Preimpoundmental studies on Water Quality of Narmada River of India

The present study revealed the effect of impoundment on the water quality of the Western part of river Narmada. Impoundment turned lentic ecosystem into lotic one which adversely disturbedphysicochemical characteristics of water like pH, TDS, total alkalinity, total hardness, chloride, DO and BOD.The present aim is to assess the Water Quality Index (WQI) of different study sites oflimnological significance of the river in 2012. Five different sites were singled out to ascertain the impact of impoundments on overall quality of water. The values of WQI have been observed in the range of 69 and 124 at S – 1 and S – 5 study sites, respectively. The site S – 5 indicated very poor water qualitywhich indicated that the physicochemical characteristics were under severe pressure. The deterioration in water quality from S–1 to S-5 was attributed to the impact of impoundment on the river as well as increasein anthropogenic activity.