Prediction of pollution potential of Indian rivers using empirical equation consisting of water quality parameters

Abstract

Over the years the surface water quality of Indian rivers has been degrading. There are various reasons for the degradation of quality of river waters in Indian conditions. The pollution potential of river water involves various factors such as pH, Conductivity, Dissolved Oxygen, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Coliform and Fecal Coliform. The paper presents an approach to develop an empirical equation to predict the pollution potential of river water. The empirical equation developed uses aforementioned factors as variables. These variables have been assigned various ratings on a scale of 1-3 according to standard pollution potential charts. The pollution potential predicted using this empirical equation is in congruence with the current potential pollution of Indian rivers.