Water Quality Parameters

**3**

**Chapter 1**

**Abstract**

*Nayla Hassan Omer*

and measuring methods.

**1. Introduction**

or purpose [3, 4].

and oils [6].

**2. Classification of water**

purposes [1, 7].

Water Quality Parameters

Since the industrial revolution in the late eighteenth century, the world has discovered new sources of pollution nearly every day. So, air and water can potentially become polluted everywhere. Little is known about changes in pollution rates. The increase in water-related diseases provides a real assessment of the degree of pollution in the environment. This chapter summarizes water quality parameters from an ecological perspective not only for humans but also for other living things. According to its quality, water can be classified into four types. Those four water quality types are discussed through an extensive review of their important common attributes including physical, chemical, and biological parameters. These water quality parameters are reviewed in terms of definition, sources, impacts, effects,

**Keywords:** water quality, physical parameters, chemical parameters, biological parameters, radioactive substances, toxic substances, indicator organisms

Water is the second most important need for life to exist after air. As a result, water quality has been described extensively in the scientific literature. The most popular definition of water quality is "it is the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of water" [1, 2]. Water quality is a measure of the condition of water relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species and/or to any human need

Based on its source, water can be divided into ground water and surface water [5]. Both types of water can be exposed to contamination risks from agricultural, industrial, and domestic activities, which may include many types of pollutants such as heavy metals, pesticides, fertilizers, hazardous chemicals,

Water quality can be classified into four types—potable water, palatable water, contaminated (polluted) water, and infected water [7]. The most common scientific

1.*Potable water:* It is safe to drink, pleasant to taste, and usable for domestic

definitions of these types of water quality are as follows:
