Assessment and interpretation of surface water quality in Jhelum River and its tributaries using multivariate statistical methods.

Abstract

Water is an essential part of human life, and its pollution is a hotly debated topic on both national and international scales. Surface waterbodies in the beautiful Kashmir Himalayas are already deteriorating. In this study, fourteen physio-chemical parameters were tested in water samples taken during the spring, summer, autumn, and winter seasons from twenty-six different sampling points. The findings showed a consistent decline in the water quality of river Jhelum and its adjoining tributaries. The upstream section of the river Jhelum had the least pollution, whereas the Nallah Sindh had the poorest water quality. The water quality of Jhelum and Wular Lake was strongly impacted by the water quality of all the adjoining tributaries. To examine the link between the selected water quality indicators, descriptive statistics and a correlation matrix were used. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and principal component analysis/factor analysis (PCA/FA) were used to identify the key variables that influenced seasonal and sectional water quality fluctuations. The ANOVA analysis revealed that there were significant differences in water quality characteristics among the twenty-six sampling locations throughout all four seasons. The PCA findings identified four principal components that accounted for 75.18% of the total variance and could be utilized to evaluate all data. The study revealed that chemical, conventional, organic, and organic pollutants were significant latent factors influencing the water quality of rivers in the region. The findings of this study could contribute to the vital management of surface water resources in Kashmir's ecology and environment.