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Water pollution characteristics and influencing factors of closed lake in a semiarid area: a case study of Daihai Lake, China

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Abstract

In semiarid areas, closed lakes are essential for maintaining local ecosystem functions. However, many closed lakes are facing continuous deterioration of water quality. To scientifically and comprehensively evaluate the water quality of Daihai Lake (a closed lake in a semiarid region of China) and analyze its spatiotemporal variations and influencing factors, this study analyzed the following nine water quality parameters at five monitoring stations from 2008 to 2017 using the water quality index (WQI) and multivariate statistical techniques: permanganate index (CODMn), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), fluoride (F−), water temperature (WT), pH, ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N), and dissolved oxygen (DO). The results showed that the average WQI at the five monitoring stations varies between 45.53 and 46.98, and the water quality of Daihai Lake has improved (2013–2017) after an initial period of pollution (2008–2013), but it remains poor. The main contaminants were identified as CODMn, BOD5, TN, TP, and F−, which showed average concentrations of 13.12, 6.19, 0.98, 0.13, and 2.82 mg/L, respectively. The water quality showed small spatial variability, but distinct variations between the dry and wet seasons. Discriminant analysis showed that 97% of the water quality data can be classified into the correct seasonal with six parameters (WT, pH, CODMn, TN, and NH4+-N). Anthropogenic activities were the main factors driving the variation in water quality. Climatic conditions promoted the release of internal pollutants and aggravated the impact of external pollutants during the dry and wet seasons, respectively. The minimum WQI determined using only key water quality parameters (DO, BOD5, NH4+-N, TP, and TN) could effectively reflect the actual water quality. These results can provide references for lake ecosystem protection and water resources management.

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Acknowledgements

This study was jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51869014), National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2021YFC3201203), Major Science and Technology Projects of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (Grant Nos. 2020ZD0009 and ZDZX2018054), Open Project Program of the Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resources Use of the Mongolian Plateau (Grant No. KF2020006), and Special Funds for Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Postgraduates in Inner Mongolia University (Grant No. 11200-121024). We also thank editors and anonymous reviewers for the constructive suggestions and comments.

Funding

This study was jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51869014), National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2021YFC3201203), Major Science and Technology Projects of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (Grant Nos. 2020ZD0009 and ZDZX2018054), Open Project Program of the Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resources Use of the Mongolian Plateau (Grant No. KF2020006), and Special Funds for Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Postgraduates in Inner Mongolia University (Grant No. 11200–121024).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of River and Lake Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010021, Inner Mongolia Autonomous, China

    Xiaohui Ren, Ruihong Yu, Jianfang Kang, Changwei Lü, Rui Wang, Yuan Li & Zhonghua Zhang

  2. Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resources Use of the Mongolian Plateau of Ministry of Education, Hohhot, 010021, Inner Mongolia Autonomous, China

    Ruihong Yu & Changwei Lü

Authors
  1. Xiaohui Ren
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  2. Ruihong Yu
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  4. Changwei Lü
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  5. Rui Wang
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  6. Yuan Li
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. XR contributed to investigation, formal analysis, software, methodology, writing the original draft, and writing, reviewing, and editing. RY contributed to supervision, conceptualization, and writing, reviewing, and editing. JK contributed to investigation and data curation. CL contributed to writing, reviewing, and editing. RW, YL, and ZZ contributed to investigation. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ruihong Yu.

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Ren, X., Yu, R., Kang, J. et al. Water pollution characteristics and influencing factors of closed lake in a semiarid area: a case study of Daihai Lake, China. Environ Earth Sci 81, 393 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10526-2

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