Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Evaluation of spatial-temporal variations and trends in surface water quality across a rural-suburban-urban interface

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Water quality degradation is often a severe consequence of rapid economic expansion in developing countries. Methods to assess spatial-temporal patterns and trends in water quality are essential for guiding adaptive management efforts aimed at water quality remediation. Temporal and spatial patterns of surface water quality were investigated for 54 monitoring sites in the Wen-Rui Tang River watershed of eastern China to identify such patterns in water quality occurring across a rural-suburban-urban interface. Twenty physical and chemical water quality parameters were analyzed in surface waters collected once every 4–8 weeks from 2000 to 2010. Temporal and spatial variations among water quality parameters were assessed between seasons (wet/dry) and among major land use zones (urban/suburban/rural). Factor analysis was used to identify parameters that were important in assessing seasonal and spatial variations in water quality. Results revealed that parameters related to organic pollutants (dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (manganese) (CODMn), and 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5)), nutrients (ammonia nitrogen (NH4 +-N), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP)), and salt concentration (electrical conductivity (EC)) were the most important parameters contributing to water quality variation. Collectively, they explained 70.9 % of the total variance. A trend study using the seasonal Kendall test revealed reductions in CODMn, BOD5, NH4 +-N, petrol, V-phen, and EC concentrations over the 11-year study period. Cluster analysis was employed to evaluate variation among 14 sampling sites representative of dominant land use categories and indicated three, three, and four clusters based on organic, nutrient, and salt water quality characteristics, respectively. Factors that are typically responsible for water quality degradation (including population, topography, and land use) showed no strong correlation with water quality trends implying considerable point source inputs in the watershed. The results of this study help inform ongoing water quality remediation efforts by documenting trends in water quality across various land use zones.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alberto WD, del Pilar DA M, Maria Valeria A, Fabiana PS, Cecilia HA, Maria de los Ángeles B (2001) Pattern recognition techniques for the evaluation of spatial and temporal variations in water quality. A case study: Suquia River Basin (Córdoba–Argentina). Water Res 35(12):2881–2894

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baker A (2003) Land use and water quality. Hydrol Process 17(12):2499–2501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bengraı̈ne K, Marhaba TF (2003) Using principal component analysis to monitor spatial and temporal changes in water quality. J Hazard Mater 100(1–3):179–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyle TP, Fraleigh HD Jr (2003) Natural and anthropogenic factors affecting the structure of the benthic macroinvertebrate community in an effluent-dominated reach of the Santa Cruz River, AZ. Ecol Indic 3(2):93–117

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bu H, Tan X, Li S, Zhang Q (2010) Temporal and spatial variations of water quality in the Jinshui River of the South Qinling Mts., China. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 73(5):907–913

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chang H (2007) Comparative streamflow characteristics in urbanizing basins in the Portland Metropolitan Area, Oregon, USA. Hydrol Process 21(2):211–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang H (2008) Spatial analysis of water quality trends in the Han River basin, South Korea. Water Res 42(13):3285–3304

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Claessens L, Hopkinson C, Rastetter E, Vallino J (2006) Effect of historical changes in land use and climate on the water budget of an urbanizing watershed. Water Resour Res 42(3), W03426

    Google Scholar 

  • Donohue I, McGarrigle ML, Mills P (2006) Linking catchment characteristics and water chemistry with the ecological status of Irish rivers. Water Res 40(1):91–98

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Franczyk J, Chang H (2009) Spatial analysis of water use in Oregon, USA, 1985–2005. Water Resour Manag 23(4):755–774

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamed KH (2009) Exact distribution of the Mann–Kendall trend test statistic for persistent data. J Hydrol 365(1–2):86–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones RC, Clark CC (1987) Impact of watershed urbanization on stream insect communities. Water Resour Bull 23(6):1047–1055

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kang J-H, Lee SW, Cho KH, Ki SJ, Cha SM, Kim JH (2010) Linking land-use type and stream water quality using spatial data of fecal indicator bacteria and heavy metals in the Yeongsan River basin. Water Res 44(14):4143–4157

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman L, Rousseeuw PJ (2009) Finding groups in data: an introduction to cluster analysis. Wiley, Hoboken, New Jersey, USA

  • Kazi TG, Arain MB, Jamali MK, Jalbani N, Afridi HI, Sarfraz RA, Baig JA, Shah AQ (2009) Assessment of water quality of polluted lake using multivariate statistical techniques: a case study. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 72(2):301–309

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li S, Gu S, Tan X, Zhang Q (2009a) Water quality in the upper Han River basin, China: the impacts of land use/land cover in riparian buffer zone. J Hazard Mater 165(1–3):317–324

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li S, Liu W, Gu S, Cheng X, Xu Z, Zhang Q (2009b) Spatio-temporal dynamics of nutrients in the upper Han River basin, China. J Hazard Mater 162(2–3):1340–1346

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li J, Liu H, Li Y, Mei K, Dahlgren R, Zhang M (2013) Monitoring and modeling dissolved oxygen dynamics through continuous longitudinal sampling: a case study in Wen-Rui Tang River, Wenzhou, China. Hydrol Process 27(24):3502–3510

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu P, Mei K, Zhang Y, Liao L, Long B, Dahlgren R, Zhang M (2011) Spatial and temporal variations of nitrogen pollution in Wen-Rui Tang River watershed, Zhejiang, China. Environ Monit Assess 180(1–4):501–520

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • O’Sullivan D, Unwin D (2003) Geographic information analysis. Wiley, London, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Ouyang Y, Nkedi-Kizza P, Wu QT, Shinde D, Huang CH (2006) Assessment of seasonal variations in surface water quality. Water Res 40(20):3800–3810

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shields FD Jr (2009) Do we know enough about controlling sediment to mitigate damage to stream ecosystems? Ecol Eng 35(12):1727–1733

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shrestha S, Kazama F (2007) Assessment of surface water quality using multivariate statistical techniques: a case study of the Fuji River basin, Japan. Environ Model Softw 22(4):464–475

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh KP, Malik A, Sinha S (2005) Water quality assessment and apportionment of pollution sources of Gomti River (India) using multivariate statistical techniques—a case study. Anal Chim Acta 538(1–2):355–374

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • State Environment Protection Bureau of China (2002a) Water and wastewater analysis method. China Environmental Science Press, Beijing (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • State Environment Protection Bureau of China (2002b) Environmental quality standards for surface water. China Environmental Science Press, Beijing (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Tang W, Shan B, Zhang H, Mao Z (2010) Heavy metal sources and associated risk in response to agricultural intensification in the estuarine sediments of Chaohu Lake Valley, East China. J Hazard Mater 176 (1–3):945–951

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, Wang Y, Xu C, An Z, Wang S (2011) Analysis and evaluation of the source of heavy metals in water of the River Changjiang. Environ Monit Assess 173(1–4):301–313

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang L, Mei K, Liu X, Wu L, Zhang M, Xu J, Wang F (2013) Spatial distribution and source apportionment of water pollution in different administrative zones of Wen-Rui-Tang (WRT) river watershed, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20(8):1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou F, Huang GH, Guo H, Zhang W, Hao Z (2007) Spatio-temporal patterns and source apportionment of coastal water pollution in eastern Hong Kong. Water Res 41(15):3429–3439

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Science and Technology Department of Zhejiang Province (2008C03009), Wenzhou City (20082780125), and the Science and Technology Bureau of Wenzhou City (H20100006 and H20100052). The authors would like to express appreciation to the Wenzhou government departments for the data they provided.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Wenzhou Applied Technology in Environmental Research, Wenzhou Medical University, 325035, Wenzhou, China

    Kun Mei, Lingling Liao, Ping Lu, Zhenfeng Wang, Randy A. Dahlgren & Minghua Zhang

  2. Hydrospheric Atmospheric Research Center, Nagoya University, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan

    Yuanli Zhu

  3. Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Randy A. Dahlgren & Minghua Zhang

Authors
  1. Kun Mei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lingling Liao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yuanli Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ping Lu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Zhenfeng Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Randy A. Dahlgren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Minghua Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Minghua Zhang.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(DOC 51 kb)

ESM 2

(DOC 52 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mei, K., Liao, L., Zhu, Y. et al. Evaluation of spatial-temporal variations and trends in surface water quality across a rural-suburban-urban interface. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 8036–8051 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2716-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2716-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation