Use Of Water Quality Index Research Articles

Classification of river water quality in Ogun and Ona River Basins, Nigeria using CCME framework: Implications for sustainable environmental management

The limitation posed by the traditional comparison of water quality indicators with guide values or acceptable limits has necessitated the use of water quality indices. Most water quality indices d...

The Use of Water Quality Indices (WQI and SAR) for Multipurpose Assessment of Water in Dam Reservoirs

The Use of Water Quality Indices (WQI and SAR) for Multipurpose Assessment of Water in Dam Reservoirs

Status and trends of water quality in the Tafna catchment: a comparative study using water quality indices

Water quality indices (WQIs) are necessary for resolving lengthy, multi-parameter, water analysis reports into single digit scores; different WQIs have been developed worldwide which are greatly differing in terms of mathematical structures, the numbers and types of variables included, etc. The aim of this paper is to evaluate trends of water quality in Tafna basin with a comparison of 10 WQIs perceived as the most important indices for water quality assessment. The results show that there is an appreciable difference between indices values for the same water sample. The results also show that water quality categorization for sampling stations in the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment WQI (CCMEWQI) and British Columbia WQI (BCWQI) was found to be ‘marginal’ for all sampling stations, except Hammam Boughrara reservoir and Mouillah wadi where it was found to be ‘poor’. For the Aquatic Toxicity Index, it was found to be ‘totally unsuitable for normal fish life’ for all stations and ‘suitable only for hardy fish species' for Mouillah wadi and Boughrara reservoir. The results show that this transboundary catchment always needs strategies for more effective pollution control management. Future use of WQIs in this way should prove a valuable tool for environmental planning decision-makers in tracking water quality change.

Use of water quality index as a tool for urban water resources management

The quality of water resources in urban areas has undergone degradation due to the discharge of domestic and industrial wastewaters and urbanization among other factors. Despite the legal instruments that aim to preserve water bodies, other mechanisms should be implemented, such as monitoring networks and reporting results. Another challenge is the interpretation of the results that may support decision making on the actions that must be taken to preserve the water quality. In this study, we examined the results of physicochemical and microbiological analyses in a monitoring network that comprised 12 sampling stations. Results were compared with water quality standards established in legislation and calculation of two water quality indexes, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment water quality index (CCME WQI) and the National Sanitation Foundation–Environmental Sanitation Technology Company of the State of Sao Paulo (Cetesb) WQI. Conclusion is that the comparison with quality threshold limits as defined in the legislation, although complete, prevents the reporting on the overall quality of the water body. Application of the quality index allowed communication and interpretation of the results. Another conclusion is that the Cetesb WQI can indicate the degree of contamination of waters impacted by domestic sewage, while the CCME WQI is an effective tool to assess water resources considering different sources of contamination and current legal aspects.

Development of river water quality indices-a review.

The use of water quality indices (WQIs) as a tool to evaluate the status of water quality in rivers has been introduced since the 1960s. The WQI transforms selected water quality parameters into a dimensionless number so that changes in river water quality at any particular location and time could be presented in a simple and easily understandable manner. Although many WQIs have been developed, there is no worldwide accepted method for implementing the steps used for developing a WQI. Thus, there is a continuing interest to develop accurate WQIs that suit a local or regional area. This paper aimed to provide significant contribution to the development of future river WQIs through a review of 30 existing WQIs based on the four steps needed to develop a WQI. These steps are the selection of parameters, the generation of sub-indices, the generation of parameter weights and the aggregation process to compute the final index value. From the 30 reviewed WQIs, 7 were identified as most important based on their wider use and they were discussed in detail. It was observed that a major factor that influences wider use of a WQI is the support provided by the government and authorities to implement a WQI as the main tool to evaluate the status of rivers. Since there is a lot of subjectivity and uncertainty involved in the steps for developing and applying a WQI, it is recommended that the opinion of local water quality experts is taken, especially in the first three steps (through techniques like Delphi method). It was also observed that uncertainty and sensitivity analysis was rarely undertaken to reduce uncertainty, and hence such an analysis is recommended for future studies.

Assessment of water quality: a case study of the Seybouse River (North East of Algeria)

The assessment of water quality has been carried out to determine the concentrations of different ions present in the surface waters. The Seybouse River constitutes a dump of industrial and domestic rejections which contribute to the degradation of water quality. A total of 48 surface water samples were collected from different stations. The first objective of this study is the use of water quality index (WQI) to evaluate the state of the water in this river. The second aim is to calculate the parameters of the quality of water destined for irrigation such as sodium adsorption ratio, sodium percentage, and residual sodium carbonate. A high mineralization and high concentration of major chemical elements and nutrients indicate inevitably a high value of WQI index. The mean value of electrical conductivity is about 945.25 µs/cm in the station 2 (Bouhamdane) and exceeds 1,400 µs/cm in station 12 of Nador. The concentration of sulfates is above 250 mg/l in the stations 8 (Zimba) and 11 (Helia). A concentration of orthophosphate over 2 mg/l was observed in the station 11. The comparison of the obtained and the WHO standards indicates a before using it use in agricultural purposes.

A global scientific literature of research on water quality indices: trends, biases and future directions

AIM: Water quality has been the subject of many recent studies, moreover, the physical, chemical and biological parameters of water are used to investigate water quality and can be combined into a single index, the Water Quality Index (WQI), for use by water resource managers and the general public. The aim of this study was to use scientometrics to evaluate how water quality has been addressed in the international scientific literature. METHOD: For the quantitative analysis of the publications on WQI, we used the search database SCOPUS (http://www.scopus.com). The search was performed using the words "QUALIT* WATER* INDEX*" in papers published in all databases (through 2011). RESULTS: We found 554 articles that dealt with the use of WQI the number of publications has increased significantly over the last 20 years. India had the most studies, with 177 articles, followed by China, Brazil and the United States. These four countries together published 57% of studies on WQI. We generated 15 linear models to explain the number of publication by study sit (country). According to the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), the best model to explain the number of publications by country was the model that combined Sanitation and Public Supply. CONCLUSION: Finally, this paper presents the state of scientific literature on WQI and demonstrates the growing interest of the scientific community in this issue, which is certainly due to the importance of the quantity and quality of water for human supply, economics, health and the conservation of water resources.

Abbasi T and Abbasi SA: Water Quality Indices

With the awareness of water quality degradation, people are eager to know quantitatively the quality of the water that they are drinking and whether the water is safe for human health or not. Government officials are also expecting a concise and unique guide to help them in water quality monitoring and management. However, performing a rational and quick assessment on water quality is always a challenge to water quality engineers and environmentalists due to the intrinsic complexity of the assessment. During the past several decades, numerous methods have been proposed for water quality assessment, however, still the most popular method is the use of water quality index (WQI) to make an assessment by translating large numbers of variables into a digital number. It is applied universally due to its intelligible concept and easy-to-operate procedure for water quality engineers. WQI has undergone significant development over the past several decades, but its advances have never been comprehensively reviewed. Water Quality Indices by Tasneem Abbasi and S.A. Abbasi is the first monograph that introduces the history, advances, application and future perspective of WQI in environmental science (Fig. 1). It describes the purpose of WQIs, their development, strengths and weaknesses. This excellent book will definitely be widely referenced by international scholars. Water Quality Indices is organized into three relatively concise parts. The first part consisting of 11 chapters focuses on the introduction and application of physicochemical parameter-based WQIs. Part II comprises four chapters introducing the WQI application integrated with P. Li (&) School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Chang’an University, No. 126 Yanta Road, Xi’an 710054, China e-mail: lipy2@163.com

Water quality analysis of River Yamuna using water quality index in the national capital territory, India (2000–2009)

River Yamuna, in the national capital territory (NCT), commonly called Delhi (India), has been subjected to immense degradation and pollution due to the huge amount of domestic wastewater entering the river. Despite the persistent efforts in the form of the Yamuna Action Plan phase I and II (YAP) (since 1993 to date), the river quality in NCT has not improved. The restoration of river water quality has been a major challenge to the environmental managers. In the present paper, water quality index (WQI) was estimated for the River Yamuna within the NCT to study the aftereffects of the projects implemented during YAP I and II. The study was directed toward the use of WQI to describe the level of pollution in the river for a period of 10 years (2000–2009). The study also identifies the critical pollutants affecting the river water quality during its course through the city. The indices have been computed for pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon season at four locations, namely Palla, ODRB, Nizamuddin and Okhla in the river. It was found that the water quality ranged from good to marginal category at Palla and fell under poor category at all other locations. BOD, DO, total and fecal coliforms and free ammonia were found to be critical parameters for the stretch.

Assessment of the Water Quality Index of Otamiri and Oramiriukwa Rivers

Problem statement: The impact of anthropogenic activities on Otamiri and Oramiriukwa Rivers as a result of the increasing rate of urbanization in Owerri, Nigeria is of a great concern due to the fact that water from these rivers is the source of water distributed for public use. These rivers are of particular importance in the study of surface water pollution because effluents from industries, municipal waste, agricultural and urban run-off are discharged into it thereby deteriorating the quality. Approach: This study used the application of Water Quality Index (WQI) in evaluating the quality of Otamiri and Oramiriukwa Rivers for public usage. This was done by subjecting the 180 samples collected to comprehensive physicochemical and bacteriological analysis using APHA standard methods of analysis. Results: The overall WQI for the samples was 174.49. The high concentration of conductivity, color, total solids, turbidity, total coliform, iron, manganese, COD, BOD and nitrate were responsible for the high value of WQI which may be attributed to the anthropogenic interference along the river bank. The results of the analysis when compared with the Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ) permissible limit showed that the rivers were polluted and that the water is not safe for domestic use and would need treatment. Conclusion: The use of WQI in elucidating surface water quality evaluation and management has been demonstrated by this study. WQI is also valuable tool in categorizing the pollution sources of surface waters.

Aplicação de métodos físicos, químicos e biológicos na avaliação da qualidade das águas em áreas de aproveitamento hidroelétrico da bacia do rio São Tomás, município de Rio Verde - Goiás

O potencial hídrico do país aliado às novas políticas de incentivo a reestruturação do potencial energético estimula a iniciativa privada para a produção/geração de energia em matrizes alternativas. Inserem-se neste contexto as Pequenas Centrais Hidrelétricas PCHs, empreendimentos com menores custos de implantação e menores impactos socioambientais. Um dos requisitos legais para a implantação destes empreendimentos é a realização de estudos que demonstrem as análises das interações destes com o meio ambiente e as respectivas medidas de controle e mitigação dos impactos ambientais. Para tanto foi realizada a avaliação da qualidade das águas de trechos do rio São Tomás no município de Rio Verde no sudoeste goiano como parte dos estudos ambientais necessários para a instalação de quatro PCHs, em quatro pontos de aproveitamento hidrelétrico do rio. Buscou-se com esta avaliação delinear o perfil da qualidade da água deste curso de água anteriormente à instalação de empreendimentos de geração de energia elétrica. Para a avaliação foi utilizada a correlação entre diferentes métodos de análises de qualidade: a aplicação do protocolo de avaliação ecológica rápida, avaliação por bioindicadores coletados nos pontos de amostragem, análise físico-química e bacteriológica e a utilização de Índice de Qualidade de Água IQA.

Comparison of structural and functional stream assessment methods to detect changes in riparian vegetation and water pH

Summary1. Streams draining conifer plantations are often assumed to suffer from reduced ecosystem function due to acidity and diminished basal food resources. Evidence exists for the deleterious impacts of conifer plantations on stream ecosystem function and also of the negative impacts of acidification. This study compared the performance of a measure of ecosystem function (leaf litter decomposition) with structural measures (shredder species richness; shredder abundance; ASPT (Average Score Per Taxon) and seven different acidity index scores) in determining the impacts of conifer plantations and acidification on streams.2. The study was conducted in the Derbyshire Peak District (U.K.) from January to April 2003. Five pairs of sites with broadleaved versus coniferous riparian vegetation were selected for comparison. Three of the broadleaved sites and two of the coniferous sites were also acid (mean pH < 6.1).3. Breakdown rates of alder and oak leaves as well as shredder species richness and abundance were determined from mesh bags. Benthic samples were also collected on the same sampling dates and these were used to calculate the various index scores for each site. Community composition was investigated using redundancy analysis.4. Clear differences in mesh bags were observed between the two riparian vegetation types: all parameters measured were higher in conifer sites than broadleaved sites. Leaf litter breakdown also differed between pH classes: mass loss was higher in neutral than acid sites. Structural index scores were unable to differentiate between the riparian vegetation types and with the exception of the species level Acid Water Indicator Community score, no structural index was able to differentiate between the two acidity classes.5. The results suggest that stream function (leaf litter breakdown) responds to differences in riparian land use and stream acidity more strongly overall than community structure (structural indices). This in turn suggests that stream structure and function may be only loosely coupled. Therefore, the use of water quality indices should ideally be combined with functional measures to obtain a complete assessment of stream ecosystems.

Comments to the use of water quality indices to verify the impact of Córdoba City (Argentina) on Suquı́a river

Comments to the use of water quality indices to verify the impact of Córdoba City (Argentina) on Suquı́a river

Use of water quality indices to verify the impact of Córdoba City (Argentina) on Suquı́a River

We verified the usefulness of water quality indices (WQI) to assess the water quality from multiple measured parameters, and to evaluate spatial and temporal changes. Measured parameters include many of those recommended by the GEMS/Water UNEP program. Two WQI (subjective and objective—WQI sub and WQI obj) take into consideration 20 parameters. Another index (minimal—WQI min) was developed considering only three parameters: turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and either conductivity or dissolved solids. WQI sub tends to overestimate the pollution due to the use of a subjective constant, which is not necessarily correlated with the measured parameters. WQI min shows a similar trend to WQI sub and WQI obj at a lower analytical cost; however, it should be combined with WQI obj to corroborate the results. The use of WQI could be of particular interest for developing countries, because they provide cost-effective water quality assessment as well as the possibility of evaluating trends. As a case study, we report on the use of WQI to evaluate spatial and seasonal changes in the water quality from the Suquı́a River in Córdoba City (Argentina) and nearby locations. The city urban activity produces a serious and negative effect on the water quality; this is particularly severe in locations following the city sewage discharge. The dry season shows the worst water quality.

Environmental impact analysis in water pollution control

The need for a wide‐ranging environmental impact analysis to guide the establishment of water quality objectives and the associated effluent discharge standards is discussed. The particular problems associated with water pollution control are identified including: multiple and conflicting demands; multiple parameter objective specifications, the stochastic and time varying nature of the system; secondary and tertiary effects; and time‐delay. Current environmental impact analysis techniques are described and discussed and it is concluded that none are yet able to satisfy fully the problems posed by the formulation and implementation of water pollution control strategies. The application of percentile water quality standards is discussed briefly and some of the principal difficulties outlined. The use of water quality indices is also commented upon.

Use of water quality index for river classification and zoning of Ganga river

The practice of river classification on the basis of standards is difficult to apply because, in many cases not all water quality variable values satisfy the corresponding limits set for a single class of use. In such situations it would be simpler and more rational to classify a river for a given use on the basis of an index derived to include the integrated effect and relative importance of each relevant variable in the given use. Criteria and methodology for evolving such quality indices and limits of significant variables for the different grades of the various beneficial uses of a water are proposed. The simplified model for the Water Quality Index (WQI) has been used to evaluate the WQI values of the River Ganga for its various uses. The use of WQI is exploited for the classification and zoning of Ganga. The river standards for pollution control and water quality management can also be prescribed in terms of the WQI.