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Prediction of heavy metal lead contamination accident in Three Gorges Reservoir Area

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Abstract

Water contamination incidents have become a significant ecological and environmental threat, particularly concerning the security of drinking water source areas (DWSAs). This research aimed to address this issue by integrating Geographic Information System (GIS) into bidimensional hydrodynamic water quality mathematical model developed using C +  + and FORTRAN programming languages. The focus was on the Heshangshan drinking water source area (HDWSA), and the TECPLOT360 software was utilized for visualizing pollutant migration and dispersion processes. The study specifically considered a hypothetical lead (Pb) contamination accident, which is situated in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA). The spatio-temporal variations in Pb concentration throughout the entire DWSA were analyzed, along with a comparison of Pb concentration changes during different water seasons. The results indicate that, during the accident, the Pb concentration at the water intake in the drought season, decline season, flood season, and impounding season reached the standard limits at 76, 58, 44, and 48 min, respectively. Moreover, the entire DWSA achieved standard levels of Pb concentration at 124, 89, 71, and 74 min during the respective seasons. The study also observed an expansion and subsequent contraction of the Pb contamination area in the DWSA, with the transfer rate of Pb concentration ranked as flood season > impounding season > decline season > drought season.

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Funding

This work was sponsored by the 111 project “Energy and Environmental Systems Analysis and Engineering Applications” (B14008). The authors sincerely appreciate the financial support of the program and agencies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Regional Energy and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China

    Zhen Liu, Jing Sang & Xiaowen Ding

  2. School of Climate Change and Adaptation, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Canada

    Adam Fenech

Authors
  1. Zhen Liu
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  2. Jing Sang
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  3. Adam Fenech
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  4. Xiaowen Ding
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Contributions

Zhen Liu conceptualized and investigated the project and related methods and wrote the original draft preparation. Jing Sang and Adam Fenech also analyzed the data and made it visual with software. Xiaowen Ding, the corresponding author, was mainly responsible for the supervision and validation. Zhen Liu and Xiaowen Ding were the major contributors in writing the manuscript and all authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaowen Ding.

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Liu, Z., Sang, J., Fenech, A. et al. Prediction of heavy metal lead contamination accident in Three Gorges Reservoir Area. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 29979–29991 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33242-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33242-9

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