Water quality assessment of La Tembladera wetland in Ecuador using Water Quality Index

In developing countries, tropical wetlands are essential for human livelihoods since they storage and provide freshwater for domestic, industrial, and agricultural uses. Unfortunately, tropical wetlands are subjected to anthropogenic impacts, such as direct discharge of municipal, industrial and livestock wastewater, leading to water pollution, and thus, affecting directly or indirectly people's health. Therefore, water quality assessment of these unique ecosystems using practical tools, such as Water Quality Index (WQI) is of great importance. This study aims to assess the water quality of one tropical Ramsar wetland La Tembladera for human consumption in wet and dry tropical seasons using WQI. This index was calculated using the following physical, chemical, and biological parameters: potential hydrogen (pH), turbidity, electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), biological oxygen demand (BOD5), chloride ions (Cl-), sulfates (SO42-), nitrates (NO3-), iron (Fe2+), Escherichia coli ( E. coli ), and Clostridium perfringens ( C. perfringens ). The WQI calculations revealed high values for the wet and dry tropical seasons, displaying values of 416.63 and 427.1, respectively. The obtained values indicate that the water of La Tembladera wetland is unsuitable for human consumption. These results might be valuable for legislative decision-makers to develop further recommendations and plans to improve the water quality, either for drinking purposes or other needs.

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Surface water quality assessment based on the Integrated Water Quality Index in the Maozhou River basin, Guangdong, China

Environmental Earth Sciences ◽

10.1007/s12665-021-09670-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 80 (10) ◽

Author(s):

Tao Lin ◽

Huiqing Yu ◽

Qi Wang ◽

Lin Hu ◽

Jing Yin

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Surface Water ◽

Quality Assessment ◽

River Basin ◽

Water Quality Index ◽

Quality Index ◽

Surface Water Quality ◽

Water Quality Assessment

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Modification of the Water Quality Index (WQI) Process for Simple Calculation Using the Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) Method: A Review

Water ◽

10.3390/w13070905 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 905

Author(s):

Naseem Akhtar ◽

Muhammad Izzuddin Syakir Ishak ◽

Mardiana Idayu Ahmad ◽

Khalid Umar ◽

Mohamad Shaiful Md Yusuff ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Decision Making ◽

Water Quality Index ◽

Quality Index ◽

Water Quality Assessment ◽

Simple Calculation ◽

Great Accuracy ◽

Parameter Selection ◽

Human Consumption ◽

Multi Criteria Decision Making

Human activities continue to affect our water quality; it remains a major problem worldwide (particularly concerning freshwater and human consumption). A critical water quality index (WQI) method has been used to determine the overall water quality status of surface water and groundwater systems globally since the 1960s. WQI follows four steps: parameter selection, sub-indices, establishing weights, and final index aggregation, which are addressed in this review. However, the WQI method is a prolonged process and applied to specific water quality parameters, i.e., water consumption (particular area and time) and other purposes. Therefore, this review discusses the WQI method in simple steps, for water quality assessment, based on two multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods: (1) analytical hierarchical process (AHP); and (2) measuring attractiveness by a categorically based evaluation technique (MACBETH). MCDM methods can facilitate easy calculations, with less effort and great accuracy. Moreover, the uncertainty and eclipsing problems are also discussed—a challenge at every step of WQI development, particularly for parameter selection and establishing weights. This review will help provide water management authorities with useful knowledge pertaining to water usage or modification of existing indicators globally, and contribute to future WQI planning and studies for drinking, irrigation, domestic, and industrial purposes.

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