Evaluation of Water Quality of River Narmada and Its Correlation with Occurrence of Enteropathogens

Water quality of river Narmada was investigated employing the chemometric techniques and statistical analysis with a view to extract information about the variables responsible for spatial and temporal variation in physicochemical parameters. Analysis of Pearson's correlation revealed significant correlation among the physicochemical parameters while weak correlation with occurrence of enteropathogens. The multivariate statistics and principal component analysis applied to datasets indicated three to four components influencing the water to the extent of 78.172% (2003), 82.726% (2004), 83.819% (2005), 86.294% (2006), 85.952% (2007) and 76.620% (2008) of total variance. The water samples collected on seasonal basis during 2003-2008 revealed the presence of multidrug resistance enteric pathogens viz. Aeromonas, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Salmonella, Serratia, Shigella and Vibrio throughout the study period. Thus seasonal effects, agricultural wastes, domestic and industrial waste water discharges and their organic load caused main variation in water quality of river Narmada. These results will assist in the water management of river water for varied future demands including human consumption, irrigation, industrial and river conservation.