Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Optimization of River Water Quality Surveys by Multivariate Analysis of Physicochemical, Bacteriological and Ecotoxicological Data

  • Published:
Water Resources Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study aims to optimize the water quality monitoring of a polluted watercourse (Leça River, Portugal) through the principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA). These statistical methodologies were applied to physicochemical, bacteriological and ecotoxicological data (with the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri and the green alga Chlorella vulgaris) obtained with the analysis of water samples monthly collected at seven monitoring sites and during five campaigns (February, May, June, August, and September 2006). The results of some variables were assigned to water quality classes according to national guidelines. Chemical and bacteriological quality data led to classify Leça River water quality as “bad” or “very bad”. PCA and CA identified monitoring sites with similar pollution pattern, giving to site 1 (located in the upstream stretch of the river) a distinct feature from all other sampling sites downstream. Ecotoxicity results corroborated this classification thus revealing differences in space and time. The present study includes not only physical, chemical and bacteriological but also ecotoxicological parameters, which broadens new perspectives in river water characterization. Moreover, the application of PCA and CA is very useful to optimize water quality monitoring networks, defining the minimum number of sites and their location. Thus, these tools can support appropriate management decisions.

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

  • Abel PD (1996) Water pollution biology, 2nd edn. Taylor & Francis, London

    Google Scholar 

  • APHA, AWWA, WEF (2005) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 21st edn. APHA, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Argese E, Bettiol C, Ghirardini AV, Fasalo M, Giurin G, Ghetti P (1998) Comparison of in vitro submitochondrial particle and microtox assays for determining the toxicity of organotin compounds. Environ Toxicol Chem 17(6):1005–1012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Awadallah AG, Yousry M (2012) Identifying homogeneous water quality regions in the Nile river using multivariate statistical analysis. Water Resour Manag 26(7):2039–2055

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boxall AB, Brown CD, Barrett KL (2002) Higher-tier laboratory methods for assessing the aquatic toxicity of pesticides. Pest Manag Sci 58:637–648

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brogueira MJ, Cabeçadas G (2006) Identification of similar environmental areas in Tagus estuary by using multivariate analysis. Ecol Indic 6(3):508–515

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho F, Guilhermino L, Ribeiro R, Gonçalves F, Soares AMVM (1995) METIER (modular ecotoxicity tests incorporating ecological relevance). II. Ecotoxicity of poorly water soluble compounds: concentration versus dose. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 29(4):431–434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy. Official Journal L 327

  • Eguchi K, Nagase H, Ozawa M, Endoh YS, Goto K, Hirata K, Miyamoto K, Yoshimura H (2004) Evaluation of antimicrobial agents for veterinary use in the ecotoxicity test using microalgae. Chemosphere 57(11):1733–1738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farré M, Martínez E, Barceló D (2007) Validation of interlaboratory studies on toxicity in water samples. TrAC Trends Anal Chem 26(4):283–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomes AI (2007) Ecotoxicity evaluation in surface waters—application to the Leça River basin. In: Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, (Portuguese) http://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/bitstream/10216/12720/2/Texto%20integral.pdf. Accessed 17 May 2012, Porto

  • Hsu P, Matthäi A, Heise S, Ahlf W (2007) Seasonal variations of sediment toxicity in the rivers Dommel and Elbe. Environ Pollut 148(3):817–823

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ISO 11348. Water quality—Determination of the inhibitory effect of water samples on the light emission of Vibrio fischeri (Luminescent bacteria test)

  • ISO 7899-2. Water quality—Detection and enumeration of intestinal enterococci - Part 2: Membrane filtration method

  • ISO 9308-1. Water quality—Detection and enumeration of Escherichia coli and coliform bacteria—Part 1: Membrane filtration method

  • Kannel PR, Lee S, Kanel SR, Khan SP (2007) Chemometric application in classification and assessment of monitoring locations of an urban river system. Anal Chim Acta 582(2):390–399

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koklu R, Sengorur B, Topal B (2010) Water quality assessment using multivariate statistical methods—a case study: Melen river system (Turkey). Water Resour Manag 24(5):959–978

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotti ME, Vlessidis AG, Thanasoulias NC, Evmiridis NP (2005) Assessment of river water quality in Northwestern Greece. Water Resour Manag 19(1):77–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis MA (1995) Use of freshwater plants for phytotoxicity testing: a review. Environ Pollut 87(3):319–336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma J, Lin F, Zhang R, Yu W, Lu N (2004) Differential sensitivity of two green algae, Scenedesmus quadricauda and Chlorella vulgaris, to 14 pesticide adjuvants. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 58(1):61–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenna JE (2003) An enhanced cluster analysis program with bootstrap significance testing for ecological community analysis. Environ Model Softw 18(3):205–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Environment (1994) Characterization and guidelines for North’s water resources planning—The Leça River basin (Portuguese)

  • Ministry of Environment (2000) Plan of Leça River basin (Portuguese)

  • Munkittrick KR, Power EA, Sergy GA (1991) The relative sensitivity of microtox, daphnid, rainbow trout, and fathead minnow acute lethality tests. Environ Toxicol Water Qual 6(1):35–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ogleni N, Topal B (2011) Water quality assessment of the Mudurnu River, Turkey, using biotic indices. Water Resour Manag 25(10):2487–2508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olguín HF, Puig A, Loez CR, Salibián A, Topallián ML, Castañe PM, Rovedatti MG (2004) An integration of water physicochemistry, algal bioassays, phytoplankton, and zooplankton for ecotoxicological assessment in a highly polluted lowland river. Water Air Soil Pollut 155(1–4):355–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Otto M (1998) Multivariate methods. In: Kellner R, Mermet JM, Otto M, Widmer HM (eds) Analytical chemistry. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, p 916

    Google Scholar 

  • Papaioannou A, Mavridou A, Hadjichristodoulou C, Papastergiou P, Pappa O, Dovriki E, Rigas I (2010) Application of multivariate statistical methods for groundwater physicochemical and biological quality assessment in the context of public health. Environ Monit Assess 170(1–4):87–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pires JCM, Sousa SIV, Pereira MC, Alvim-Ferraz MCM, Martins FG (2008) Management of air quality monitoring using principal component and cluster analysis—part I: SO2 and PM10. Atmos Environ 42(6):1249–1260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pires JCM, Alvim-Ferraz MCM, Pereira MC, Martins FG (2012) Comparison of several linear statistic models to predict tropospheric ozone concentrations. J Stat Comput Simul 82:183–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santos LHMLM, Araújo AN, Fachini A, Pena A, Delerue-Matos C, Montenegro MCBSM (2010) Ecotoxicological aspects related to the presence of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment. J Hazard Mater 175(1–3):45–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Selck H, Riemann B, Christoffersen K, Forbes VE, Gustavson K, Hansen BW, Jacobsen JA, Kusk OK, Petersen S (2002) Comparing sensitivity of ecotoxicological effect endpoints between laboratory and field. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 52(2):97–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SNIRH - Sistema Nacional de Informação de Recursos Hídricos - National System of information about water resources (2011) Classification of surface water courses in accordance with their quality for multiple usages http://www.snirh.pt/snirh/_dadossintese/qualidadeanuario/boletim/tabela_classes.php. Accessed 8 May 2011 (Portuguese)

  • Steevens JA, Vansal SS, Kallies KW, Knight SS, Cooper CM, Benson WH (1998) Toxicological evaluation of constructed wetland habitat sediments utilizing Hyalella azteca 10-day sediment toxicity test and bacterial bioluminescence. Chemosphere 36(15):3167–3180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tisler T, Zargoc-Koncan J (1999) Toxicity evaluation of wastewater from the pharmaceutical industry to aquatic organisms. Water Sci Technol 39(10–11):71–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • USEPA - United States Environmental Protection Agency (1983) Methods for Chemical Analysis of Water and Wastes - Method 110.2, EPA/600/4-79-020. USEPA

  • USEPA - United States Environmental Protection Agency (2002) Short-term methods for estimating the chronic toxicity of effluents and receiving waters to freshwater organisms (fourth edition) - EPA-821-R-02-013. USEPA, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Varol M, Gökot B, Bekleyen A, Şen B (2012) Water quality assessment and apportionment of pollution sources of Tigris River (Turkey) using multivariate statistical techniques—a case study. River Res Appl 28(9):1325–1593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WDNR - Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (2004) State of Wisconsin aquatic life toxicity testing methods manual, 2nd edn. Dept. of Natural Resources, Bureau of Watershed Management, Madison

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams PL, James RC, Roberts SM (2000) Principles of toxicology—environmental and industrial application, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Yidana SM, Ophori D, Banoeng-Yakubo B (2008) A multivariate statistical analysis of surface water chemistry data—the Ankobra Basin, Ghana. J Environ Manag 86(1):80–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

J.C.M. Pires acknowledge his Post-Doctoral fellowship (SFRH/BPD/66721/2009) supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), POPH-QREN and FSE.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. LSRE, Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal

    Ana I. Gomes & Rui A. R. Boaventura

  2. LEPABE, Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal

    José C. M. Pires

  3. REQUIMTE, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida 431, 4200-072, Porto, Portugal

    Sónia A. Figueiredo

Authors
  1. Ana I. Gomes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. José C. M. Pires
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sónia A. Figueiredo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Rui A. R. Boaventura
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rui A. R. Boaventura.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gomes, A.I., Pires, J.C.M., Figueiredo, S.A. et al. Optimization of River Water Quality Surveys by Multivariate Analysis of Physicochemical, Bacteriological and Ecotoxicological Data. Water Resour Manage 28, 1345–1361 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-014-0547-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-014-0547-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation