Sources assessment of heavy metals inflow in the Pestovo water storage reservoir

Abstract

One of the most important water quality indicators is the heavy metals content. Heavy metals (HMs) are one of the top pollutants in the list because even very small concentrations of them are highly toxic. The peculiarity of HMs as pollutants is also that there is practically no bio-degradation for them – they only move from one natural reservoir to another, interacting with living organisms and leaving traces of this interaction. Moving from one link of the trophic chain of ecosystems to another, they gradually concentrate in the master links of food chains, as well as in bottom deposits (BD). In particular, HMs can take a long time to gain a foothold in the root stalks of perennial aquatic plants. Excess of their content over the background values in the conditions of the Moscow region is a purely anthropogenic factor. Sources of environmental input can be any activity types: industry, agriculture, motor transport. However, the analysis of the heavy metals input in territories differently located about heat power engineering and oil refining facilities, allows us to assert that the main source is emissions through high pipes of enterprises of ash residues, while there are multiple exceedances of MAC in soils and surface waters, close to the pollution source. As you move away from the pollution sources, the content of HMs in snow, water, soil, and bottom deposits decreases significantly and tends to change over the years, which is associated with changes in the air-mass transport within the region.