Water Quality Index: An Important Tool to Assess Water Quality of Lake Waters for Sustainable Development

Abstract

Water is undoubtedly the most important natural resource as life is nurtured with this “Universal solvent”. Because of the high-speed development of urban sprawl and mass production, the quality of surface water bodies has been degrading at breakneck speed. Rivers, lakes, ponds, and canals are important drinking water resources when considering surface water. Because of multiple stressors, including natural processes, anthropogenic activities, and overdevelopment, a critical period for surface water conservation has begun particularly for urban lakes and ponds. To have a better understanding of the quality of water, the concept of water quality index is used where a single value defines the overall status of a water body. Regulatory authorities employ environmental indices, of which water quality indices are a prominent component, as communication tools to characterize the “quality” or “health” of a certain environmental water system. With time, many new indices have been introduced and modified according to the country-specific needs and to overcome the limitations seen in a particular index. In a scientific study, the inherent quality of an index that converts a big amount of data into a single score is extremely valuable.