Assessing the Water Quality of Seikan River using NSFWQI and BCWQI Indicators

Abstract

In this research, five sampling stations were selected on the Seikan River in order to investigate the water quality of the river and sampling was carried out during autumn and winter 2015. Zoning or classification of water quality of the river was determined based on BCWQI was NSFWQI indicators. Qualitative indicators showed the NSFWQI index was within average condition at the source and upstream stations; other stations showed bad situation in fall and winter. In the case of BCWQI index, the stations 1 and 2 had good conditions in fall, whereas, the other stations in this season and the whole stations were in suitable conditions in winter. These results indicated that NSFWQI has better validity rather than BCWQI because in the software program for NSFWQI, measured indicators can overlap other parameters based on their weight limits. Hence, the index resulted has higher validity. Therefore, the results of this indicator provide decision making for monitoring and controlling the polluting sources of the river water and its proper application in different water consumption for the authorities. The results showed that the river's water is appropriate for agriculture and aquaculture in both seasons.

Keywords

• seikan river
• nsfwqi
• bcwqi
• water quality