Developing a water quality model using fuzzy approach for the Al-Gharraf River in Southern Iraq

Abstract

The present study develops a water quality model based on fuzzy approach to assessment of the surface water quality in Al-Gharraf River located in the South of Iraq. The water quality parameters, including Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chloride (CL), Sulphate (SO4), Nitrate (NO3), and Phosphate (PO4), were selected as input parameters to fuzzy water quality model (FWQ). To evaluate the performance of the proposed model (FWQ) of Al-Gharraf River in the period of the study, the produces of our model were compared with those of the water quality index (WQI) and Canadian Water Quality Index (CWQI). They showed similar results and were sensitive to changes in the level of water quality parameters. However, the model proposed in the present study produced a more stringent produces compared to the WQI and CWQI. Results from the simulation indicate that the sensitivity analysis of the suggested approach will be improved by almost (17%, and 24%) more than that achieved by the processes WQI and CWQI, respectively. In conclusion, the proposed index seems to produce accurate and reliable results and can be used as a comprehensive tool for water quality assessment.