Rationalization of Water Quality Parameters for Krishna River Basin Using Multivariate Statistical Techniques and Water Quality Index

Abstract

Anthropogenic forces have led to the deterioration of water bodies over the course of time. This calls for implementation of an effective water quality management scheme. The design of an optimal water quality monitoring network (WQMN) is one of the earliest steps required towards the development of efficient water quality management scheme. One of the most important components of a WQMN is the rationalization of water quality parameters (WQPs). Since the water quality is stochastic in nature, multivariate statistical techniques are best suited to capture the variability. Krishna River is one of the major river basins of India, which has been influenced by various man-made activities. Hence, in present analysis rationalization of WQPs for the Krishna River is carried out by using factor analysis (FA)/principal component analysis (PCA), followed by estimation of water quality indices for pre and post rationalized WQPs. Water quality monitoring data for Krishna River was procured from Water Resources Information System, India, consisting 16 monitoring stations with 16 WQPs averaged over the period 2001–2010. The results showed that out of the 16 WQPs, 8 parameters were principal WQPs. The monitoring of the rationalized parameters may result in significant reduction in cost while capturing majority of the variation in water quality.