Abstract
The reported study includes analysis of 14 physico-chemical parameters of alluvial groundwater based on data collected from 26 piezometers in the Velika Morava River Basin from 2004 to 2014. Eleven of the parameters were assessed applying hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis to examine the spatial distribution, identify the main processes in groundwater variations and segregate the dominant sampling sites based on the characteristic parameters. A Piper diagram shows that the studied alluvial groundwaters are predominantly of the Ca2+–HCO3− type (67.3%) and to a lesser extent of the mixed Ca2+–Mg2+–HCO3− type (21.6%). Hierarchical clustering results in four clusters depending on the similarities of the hydrochemical parameters. Principal component analysis explains 65.4% of total variance with PC1 (32.5% variance), PC2 (19.8% variance) and PC3 (13.1% variance). A comparative analysis reveals that the main processes responsible for the hydrochemical composition of groundwater in the Velika Morava alluvion are carbonate dissolution-anthropogenic pressure, feldspar weathering and migration caused by river–aquifer interaction. Considerable loading of the alluvial groundwater caused by a complex geologic framework, natural factors and human activities in the river basin contributed to the segregation of six dominant sampling sites. The obtained results can be very useful in the development of an optimal spatial plan for groundwater monitoring, focusing on increasing the density of the national monitoring network and frequency of assessing alluvial groundwater on the dominant sampling sites (from annual to seasonal).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
APHA (1998) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 18th edn. American Public Health Association, Washington
APHA (2005) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 21st edn. American Public Health Association, Washington
Babić-Mladenović M, Petković S, Jeremić J (2009) Morphological and psammologic processes in the Velika Morava, Water Resources Management in Serbia 09. Jaroslav Černi Institute for the Development of Water Resources, Belgrade (in Serbian)
Boreli-Zdravković Đ, Damjanović M (2007) State and problems of using alluvial water in the Great Morava Valley. In: Proceedings of regional IWA conference on groundwater management in the Danube River basin and other large river basins, Belgrade, pp 201–207
Boreli-Zdravković Đ, Miljević N (2008) Groundwater and nitrogen in groundwater monitoring in large river basins. In: Dimkić M, Brauch HJ, Kavanaugh M (eds) Groundwater management in large river basins. IWA Publishing, London, pp 388–430
Bouchard FM, Sauvé S, Barbeau B, Legrand Brodeur M-E, Bouffard T, Limoges E, Bellinger DC, Mergler D (2011) Intellectual impairment in school-age children exposed to manganese from drinking water. Environ Health Persp 119(1):138–143
Brender JD, Weyer JP, Romitti AP, Mohanty PB, Shinde UM, Vuong MA, Sharkey RJ et al (2013) Prenatal nitrate intake from drinking water and selected birth defects in offspring of participants in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Environ Health Perspect 121:1083–1089
Dimkić M, Pušić M, Majkić-Dursun B, Obradović V (2011) Certain implications of oxic conditions in alluvial groundwater. Water Res Manag 1(2):27–43
Dimkić M, Pušić M, Obradović V, Kovačević S (2012) The effect of certain biochemical factors on well clogging under suboxic and mildly anoxic conditions. Water Sci Technol 65:2206–2212
Dokmanović P, Jemcov I (2008) Neogene aquifers in Velika Morava valley in water supply possibilities. Water Sanit Technol 38(2):27–35 (In Serbian)
Dolić D, Kalenić M, Marković B, Dimitrijević M, Radojčić R, Lončarević Č (1980) Interpretation of the national geological map 1:100,000. The Sheet Paraćin, Federal Geological Survey, Belgrade (in Serbian)
Homoncik CS, MacDonald MA, Heal KV, Dochartaigh BÉ, Ngwenya BT (2010) Manganese concentration in Scottish groundwater. Sci Total Environ 408:2467–2473
Houben G, Treskatis C (2007) Water well rehabilitation and reconstruction. McGraw Hill, New York
Huang B, Li Z, Chen Z, Chen G, Zhang C, Huang J, Nie X, Xiong W, Zeng G (2015) Study and health risk assessment of the occurrence of iron and manganese in groundwater at the terminal of the Xiangjiang River. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 22(24):19912–19921
Hutcheson G, Sofroniou N (1999) The multivariate social scientist. Sage, London
Iscen CF, Emiroglu O, Ilhan S, Arslan N, Yilmaz V, Ahiska S (2008) Application of multivariate statistical techniques in the assessment of surface water quality in Uluabat Lake, Turkey. Environ Monit Assess 144(1–3):269–276
ISS (2005) Guidance on sampling of groundwaters—SRPS ISO 5667-11:2005. Institute for Standardization of Serbia, Belgrade
ISS (2008) Guidance on the design of sampling programmes and sampling techniques—SRPS EN ISO 5667-1:2008. Institute for Standardization of Serbia, Belgrade
Jakovljević DM, Kostić MN, Stevanović D, Blagojević S, Wilson JM, Lj Martinović (1997) Factors influencing the distribution of heavy metals in the alluvial soils of the Velika Morava River valley, Serbia. Appl Geochem 12:637–642
Janardhana NR, Chaudhary A, Nazneen S, Singh S, Goyal A (2015) Hydro-geochemical investigation and quality assessment of groundwater for drinking and agricultural use in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India. In: Janardhana RN, Wolfgang G, Sudhakar M (eds) Management of natural resources in a changing environment. Springer, Basel, pp 3–28
Kim K-H, Yun S-T, Choi B-Y, Chae G-T, Joo Y, Kim K, Kim H-S (2009) Hydrochemical and multivariate statistical interpretations of spatial controls of nitrate concentrations in a shallow alluvial aquifer around Oxbow lakes (Osong Area, Central Korea). J Contam Hydrol 107:114–127
Knobeloch L, Salna B, Hogan A, Postle J, Anderson H (2000) Blue babies and nitrate-contaminated well water. Environ Health Persp 108(7):675–678
Kostić N, Dangić A, Jakovljević M (2002) Geochemistry of iron in soil of Vojvodina, Šumadija and Northern Pomoravlje. Matica Srpska Proc Nat Sci 103:17–28
Ledesma-Ruiz R, Pasten-Zapata E, Parra R, Harter T, Mahlknecht (2015) Investigation of the geochemical evolution of groundwater under agricultural land: a case study in northeastern Mexico. J Hydrol 521:410–423
Majkić B (2013) Water well ageing in alluvial sediments of different oxic conditions. Dissertation, University of Belgrade (in Serbian)
Majkić-Dursun B, Petković A, Dimkić M (2015) The effect of iron oxidation in the groundwater of the alluvial aquifer of the Velika Morava River, Serbia, on the clogging of water supply wells. J Serb Chem Soc 80(7):947–957
Majkić-Dursun B, Tončić J, Petković A, Čolić J (2016) Redox conditions and groundwater quality issues of selected alluvial aquifers in Serbia. Wa Sci Technol. https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2016.027
Masoud AA, Koike K, Mashaly H, Gergis F (2016) Spatio-temporal trends and change factors of groundwater quality in an arid area with peat rich aquifers: emergence of water environmental problems in Tanta District, Egypt. J Arid Environ 124:360–376
McGarial K, Cushman S, Stafford S (2000) Multivariate statistics for wildlife and ecology research. Springer, New York
Milanović S, Stevanović Z, Đurić D, Petrović T, Milanović M (2010) Regional approach in creating groundwater vulnerability map of Serbia—a new method “IZDAN”. In: Proceedings of XV Geological congress of Serbia, pp 585–590 (in Serbian)
Miljević N, Boreli-Zdravković Đ, Obradović V, Golobočanin D, Mayer B (2012) Evaluation of the origin of nitrate influencing the Ključ Groundwater Source, Serbia. Water Sci Technol 66(3):472–478
Obradović J, Vasić N (2007) Neogene Lacustrine Basins of Serbia. Monography, volume DCLXII, Book 3. Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade (in Serbian)
Official Gazette FRY (1999) Regulation on the Hygienic Adequacy of Drinking Water, nos. 42/98, 44/99 (in Serbian)
Olsen LR, Chappell WR, Loftis CJ (2012) Water quality sample collection, data treatment and results presentation for principal components analysis—literature review and Illinois River watershed case study. Water Res 46:3110–3122
Page MR, Lischeid G, Epting J, Huggenberger P (2012) Principal component analysis of time series for identifying indicator variables for riverine groundwater extraction management. J Hydrol 432–433:137–144
Ravikumar P, Somashekar RK, Somashekar RK (2015) Principal component analysis and hydrochemical facies characterization to evaluate groundwater quality in Varahi River Basin, Karnataka State, India. Appl Water Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-015-0287-x
Romesburg HC (2004) Cluster analysis for researchers. Lulu Press, North Carolina
Saha D, Sarangam SS, Dwivedi NS, Bhartariya G (2010) Evaluation of hydrogeochemical processes in arsenic-contaminated alluvial aquifers in parts of Mid-Ganga Basin, Bihar, Eastern India. Environ Earth Sci 61:799–811
Samantara MK, Padhi RK, Satpathy KK, Sowmya M, Kumaran P (2015) Groundwater nitrate contamination and use of Cl/Br ratio for source appointment. Environ Monit Assess 187(2):1–13
Shrestha S, Kazama F (2007) Assessment of surface water quality using multivariate statistical techniques: a case study of the Fuji river basin, Japan. Environ Modell Softw 22(4):464–475
Soulsby C, Chen M, Ferrier RC, Helliwell RC, Jenkins A, Harriman R (1998) Hydrogeochemistry of shallow groundwater in an upland Scottish catchment. Hydrol Process 12:1111–1127
Srinivasamoorthy K, Vasanthavigar M, Vijayaraghavan K, Sarathidasan R, Gopinath S (2011) Hydrochemistry of groundwater in a coastal region of Cuddalore District, Tamilnadu, India: implication for quality assessment. Arab J Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-011-0351-2
Stevanović Z, Papić P (2008) The origin of groundwater. In: Dimkić M, Brauch HJ, Kavanaugh M (eds) Groundwater management in large river basins. IWA Publishing, London
Tiwari AK, Singh AK (2014) Hydrogeochemical investigation and groundwater quality assessment of Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh. J Geol Soc India 83(3):329–343
Veselinović M, Antonijević I, Milosaković R, Mićić I, Krstić B, Čučilić M, Divljan M, Maslarević LJ (1970) Interpretation of the national geological map 1:100,000. The Sheet Boljevac, Federal Geological Survey, Belgrade (in Serbian)
Wasserman GA, Liu X, Parvez F, Ahsan H, Levy D, Factor-Litvak P, Kline J, van Geen A, Slavkovich V, LoIacono NJ, Cheng Z, Zheng Y, Graziano JH (2006) Water manganese exposure and children’s intellectual function in Araihazar, Bangladesh. Environ Health Persp 114:124–129
WHO (2011) Guidelines for drinking-water quality, 4th edn. World Health Organization, Geneva
Acknowledgements
The authors express their gratitude to the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development for funding Project TR37014.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Majkić-Dursun, B., Oros, I. & Boreli-Zdravković, Đ. Spatial distribution of groundwater quality parameters in the Velika Morava River Basin, central Serbia. Environ Earth Sci 77, 30 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7224-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7224-x