Water Quality Index (WQI) of Shitalakshya River Near Haripur Power Station, Narayanganj, Bangladesh

Abstract

The present investigation is aimed at understanding the water quality parameters and the findings of a water quality index (WQI) to assess the characteristics of the Shitalakshya River near Haripur power station, Narayanganj for five different years (2013-2018) considering monsoon, pre-monsoon, post-monsoon seasonal variations. In this study, three different methods were used to evaluate the WQI named as; Weighted Arithmetic Index Method, Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) WQI Method and National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) Method. Essential parameters i.e. dissolved oxygen, pH, chloride, turbidity, color, biochemical oxygen demand, total dissolved solids, Silica, Iron, electrical conductivity, Phosphate were considered for calculating the WQI. According to Weighted Arithmetic Index Method, the WQI value varied from 80 to 286 for the last five years. From the National Sanitation Foundation Method, the WQI value was found within 36 to 56 for the study duration. The WQI value was varied from 3 to 16 according to the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment Water Quality Index Method. Based on WQI values, the Shitalakhya river water was being classified as poor water for the above-mentioned different years. Among the different parameters, mostly turbidity, electrical conductivity, TSS, Iron were the parameters that caused the situation worst. Journal of Engineering Science 12(3), 2021, 45-55