Assessment of spatial and temporal variations in water quality using multivariate statistical analysis in the Munroe Island, Kerala, India

Abstract

At present, water pollution is a widespread threat, specifically in emerging and developing nations, such as India. An effort was made to evaluate the spatial and seasonal status of water quality in Munroe Island, Kerala, India using various multivariate statistical methods from October 2020 to September 2021. The values of nineteen environmental variables namely water temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, free carbon dioxide, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total alkalinity, total hardness, salinity, nitrate, phosphate, silicate, sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium were calculated following standard methodology. Various environmental variables, namely temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total hardness, total alkalinity, sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium were higher in pre-monsoon followed by post-monsoon and monsoon seasons. Some other variables such as dissolved oxygen, nitrate silicate, and phosphate were higher in monsoon than premonsoon and postmonsoon seasons. Moreover, multivariate statistical tools were employed to assess spatial and temporal difference in water quality to find contamination sources and analyze results.

The outcomes of the present investigation indicated that, the Kallada River and the Ashtamudy estuary has significant influence on the environmental quality of Munroe Island along with various anthropogenic disturbances. Numerous environmental disturbances begin from S₂ and drastically rise at S₄ because of some harmful organic and inorganic contaminators. Thus, efforts are required in order to prevent the pollution levels at the Munroe Island.