Groundwater Chemical Characteristics and Controlling Factors in a Region of Northern China with Intensive Human Activity

Chaobin Ren and Qianqian Zhang
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Chaobin Ren: School of Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Qianqian Zhang: Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050061, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 23, 1-15

Abstract: The identification of groundwater chemical characteristics and the controlling factors is of major concern in water environment studies. In this study, we identified the groundwater chemical characteristics, evolution laws and main control factors in a region severely affected by human activities using hydrochemical and multivariate statistical techniques. The results showed that the concentrations of NO 3 − and TH were the primary pollution factors in the region with intensive human activity because of high concentration and over the standard rates. The major types of groundwater chemistry were HCO 3 ·SO 4 –Ca and HCO 3 ·SO 4 –Ca·Mg. The sulfate-type water was as high as 75.0%, 69.2% and 41.2% in the three hydrogeological units. In addition, there were Cl-type and Na-type waters, indicating that the groundwater in this area has been significantly affected by human activities. A principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that the three factors affecting groundwater hydrochemistry in the study area are domestic sewage and fertilizer, water–rock interactions and industrial wastewater. Therefore, we suggest that the government and water environment management departments should prevent the discharge of domestic and industrial wastewater without standardized treatment first in order to effectively prevent the further deterioration of groundwater quality in this area.

Keywords: groundwater; hydrochemistry; human activity; control factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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