Aquaculture Water Quality Index: a low-cost index to accelerate aquaculture development in Indonesia

Due to a lack of the related data, there were no simple water indexes available for indicating water quality. Motivated by the fact that many lakes and reservoirs in Indonesia have been polluted because of aquacultural activity, this paper proposed a Water Quality Index, called the Aquaculture Water Quality Index (AWQI), and presented the development of practical tool to aid the development of aquaculture in Indonesia. Specific purposes included: (a) providing a brief summary of the assessment results of the existing WQI; (b) developing the AWQI method for applying in an aquacultural context; (c) implementing the AWQI method in Depok Area (Indonesia) as study area. An AHP method was also processed to define the weights of selected water quality parameters: DO, ammonia, pH, and fecal coliform. The AWQI had several features: (a) a low-cost water quality monitoring program that could be used by developing countries; (b) a useful tool for water resource agencies, especially for local agencies, to manage waterbodies and to raise public awareness of water pollution for its data, as its data could be easily understood and interpreted.