Assessment of Water Quality in Cilutung Watershed

Abstract

Water is very valuable resources that provide people and other living things. Besides the need for water for drinking, water resources play an important role in such as livestock, fisheries, water for irrigation and water recreation. However, water quality of the rivers may degrade due to the variation of land use as human activities increase. Cilutung watershed is dominated by the agricultural land use which in many studies shows that agricultural land use has a great impact on river deterioration. It does not affect only the physicochemical of water, the excessive amount of nutrient may harm the biotic ecosystem. The purpose of this study was assessing water quality of the rivers in Cilutung Watershed and the contributing factors using physicochemical and biological parameters. According to ANOVA and PPM calculations, water quality was affected by land use spatially and river discharge temporally. The overall results showed that the rivers were categorized as slightly polluted referring to WQI, BMWP, and Saprobic Index. In general, all water quality parameters measured in Cilutung watershed met water quality standard Class III as stipulated in Indonesia Government Regulation No. 82/2001. Therefore, water sources were still acceptable for fisheries, animal husbandry, and water for irrigation.