Determining Water Quality Index for the Evaluation of Water Quality of River Godavari

Abstract

Water resource experts by and large communicate water quality condition and trends in the language of assessment of individual water quality variables. Despite the fact that this technical lingo is readily understood within the water resources’ community it does not readily decipher to communities having profound influence on water resources policy; the general public and policy makers. They anticipate a graspable rejoinder as per their right to be acquainted with the status of the environment. As a solution, a Water Quality Index (WQI) integrate the intricate analytical data and generates a single number stating the quality of a given water body. This enhances the communication with the public and increase public awareness of water quality conditions. Thus it can bridge the gap between water quality monitoring and reporting methods. The selected study area is a part of river Godavari system, consisting of seven stations. WQI is found out for the specific purpose of ‘irrigation’. Weighting coefficients of the water quality parameters (multi-parameter evaluation) are estimated according to the actual conditions of the river. The flow variations are analyzed as they affect the water quality significantly. The variation in weighting coefficients, importance indices is investigated. The temporal and spatial trends of WQIsegment at all stations are evaluated. The overall WQI of the study area falls under grade-IV (for irrigation) viz. medium pollution. The study indicated heavy pollution at Mancherial which hints at a number of industries around.