Urbanization, industrialization, and population growth have all contributed to the contamination of freshwater resources, which has had a negative effect on the health of aquatic ecosystems. The Swartkops River in South Africa's Eastern Cape drains a heavily industrialized watershed where pollution has caused the water quality to decline. 
Macroinvertebrates were employed to evaluate anthropogenic influences for this study because they are well known for their capacity to reflect the health of the environment in which they reside.Chironomidae were mounted and identified using the given keys as realistically as feasible.
Results showed that site 1 had the least influence on water quality among the four sites, with the greatest SASS5 scores, average score per taxonomy (ASPT) values, richness, diversity, equitability, and Ephemeroptera-Plecoptera-Trichopter. In comparison to sites 3 and 4, site 2's water quality was least affected. Sites 3 and 4 were both critically modified, according to SASS5 scores and ASPT values.
Site 3 is the most impacted of the four sampling sites, highest incidences of malformations, according to analysis, in Chironomidae larvae.
Site 3 might be prioritized based on the study's findings, which showed the value of a multicriteria approach to environmental biomonitoring as a tool for integrated water resources management.