Determination of Drinking Water Quality of Public Fresh Water Fountains in Sivas Province Using Multivariate Statistical Methods

This research was carried out in order to evaluate the physicochemical variables of public fountain waters with multivariate statistical methods between April 2019 and February 2020 in Sivas province of Turkey. In this context, 12 physicochemical variables belonging to 6 selected stations were examined. The coefficient value of the Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin test was analyzed as 0.627 and the significance value of the Bartlett's test as 0.00. According to these two values, the data set was found adequate for factor analysis. Four factors with Eigenvalues greater than 1 were determined according to the results obtained from the factor analysis. In the research 74.7% of the total change can be explained by these four factors. As a result of the research, significant similarities were observed between the structure obtained by rotated factor analysis and the structure obtained by cluster analysis. All of the 12 physicochemical variables clearly show that the fountain water samples in Sivas province meet international standards for drinking water. However, the quite low average fluoride value may create a risk of tooth decay for the local people who constantly consume fountain waters as drinking water in Sivas.