ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY INDEX FOR SHIVNATH RIVER IN DURG, CHHATTISGARH STATE, INDIASukhpreet Kaur Bhatia, and Sumita NairAbstract The present work is aimed at assessing the water quality index (WQI) for Shivnath River, one of the major tributaries of Mahanadi River of Durg, Chhattisgarh. This enables us to assess whether the quality of water is fit for drinking, irrigation and industrial use or not. For this study samples were collected for 2017 and 2018 in all three seasons and subjecting the samples to a comprehensive physicochemical analysis. For calculating the WQI, the following parameters have been considered: pH, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate, chloride, nitrate, total dissolved solids. The WQI for these samples ranges from 29.12 to 91.62 in three seasons of two years. The high value of WQI has been found to be mainly for the Pre Monsoon season with deteriorating river water quality and this value decreases (good water quality) in Monsoon season where dilution and changing weather condition may be the reason. The results of analyses have been used to suggest models for predicting water quality. The analysis reveals that the river water of the area needs some degree of treatment before consumption, and it also needs to be protected from the perils of contamination. |