It is crucial to continuously evaluate the chemistry and quality of spring waters due to human activity, climate change, and environmental contamination in high-elevated areas. A total of 58 spring waters were collected from high-elevated areas in the Hamedan province, Iran. Different spring waters were divided into 4 clusters using the self-organizing map (SOM) and K-means clustering approach. The results from SOM indicated that the electrical conductivity (EC), magnesium (Mg2+), sodium (Na+), and potassium (K+) displayed relatively similar patterns, while the distribution patterns of pH, nitrate (NO3 ), and phosphorus (P) were completely different from other variables. Factor analysis supported this conclusion as well, indicating that while pH, NO3 , and P were the results of human activity, the main cations and anions came from parent rocks. The weighted arithmetic water quality index (WQI) was also calculated based on measured parameters and spring waters were primarily categorized as excellent water. Every cation was predominantly found on its free ion species. The saturation indices for all minerals were negative, indicating the dissolution of all minerals. It was concluded that the characterization of spring waters is substantially influenced by the geological nature of the aquifer rocks. Also, the background levelsof NO3 and P have been identified as ecological goal levels for spring water resource management in highelevated areas.
