An Overall Water Quality Index (WQI) for a Man-Made Aquatic Reservoir in Mexico

Hector Rubio-Arias, Manuel Contreras-Caraveo, Rey Manuel Quintana, Ruben Alfonso Saucedo-Teran and Adan Pinales-Munguia
Additional contact information
Hector Rubio-Arias: Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Periferico Francisco R. Almada, Km. 1, Colonia Zootecnia, Chihuahua, Chihuahua, CP 31000, Mexico
Manuel Contreras-Caraveo: Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Periferico Francisco R. Almada, Km. 1, Colonia Zootecnia, Chihuahua, Chihuahua, CP 31000, Mexico
Rey Manuel Quintana: Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Periferico Francisco R. Almada, Km. 1, Colonia Zootecnia, Chihuahua, Chihuahua, CP 31000, Mexico
Ruben Alfonso Saucedo-Teran: National Research Institute for Forestry, Agriculture and Animal Production, Chihuahua, Chihuahua, CP 31890, Mexico
Adan Pinales-Munguia: Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Periferico Francisco R. Almada, Km. 1, Colonia Zootecnia, Chihuahua, Chihuahua, CP 31000, Mexico

IJERPH, 2012, vol. 9, issue 5, 1-12

Abstract: A Water Quality Index (WQI) is a useful statistical tool for simplifying, reporting and interpreting complex information obtained from any body of water. A simple number given by any WQI model explains the level of water contamination. The objective was to develop a WQI for the water of the Luis L. Leon dam located in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Monthly water samples were obtained in 2009; January 10, February 12, March 8, May 20, June 10, July 9, August 12, September 10, October 11, November 15 and December 13. Ten sampling sites were randomly selected after dividing the study area using a geographic package. In each site, two samples at the top depth of 0.20 m and 1.0 m were obtained to quantify physical-chemical parameters. The following 11 parameters were considered to calculate the WQI; pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), color, turbidity, ammonia nitrogen, fluorides, chlorides, sulfates, Total Solids (TS) and phosphorous (P). The data analysis involved two steps; a single analysis for each parameter and the WQI calculation. The resulted WQI value classified the water quality according to the following ranges: 2.8 excellent water. The results showed that the WQI values changed from low levels (WQI 2.8) most of the year and the variation was due to time of sampling generally rainy season.

Keywords: WQI values; ANOVA; metals; water contamination; Chihuahua; Mexico (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/9/5/1687/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/9/5/1687/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:9:y:2012:i:5:p:1687-1698:d:17556

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().