Determination of Water Quality Index of Simly Dam, Islamabad by Arithmetic Weighted Method

Abstract

Water quality is of great importance due to its impact on human health and aquatic systems. Since Islamabad and Rawalpindi get their drinking water from Simly dam, this makes it an important drinking water source. In this study water quality parameters of Simly dam were determined and water quality index (WQI) using Arithmetic weighted method was calculated. Collection of water samples from different locations of dam and the filtration plant installed in the facility was done. Twelve physicochemical parameters of water quality including: pH , Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), alkalinity, hardness, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Total Chloride, Calcium, Nitrates, Potassium and Sodium (Na) were measured to estimate the sentient and water quality of the Simly dam. WQI of both raw dam water and filtered dam water was determined using World Health Organization (WHO) standards for drinking water. The water quality index of raw dam water was found to be 62.79 while that of filtered dam water was 49.43. The WQI of the unfiltered raw dam water was found to be in class C that is poor category, while the filtered dam water was falling in Class B that refers to good category according to water quality index categories. Regular monitoring of water quality is recommended to ensure safe water supply to consumers.