PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF :WATER QUALITY MODEL

Abstract

Although the total amount of water on earth is generally assumed to have remained virtually constant, the rapid growth of population together with the extension of ir•igated agriculture and industrial development, are stressing the quantity and quality aspect of the natural system. Because of the increasing problems, man has begun to realize that he can no longer follow a "use and discard" philosophy either with water resources or any other natural resources. As a result, the need for a consistent policy of rational management of water resource has become evident. Improvement in the quality of water available for human consumption and contact i.s strongly needed in order to reduce various kinds of health hazards. However, the proper manageent of water resources even on a small scale is very difficult, There are a large number of quality criteria to be considered and in most cases the level of each criterion is the resultant of complex interactions. The situation is further exagerrated by the inherent difficulties of experimented by the difficulties of any experimental approaches in forecasting water quality. This has led to the growth of mathematical modelling as a means of predicting quality.