Application of multivariate statistical techniques in the assessment of water quality in Sakarya River, Turkey

In this paper, the surface water quality of the Sakarya River in Turkey is assessed by using multivariate statistical techniques. These techniques were applied to the chemical parameters obtained from the five different surface water quality observation stations. Factor and principal component analysis results reveal that the agricultural, anthropogenic and domestic pollution caused differences in terms of water quality. Cluster analysis revealed two different clusters of similarities between the stations, reflecting different chemical properties and pollution levels in the studied river. Surface water quality downstream of the river was different from the water quality upstream. Thus, this study shows the usefulness of multivariate statistical techniques for analysis and interpretation in the surface water quality problem.