Surface Water Quality Assessment and Determination of Drinking Water Quality Index by Adopting Multi Criteria Decision Analysis Techniques

Quality Drinking water needs to be maintained for the healthy human body. This study focuses on delineating and expressing the water quality level concerning Water Quality Index, which involves implementing Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis techniques such as Analytical Hierarchy Process and Analytic Network Process. For this purpose, surface water samples are accumulated from Jirania, Tripura, and the quality of the intake tap water, and the treated purified water is compared for each of the sampling stations. The study’s objective is to determine a new process from evaluating the water quality index with the Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis approach. The present investigation approximates the Water Quality Index with Analytical Hierarchy Process. It will also validate the same by comparing it with the Analytic Network Process incorporating the novel criteria like Cost, Potability, and Taste. Dissolved Oxygen has emerged as the most influential parameter in determining water quality. Sensitivity analysis is also performed to validate the Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis approach in index evaluation. The present study uses a comparative approach in assigning weighted values to the water quality parameters in which the priorities given to the various criteria in the Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis processes might not be consistent for all sections of users, and as a result of which the weighted value might show slight changes during computation of Water Quality Index for different water samples across the world. The accuracy of the Water Quality Index evaluation shall improve if a fixed set of criteria and their preference are maintained and justified based on which the water quality parameters are ranked, and their relative weights will be assessed accordingly.