Water Quality Index (WQI) of River Tapti-Surat, Gujarat, India

Abstract

Water quality monitoring is an important aspect of water management concerning to the pollution control. Present communication deals with study of physico-chemical parameters such as pH, temperature , total dissolved solids (TDS),total suspended solids (TSS), total alkalinity (TA), , total hardness (TH), chloride (Cl), fluoride (F), sodium (Na), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulphate (SO₄), nitrate(NO₃), nitrite (NO₂), dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and heavy metals like chromium (Cr), arsenic (As), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) of water samples from five sampling sites of River Tapti, Surat, Gujarat state, India. The water samples were collected at regular interval of 30 days for two consecutive years 2008-2009. The experimental values of water samples were compared with standard values given by World Health Organization (WHO). Water Quality Index (WQI) was also calculated to know the overall quality of water samples by using Water Rating System adapted by Canadian Council for Minister of the Environment (CCME-WQI). The data were analyzed statistically to identify those parameters which are responsible for variation in Water Quality Index (WQI). To identify those parameters we have done correlation analysis, testing of hypothesis, factor analysis and regression Analysis by using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science). The results show that the quality of water is poor and not good for drinking or irrigation purpose. The variance was found significant at 1% level of significance in case of and turbidity, BOD, Cr and Pb. It was found significant at 5% level in case of COD.