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This paper deals with the water chemistry and dissolved nutrient flux of two small mountainous and heavily dammed rivers—Periyar and Chalakudy—of Kerala on the south-west coast of India. The lower reaches of these rivers are affected by sea-water ingression from the Arabian Sea during the non-monsoon season. Human interference through agriculture, urbanization, and industrialization in the lower and middle stretches of the river basins induces marked concentration variations in the hydro-chemical parameters. Except for N Chalakudy river, 42 μg l−1) than dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) values (Periyar river, 107 μg l−1; Chalakudy, 62 μg l−1). The rivers show a marked difference in nutrient flux due to its difference in water discharge/basin characteristics and point/non-point sources of contaminants. The flux rates of DIN, DIP, and DOP during the monsoon are higher than during the non-monsoon season, while those of dissolved silicon (DSi), dissolved Fe (DFe), and DON are lower. On average, the Periyar river discharges 4953 t y−1 of DIN and 1626 t y−1 of DON to the coastal waters, and the corres-ponding values of the Chalakudy river are 772 t y−1 and 596 t y−1. The Periyar and Chalakudy rivers discharge 245 t y −1 and 70.8 t y−1 of DIP, respectively. The total flux of DOP is considerably higher (Periyar river 703 t y−1 and Chalakudy river 101 t y−1). The discharge of DSi into the Periyar river (40 193 t y−1) is nearly five times higher than that in the Chalakudy river (8275 t y−1). The discharges of DFe through the Periyar and Chalakudy rivers are 257 t y−1 and 36.7 t y−1, respectively. To sum up, this study addresses the water quality and nutrient flux of two tropical rivers and discusses the impact of urbanization and industrialization on river-water quality.
Maya et al. (Thu,) studied this question.