Water quality assessment and hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater on the aspect of metals in an old town, Foshan, south China

Abstract

The present study is aimed at assessing the water quality and discussing the hydrochemical characteristics and seasonal variation of shallow groundwater on the aspect of metals in the eastern Chancheng district of Foshan city, south China. Multivariate analytical methods such as principal components analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were used in this study. The results show that 45% of groundwater in the east-central of study area is not suitable for drinking purpose due to high concentrations of Fe, Pb and Mn. The mean concentrations of Fe, Hg, Cu, Pb, and Mn in dry season are higher than that in wet season. On the contrary, the mean concentrations of Cd, Co, Zn, Ba, Cr, Mo, Ni and Al in wet season are higher than that in dry season. PCA results show that four PCs are responsible for the 78.6% of the total hydrochemical variables in groundwater. Three groups were generated from HCA method. Group 1 reflects the characteristic of wet season and the low ion exchange capacity; group 2 is mainly influenced by the dry season. Reducing environment and high ion exchange capacity are responsible for group 3. The results are useful in addressing future measures in groundwater resource management for local government.

Environmental quality assessment of groundwater resources in Al Jabal Al Akhdar, Sultanate of Oman

“…4) showed that the majority of the samples are in the rock-water interaction dominance field, suggesting that chemical weathering of rocks forming minerals and evaporation are the dominant processes controlling the major ion composition of the water through the dissolution of the rock-forming minerals. Similar results were found by other studies conducted in arid regions (e.g., Magesh et al 2013;Al-Harbi et al 2014;Huang et al 2014;Nazzal et al 2014;Aly 2014;Saber et al 2014). …”

“…Due to rapid increase in population and urbanization, and associated anthropogenic activities, in these regions, their groundwater resources are prone to pollution from different sources (Khattak et al 2012;Kata et al 2014;Li et al 2014). This leads to poor drinking quality, high cleanup costs, loss of water supply and high costs for alternative water supplies and may cause potential health problems (Adhikary et al 2012;Duan et al 2014;Huang et al 2014).…”

“…If not properly managed, water quality can be a serious limiting factor to economic development and public health, which may result in enormous long-term costs to society (Sadat-Noori et al 2014;Nasrabadi and Abbasi Maedeh 2014). Water quality is primarily governed by the extent and composition of dissolved solids (Tomar et al 2012;Huang et al 2014) and is a function of physico-chemical parameters, influenced by natural and anthropogenic factors including local climate, geology and human activities (Tatawat and Chandel 2008;Al-Harbi et al 2014;Gueroui et al 2014). The hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater determine its quality and suitability for drinking and other uses, and may also vary seasonally.…”

Hydraulic head and groundwater ¹¹¹Cd content interpolations using empirical Bayesian kriging (EBK) and geo-adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (geo-ANFIS)

“…In the case of using polluted water stored in reservoirs for domestic, industrial or irrigational purposes, harmful side effects will most likely be encountered. Recent studies have shown that groundwater heavy metal contamination often cannot be detected, especially in cities (Huang et al, 2014). Pollutant sources could be artificial or natural.…”

Karabağlar Polyesi̇nde Yeralti Suyu Metal-Metaloi̇t İçeri̇ği̇ni̇n Jeoi̇stati̇sti̇ksel Yöntemlerle Değerlendi̇ri̇lmesi̇ (Muğla, Türki̇ye)

“…This raises the importance of knowing the pollution status, especially heavy metal pollution and the quality of groundwater. Studies have shown that metal pollution in groundwater, particularly in urban areas, is often not noticed and remains confidential (Huang et al, 2014). Metal contamination of waters can occur both by natural means and by human origin.…”