Protocol for the estimation of drinking water quality index (DWQI) in water resources: Artificial neural network (ANFIS) and Arc-Gis

Abstract

) were analyzed for the purpose for this study. The water quality index of groundwater has been estimated by using the ANFIS. The spatial locations are shown using GPS. The results of this study showed that water hardness, electrical conductivity, sodium and sulfate in 66, 13, 45 and 12.5% of the studied villages were higher than the Iranian drinking water standards, respectively. Based on the Drinking Water Quality Index (DWQI), water quality in 3.3, 60, 23.3 and 13.3% of villages was excellent, good, poor and very poor, respectively. •Groundwater is one of the sources of drinking water in arid and semi-arid regions such as Bardaskan villages, which monitor the quality of these resources in planning for improving the quality of water resources.•The DWQI can clearly provide information associated with the status of water quality resources in Bardaskan villages.•The results of this study clearly indicated that with appropriate selection of input variables, ANFIS as a soft computing approach can estimate water quality indices properly and reliably.•Some parameters were in the undesirable level is some villages. Therefore, the government should try to improve the chemical and physical quality of drinking water in these areas with the necessary strategies.