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Surface watercourses as sources of karst water pollution

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Abstract

The water discharge and quality of three small watercourses entering the Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area (Czech Republic) was evaluated and compared. The impact of the wastewater and agricultural management system employed in their catchment areas was assessed. The differences among the watercourses were related to the land use, presence of municipalities, and wastewater treatment plants in their basins. The parameters which showed good quality for all streams were temperature, pH, and organic compounds. The main difference was in the content of nutrients, namely nitrate nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, and phosphorus. Agricultural run-offs caused an increase in nitrate nitrogen, while untreated sewage provoked a rise in ammonia nitrogen. All watercourses were rich in dissolved oxygen, and thus part of the ammonia nitrogen was probably nitrified, whereas the produced nitrates remained in the water column. Untreated sewage was identified as the main source of phosphorus. The land use in the vicinity of the watercourses affected not only the extent of pollution, but also the self-purifying ability of the streams, which was supported by environments like forests or meadows. However, in karst areas the self-purifying ability can be reduced due to the sinking of surface watercourses underground. The research showed the importance of adequately protecting the areas adjacent to the Protected Landscape Area, because small watercourses carrying pollution from their catchment areas beyond the geological border of the karst directly affect the karst water quality.

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Fig. 1

Source: authors' compilation based on ArcČR® 500 data

Fig. 2

Source: authors' compilation based on ArcČR® 500 data and the CLC2018 database provided by land.copernicus.eu

Fig. 3

Source: authors' compilation based on ArcČR® 500 data and the CLC2018 database provided by land.copernicus.eu

Fig. 4

Source: authors' compilation based on ArcČR® 500 data and the CLC2018 database provided by land.copernicus.eu

Fig. 5

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Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Czech Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports, grant No. 2012—Institutional support for the development of a research organisation.

Funding

This study was supported by Czech Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports, grant No. 2112 – Institutional support for the development of a research organisation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Civil Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czech Republic

    J. Malá & K. Schrimpelová

  2. Faculty of Regional Development, Mendel University, Brno, Czech Republic

    D. Hübelová & A. Kozumplíková

  3. Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Brno branch office, Brno, Czech Republic

    S. Lejska

Authors
  1. J. Malá
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  2. D. Hübelová
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  3. K. Schrimpelová
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  4. A. Kozumplíková
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  5. S. Lejska
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Contributions

JM led chemical analyses and interpreted their results. She was a major contributor in writing the manuscript. KS led sampling. DH analysed socio-economic data. AK analysed land use issues. SL performed and interpreted discharge measurements. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to J. Malá.

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The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Editorial responsibility: Maryam Shabani.

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Malá, J., Hübelová, D., Schrimpelová, K. et al. Surface watercourses as sources of karst water pollution. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 3503–3512 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03440-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03440-w

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