Assessing water quality in the Godavari River, Nashik: A study on specific gravity and surface tension variations

<div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; line-height: 120%; mso-pagination: none; layout-grid-mode: char; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; margin: 12.0pt 0cm 6.0pt 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">The Godavari River flows year-round, being a perennial watercourse, providing a steady water supply. However, rising pollution threatens its water quality. Without regular pollution control, it may face a decline similar to the River Nandini, which vanished in the 1940s along with its surrounding forest. Thus, this study investigated the specific gravity and surface tension of various water samples collected near the Victoria Bridge on the Godavari River to assess the impact of different contaminants. Samples analy</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">z</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">ed include pure water, polluted water, saline water, water with detergent, slightly muddy water, and slightly ashy water, which might contain gold particles or gold dust in it. The findings reveal that saline water exhibited the highest specific gravity (1.025 g/cm</span><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">3</span></sup><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">), while pure water maintained a specific gravity of 1.000 g/cm</span><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">3</span></sup><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">. At point 1, the surface tension ranged from 31 to 42 mN/m. For point 2, it fell between 49 and 55 mN/m. Point 3 showed a range of 49 to 60 mN/m, while at point 4, it varied from 49 to 57 mN/m. Lastly, point 5 exhibited surface tension values between 49 and 56 mN/m at Victoria Bridge. Surface tension measurements ranged from 55 to 70 mN/m at all five points—point 1 through point 5 each displayed values within this consistent interval at Tapovan Bridge and a point near Dasak Bridge. Thus, surface tension measurements indicated that contaminants such as detergents and organic pollutants significantly reduce water’s surface tension, affecting the transport and fate of pollutants. The average suspended particle mass (mg) was found to be about 13.4 (mg). These results emphasi</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">z</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">e the importance of continuous monitoring and remediation efforts to maintain water quality, especially under extreme climatic conditions.</span></p> </div>