Prediction and countermeasures of heavy metal copper pollution accident in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area

Abstract

In order to mitigate the hazards of water pollution in drinking water source areas (DWSAs), developing applicable models and proposing effective solutions is of paramount significance. The study developed the Heshangshan Drinking Water Source Area (HDWSA) Hydrodynamic Model, integrating Geographic Information System (GIS) into a two-dimensional hydrodynamic water quality model using FORTRAN. TECPLOT360 software (Software Tools for Numerical Simulation with Visualization) visualized contamination transportation and diffusion. The model's relative error is less than 6%, indicating its strong stability and high reliability. The HDWSA in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA) was used as a case study, focusing on copper (Cu) as a pollutant. By regulating the flow downstream from the Xiangjiaba Reservoir, Scheduling Group 1 and Scheduling Group 2 respectively increased the flow by 4000 m3/s and 8000 m3/s. The study analyzed the spatio-temporal variations of Cu concentration following pollution accident and flow scheduling. Under accident conditions, it took 71, 61, 49, and 56 min for the Cu concentration in the study area to decrease to below the standard value (1 mg/L) during dry, falling, flood, and storage periods. Scheduling Groups 1 and 2 reduced the pollutant exceedance duration by 19–26 min and 12–18 min across the four water periods.