Abstract
Understanding the characteristics of non-point sources (NPS) pollutions can provide theoretical support for improving water quality. Siheshui watershed located in south China was selected to explore the characteristics of NPS pollutions in rainfall-runoff process. In this small agricultural watershed, five flood events and one non-flood event were monitored, and the water quantity and quality constituents were measured. The event mean concentrations (EMCs) of pollutant constituents in runoff flows were estimated. It is shown that the EMCs of BOD5, CODMn, TSS, TP, TN, and NH3-N in the flood events are remarkably larger than those in the non-flood event. The antecedent precipitation has a large effect on the output of the pollutant concentration. The pollutant load fluxes of most pollutant constituents change synchronously with the runoff flows, and the synchronization relationship is better than that between the pollutant concentrations and the runoff flows. The Pearson correlation analysis indicates that the EMCs of CODMn, TP, and TSS are significantly correlated with rainfall runoff characteristics in the flood events, while BOD5, TN, and NH3-N show weak correlations. In addition, the mean concentration method was used to estimate the annual NPS pollution load. It is shown that the proportions of the NPS pollution load to the total pollutant load are more than 80% from 2008 to 2010.
Highlights
Many efforts have been made to reduce point source pollution during the last several decades, the water quality improved slightly
It was reported that the aquatic organisms would thrive quickly and affect water quality, if the total nitrogen content of surface water reached the value of 0.9–3.5 mg/L [21]
It is shown that the mean event mean concentrations (EMCs) of CODMn, TSS, TP, TN, and NH3-N
Summary
Many efforts have been made to reduce point source pollution during the last several decades, the water quality improved slightly. This may be ascribed to the non-point sources (NPS) of pollution [1,2]. NPS pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt flows over and through the ground. It picks up natural and anthropogenic pollutants and sends them into rivers, lakes, coastal waters, or ground waters [5]. The excessive use of chemicals may result in the eutrophication of many coastal and freshwater ecosystems [6,7]
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