Vol. 12 | No. 1 |251 - 256| January - March | 2019 ISSN: 0974-1496 | e-ISSN: 0976-0083 | CODEN: RJCABP http://www.rasayanjournal.com http://www.rasayanjournal.co.in Rasayan J. Chem., 12(1), 251-256(2019) http://dx.doi.org/10.31788/RJC.2019.1215056 A MULTIVARIATE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS APPROACH FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY IN GOVIND BALLABH PANT SAGAR RESERVOIR Ramita Varshney* and Aarif Jamal Department of Mining Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi-221005, India *E-mail: ramita25j@gmail.com ABSTRACT Reservoir water is one of the essential sources of water which plays a significant part in not only contributing a sufficient supply of water for industrial operations but it also acts as a source of drinking water. Therefore, contamination of it through industrial, irrigational or any other human intervention can pose a serious threat to it both qualitatively and quantitatively. In the present study, 14 physicochemical parameters of eight sampling sites served as the attribute database represented in form of the correlation matrix for each parameter taking participation in the study. Apart from this, the Water Quality Index of the sampling sites has been enumerated by combining these physicochemical parameters. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis was also performed for grouping the areas having similar grading of water quality index. The overall results indicate that most of the sampling sites were not suitable for drinking purpose and requires treatment of water before use. Keywords: Reservoir water, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, Correlation matrix, Water quality, Water Quality Index. © RASĀYAN. All rights reserved INTRODUCTION Surface water bodies such as rivers, lakes, reservoirs, etc. have a pivotal part in maintaining the water cycles. 1 Surface water is one of the most essential sources which couldn’t be used appropriately unless its quality is properly analyzed. Due to the prolific rise in population, commercialization and socio-urban expansion the demand water has increased tremendously. The surface water quality is, however, is deteriorating due to exaggerated use of petrochemical fertilizers, inadequate planning, use of high concentration of organic and inorganic substances, improper sewage management or direct discharge of industrial waste into the nearby water body. Coal mining is one of the major industries of India thereby playing a major role in the economy of the country on one hand while deteriorating environment on the other hand. 2-3 According to the annual report of Coal India Limited for the financial year 2016-17, there are 176 opencast and 310 underground coal mines operating in India, thereby contributing approximately 60.6 billion tonnes of coal annually. 4 The excavation, refining and processing of coal lead to changes in the environment and affecting the water of nearby area either directly or indirectly at each level. The mining industry is one of such industries in India which utilizes a large amount of water and generates a huge volume of waste during its processing. This causes the change in both the quality and quantity of water surrounding the coal mines. Therefore, the present study mainly focuses on the estimation of the water quality index (WQI) along with correlation analysis of physicochemical parameters and WQI followed by computation of Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) in form of dendrogram generated from WQI of the samples collected from various sites of Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar Reservoir. The evaluation of the acceptability of water for drinking, irrigation and industrial purpose was analyzed by comparing the parameters with drinking water quality standards as prescribed by World Health Organization (WHO) 5 and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). 6