SURFACE WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT AND MAPPING OF PERIYAR RIVER USING CANADIAN COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF THE ENVIRONMENT WATER QUALITY INDEX METHOD

In the view of higher demand of fresh water, water quality assessment has to be done periodically. In this study, the water quality of the Periyar River, which is located in Kerala, India is evaluated. River Periyar is considered as the lifeline of Kerala. Twenty-five percentage of Kerala's industries are located at the banks of Periyar River. Due to the disposal of untreated or partially treated waste in to the river, the water quality of the river changes. In order to make the water fit for drinking purpose, the water quality parameters should lie in permissible limit. The water quality data measurement results obtained from CPCB during the year 2019 was used as the input data. Water quality was evaluated by Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environmental Water Quality Index (CCME WQI) method. QGIS was adopted to map the WQI values. IDW interpolation technique was adopted for mapping. WQI of station numbers SS:2333 and SS:18 showed almost good WQ compared to other sampling stations as it is not an industrialized area. The flood happened in Kerala influenced a lot in the water quality. Station number SS:2333 showed a WQI of 83.8, which is the largest value obtained during the entire course of study. WQI of station number SS:17 is obtained as 51.36, which is the lowest among all results. From the study it is evident that CCME WQI is a good indicator for water quality assessment and can be used for similar type studies