Abstract: In the present study, a large environmental data matrix, obtained
during one year monitoring programme of 18 parameters at 16 different sites,
subjected to factor analysis (FA) to study the geochemical status and to
discriminate the different pollution sources of the river Damodar. Various
physicochemical parameters like pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total
dissolved solid (TDS), ammonia (NH_4^ +), chloride
(Cl^-), nitrate (NO_3^ -), sulphate
(SO_4^{2-}), phosphate (PO_4^{3-}), iron
(Fe), cadmium (Cd), manganese (Mn) and lead (Pb) were determined following the
standard methods of APHA (1998). The average concentrations (μg/l) of the
heavy metals in the water are Fe (598.4) > Pb (2.813) > Mn (1.369) >
Cd (0.538). Factor analysis reveals four factors like industrial effluents,
geogenic sources, agricultural activities and natural factors controlling the
variability in waters of the river Damodar. The study of cluster analysis
classified monitoring sites (16) into three clusters i.e., relatively less
polluted, moderately polluted and highly polluted area. These results indicate
that heavy metal pollution and toxicity might pose serious risks to the health
of communities using these surface waters for domestic, commercial and
socio-cultural purposes. It is, therefore, recommended that more strict methods
of waste effluent management should be adopted to reduce further inputs into
the study area.
Keywords: Water quality, heavy metals, factor analysis, cluster analysis, Damodar river
