Transmission of Heavy Metals in River Water and Self-Purification Capacity of Ile River

Mussakulkyzy, Ainur; Opp, Christian; Amirgaliev, Nariman; Madibekov, Azamat; Ismukhanova, Laura; Zhadi, Askhat

doi:10.3390/app15126548

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Open AccessArticle

Transmission of Heavy Metals in River Water and Self-Purification Capacity of Ile River

by

Ainur Mussakulkyzy

¹

,

Christian Opp

^2,*

,

Nariman Amirgaliev

¹,

Azamat Madibekov

^1,3,*

,

Laura Ismukhanova

^1,3

and

Askhat Zhadi

^1,4

¹

Laboratory of “Hydrochemistry and Environmental Toxicology”, JSC «Institute of Geography and Water Security», Almaty 050010, Kazakhstan

²

Faculty of Geography, Philipps-Universität Marburg, D-35032 Marburg, Germany

³

Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty 050010, Kazakhstan

⁴

Department Water Resources and Reclamation, Water, Land and Forest Resources Faculty, Kazakh National Agrarian Research University, Almaty 050010, Kazakhstan

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(12), 6548; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15126548

Submission received: 16 April 2025 / Revised: 4 June 2025 / Accepted: 5 June 2025 / Published: 10 June 2025

(This article belongs to the Section Environmental Sciences)

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Abstract

The continuing anthropogenic pollution of the Ile River occurs both by transboundary runoff and as a result of discharges of industrial, agricultural, and domestic wastewater on the territory of Kazakhstan. With this amount of pollution, the river’s capacity for self-purification is very limited, and in some cases practically exhausted. Hydrochemical and toxic indicators in the Ile River basin were analyzed based on water sampling from the Chinese–Kazakh border station to 37 km downstream of the hydroelectric power plants (HPPs). Heavy metals were determined by flame AAS methods. The self-purification capacity (SPC) was determined for cadmium by 28–81%, copper 15–66%, zinc 22–37%, and cobalt 5–9% while the nickel self-purification of water did not occur. The SPC was influenced by the Kapshagai reservoir. The identified main regularities of the anthropogenic transformation of water quality and self-purification capacity of the river will help both in solving the problems of river pollution and in the development of necessary measures aimed at the protection of water resources from pollution and depletion.

Keywords: heavy metals; self-purification capacity; aquatic ecosystem; anthropogenic pollution; maximum permissible concentration; Ile River

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MDPI and ACS Style

Mussakulkyzy, A.; Opp, C.; Amirgaliev, N.; Madibekov, A.; Ismukhanova, L.; Zhadi, A. Transmission of Heavy Metals in River Water and Self-Purification Capacity of Ile River. Appl. Sci. 2025, 15, 6548. https://doi.org/10.3390/app15126548

AMA Style

Mussakulkyzy A, Opp C, Amirgaliev N, Madibekov A, Ismukhanova L, Zhadi A. Transmission of Heavy Metals in River Water and Self-Purification Capacity of Ile River. Applied Sciences. 2025; 15(12):6548. https://doi.org/10.3390/app15126548

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mussakulkyzy, Ainur, Christian Opp, Nariman Amirgaliev, Azamat Madibekov, Laura Ismukhanova, and Askhat Zhadi. 2025. "Transmission of Heavy Metals in River Water and Self-Purification Capacity of Ile River" Applied Sciences 15, no. 12: 6548. https://doi.org/10.3390/app15126548

APA Style

Mussakulkyzy, A., Opp, C., Amirgaliev, N., Madibekov, A., Ismukhanova, L., & Zhadi, A. (2025). Transmission of Heavy Metals in River Water and Self-Purification Capacity of Ile River. Applied Sciences, 15(12), 6548. https://doi.org/10.3390/app15126548

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Transmission of Heavy Metals in River Water and Self-Purification Capacity of Ile River

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