WATER QUALITY INDEXING (WQI) FOR PREDICTING THE VARIATION OF WATER QUALITY OVER TIME

Abstract: This study deals with the assessment of Water Quality Index (WQI) of River Ulhas based on water quality parameters of pH, hardness, turbidity, chlorides and TDS. Constant monitoring of all the mentioned parameters was carried out on a daily basis from the year 2012 upto 2015. This study includes determining the Water Quality Index (WQI) using weighted average method and developing a corresponding regression equation considering the above mentioned parameters using IBM SPSS Modeler software. WQI is a dimensionless scale, which aggregates several water quality parameters into a single value. It can be successfully tooled to transform the complex water quality data into information that is easily understandable and useable by the general public and decision makers. WQI is one of the most effective tools to communicate information on the quality of water to the concerned citizens and policy makers or water resource managers.

Keywords: Water Quality Index, IBM SPSS Modeler software, regression, analysis.