DEVELOPING AN INDEX FOR SURFACE WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT

Abstract

An attempt has been made to develop overall water quality index for surfacewater, using six water quality parameters Biochemical oxygen Demand (BOD), TotalHardness, Chloride, pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Turbidity. The scale of theproposed index Excellent, Good, Slightly Polluted, Poor and Heavily Polluted water isproposed for surface water quality assessment. The concentration ranges for index weredefined by considering the Iraqi Drinking Water Standards (IQS), World HealthOrganization (WHO) and other scientific studies on water pollution effects of theseparameters.