Untitled

Abstract

Various National and International Agencies involved in water quality assessment and pollution control have defined water quality criteria for different uses of water considering different indicator parameters. Classification schemes for water quality criteria/standards developed by these agencies differ in addition to terminologies used such as Action level, Guide level etc. in defining the concentration values in these classes. In the present article a general classification scheme viz. Excellent, Acceptable, Slightly Polluted, Polluted and Heavily Polluted water is proposed for surface water quality assessment. The concentration ranges in these classes are defined in Indian scenario considering Indian Standards and CPCB criteria. Standards by the European Community (EC), WHO etc. and the reported facts about the pollution effects of important water quality indicator parameters on the surrounding were also taken into account. The mathematical equations to transform the actual concentration values into pollution indices are formulated and corresponding value function curves are plotted. Based on the individual index values, an 'Overall Index of Pollution' (OIP) is estimated. The application of OIP is demonstrated at a few sampling stations on river Yamuna based on observed water quality data. The general classification scheme along with concentration ranges defined in these classes will be of immense use for determining the surface water quality status with reference to specific individual parameter, and the OIP for assessing the overall water quality status in Indian context.

Ranking of Storm Water Harvesting Sites Using Heuristic and Non-Heuristic Weighing Approaches

“…This integrated score forms the basis for selecting a few top sites. This practice of aggregating attributes is widely used in literature [35,36]. It is needless to emphasize that ranking based on "n" attributes will create a pool of "n" options, whereas the present approach will provide only one aggregated score.…”

Physicochemical and Bacteriological Analysis of Water Quality in Drought Prone Areas of Pune and Satara Districts of Maharashtra, India

“…OPI used by Sargaonkar& Deshpande (2003) considered E coli count for calculation of OIP. The Class index values were calculated using numerical equations [38]. The numerical estimate of OIP corresponded to different levels of pollution, namely, 0-1, 1-2, 2-4, 4-8, 8-16 stand for excellent, acceptable, slightly polluted, polluted, and heavily polluted water respectively [22].…”

Spatial distribution of ground water quality in some selected parts of Pune city, Maharashtra, India using GIS

“…TDS are compounds of inorganic salts (principally Ca, Mg, K, Na, HCO 3 -, Chlorides and SO 4 2-) and of small amounts of organic matter that are dissolved in water. The TDS amount ranges between 50mg/l to 650mg/ l with an average of 367 mg/l.…”

“…Ascertaining the quality of groundwater is crucial before its use. Water may be used for various purposes such as drinking, agricultural, recreational and industrial activities 3,4 . Groundwater assessment has been based on laboratory investigation, but the advent of Satellite Technology and Geographical Information System (GIS) has made it very easy to integrate various databases 5 .…”