Assessment of Water Quality of Tung Dhab Drain—An International Water Channel—Using Multivariate Statistical Techniques

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Kaur, Rajbir^a | Dua, Anish^{b; *}

Affiliations: [a] PG Department of Zoology, Khalsa College, Amritsar – 143001, Punjab, India | [b] Aquatic Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar – 143005, Punjab, India

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding Author. anishdua@gmail.com

Abstract: Different multivariate statistical techniques were applied to interpret the temporal variations in water quality of Tung Dhab drain, Amritsar, India and further to identify water pollution sources. Data was collected seasonally for a period of two years (2012-2013) using 34 water quality parameters. The recorded values for variables like turbidity, total suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, oil & grease, nitrate as N, lead, chromium, nickel and zinc were much higher than the recommended permissible discharge limits into inland waters. Significant correlations were found in between different physicochemical parameters (p ≤ 0.05; p ≤ 0.01). Cluster Analysis (CA) grouped four sampling seasons into two clusters. CA confirmed that the water quality of rainy season was different from other three seasons in terms of similarity and distance indices. Principal Component Analysis/Factor Analysis (PCA/FA) explained minerals, organic, agricultural and industrial pollutants responsible for deterioration of drain water quality. The present study will help environmental agencies to make and enforce decisions regarding improvement of water quality of Tung Dhab drain.

Keywords: Tung Dhab drain, water quality parameters, municipal & industrial pollutants, agricultural runoff, multivariate statistical analysis

DOI: 10.3233/AJW-160030

Journal: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 85-93, 2016