The Impact of Urbanization on Water Quality: Case Study on the Alto Atoyac Basin in Puebla, Mexico

Population growth, poorly planned industrial development and uncontrolled production processes have left a significant footprint of environmental deterioration in the Alto Atoyac watershed. In this study, we propose using the integrated pollution index (PI) to characterize the temporary variations in surface water quality during the rapid urbanization process in the municipalities of San Martín Texmelucán (SMT) and Tepetitla de Lardizabal (TL), in the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala, between 1985 and 2020. We assessed the correlation between the population growth rate and the water quality parameters according to the Water Quality Index (ICA). The contribution of each polluting substance to the PI was determined. The industry database was created and the increase in population and industry, and their densities, were estimated. The results indicated that the temporal pattern of surface water quality is determined by the level of urbanization. The water integrated pollution index (WPI) increased with the passage of time in all the localities: SLG 0.0 to 25.0; SMTL 25.0 to 29.0; SRT 4.0 to 29.0; VA 6.0 to 30.0; T 3.5 to 24.0 and SMA 4.0 to 27.0 from 2010 to 2020, respectively. The correlation coefficients between the five parameters (BOD5, COD, CF, TU and TSS) in the six localities were positive with the population. The values that showed a higher correlation with the population were: SLG (FC 0.86), SMTL (BOD5 0.61, COD 0.89, TSS 0.64) and SRT (TU 0.83), corresponding to highly polluted localities, which generates complex and severe environmental implications due to the unsustainable management of water resources. Achieving the sustainability of water in the watershed is a challenge that should be shared between society and state. This type of research can be a useful tool in making environmental management decisions.

Monitoring and Ecological Risks of Heavy Metals of Urban Soils in Different Functional Areas Based on Plasma Technology

Heavy metal pollution in soil has become a global environmental problem in recent years. This study assessed heavy metals' pollution distribution, level and ecological risk in soils from different functional areas in Shihezi City, China. Heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, and Cd) were measured using atmospheric pressure discharge plasma and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The mean concentration of all heavy metals in soil was higher than heavy metals' background values. The spatial distribution of Cr is the most different, and the distribution of Cu and Zn are similar in other functional regions. The single pollution index indicated that the heavy metals in industrial, traffic, and residential areas were enriched, and the pollution of Cd was more severe than others. The Nemerow pollution index showed that the near Manas River basin coast is alert (still clean), the industrial area is moderately polluted, and all other functional areas are lightly polluted. The potential ecological risk index demonstrated that only the nearshore Manas River Basin is at a mild ecological risk level, while all other functional areas are at a moderate ecological risk level. The determinate power of DEM, temperature, and precipitation were all over 65%, which meant that the topographic and climatic factors were the main factors affecting the change of heavy metal content. Secondly, socio-economic factors are important factors to promote the change of heavy metal content in soil.

Appraisal of water quality and ecological sensitivity with reference to riverfront development along the River Gomti, India

The conflict between the vitality of natural ecosystem versus artificially developed systems has existed since decades. The ecological sensitivity and socio-economic aspects associated with riverfront development along rivers have attracted the attention of environmentalists and ecologists across the globe. The present study evaluates the impacts of channelization and riverfront development on the water quality of river Gomti through Water Pollution Index (WPI) and other statistical tools. Of the total studied sites, 75% were found to be in the ‘highly polluted’ category even after the development of riverfront. An approximate increase of 274.5% and 171.76% was witnessed in the WPI values at the midstream sites of Kudiaghat and Daliganj, respectively. This increase in the WPI values clearly stated the deteriorated water quality of river Gomti after the channelization. The major issue of domestic sewage discharge with partial or no treatment into the river seems to be unresolved even after a considerable period of riverfront development. This study can provide a reference database toward development of such projects across the globe.

Analysis of water pollution index around gold mining in the downstream of Krueng Kluet sub-watershed

Water is one of the primary needs of every living creature. With the increase in population, the need for water continues to increase. The declining water quality caused by human activities is one of the world’s concerns. This study examines river water quality status in the gold mining area in the downstream of Krueng Kluet sub-watershed. The method used to determine the level of river water pollution is based on the Decree of Minister of Environment Number 115 the Year 2003, which uses class 1 water quality standards according to Government Regulation of The Republic of Indonesia Number 82 the Year. The results show that river water in the study area is in the category that is not polluted or fulfills water quality standards for drinking water and daily needs.

A Review of Chronological Evolution of Air Quality Indexing Systems (1966 To 2021)

Air quality index (AQI) also known as air pollution index (API) is the way of describing ambient air quality to assess the health risk associated with pollution. With the advent of time, there have been several air quality indexing systems starting from the first air Quality Index developed in 1966 by Marvin H. Green and various modifications have been made ever since to improve the accuracy of measurement. Such systems can assess the air quality by several factors like the concentration of different pollutants or by various empirically established formulas based on past experiences. In this review article, an effort has been made to chronologically evaluate the AQI system developed across the world from 1966 to 2021. Every indexing system has its own unique method for air quality determination and each method has its own merits and demerits. This pape rcovers various parameters, empirical relationships, standards, merits, and demerits, which in hind sight will help to develop an amalgamation of various indexing systems that can be used as a standard method for monitoring the quality of air. This paper also covers the AQI systems that prevail in India. A fuzzy logic system is very helpful in handling the uncertainty in air quality assessment. So, fuzzy-based air quality indexing systems developed from 2010 to 2017 have also been reviewed. The review of articles established that the results obtained through fuzzybased AQI aremore reliable than the other methods. Out of all the above describing methods, fuzzy synthetic evaluation-based AQI system and fuzzy air quality health index (FAQHI) are more powerful tools to describe the air quality. But till 2017, thereis no development of AQI systems based on fuzzy logic, considering PM2.5 as one of the pollutants. So, there is a need to develop the fuzzy-based AQI system considering PM2.5 as a pollutant with other air pollutants.

ORGANIC POLLUTION INDEX IN THE EVALUATION OF THE QUALITY OF LAKE DOHOU, A SOURCE OF DRINKING WATER SUPPLY IN THE CITY OF DUEKOUE (WEST COTE DIVOIRE)

The abiotic typology of the different sampling stations based on physico-chemical parameters and the assessment of the nutrient load and the relative contributions of the different nutrient sources to this surface water were analysed. Five physical and chemical parameters (temperature, dissolved oxygen, transparency, pH and conductivity) were measured in situ at each sampling campaign in Lake Dohou over a period of one year, once a month at seven (7) selected stations. Water samples were taken for subsequent determination of dissolved solids, biological oxygen demand for 5 days and nutrient salts (nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, ammonium).Thephysico-chemical characterisation revealed weakly mineralised water with average conductivities varying from 12.38 ±16.33 µS.cm-1 to 39.63 ±45.28 µS.cm-1 with high temperatures in the dry season. A hierarchical ascending classification (HAC) was used to group the stations into 3 groups. Group I (stations 6), due to its exposure to domestic discharges and leaching from agricultural land, is heavily loaded with organic matter and nutrients. The values of the pollution index express a high organic pollution at all the sampling stations. The water of Lake Dohou is highly loaded with organic matter and receives a very high amount of pollutant from the environment.