.00 6.3
When considering standards specified for aquatic life, lead
Cu 3.0 5.00 21.9 has exceeded the safety limit specified. With a notable
Zn 32.0 48.00 29.3 difference of 15µg/l lead contamination has taken place in
Wears River to a great extent. Cadmium concentration
levels detected during the rainy season are comparatively
The data obtained in the year 2007 was obtained during the high with only a 3µg/l difference in concentration
dry season while the metal levels of the year 2020 was specified for the safety of aquatic animals. This depicts
obtained during the rainy season. When the analysis was probability for hazardous situations concerning health of
carried out by considering the average concentration aquatic species and humans during the dry season or when
obtained in Weras River in 2020, it was identified that zinc contamination rates increase. Also, analysis of these metals
level has increased over the years. However, lead, as bathing or recreational water signifies that the water is
cadmium, chromium, and copper has decreased in the contaminated and is not suitable for the use of people as
deposited amounts. Yet copper is the element that has a the WHO signifies that heavy metals can easily enter a
significant reduction in its metal concentration.In contrast human body and that the presence of heavy metals itself is
to the analysis of the average metal concentrations, it was toxic to a human.
identified that the highest concentrations obtained in 2020
3.3 Analysis of Effect on Humans
does not have a significant or even noteworthy reduction in
heavy metal concentrations over the 13 years that have Heavy metal contamination is a known problem in the
passed by. In this case the zinc level has increased by a world due to the health risks heavy metal poisoning
large concentration and the lead and chromium causes. Therefore, countries have taken measures by
concentrations have no striking reductions in relative organizations to specify threshold levels for
concentrations. humans in order to prevent various diseases. However, as
discussed in the review the World Health Organization
As there is a 13-year long gap between the two years of the
emphasizes on the importance of preventing heavy metals
comparative study it would have been expected that the
entering a human body as these metals are toxic to the
reduction in metal concentrations were a remarkable
body in minute concentrations.(Rajeshkumar & Li, 2018)
reduction rather than only a notable difference due to the
samples being collected during the rainy season and due to When the present data was analyzed it was determined that
the reduction in contamination levels due to the COVID- lead was present in water exceeding the safety limit
19 pandemic in 2020. specified for aquatic life. Bioaccumulation of heavy metals
take place in fish and since fish is a source of food for
Table 4- Safety Standards of Heavy Metals in Water
humans, lead contamination has been convinced to be a
Heavy Highest Heavy Metal Water problem for human health. Starting from one producer,
Metal Concentrations in Weras Acceptable for elements start accumulating in the food chain succeeding
River -2020 (µg/l) Aquatic Life up to predators. Therefore, with the accumulation and the
(µg/l) chemical decomposition that takes place in consecutive
Pb 17.0 2 links of the chain, when a food source reaches a human it
contains extremely high concentrations of elements and
Cd 2.0 5
this phenomena will apply to humans in undergoing heavy
Cr 4.0 20 metal poisoning.(Toxicity et al., n.d.)
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As heavy metals enter the human body in various ways, term solution can be proposed for this problem either by
such as through food, water, inhalation and by pores of moving the dumpsite to a more isolated area or
skin, presence of heavy metals itself has been considered a constructing a method of proper disposal by transporting
threat to human health. It was established that although the solid waste collected to a landfill with proper treatment.
heavy metals Hg, Cd, Cu, Cr, and Zn did not exceed the Also, as sediments are a main source of contamination in
safety standards, some of their concentrations were an aquatic system, dredging can help reduce the rate of
marginal to the safety limits and zinc has increased in contamination as it reduces the sediment content deposited
concentration over the past years while lead concentration in the river.
has passed the specified safety standard.(Masindi & Generally, membrane filtration has been adopted as an
Muedi, 2018) effective method of treatment of heavy metals. In this
However, these metal concentrations are marginal to the technique, heavy metals get filtered through a membrane
safety standards and due to having high accumulation rates which can either undergo microfiltration, ultrafiltration or
they cannot be adjudged to not cause harm to humans. nanofiltration depending on the membrane that has been
To emphasize on the wide ranging difference in used. Most membranes used for this method are made of
concentrations obtained from the test results and the SLS synthetic polymers. These membranes can be permeable,
standards specified for potable water it is evident that semi-permeable and impermeable depending on its
water in Weras River is extremely contaminated. polymer structure. Apart from these, geo textile
Therefore, since the degree of contamination is high in membranes can be used to prevent the entry of suspended
relation to water that can be used by humans, heavy metal solids into a water body. Out of the filtration techniques
contamination level of Weras River is undeniably harmful ultrafiltration is the most effective due to the less usage of
to humans. space, accelerated removal of toxic matter and ease of
operation. (Mulligan et al., 2009)
Moreover, Weras River flows from the south of Bolgoda
Lake up to the North Lake thereby discharging into the Therefore, method of filtration can be used in treating
Indian Ocean. The lake branches out and flows to other water of Weras River by using these techniques.
water bodies in the area including Kalu River. Ground Membrane filtration method can be used in effluent
water intrusion can take place polluting well water used by discharge pipes so as to prevent the entry of suspended
residents around the Weras River basin. With a total solids to the water body. Conventional method of sand
estimated number of households of 22,3000 in the Bolgoda filtration can be used by applying a technique of shoring
Basin there is a high level of risk in heavy metal poisoning using sandbags along the banks of the Weras River near
due to the contamination of water the sources of contamination to maximize the filtration
method by preventing any contaminant entering the water
3.4 Methods of Treatment
through ground water and even surface runoff. On the side
When considering Weras River, water flows over a large of the Medha Ela, gabion walls have been constructed on
area and this water is not used as drinking water. either end. The water tested from this part of the River
Therefore, it is rather difficult to provide a treatment depicted lower concentrations. Prior to construction of
method for the water contamination due to heavy metals in gabion walls geotextile membranes can be laid in the area
Weras River. However, the contamination rate of water surrounding the Karadiyana dumpsite to prevent heavy
can be reduced by method of aeration. For this purpose, metals getting added to the water body through ground
eutrophication of the lake needs to be prevented to water penetration.
maintain a maximum oxygen content in the water. Even
Another method of treatment that can be used is by
though, the water body as a whole cannot be treated what
adsorption. Weras River which is located adjacent to the
can be done is to prevent heavy metals entering the water
karadiyana dumpsite has gabion walls built along the
body from the sources of contamination. Soil
riverbanks. These walls are cages filled with rocks, and
contamination by heavy metal play a key role in water
rocks are a type of minerals that have adsorption properties
contamination. Therefore, soil can be treated to prevent the
to a certain extent. These walls help adsorb heavy metals
entry of heavy metals into the water body. Remediation
but is not as effective. Therefore, buffer zones can be
method depends on the characteristics and level of
constructed by refilling the soil using clay minerals such as
contamination of pollutants of the site considered.
kaolinite, vermiculite, halloysite and, etc. with high
(Lindstrom, 2000)
adsorption properties. More rock minerals can be used
Generally, an aquatic system needs to be cleaned and the such as slate or gneiss, but this technique will be expensive
surrounding needs to be kept in an unpolluted state as to be adopted for a large area. Therefore, most efficient
water bodies are habitats for many living things. A long- method of using adsorption material is by creating buffer
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zones filled with clay minerals and biomass depending on Table 5- Data Required for Mathematical Modelling
the depth of groundwater intrusion. Sample Flowrate Heavy Metal Concentration
Another treatment technique can be treatment using plants Location (m3/s)
and is generally termed as phytoremediation. This Pb Zn Hg
technology can be categorized further into phytoextraction, (mg/l) (mg/l) (µg/l)
rhizofiltration, phytostabilization, phytodegradation and 1 1.56 0.017 0.048 0.155
phytovolatilization depending the mechanism adopted for
remediation.(Mishra et al., 2019) 5 17.28 0.007 0.029 0.000
The best option for remediation is by preventing the entry 4 36.71 0.008 0.028 0.030
of heavy metals into the river by hindering the flow of 2 66.2 0.006 0.017 0.017
contaminants to the river via ground water. Buffer zones 3 79.1 0.011 0.039 0.063
with effect of phytoremediation can be used as an effective
remediation technique. After these zones are filled with
clay minerals that have adsorption properties, plants with Lead
phytoremediation abilities can be planted on the topsoil Table 6- Variables for Concentration vs Flowrate Graph
layer of the buffer zone. Out of the plants available for this for Lead
technique most effective kind to be used in Sri Lanka are
the well-known kinds of plants that are naturally grown in Flowrate Independ 1.5 17. 36. 66. 79.
mangroves and across the coastal line as a natural (m3/s) ent 6 28 71 2 1
remediation technique. Some such plants are phragmites Variable-
karka, azolla (mosquito ferns), eichchornia, or types of x
grass such as couch grass and false oat grass, mugwort, Concentra Depende 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
ferns, cabbage and many more plants that can even be used tion (mg/l) nt 17 07 08 06 11
as medicinal plants.(Mulligan et al., 2009) Variable-
Therefore, as an overall solution of the heavy metal y
contamination of Weras River techniques such as dredging
of sediments, filtration, adsorption, and phytoremediation Fourth Order Polynomial
can be adopted to obtain more purified and unpolluted
• f(x) = 7.139e-09×x4 -1.21e-06×x3 + 6.985e-05×x2
water that will in turn cause less harmful effects and health
-0.001596×x + 0.01932
risks to humans.
• Sum of Squared Errors (SSE): 5.559e-33
3.5 Prediction of Heavy Metal Concentration
Second Order Polynomial
A mathematical model was designed using MATLAB,
where an equation was obtained using the concentration of • f(x) = 5.311374e-06×x2 -4.971676e-04×x +
the heavy metal and the rate of flow of water in the sample 0.01671809
location. This model was designed for lead, zinc and • SSE: 1.541e-05
mercury as results obtained needed a minimum of three
Using Matlab, two graphs were plotted, and the best fit
decimal places for accurate functioning of the software.
was obtained for the fourth order polynomial graph. It also
These three metals selected were the critical heavy metals
has a lesser sum of squared errors (SSE) compared to the
as lead exceeded the safety standard specified for aquatic
second order polynomial graph obtained. The SSE
life, zinc concentration had exceeded over the past years
obtained for the second order fit was 1.541e-05. But the
and mercury was the selected heavy metal with the highest
error obtained for the fourth order polynomial fit valued at
toxicity as specified by health organizations.
5.559e-33 which is extremely low and has a comparatively
The concentrations of heavy metals tested were used as the large gap with the second order polynomial curve error.
response or dependent variable while the flowrate was
used as the predictor or independent variable. The flowrate
was calculated by measuring the velocity of flow and
obtaining other necessary data such as width and depth of
the Weras River from past research carried out to
determine stormwater drainage plan for the Metro
Colombo Region.(Study et al., 2003)
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Zinc Like in the previous cases, the equation generated from the
Table 7- Variables for Concentration vs Flowrate Graph second order polynomial fit has a SSE of 0.004135 which
for Zinc is much greater than the error obtained for the fourth order
polynomial fir valued at 1.998e-30 which is extremely less
Flowrate Indepen 1.5 17. 36. 66. 79. compared to that of the second order polynomial.
(m3/s) dent 6 28 71 2 1 Therefore, the equation obtained for mercury using the
Variable fourth order polynomial fit curve will be used to predict
-x mercury metal levels deposited in Weras River Water.
Concentr Depende 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Table 9- Past Data for Validation
ation nt 48 29 28 17 39
(mg/l) Variable Heavy Year Flowrate Concentration
-y Metal (m3/s) (mg/l)
Fourth Order Polynomial Zinc 2005 82.4 0.0358
• f(x) = 1.948e-08×x4 -2.983e-06×x3 + Lead 2007 94.0 0.0293
2
0.0001525×x -0.003214×x + 0.05265
• Sum of Squared Errors (SSE): 1.748e-31 The model was validated by substituting to the equation
Second Order Polynomial obtained for lead, for the above flowrate a concentration of
0.03mg/l was obtained. However, there is a minute error of
• f(x) = 1.364623e-05 ×x2 -0.001273914×x +
0.005mg/l. In considering the equation obtained for zinc, a
0.04983643
calculated value of 0.042mg/l was obtained for a flowrate
• SSE: 0.0001409 of 82.4m3/s. However, as in the case of lead there is a
As in the results obtained for lead, the fourth order small error of 0.006mg/l. The model for mercury was
polynomial obtained for zinc also has the least error developed using concentration measured in micrograms
compared to that obtained from the second order per litre, the equation holds a high accuracy level with a
polynomial equation (Second order- 0.0001409 > Fourth minimum error of 1.998e-30.
order- 1.748e-31). Therefore, the most effective equation However, the model developed has limitations due to the
that can be used to predict the concentration of zinc using lack of availability of long-term data, the variation of flow
the flowrate of Weras River is the polynomial equation rate due to climatic factors and the rate of contamination of
obtained from the fourth order fit graph. the water in Weras River.
Mercury
Table 8- Variables for Concentration vs Flowrate Graph IV. CONCLUSION
for Mercury
Heavy metal concentrations of lead, mercury, cadmium,
Flowrat Independent 1.5 17. 36. 66. 79. chromium, copper, and zinc were tested to determine the
e (m3/s) Variable- x 6 28 71 2 1 effect heavy metal contamination has on humans. Results
obtained by testing water samples for metal levels were
analysed with safety standards specified for bathing and
Concent Dependent 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
contact recreational water, water suitable for agricultural
ration Variable- y 55 00 30 17 63
and irrigational activities, water suitable for prevailing
(µg/l)
aquatic life and potable water. The tested heavy metal
levels in Weras River varied in concentration in the order
Fourth Order Polynomial of Zn> Pb> Cu> Cr> Cd> Hg.
• f(x) = 1.01e-07×x4 -1.794e-05×x3 + 0.001082×x2 In consideration to the hypothesis and null hypothesis it
-0.02494×x + 0.1913 was proved that heavy metal contamination of Weras
River will affect humans in negative way resulting in
• Sum of Squared Errors (SSE): 1.998e-30
serious health effects. Remediation methods were
Second Order Polynomial suggested to treat the water in Weras River either by using
• f(x) = 7.149604e-05×x2 -0.006620097×x + a method of membrane filtration, treatment by adsorption
0.143222 or by adopting a treatment method using plants. The
mathematical model developed for lead, zinc and mercury
• SSE: 0.004135
can be used to obtain approximated metal concentration in
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the Weras River by determining the flowrate of Weras
River.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank the laboratory officials of
theNational Water Supply and Drainage Board in
Thelawala and the officials of the Central Environmental
Authority.
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