Ishim River: How safe is the water?

Brad LogsdonAssociate Professor of Chemistry

Nazarbayev University

Water Availability

Kazakhstan ranks 76th out of 169 of the world’s countries with regard to freshwater reserve per capita.

This roughly correlates to 6,778 m3 per person.

Water PollutionIn developing countries, 70 percent of

industrial wastes are dumped untreated into waters, polluting the usable water supply according to National Geographic .

According to the Kazakhstan Ministry of the Environment, most surface and ground water in Kazakhstan have unsatisfactory levels of pollution.

Nura River

Nura RiverIn 1972, an acetaldehyde factory in the city of

Temirtau began to discharge large quantities of mercury waste into the river. Although the factory closed in 1997, large amounts of mercury remain in the river and the area around it.

Ash from coal-fired power plants also pollutes the river.

(Sadykova, Dana (2007-04-02) and Heaven, M.I.; Kamberov, I.M.; Politikov; Tanton, T.W.; Ullrich, S.M.; Yanin, E.P. (2000))

Ishim River

Ishim River

Ishim RiverOne benefit is that the river is primarily snow fed.

Another benefit to Astana is that the Ishim river begins shortly before reaching Astana.

The lack of distance travelled minimize the opportunity for contamination.

There is very little heavy agriculture and industrial infrastructure on the river before it reaches Astana.

Ishim RiverWithout significant exposure to industrial waste,

the heavy metal pollution should not be too high.

Without large scale agriculture, there should be little pollution due to fertilizers and pesticides.

However, one possible source of contamination are volatile petroleum compounds (vpc) from automobiles and water runoff from the cityscape.

Sources of River Pollution

Water AnalysisOne approach to analyze the vpc in the Ishim

river is to is to use gas chromatography – mass spectroscopy (GC-MS).

To accomplish this, river samples are mixed with equal portions on cyclohexane before placing samples in the GC-MS.

The vpc will be analyzed using a GC-MS already acquired by Nazarbayev University.

Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometer

Water AnalysisOne benefit of this research besides

determining the amount of vpc in the river, is that it is relatively easy to include students in the collection, preparation and analysis of the samples.

Another benefit will be to expose students to qualitative and quantitative techniques to monitor aspects of the environment, and hopefully, instill a sense of environmentalism.

SolutionsPlant trees. 3200 liters of water per year can be

saved by one young tree. A mature tree will use 6400 liters per year.

Both surface streets and elevated ones can be retrofitted so nearby collection tanks or ditches can collect all the runoff during a rain. This water can be cleaned and reused for keeping city parks and lawns green. It can be used for city maintenance from car washing to parking lot cleaning.

Solutions

Solutions

Conclusion

Currently, we have collected samples from the Ishim river from various locations in the city.

Due to some technical difficulties, the GC-MS has been unavailable for analysis.

So, is the water safe?