Consumers Water Quality Index

Abstract

A water quality index based on physical, chemical, and biological parameters is proposed. The index is based on a geometric mean of transformed values of the parameters with a range of zero to one. The parameters of concern are temperature, nutrients, suspended solids, turbidity, coliform bacteria, dissolved oxygen, color, pH, grease, odor, and toxicity. The index is applied to some surface waters near Nashville, Tenn., and suggestions for further applications are presented.