A study was conducted on physico-chemical parameters and heavy metal contents of water from the selected area of Buriganga and Balu River of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Four physico-chemical parameters such as pH, electric conductivity (EC), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and six heavy metals like Fe, Zn, Cd, Cr, Hg and Pb were investigated to assess water quality of these rivers on April-May, 2016. The pH, EC, BOD, COD of Buriganga River were found 7.57-7.64, 1096-1117 μS/cm, 109-163 mg/L, 185-381 mg/L whereas 7.58-8.35, 996-1099 μS/cm, 102-149 mg/L, and 204.8-307.2 mg/L respectively found in Balu river water. The concentration of heavy metals in water samples were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The amount of Fe, Zn, Cd, Cr, Hg, and Pb in Buriganga and Balu River were 0.47-2.83 ppm, 0.95-2.759 ppm; 0.47-0.90 ppm, 0.47-0.83 ppm; 0.959-8.003 ppb, 0.563-1.296 ppb; 270-556 ppb, 200-485 ppb; 0.62-2.23 ppb, 1.44-2.34 ppb and 22.1-60.6 ppb, 7.5-38.1 ppb respectively. The obtained results revealed that the COD, BOD and heavy metal concentration of both the river water were higher than Bangladesh standard where as pH and EC values were within the permissible limit. The measured physico-chemical properties and heavy metal concentration of study area shows that Buriganga River is more polluted than Balu River.
