Abstract:

The temporal and spatial variation of 18 water quality indicators were studied in this study over a period of 16 years in seven stations along Qattinah Lake; to develop water quality standards and improve the evaluation of the water suitability for various uses. To determine the indicators correlation in order to classify different pollution levels cluster analysis was used, it gave two clusters. Discriminant analysis was applied to classify the indicators based on their similar characteristics. It led to a significant decrease in the number of variables needed to determine the type of pollution. The best results were for temporal changes, it gave four basic variables that have a significant impact on water quality: (T, COD, PO4, NO3) with a variance ratio of 100% of the total variance which is considered an excellent ratio for determining water quality