Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

A STUDY ON THE PH, ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY AND ORGANIC CARBON CONTENT OF THE BIO-DEGRADABLE SOLID WASTES IN GUWAHATI CITY

Utpal Goswami and H.P. Sarma

Abstract

The generation of solid wastes in urban areas is a major cause of concern in the present time.The city of Guwahati is also facing a serious problem due to the large amount of solid waste generation. Considering the importance of this aspect, an experimental study was carried out. [lie data for 1)1 I, electrical conductivity and available concentration of organic matter as wc11 as carbon content was found out through analysis of the biodegradable part of the solid wastes scattered in Guwaliati.The p1--I was mainly found to be almost neutral to alkaline in the water soluble part of the solid waste samples.The electrical conductivity value for water soluble part and the acid digested part varied widely for the same sample extract:lite content of organic carbon is found to be in the range of 16.3% to 31.7%.This study depicts an idea about the nature of the solid wastes scattered in Guwahati city.