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Quantification of nitrogen load in a regulated river system in Vietnam by material flow analysis

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Abstract

In this study, nitrogen (N) loads in Day-Nhue River Basin (DNRB) in Vietnam were quantified (at river basin and province scale) via field observation and application of material flow analysis (MFA). By developing L(Q) curves, measured N loads were estimated from water level data and N content of rivers. N loads from DNRB to Tonkin Gulf were quantified by MFA. The gaps between MFA results and measurements were increased from 4.48 to 21.47% corresponding to the accumulative rainfall from year 2008 to 2010. Results illustrate that MFA can estimate potential N load across the river basin to surface water. Observed ranges in upstream and downstream river loads were different at 55–84% and 5–20% respectively, corresponding well with those estimated by MFA. MFA is effective at quantifying N load to surface water the downstream regions, which are mainly used for paddy agriculture. Original N sources were traced via MFA, identifying that decreasing chemical fertilizer application rates and pretreatment of drainage water before discharging to the surface water reduce N load from the DNRB to the surface water. Additionally, MFA identified a hidden flow in the upstream portion of the DNRB, which meant that measurement data were under-estimated.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Prof. Junko Shindo for her assessment of our research methodology. The presented work was conducted under the support of the “Fiscal 2017 JASSO, Follow-up Research Fellowship”. This research was funded by the Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) under Grant number NE/P014577/1 and by Graduate University of Science and Technology under Grant number GUST.STS.ĐT2017-ST02. We appreciatively thank to Dr. Virginia Panizzo, University of Nottingham, UK, for editing this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate University of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Thu Nga Do

  2. Electric Power University, 235 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Thu Nga Do

  3. Thuyloi University, 175 Tay Son, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Viet Bach Tran

  4. Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute, 59 Ly Thuong Kiet, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Anh Duc Trinh

  5. International Research Centre for River Basin Environment (ICRE), University of Yamanashi, 4-4-37 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi, 400-8510, Japan

    Kei Nishida

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  1. Thu Nga Do
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Correspondence to Thu Nga Do.

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Do, T.N., Tran, V.B., Trinh, A.D. et al. Quantification of nitrogen load in a regulated river system in Vietnam by material flow analysis. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 21, 974–983 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-019-00855-z

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