Comprehensive Assessment of Water Quality and Pollution Source Apportionment in Wuliangsuhai Lake, Inner Mongolia, China

Rui Shi, Jixin Zhao, Wei Shi, Shuai Song and Chenchen Wang
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Rui Shi: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Jixin Zhao: Institute of Environmental Science of Bayannur, Bayannur 015000, China
Wei Shi: Institute of Loess Plateau, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China
Shuai Song: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Chenchen Wang: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 14, 1-12

Abstract: Water quality is a key indicator of human health. Wuliangsuhai Lake plays an important role in maintaining the ecological balance of the region, protecting the local species diversity and maintaining agricultural development. However, it is also facing a greater risk of water quality deterioration. The 24 water quality factors that this study focused on were analyzed in water samples collected during the irrigation period and non-irrigation period from 19 different sites in Wuliangsuhai Lake, Inner Mongolia, China. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were conducted to evaluate complex water quality data and to explore the sources of pollution. The results showed that, during the irrigation period, sites in the middle part of the lake (clusters 1 and 3) had higher pollution levels due to receiving most of the agricultural and some industrial wastewater from the Hetao irrigation area. During the non-irrigation period, the distribution of the comprehensive pollution index was the opposite of that seen during the irrigation period, and the degree of pollutant index was reduced significantly. Thus, run-off from the Hetao irrigation area is likely to be the main source of pollution.

Keywords: water quality; principal component analysis; cluster analysis; comprehensive assessment; Wuliangsuhai Lake (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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