The Assessment of Water Quality in Choghakhor Wetland Using BMWP and ASPT Indices

Fathi, Pejman; Ebrahimi, Eisa; Mirghafari, Norolah; Esmaeili, Alireza

doi:10.22059/jfisheries.2013.35466

The Assessment of Water Quality in Choghakhor Wetland Using BMWP and ASPT Indices

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Pejman Fathi ¹

Eisa Ebrahimi ¹

Norolah Mirghafari ²

Alireza Esmaeili ¹

¹ Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran

² Department of Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran

10.22059/jfisheries.2013.35466

Abstract

To investigate water qualityin the Choghakhor wetland using BMWP and ASPT methods, ten
stations were selected. Samples were collected every 45 days from April 2010 to March 2011
with 3 replicates at each station. The BMWP and ASPT were calculated after identification and
counting benthic specimens using the BMWP and ASPT score system. The average BMWP
measured in various sites and sampling times indicate that the water qulity of the Choghakhor
wetland is classified as bad condition. However the eighth site and the first stage of sampling
were found to be in the moderate quality class. Analysis of variance indicated a significant
difference between all stations and stages (P < 0.05). The ASPT index takes the water quality
of wetland in two pollution categories: moderate and severe. The ASPT index for different
stations and stages agrees with the BMWP index as they have a positive correlation at the
confidence level of 0.01.

Keywords

ASPT

Bioindicator

BMWP

Choghakhor Wetland

Water quality

Subjects