Spatiotemporal variation analysis of water quality using multivariate statistical methods, Case study: Koohsar Lake, Western Iran

The study of water resources and reviewing periodic and spatial changes in the quality of water in aquatic ecosystems are of important necessity due to the reasons including, climate change, water resource constraints, and increased human water requirements. Given the fact that Koohsar Lake water in Zanjan Province is one of the sources of drinking water in the region, the present study aimed to measure the values ​​of 19 parameters of water quality in two seasons of summer and spring at four stations. The samples were transferred to a laboratory under steady-state and sunlight conditions and analyzed according to the standard methods. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software. Moreover, the study applied factor analysis using principle components to analyze the variance of data. In addition, the values ​​of the parameters were compared with the permissible limits of drinking water of national standard. The results indicated a significant difference between the parameters studied at stations and different sampling times by repeated measurements. The results of factor analysis also showed that the total of three main components in the summer and spring were 96.573% and 98.581% of the variance of data respectively. The main parameters in the summer included Chlorophyll-a, Na, DO, pH, BOD, COD, TDS, EC, and nitrate. Also, EC, TDS, alkalinity, pH, COD, BOD, Ca, and ammonia were found as the main parameters in the spring. Also, it was found that except for the pH in the spring and at stations 3 and 4 which were below the standard minimum, the lake water in both seasons and all stations, in terms of parameters, was within the standard range and exhibited a good quality for drinking. Implications are discussed in light of the study findings.