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Chemical characteristics, evolution, and quality of groundwater and processes controlling its fluoride concentration features: case study of a typical high-fluoride areas in the Southwestern Shandong Plain, China

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Abstract

In this study, the groundwater (GW) in the high-fluorine area of the Southwestern Shandong Plain was divided according to the characteristics of high Na% (> 75%), and its water chemistry characteristics and causes were discussed separately, and the hydrochemical process of the formation of high-fluorine GW was determined. Finally, the GW quality of the study area was evaluated. The results proved that silicate hydrolysis can significantly promote the release of F− in fluorine-containing minerals; high %Na can be used as one of the early-warning conditions for judging high-fluoride areas. To this end, 132 GW samples were collected from 66 wells during the dry and wet seasons. The study area was found to have weakly alkaline GW (pH 7.1–8.9) and could be divided into high %Na areas (HNA) and non-HNA. GW exhibited different hydrochemical characteristics between HNA and non-HNA. In non-HNA, total hardness (TH) exceeded 200 mg/L, and total dissolved solids (TDS) ranged from 514.1 to 5246.1 mg/L; in HNA, TH was less than 200 mg/L, TDS ranged from 552.8 to 1298.3 mg/L, and Na+ increased with TDS, whereas Ca2+ and Mg2+ contents were low. The main water type in HNA was HCO3-Na and in non-HNA was SO4·Cl-Ca·Mg and SO4·Cl-Na. The study area is experiencing serious fluoride pollution. GW in HNA is mostly controlled by carbonate and silicate hydrolysis and evaporation, whereas GW in non-HNA is controlled by dolomite dissolution and cation exchange in the main. Moreover, GW in HNA has significantly been altered by albite hydrolysis, which produces Na+ and HCO3− and triggers various reactions promoting the release of F− from fluorine-containing minerals (FCM). Regarding the water quality for irrigation, GW in HNA was found to be less suitable than that in non-HNA. Nevertheless, in terms of the water quality index (WQI), GW is moderate for drinking and poor for irrigation. Therefore, extensive attention should be paid to the exploitation and management of high-sodium GW in the plain area.

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Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Please email to zongjungao1964@163.com.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge with thanks the Shandong Provincial Geo-mineral Engineering Exploration Institute for technical support. Simultaneously, we thank the anonymous reviewers and editors for their valuable comments, which helped improve the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41772257; 41472216), the 68th batch of general projects of the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020M682207), the Research Project of Shandong Province Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources (No. KY2018003; KY201933), and the Shandong Provincial Geological Environment Exploration Project (2016) No. 3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Earth Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, Shandong, China

    Cong Han, Zongjun Gao & Yuqi Zhang

  2. College of Energy and Mining Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, Shandong, China

    Jiutan Liu

  3. 801 Institute of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, Shandong Provincial Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources, Jinan, 250014, China

    Yuan Xu, Zhenhua Zhao & Zhenjiang Luo

  4. Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment, Shandong Provincial Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources, Jinan, 250014, China

    Yuan Xu, Zhenhua Zhao & Zhenjiang Luo

  5. Shandong Engineering Research Center for Groundwater Environmental Protection and Remediation, Jinan, 250014, China

    Yuan Xu, Zhenhua Zhao & Zhenjiang Luo

  6. Shandong Lunan Geological Engineering Survey Institute, Jining, 272100, Shandong, China

    Zheng Han

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  1. Cong Han
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Contributions

Cong Han, conceptualization, writing original draft, visualization, and data analysis. Jiutan Liu, writing original draft and review and editing; Zongjun Gao, funding acquisition, conceptualization, investigation, and review and editing. Yuan Xu, fieldwork, project administration, supervision, and validation. Yuqi Zhang, methodology, supervision, and validation. Zheng Han, conceptualization and review and editing. Zhenhua Zhao and Zhenjiang Luo, investigation, fieldwork, and methodology.

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Correspondence to Zongjun Gao.

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Han, C., Liu, J., Gao, Z. et al. Chemical characteristics, evolution, and quality of groundwater and processes controlling its fluoride concentration features: case study of a typical high-fluoride areas in the Southwestern Shandong Plain, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 19003–19018 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16928-2

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