Spatiotemporal Variations in Water Quality of the Transboundary Shari-Goyain River, Bangladesh

Debasish Pandit, Mohammad Mahfujul Haque, Ahmed Harun-Al-Rashid, Bishwajit Sarker, Mohammad Amzad Hossain, Petra Schneider () and Mrityunjoy Kunda ()
Additional contact information
Debasish Pandit: Department of Aquatic Resource Management, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet 3100, Bangladesh
Mohammad Mahfujul Haque: Department of Aquaculture, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202, Bangladesh
Ahmed Harun-Al-Rashid: Department of Aquatic Resource Management, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet 3100, Bangladesh
Bishwajit Sarker: Department of Agricultural Statistics, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet 3100, Bangladesh
Mohammad Amzad Hossain: Department of Fish Biology and Genetics, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet 3100, Bangladesh
Petra Schneider: Department for Water, Environment, Civil Engineering and Safety, University of Applied Sciences, Magdeburg-Stendal, Breitscheidstraße 2, D-39114 Magdeburg, Germany
Mrityunjoy Kunda: Department of Aquatic Resource Management, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet 3100, Bangladesh

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 6, 1-21

Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the seasonal and spatial variations in water quality parameters and determine the main contamination sources in the Shari-Goyain River, Bangladesh. Therefore, surface water was sampled monthly from six sampling sites, where six water quality parameters were evaluated. Data were analyzed by applying the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) water quality index (WQI) and multivariate statistical methods. The results reveals that most of the examined water quality parameters crossed the acceptable range, and significant variations were observed spatiotemporally ( p < 0.05). Based on the CCME WQI value, the water quality of the river is classified as poor to marginal with a score range between 33.40 and 51.30. This range of values demonstrates that the river’s water quality is far from desirable for aquatic life and that it is being impacted and deteriorated by external drivers. Principal component analysis (PCA) retained two principal components (Factors 1 and 2), explaining about 79.17% of the total variance in the studied parameters and identified acidic pollution sources. Cluster analysis also reveals relative differences in water quality throughout sites and seasons, which supported the CCME WQI and PCA. Finally, Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance by ranks has identified coal mine drainage (CMD) as the main pollutant source for the Shari-Goyain River. In order to mitigate the CMD impact on land and water, different nature-based solutions are proposed, particularly passive mine water treatment approaches through constructed wetlands that could also mitigate the transboundary waters problem.

Keywords: riverine water; water quality; coal mine drainage; multivariate statistics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/5218/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/5218/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:6:p:5218-:d:1098067

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().