Abstract
Conventional methods of determination of water quality index are main and popular approach to indicate surface water quality status. The present study tried to endeavor a unique index method which will be beneficial for any water quality parameters irrespective of places and water uses making calculation easy and less complex. In the present study, eight sampling stations and seven physiochemical parameters were selected based on citation frequency. Multi-criteria decision-making technique such as analytical hierarchical process was taken into account to determine weights of each selected parameter along with measuring attractiveness by a categorical based evaluation technique to validate the result. National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index was also used to compare results from new methodology with the results from existing conventional technique. Analytical hierarchical process showed SP5 is more affected than other stations which are similar to result from conventional method where both outcomes fall in the same range though values are different. It can be concluded that using multi-criteria decision-making techniques in water quality calculation is significant as it gives definite values with more accuracy and less effort making the process simple and less complex where different types of water use can be considered. Development of water quality index will be more accurate with increasing number of sampling stations, monthly variation of data set, continuous monitoring considering other conventional methods and multi-criteria decision-making techniques.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- WQI:
-
Water quality index
- NSFWQI:
-
National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index
- OWQI:
-
Oregon Water Quality Index
- CCME WQI:
-
Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment Water Quality Index
- MCDM:
-
Multi-criteria decision-making methods
- AHP:
-
Analytical hierarchical process
- MACBETH:
-
Measuring attractiveness by a categorical based evaluation technique
- DO:
-
Dissolved oxygen
- COD:
-
Chemical oxygen demand
- TUR:
-
Turbidity
- TDS:
-
Total dissolved solids
- SP:
-
Sampling points
- InW:
-
Industrial water use
- IrW:
-
Irrigational water use
- DoW:
-
Domestic water use
References
Andini, A. P., Purwanto, P., & Sudarno, S. (2017). Assessing water quality of Ciujung River in Lebak Regency by using pollution index. Advanced Science Letters, 23(3), 2462–2464.
Bana e Costa, C. A., de Corte, J. M., & Vansnick, J. C. (2010). Macbeth (measuring attractiveness by a categorical based evaluation technique). Wiley: Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Science.
Brown, R. M., McClelland, N. I., Deininger, R. A., & Tozer, R. G. (1970). Water quality index-do we dare? Water Sewage Works, 117(10), 339–343.
Carbajal-Hernández, J. J., Sánchez-Fernández, L. P., Villa-Vargas, L. A., Carrasco-Ochoa, J. A., & Martínez-Trinidad, J. F. (2013). Water quality assessment in shrimp culture using an analytical hierarchical process. Ecological Indicators, 29, 148–158.
Cude, C. G. (2001). Oregon water quality index a tool for evaluating water quality management effectiveness 1. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 37(1), 125–137.
de Carvalho, B. E., Marques, R. C., & Netto, O. C. (2019). Rethinking Brasília’s water services: ‘New targets’ using the regulatory impact assessment (RIA) tool. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 9, 7–18.
De, S., Maiti, S., Hazra, T., & Dutta, A. (2017). Evaluation of the impact of landfill leachate on groundwater quality in Kolkata, India. Pollution, 3(3), 443–452.
Debels, P., Figueroa, R., Urrutia, R., Barra, R., & Niell, X. (2005). Evaluation of water quality in the Chillán River (Central Chile) using physicochemical parameters and a modified water quality index. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 110(1–3), 301–322.
Forman, E. H., & Gass, S. I. (2001). The analytic hierarchy process—An exposition. Operations Research, 49(4), 469–486.
Hanna, N. S., Jarjes, F. Z., & Toma, J. J. (2018). Assessing Shekh Turab water resources for irrigation purposes by using water quality index. ZANCO Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences, 30(5), 17–28.
Ishizaka, A., & Labib, A. (2009). Analytic hierarchy process and expert choice: Benefits and limitations. Or Insight, 22(4), 201–220.
Jabbar, F. K., & Grote, K. (2019). Statistical assessment of nonpoint source pollution in agricultural watersheds in the lower grand river watershed, MO, USA. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 26(2), 1487–1506.
Jerome, C., & Pius, A. (2010). Evaluation of water quality index and its impact on the quality of life in an industrial area in Bangalore, South India. American Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1(3), 595–603.
Joerin, F., Cool, G., Rodriguez, M. J., Gignac, M., & Bouchard, C. (2010). Using multi-criteria decision analysis to assess the vulnerability of drinking water utilities. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 166(1–4), 313–330.
Joshi, D. M., Kumar, A., & Agrawal, N. (2009). Assessment of the irrigation water quality of river Ganga in Haridwar District. Rasayan Journal of Chemistry, 2(2), 285–292.
Kashyap, R., Verma, K. S., Bhardwaj, S. K., Mahajan, P. K., Sharma, J. K., & Sharma, R. (2016). Water chemistry of Yamuna River along Ponta sahib industrial hub of Himachal Pradesh, India. Research in Environment and Life Science, 9(3), 277–281.
Katyal, D. (2011). Water quality indices used for surface water vulnerability assessment. International Journal of Environmental Sciences, 2, 1–20.
Kazakis, N., Busico, G., Colombani, N., Mastrocicco, M., Pavlou, A., & Voudouris, K. (2019). GALDIT-SUSI a modified method to account for surface water bodies in the assessment of aquifer vulnerability to seawater intrusion. Journal of Environmental Management, 235, 257–265.
Kazakis, N., Kougias, I., & Patsialis, T. (2015). Assessment of flood hazard areas at a regional scale using an index-based approach and analytical hierarchy process: Application in Rhodope–Evros region, Greece. Science of the Total Environment, 538, 555–563.
Krishan, G., Singh, S., Singh, R. P., Ghosh, N. C., & Khanna, A. (2016). Water quality index of groundwater in Haridwar district, Uttarakhand, India Water and Energy International, 58(10), 55–58.
Kumari, S., Singh, A. K., Verma, A. K., & Yaduvanshi, N. P. S. (2014). Assessment and spatial distribution of groundwater quality in industrial areas of Ghaziabad, India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 186(1), 501–514.
Kumar, K. K., Bharani, R., Magesh, N. S., Godson, P. S., & Chandrasekar, N. (2014). Hydrogeochemistry and groundwater quality appraisal of part of south Chennai coastal aquifers, Tamil Nadu, India using WQI and fuzzy logic method. Applied Water Science, 4(4), 341–350.
Lai, V. S., Trueblood, R. P., & Wong, B. K. (1999). Software selection: A case study of the application of the analytical hierarchical process to the selection of a multimedia authoring system. Information & Management, 36(4), 221–232.
Lavoie, R., Deslandes, J., & Proulx, F. (2016). Assessing the ecological value of wetlands using the MACBETH approach in Quebec City. Journal for Nature Conservation, 30, 67–75.
Lavoie, R., Joerin, F., Vansnick, J. C., & Rodriguez, M. J. (2015). Integrating groundwater into land planning: A risk assessment methodology. Journal of Environmental Management, 154, 358–371.
Logeshkumaran, A., Magesh, N. S., Godson, P. S., & Chandrasekar, N. (2015). Hydro-geochemistry and application of water quality index (WQI) for groundwater quality assessment, Anna Nagar, part of Chennai City, Tamil Nadu, India. Applied Water Science, 5(4), 335–343.
Lumb, A., Sharma, T. C., & Bibeault, J. F. (2011). A review of genesis and evolution of water quality index (WQI) and some future directions. Water Quality, Exposure and Health, 3(1), 11–24.
Medeiros, A. C., Faial, K. R. F., Faial, K. D. C. F., da Silva Lopes, I. D., de Oliveira Lima, M., Guimarães, R. M., et al. (2017). Quality index of the surface water of Amazonian rivers in industrial areas in Pará, Brazil. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 123(1–2), 156–164.
Misaghi, F., Delgosha, F., Razzaghmanesh, M., & Myers, B. (2017). Introducing a water quality index for assessing water for irrigation purposes: A case study of the Ghezel Ozan River. Science of the Total Environment, 589, 107–116.
Mohammed Muthanna, N. (2011). Quality assessment of Tigris river by using water quality index for irrigation purpose. European Journal of Scientific Research, 57(1), 15–28.
Mohebbi, M. R., Saeedi, R., Montazeri, A., Vaghefi, K. A., Labbafi, S., Oktaie, S., et al. (2013). Assessment of water quality in groundwater resources of Iran using a modified drinking water quality index (DWQI). Ecological Indicators, 30, 28–34.
Mukate, S., Panaskar, D., Wagh, V., Muley, A., Jangam, C., & Pawar, R. (2018). Impact of anthropogenic inputs on water quality in Chincholi industrial area of Solapur, Maharashtra, India. Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 7, 359–371.
Noori, R., Berndtsson, R., Hosseinzadeh, M., Adamowski, J. F., & Abyaneh, M. R. (2019). A critical review on the application of the National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index. Environmental Pollution, 244, 575–587.
Poonam, T., Tanushree, B., & Sukalyan, C. (2013). Water quality indices—important tools for water quality assessment: a review. International Journal of Advances in Chemistry, 1(1), 15–28.
Rahmanian, N., Ali, S. H. B., Homayoonfard, M., Ali, N. J., Rehan, M., Sadef, Y., et al. (2015). Analysis of physiochemical parameters toevaluate the drinking water quality in the State of Perak, Malaysia. Journal of Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/716125.
Ramakrishnaiah, C. R., Sadashivaiah, C., & Ranganna, G. (2009). Assessment of water quality index for the groundwater in Tumkur Taluk, Karnataka State, India. Journal of Chemistry, 6(2), 523–530.
Sánchez, E., Colmenarejo, M. F., Vicente, J., Rubio, A., García, M. G., Travieso, L., et al. (2007). Use of the water quality index and dissolved oxygen deficit as simple indicators of watersheds pollution. Ecological Indicators, 7(2), 315–328.
Shankar, B. S., & Sanjeev, L. (2008). Assessment of water quality index for the groundwaters of an industrial area in Bangalore, India. Environmental Engineering Science, 25(6), 911–916.
Sutadian, A. D., Muttil, N., Yilmaz, A. G., & Perera, B. J. C. (2016). Development of river water quality indices—A review. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 188(1), 58.
Sutadian, A. D., Muttil, N., Yilmaz, A. G., & Perera, B. J. C. (2017). Using the analytic hierarchy process to identify parameter weights for developing a water quality index. Ecological Indicators, 75, 220–233.
Tyagi, S., Sharma, B., Singh, P., & Dobhal, R. (2013). Water quality assessment in terms of water quality index. American Journal of Water Resources, 1(3), 34–38.
Varol, S., & Davraz, A. (2015). Evaluation of the groundwater quality with WQI (Water Quality Index) and multivariate analysis: A case study of the Tefenni plain (Burdur/Turkey). Environmental Earth Sciences, 73(4), 1725–1744.
Yaakub, N., Raoff, M. N. A., Haris, M. N., Halim, A. A. A., & Kamarudin, M. K. A. (2017). Water quality index assessment around industrial area in Kuantan, Pahang. Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences, 9(2S), 731–749.
Yogendra, K., & Puttaiah, E. T. (2008). Determination of water quality index and suitability of an urban waterbody in Shimoga Town, Karnataka. In Proceedings of Taal2007: The 12th world lake conference (Vol. 342, p. 346).
Zaidi, F. K., Mogren, S., Mukhopadhyay, M., & Ibrahim, E. (2016). Evaluation of groundwater chemistry and its impact on drinking and irrigation water quality in the eastern part of the Central Arabian graben and trough system, Saudi Arabia. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 120, 208–219.
Zhang, S., Xiang, M., Yang, J., Fan, W., & Yi, Y. (2019). Distributed hierarchical evaluation and carrying capacity models for water resources based on optimal water cycle theory. Ecological Indicators, 101, 432–443.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sarkar, K., Majumder, M. Application of AHP-based water quality index for quality monitoring of peri-urban watershed. Environ Dev Sustain 23, 1780–1798 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00651-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00651-y