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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Quality and Contamination".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2024) | Viewed by 22011

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yalçın Tepe

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Guest Editor

Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Science, Giresun University, Güre Campus, 28200 Giresun, Turkey
Interests: bioaccumulation of heavy metals; environmental sciences; food safety and food security; public health; water pollution and management; water quality; sediment quality

Dr. Handan Aydın

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Guest Editor

Ministry of Education, Giresun Science and Art Center, 28200 Giresun, Turkey
Interests: water pollution and management; water quality; sediment quality; risk assessment; microplastic pollution

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water is the medium of the aquatic ecosystem, and worldwide studies on water supply, water quality and sediment continue to increase every day. Sediment is a key factor in aquatic environments, and many dissolved and suspended substances in water are derived from contact with sediment. Sediment is the storehouse for many substances that accumulate in aquatic ecosystems. Substances stored in sediment can be released into the water through ion exchange, dissolution, and decomposition. Such substances are potentially hazardous and exposure to them can cause serious public health problems. The general method of the water and sediment quality assessment is the evaluation of analyzed physicochemical parameters with onset national or international limit values. Datasets are evaluated using multivariate statistical methods, allowing a joint assessment of the water quality and environmental status of the study area. Multivariate statistical analysis (MSA), Water quality index (WQI), heavy metal pollution index (HPI), heavy metal evaluation index (HEI), hazard quotient (HQ), hazard index (HI), carcinogenic risk (CR), sodium percentage (% Na), sodium absorption ratio (SAR), magnesium hazard (MH), and residual sodium carbonate (RSC) are commonly used to assess drinking/irrigation water quality of surface water. Many reliable environmental indices such as contamination factor (CF), enrichment factor (EF), geo-accumulation index (Igeo) are widely used to evaluate the potential ecological effects of sediments. The deterioration of water and sediment quality in aquatic ecosystems has become a worldwide concern, and regular monitoring and protection of water resources have become vital issues.

Water is the basis of life, the guarantee of a prosperous life and our future. Access to clean water resources and potable water is decreasing day by day with increasing urban growth, rapid industrial development and climate change. In addition to their reduction, water resources are polluted and negatively affect the environment and indirectly human health. Our water resources are our inheritance and we must safely entrust this heritage to future generations. For this purpose, water resources should be evaluated and monitored together with the sediment at their bottom, and necessary measures should be taken to protect them.

This Special Issue aims to highlight studies and research in water and sediment quality assessment. Manuscripts may be related to water and sediment quality characterization, monitoring studies, and health assessments. Abstracts on various indices and statistical methods for water and sediment quality assessments are also welcome to be submitted.

Prof. Dr. Yalçın Tepe
Dr. Handan Aydın
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

water quality
sediment quality
bioaccumulation
aquatic ecosystems
environment

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1367 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design and Development of a Pilot-Scale Industrial Wastewater Treatment System with Plant Biomass and EDTA

by Uriel Fernando Carreño Sayago

Water 2023, 15(19), 3484; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15193484 - 5 Oct 2023

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2818

Abstract

The impact generated by the indiscriminate disposal of heavy metals into the different bodies of water is not only environmental but also social due to the health effects it produces in several organisms, including ourselves. Therefore, treatment systems around the world are the subject of continuous research to find treatment systems that are economical, efficient, and easy to implement in the industries that generate these increasingly harmful impacts on society and the environment in general. One way to design and develop systems of water treatment is that which takes advantage of the waste generated, such as the waste from the E. crassipes plant. The conditions of this plant make it perfect due to its abundant biomass and important content of cellulose and hemicellulose. Nevertheless, in almost all the investigations that characterize the way in which the biomass of this plant adsorbs heavy metals, it does so under laboratory conditions, being very far from the reality of industrial discharges. The objective of this project is to design and develop a pilot-scale industrial wastewater treatment system with plant biomass and EDTA. Three pilot-scale systems were built with EDTA-modified biomass in different concentrations, giving the parameters of the design for the development of a system that can treat around 80 L of Chromium (VI) contaminated water. This treatment system with E. crassipes biomass and EDTA with proportions of 9:1 costs around USD 10, which is quite cheap compared to conventional ones. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water and Sediment Quality Assessment)

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15 pages, 2692 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Variability and Heavy Metal Pollution Levels in Water and Bottom Sediments of the Liwiec and Muchawka Rivers (Poland)

by Mariusz Kluska and Joanna Jabłońska

Water 2023, 15(15), 2833; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15152833 - 5 Aug 2023

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2784

Abstract

In recent years, human impact on the Earth’s ecological environment has become increasingly visible, with serious negative consequences. One of the most important pollutants are heavy metals which can easily bind to sediments. Due to their toxic behavior, persistence, lack of biodegradability and bioaccumulation, they are considered key river pollutants that need to be controlled. This study examined two rivers: the Liwiec and Muchawka rivers located in south-eastern Poland. The mouth of the Liwiec River is the Bug River, which is partly the border between Poland and Belarus. In turn, the mouth of the Muchawka River is the Liwiec River. The objectives of the study were the following: (1) To complete a qualitative analysis of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Ni, Zn) in the waters and bottom sediments of the Liwiec and Muchawka rivers; (2) To assess the degree of heavy metal contamination; (3) To identify the sources of contamination. The analysis included samples of surface water and bottom sediments collected (16 water and 16 bottom sediment samples were taken from the Muchawka River and 32 water and 32 bottom sediment samples were taken from the Liwiec River) in June and September 2022. The variability of characteristics, such as temperature, precipitation and humidity, contributes to seasonal changes in the distribution characteristics and sources of heavy metals. The study showed that only a small part of the heavy metals entering rivers are present in the water depth in the dissolved state, and most of them enrich the sediment, resulting in much higher concentrations of heavy metals in the sediment than in the water column. The differences in the distribution of some elements in water and sediment are due to the fact that surface sediments retain long-term records. Therefore, sediment can be considered a potential source of heavy metals in the aquatic environment. In general, the content of heavy metals determined in bottom sediments was not high but indicative of anthropogenic human activity. There is a possibility of re-release of heavy metals from the sediment into the water when hydrodynamic conditions or environmental factors (pH, redox potential, etc.) change, which could lead to secondary water pollution. The data obtained will be of great importance to both researchers studying river systems and the population living in the area. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water and Sediment Quality Assessment)

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21 pages, 5307 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Assessment of Irrigation Water Quality with Respect to the Reuse of Treated Wastewater in Al-Ahsa Oasis, Saudi Arabia

by El-Sayed A. Badr, Rady T. Tawfik and Mortada S. Alomran

Water 2023, 15(13), 2488; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15132488 - 6 Jul 2023

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 6455

Abstract

Irrigation water quality is important to sustain agricultural productivity. The primary irrigation water sources in Al-Ahsa Oasis, KSA, are groundwater wells, mixed with treated wastewater and agricultural drainage. This study sought to evaluate irrigation water quality in Al-Ahsa Oasis with the aid of using irrigation water quality indices (IWQIs). One hundred and forty-eight different water samples were collected from various irrigation water resources throughout Al-Ahsa Oasis. The investigated physiochemical characteristics include pH, temperature, TDS, EC, turbidity, free chlorine, total hardness, cations (Na, K, Ca, Mg), anions (Cl, CO₃, HCO₃, SO₄), organic matter indices (DO, BOD, COD), and nutrients (NH₄, NO₃, PO₄). The IWQIs used in this study include salinity hazard, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), Kelly’s ratio (KR), soluble sodium percentage (SSP), Permeability index (PI), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), and magnesium hazard (MH). The results indicated that treated wastewater mixed with groundwater is acceptable for irrigation. Spatial variations in irrigation water quality throughout Al-Ahsa are associated with water resources. For instance, groundwater mixed with agricultural drainage has the highest values of TDS, cations, and anions, whereas the lowest values were reported for treated wastewater, reflecting the good efficiency of wastewater treatment plants. The IWQI results revealed that 4.1% and 62.1% of the investigated irrigation water samples were considered good (class III) and satisfactory (class IV) for irrigation, respectively, whereas 33.8% of the collected water samples fall within the severe irrigation restrictions. Moreover, 79.7% of the investigated water samples were classified to have high to very high salinity hazards (C3, C4) and medium to high sodium hazards (S2, S3). Regular monitoring and assessment of treated water quality and wastewater treatment plant efficiency are important factors in achieving the sustainability of treated wastewater reuse in irrigation and consequently food security. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water and Sediment Quality Assessment)

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24 pages, 4574 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research on Discharge Permit Allocation in Lushui River Based on Environmental GINI Coefficient

by Nicolas Obin, Fei Ge and Xingwang Liu

Water 2023, 15(12), 2156; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15122156 - 7 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1905

Abstract

Water pollution is the main cause of global ecological degradation and seriously affects people’s water supply. In order to respond to the water environmental protection policy and provide management departments with a basis for refining water quality, this paper uses the environmental Gini coefficient (EGC) method based on four indicators, such as water environmental capacity, population, land area, and gross domestic production (GDP), to represent social, economic, and environmental factors, respectively. After the optimization, for COD, the EGC based on the land area was 0.30, EGC based on population was 0.21, EGC based on environment capacity was 0.02, and the EGC based on GDP was 0.45, and the sum of EGC was 0.962. From this result, we can observe that the change in the Gini coefficient of each indicator is not very considerable. Hence, the most significant change in the Gini coefficient was that of GDP, with a higher rate than the other criteria. Then, the COD, AND, and TP discharge allocation models were constructed to obtain the total allocated discharge permit for the Lushui Basin. The results show that the total discharge permit allocations of COD, AN, and TP for the Lushui Basin are 51,483.304, 843.119, and 340.926 tons/year, respectively. Based on GIS spatial analysis technology, the distribution of unfair factors that cause pollution inequity is investigated. Finally, reduction measures were proposed to implement environmental supervision and improve water environmental management. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water and Sediment Quality Assessment)

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17 pages, 7078 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Integrated Principal Component and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis Approach for Groundwater Quality Assessment in Jazan, Saudi Arabia

by Mustafa El-Rawy, Heba Fathi, Fathy Abdalla, Fahad Alshehri and Hazem Eldeeb

Water 2023, 15(8), 1466; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15081466 - 9 Apr 2023

Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4035

Abstract

Jazan province on Saudi Arabia’s southwesterly Red Sea coast is facing significant challenges in water management related to its arid climate, restricted water resources, and increasing population. A total of 180 groundwater samples were collected and tested for important hydro-chemical parameters used to determine its adaptability for irrigation. The principal components analysis (PCA) was applied to evaluate the consistency/cluster overlapping, agglomeration in the datasets, and to identify the sources of variation between the 11 major ion concentrations (pH, K⁺, Na⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, SO₄²⁻, Cl⁻, HCO₃⁻, NO₃⁻, TDS, and TH). The EC values ranged from excellent to unsuitable, with 10% being excellent to good, 43% permissible, and 47% improper for irrigation. The SAR classification determined that 91.67% of groundwater samples were good to excellent for irrigation, indicating that they are suitable for irrigation with no sodium-related adverse effects. Magnesium hazard values showed that 1.67% of the samples are unsuitable for irrigation, while the remaining 98.33% are suitable. Chloro-alkaline indices signify that most groundwater samples show positive ratios indicating that ion exchange is dominant in the aquifer. The Gibb’s diagram reflects that evaporation, seawater interaction, and water–rock interaction are the foremost processes impacting groundwater quality, besides other regional environmental variables. A strong positive correlation was declared between TDS and Na⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻ in addition to TH with Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻, TDS, and also Cl⁻ with Na⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ were major connections, with correlation coefficients over 0.8 and p < 0.0001. The extracted factor analysis observed that TH, Ca²⁺, TDS, Cl⁻, and Mg²⁺ have high positive factor loading in Factor 1, with around 52% of the total variance. This confirms the roles of evaporation and ion exchange as the major processes that mostly affect groundwater quality, along with very little human impact. The spatial distribution maps of the various water quality indices showed that the majority of unsuitable groundwater samples were falling along the coast where there is overcrowding and a variety of anthropogenic activities and the possible impact of seawater intrusion. The results of the hierarchical cluster analysis agreed with the correlations mentioned in the factor analysis and correlation matrix. As a result, incorporating physicochemical variables into the PCA to assess groundwater quality is a practical and adaptable approach with exceptional abilities and new perspectives. According to the study’s findings, incorporating different techniques to assess groundwater quality is beneficial in understanding the factors that control groundwater quality and can assist officials in effectively controlling groundwater quality and also enhancing the water resources in the study area. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water and Sediment Quality Assessment)

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12 pages, 1812 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Speciation Distribution Characteristic and Ecological Risk of Heavy Metals in Surface Sediments of Cascading Hydropower Dams in Lancang River

by Jinpeng Li, Aidong Zhao, Hao Xuan and Xiaoguang You

Water 2022, 14(20), 3248; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14203248 - 14 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1980

Abstract

In order to study the speciation, contamination statues, and distribution characteristic of heavy metals in the surface sediments of cascading dams, the reservoir regions of Manwan and Dachaoshan cascading dams were sampled and investigated. The speciation and its contents of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn) were analyzed by the modified European Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) sequential method. The ecological risk assessment of heavy metals was performed by the ratio of secondary phase and primary phase (RSP) method. The source identification of heavy metals was performed by correlation analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA). The results indicated that the values of RSP_cd were from heavy pollution (IV level), and those of RSP_Zn were from light pollution (II level) to moderate pollution (III level) in the lacustrine zone of the upper-stream Manwan dam. The values of the RSP were no pollution (I level) in the downstream of the Dachaoshan dam. The ecological risk assessment of heavy metals (Cd, Zn, and As) at the upper stream of the Manwan dam was generally higher than that at the downstream Dachaoshan dam. Cascading dams operation showed significant accumulation effects on heavy metals in surface sediments. The source identification of heavy metals showed that Cd and Zn were mainly from anthropogenic activities; As, Cu, and Pb were affected by both natural processes and anthropogenic activities; and Cr was mainly from natural processes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water and Sediment Quality Assessment)

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