Water quality assessment of Yamuna River in Delhi region using index mapping

Abstract

Water quality indices (WQI) were introduced with the aim of reducing great amount of parameters into a simpler expression and enabling easy interpretation of monitoring data. In this study, an attempt has been made to devise a methodology to integrate the WQI with geographic information system (GIS) for an effective interpretation of the quality status of the river. River Yamuna in Delhi has been taken as a case study and the physical and chemical analysis has been interpreted using WQI. Final elucidation of the water quality has been done on a map using GIS. Water samples were collected from Yamuna River from Wazirabad barrage to ITO barrage and were analysed for physiochemical parameters. Based on the results of the analyses, spatial distribution maps of selected water quality parameters were prepared using ArcInfo software. The overall index of pollution (OIP) based on the individual index values was estimated giving the values in terms of pollution indices.