Comparison of Water Quality in Community and Rural Areas in Mekong River, Thailand by Using Water Quality Index

Abstract

Mekong River is an international river which is being utilized for many purposes such as fishery, human consumption, and agricultural use. The area of this study covered 8 provinces with 18 stations along Mekong River in Thailand namely Chaing Rai, Loei, Nongkai, Bungkan, Nakon Phanom, Mukdahan, Amnatcharoen and Ubon Ratchathani. This study was conducted to compare the water quality between community and rural areas by using Mekong River Commission water quality indices (MRC-WQI). As per the results, water quality in community and rural areas presented similar quality. However, it could be noted that there was different in water quality (between the dry season and the wet season).  WQI for the protection of aquatic life (WQI-al) was between classes A to C (Very good to moderate level). WQI for the protection of human health-human health acceptability (WQI-hi) presented the water quality from class A to D (very good to very poor level). WQI for agricultural use (WQI-ag) was  class A. WQI-hi and WQI-ag in the wet season was poorer than the dry season due to high BOD, COD, ammonia, and nitrate. Therefore, water treatment is required before water use both in community and rural areas.