Geographical detection of groundwater pollution vulnerability and hazard in karst areas of Guangxi Province, China

Abstract

Groundwater pollution is a critical concern in karst areas. This study used the PLEIK (P: protective cover; L: land use; E: epikarst development; I: infiltration conditions; K: karst development) method to assess the vulnerability of groundwater pollution in Guangxi Province, which is the largest karst area in China. The pollution sources and attenuation consist of groundwater pollution hazards. The attributions for the vulnerability and hazard were measured using the geodetector method from geographical information system in Luzhai County in Guangxi. The results confirmed that the vulnerability of groundwater pollution was higher in karst areas than in non-karst areas. In Guangxi, 36.35% of the groundwater samples were polluted. A total of 49.73% of the areas in Luzhai County contained hazardous levels of pollution. The risk assessment map, which interacted with the vulnerability and hazards, was 58.2% similar to the groundwater pollution distribution. The influence of the hazard on groundwater pollution was 2.6 times that of the vulnerability. It is crucial to control pollution sources to prevent groundwater pollution.