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Spatial characteristics of surface water quality in the Haicheng River (Liao River basin) in Northeast China

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Abstract

Spatial variations of the water quality in the Haicheng River during April and October 2009 were evaluated for the national monitoring program on water pollution control and treatment in China. The spatial autocorrelation analysis with lower Moran’s I values displayed the spatial heterogeneity of the 12 physicochemical parameters among all the sampling sites of the river. The one-way ANOVA showed that all variables at different sampling sites had significant spatial differences (p < 0.01). Based on the similarity of water quality characteristics, cluster analysis grouped the 20 sampling sites into three clusters, related with less polluted, moderately polluted and highly polluted sites. The factor analysis extracted three major factors explaining 76.4 % of the total variance in the water quality data set, i.e., integrated pollution factor, nitrogen pollution factor and physical factor. The results revealed that the river has been severely polluted by organic matter and nitrogen. The major sources leading to water quality deterioration are complex and ascribed to anthropogenic activities, e.g., domestic and industrial wastewater discharges, agricultural runoff, and animal rearing practices.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the “Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment in China” (Grant No. 2008ZX07526-001). The authors express their sincere gratitude to Drs. Weijing Kong and Nan Zhang for their valuable discussion, Xiaobo Jia and Libin Chen for their assistance during the fieldwork, and anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Datun Road, A 11, Beijing, 100101, China

    Hongmei Bu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China

    Jun Wan, Yuan Zhang & Wei Meng

  3. Laboratory of Riverine Ecological Conservation and Technology, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China

    Jun Wan, Yuan Zhang & Wei Meng

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  1. Hongmei Bu
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  2. Jun Wan
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  3. Yuan Zhang
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  4. Wei Meng
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Correspondence to Hongmei Bu or Wei Meng.

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Bu, H., Wan, J., Zhang, Y. et al. Spatial characteristics of surface water quality in the Haicheng River (Liao River basin) in Northeast China. Environ Earth Sci 70, 2865–2872 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2348-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2348-5

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