Water Quality Assessment/Zonation of Zarivar Lake Using NSFWQI, OWQI and CWQI Indexes

A clean and adequate water supply is essential for drinking and agriculture purposes as well as for living organisms within ecosystems. Therefore, applying of water quality indexes, is useful methods for quality assessment and for water resources management. In this study, three different indexes: National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index (NSFWQI) with using 9 quality parameters; Oregon Water Quality Index (OWQI) with using 8 parameters; and Canadian water Quality Index (CWQI) with using 22 parameters were applied for water quality assessment of lakes Zarivar (Zeribar) west of Iran. The NSFWQI and OWQI indexes were computed for the whole lake, 7 stations, and for 8 months sampling period. Whereas, the CWQI index was calculated for 8 months sampling period. The Zarivar Lake zonation Maps of NSFWQI and OWQI indexes showing medium and very bad water quality for Zarivar Lake, respectively. However, in respect to CWQI index, Zarivar lake water quality is in general and for aquatic life. In addition, the lake water is bad for drinking, but excellent for bad recreation, irrigation and livestock purposes.