Analysis of the Water Quality of the Ishim River within the Akmola Region (Kazakhstan) Using Hydrochemical Indicators

Natalya S Salikova,María-Elena Rodrigo-Clavero,Kulyash K Alimova,Javier Rodrigo-Ilarri

doi:10.3390/w13091243

Natalya S Salikova, María-Elena Rodrigo-Clavero + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/w13091243

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Abstract

For the first time in scientific literature, this work addresses the current situation of the Ishim River water quality in the Akmola Region (Northern Kazakhstan). This work uses environmental monitoring techniques to analyze the current state of surface waters in the river. The content of main ions, biogenic and inorganic ions, heavy metals, organic impurities in seasonal and annual dynamics have been studied. Results show that, despite the tightening of requirements for wastewater discharge into the Ishim River basin, a number of water quality indicators did not fulfill the regulatory requirements for surface water bodies during 2013–2019. It has been identified that the greatest pollution in the Ishim River is brought by enterprises of the Karaganda-Temirtau technogenic region, located in the upper reaches of the river. Future water quality monitoring is needed and should include increasing the number of sampling locations and the sampling frequency in order to characterize the spatial and temporal variability of hydrochemical parameters and allow a comprehensive monitoring of legally fixed water quality parameters/indicators.

Highlights

For the first time in scientific literature, this work addresses the current situation of the Ishim River water quality in the Akmola Region (Northern Kazakhstan)
The results show a significant contribution of the anthropogenic component to the change in the hydrochemical composition of rivers [37,38,39]
This section shows the results found when analyzing the hydrochemical indicators of the Ishim River at the gauging station of the city of Kamenny Quarry. These indicators were obtained in the surface water monitoring system of the Republican State Enterprise “Kazhydromet” with the author’s participation

Summary

Introduction

Despite the fact that the new millennium is over 20 years old, the problem of providing the population with high-quality water for household and drinking purposes remains relevant, and becomes more acute for a number of countries. This problem is of particular relevance for countries with developing economies, as well as those experiencing a shortage of water resources [1,2,3]. Surface waters are contaminated with an increasing diversity of anthropogenic compounds, giving rise to the presence of complex contaminant mixtures that represent a real environmental threat [4,5,6,7,8,9,10]

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