Characterizing Monsoonal Variation on Water Quality Index of River Mahi in India using Geographical Information System

Abstract

River water quality has gained significance as river water is being contaminated due to various human activities and it needs
attention to ensure sustainable safe use. Geographical Information System (GIS) and Water Quality Index (WQI), which synthesize
different available water quality data into an easily understood format, provide a way to summarize overall water quality
conditions in a manner that can be clearly communicated to policy makers. Physicochemical analysis data of various water samples
collected at different locations forms the quality database for the study. WQI was then calculated to find the suitability
of water for drinking purpose. Inverse distance weighted spatial interpolation technique was used for generation of pollution
potentiality map of the area. Agglomerative Cluster Analysis (CA) was performed for delineating and grouping the similar pollution
causing areas. The overall view of the water quality index of the present study area revealed that most of the study area
comes under highly to very highly polluted zone.

KeywordsWater quality index–Monsoon–Spatial interpolation–Geographical information system–Cluster analysis