River Pollution Research Articles

Group of Community-Based Tourism Awareness (Pokdarwis) Strategies in Addressing Conflicts in Utilization and Conservation of the Environment

The use of natural resources is very prone to conflict because of the friction between economic motives (utility) and conservation motives (protection). This potential conflict also occurs in the use of Mount Sewu UNESCO Global Geopark where the main development is through the tourism sector. This research aims to find out the strategies of the people who are members of the Tourism Awareness Group (Pokdarwis) in dealing with potential conflicts over use and environmental conservation in the Gunung Sewu UNESCO Global Geopark area. This research is a qualitative study with a descriptive approach. The locations of this research are in Gunungkidul Regency, namely the Nglanggeran Ancient Volcano Geosite, the Pindul Cave Geosite, and the Siung Beach Geosite. This area was chosen as a representation of 2 (two) other districts in the Gunung Sewu UNESCO Global Geopark area, namely Wonogiri District and Pacitan District. In this research, researchers used participatory observation where data was collected through observation and sensing where the observer or researcher was truly involved in the respondent's daily life. The results of this research show that there is physical and non-physical damage as a result of the use of geoparks in the tourism sector. Physical damage includes damage to karst rocks, soil erosion, damage to vegetation, decreased water absorption capacity, pollution of rivers and seas, and vandalism. While non-physical damage includes economic inequality and social conflict. As a response to this damage, Pokdarwis adopted strategies and policies, including holding environmental cleanup work, building tourist attractions with environmentally friendly materials, installing signs calling for environmental cleanliness, limiting the number of tourist operators, managing waste in an integrated manner, building alternative tourist attractions, and forbid investors from entering. Based on a literature review, these strategies are classified as grassroots innovations. This research also strengthens the theory that community participation or empowerment is one of the best strategies in dealing with conflicts over environmental use and conservation.

Occurrence of antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the Lebanese polluted Litani River.

Antibiotic contamination in polluted rivers is well recognized as an environmental and public health challenge. In this study, the occurrence, distribution, and ecological risk assessment of three commonly used antibiotics (amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, and azithromycin) were assessed in the Litani River, the most important and highly polluted river in Lebanon. Physicochemical and microbiological water quality parameters including the antibiotic-resistant ones were in parallel determined in the same sites. Water samples from five sites stretching across the river upper basin were analyzed for the antibiotics under study using high-performance liquid chromatography, with both fluorometric and UV detectors post-extraction using a solid-phase method with a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance cartridges. The disc diffusion method and standardized water quality methods were used for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and water quality assessment, respectively. Amoxicillin and ciprofloxacin were found at concentrations of 250 ng/L and 107.2 ng/L, while azithromycin was not detected in any of the sites under study. Varying levels of antibiotic resistance were detected with the isolated Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) while the total coliforms showed resistance to multiple antibiotics. COD, TP, PO43-, TN, NO3-, NH4 + , E. coli, total coliform, P. aeruginosa, and Cd levels surpassed permissible levels. Correlation analysis with water quality parameters (COD, total phosphate, phosphate, total nitrogen, and cadmium) showed a significant positive correlation with ciprofloxacin (r > 0.5, p value < 0.05). Also, the resistant P. aeruginosa showed a significant positive correlation with cadmium (r > 0.5, p value < 0.05) while the resistant E. coli was positively correlated with total nitrogen, nitrate, and lead levels (r > 0.5, p value < 0.05). The ecological risk assessment revealed that all the tested antibiotics pose low risks (ecological risk quotient RQ < 0.1) except ciprofloxacin, which could pose a medium risk (0.1 < RQ < 1). Future research concerning the long-term assessment of antibiotics' residues and the identification of resistance genes in the river is recommended.

Review on Zinc Isotopes in River Systems: Distribution and Application

Zinc (Zn) is an essential trace element widely present in rivers and plays a crucial role in ecosystems. Human activities have led to the extensive migration and dissemination of Zn in the environment. When the accumulation of Zn in rivers reaches excessive levels, it transforms into a potentially harmful contaminant. Consequently, tracing Zn’s origin by its isotope ratios (δ66Zn) from natural and anthropogenic sources is essential for the management of and safeguarding against river pollution and comprehending Zn behavior in rivers as well. This review presents the advancements in Zn isotope research in river environments, including a summary of Zn isotope measurement, the distribution and controlling factors (mineral adsorption, precipitation, and biological effects) of Zn isotopes, and the applications of Zn isotopes in rivers. The median δ66Zn values for uncontaminated river water and suspended particulate matter (SPM) were 0.37‰ and 0.22‰, respectively, close to the bulk silicate Earth (BSE) value of 0.28 ± 0.05‰. With respect to the contaminated river, δ66Zn falls within −0.73‰ to 1.77‰, with it being heavily influenced by anthropogenic sources, such as the electroplating and metal processing industries. Apart from contamination identification, this review summarizes the river material exchange process and the δ66Zn values of rainwater (−0.2‰~0.38‰), groundwater (−0.13‰~1.4‰), lake water (−0.66‰~0.21‰), and seawater (−1.1‰~0.9‰), which facilitates a holistic understanding of the Zn cycle and isotope fractionation in the river system. In conclusion, Zn isotopes are an effective tool for tracing pollution sources and Zn migration processes, with enormous unexplored potential. Therefore, this review finally summarizes some challenges and future directions in current research on Zn isotopes.

Urbanization and weather dynamics co-dominated the spatial-temporal variation in pCO2 and CO2 fluxes in small montanic rivers draining diverse landscapes

Rivers have been widely reported as important CO2 emitters to the atmosphere. Rapid urbanization has a profound impact on the carbon biogeochemical cycle of rivers, leading to enhanced riverine CO2 evasions. However, it is still unclear whether the spatial–temporal patterns of CO2 emissions in the rivers draining diverse landscapes dominated by urbanization were stable, especially in mountainous areas. This study carried out a two-year investigation of water environmental hydrochemistry in three small mountainous rivers draining urban, suburban and rural landscapes in southwestern China, and CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) and fluxes (fCO2) in surface water were measured using headspace equilibrium method and classical thin boundary layer model. The average pCO2 and fCO2 in the highly urbanized river were of 4783.6 μatm and 700.0 mmol m−2 d−1, conspicuously higher than those in the rural river (1525.9 μatm and 123.2 mmol m−2 d−1), and the suburban river presented a moderate level (3114.2 μatm and 261.2 mmol m−2 d−1). It provided even clearer evidence that watershed urbanization could remarkably enhance riverine CO2 emissions. More importantly, the three rivers presented different longitudinal variations in pCO2, implying diversified spatial patterns of riverine CO2 emissions as a result of urbanization. The urban land can explain 49.6–69.1% of the total spatial variation in pCO2 at the reach scale, indicating that urban land distribution indirectly dominated the longitudinal pattern of riverine pCO2 and fCO2. pCO2 and fCO2 in the three rivers showed similar temporal variability with higher warm-rainy seasons and lower dry seasons, which are significantly controlled by weather dynamics, including monthly temperature and precipitation, but seem to be impervious to watershed urbanization. High temperature-stimulated microorganisms metabolism and riched-CO2 runoff input lead much higher pCO2 in warm-rainy seasons. However, it showed more sensitivity of pCO2 to monthly weather dynamics in urbanized rivers than that in rural rivers, and warm-rainy seasons showed hot moments of CO2 evasion for urban rivers. TOC, DOC, TN, pH and DO were the main controls on pCO2 in the urban and suburban rivers, while only pH and DO were connected with pCO2 in the rural rivers. This indicated differential controls and regulatory processes of pCO2 in the rivers draining diverse landscapes. Furthermore, it suggested that pCO2 calculated by the pH-total alkalinity method would obviously overestimate pCO2 in urban polluted rivers due to the inevitable influence of non-carbonate alkalinity, and thus, a relatively conservative headspace method should be recommended. We highlighted that urbanization and weather dynamics co-dominated the multiformity and uncertainty in spatial–temporal patterns of riverine CO2 evasions, which should be considered when modeling CO2 dynamics in urbanized rivers.

The Influence of Anthropogenic Pollution on the Physicochemical Conditions of the Waters of the Lower Section of the Sąpólna River

River pollution resulting from unregulated and improper water sewage management is a global issue of concern. The discharge of inadequately treated sewage into rivers and the sudden release of excessive quantities during heavy rainfall can result in significant fish mortality. This phenomenon has been observed repeatedly in the case of the Sąpólna River, NW Poland. Consequently, a decision was made to monitor the water quality at two key locations: the drainage channel that feeds into the river and downstream of the channel. Seventeen water quality indicators were measured, including temperature, pH, conductivity, total suspended solids (TSS), dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (CODCr), total organic carbon (TOC), alkalinity, total hardness, total reactive phosphorus (TRP), total phosphorus (TP), nitrite-nitrogen (NO2−-N), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3−-N), total ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N), total organic nitrogen (TON), and total nitrogen (TN). It was determined that, at the location farthest from the drainage channel, water quality still falls short of meeting the specified standards. The primary factors leading to the degradation of water quality at this point were TSS, TRP, NO2−-N, and TN. It was concluded that the primary localized source of water pollution in the studied section of the Sąpólna River is the discharge from sewage treatment plants in Nowogard. Consequently, actions should be taken to address sewage quality and reduce discharge quantities.

The Impact of Citarum Harum Project on Ecoliteracy Among Upper Citarum Residents

The Citarum River is facing pollution and damage due to domestic and industrial activities. The provincial and national governments have implemented several programs to address the Citarum issue. One key aspect of rehabilitating the Citarum River basin is the increase in environmental awareness among the community. This research aims to examine the influence of the Citarum Harum Program on the formation of Eco-literacy among the communities in Upper Citarum. A survey was conducted with 393 respondents who reside along the banks of the Upper Citarum River, distributed across the 8 sectors of the Citarum Harum Program. The research instruments used include structured questionnaires, documentary studies, and interview guidelines. Data analysis was performed using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique with SmartPLS software version 3.2.9. The results of the study indicate that Eco-literacy (ECO) has a positive correlation with the handling of existing problems (HP) with a t-value of 1.136. Eco-literacy (ECO) has a negative correlation with the physical, social, and environmental characteristics (CH) with a t-value of -0.486, as well as with the occurrence of problems with a t-value of -0.237. This suggests that the formation of eco-literacy among the communities in Upper Citarum is highly dependent on the efforts undertaken by the task force. However, there is currently no connectivity between the knowledge and attitudes of the community towards actions in the restoration of river pollution and damage.

Инактивация ксенобиотиков: некоторых азокрасителей, нитропроизводных фенола и тетрациклинов

The problem of environmental pollution by human waste products is currently critically relevant. Organic fragments undergo degradation slowly and as a result accumulate in ecosystems. Many studies confirm the presence of various pollutants in rivers, soils, atmosphere. Despite a large body of work on the search for methods of inactivation and purification of such pollutants, there is no universal method, applicable to various classes of xenobiotics. The purpose of this work has been to study the destructive processes of model systems of xenobiotics of various nature. UV irradiation has been used as a method of destruction. The destruction of model substances has been studied in the work: two dyes, two pharmaceuticals and two nitro derivatives of phenol. Destructive processes of model systems of various pollutants have been studied. It is shown that many substrates undergo photodestruction within the first hour. Kinetic characteristics of these processes are calculated. The results obtained indicate that UV irradiation can be considered as a promising method of inactivation of various pollutants.

Las altas cortes y el cambio en las agendas gubernamentales en temas socioambientales en Argentina y Colombia

The article describes and analyzes high court decisions that aim to alter government agendas in terms of achieving intersectoriality. It is based on a comparative study of the judicialization of water pollution in rivers in Buenos Aires and Bogotá, which shows that, although the decisions respond to contextual conditions, they define similar measures for managing the fragmentation of state action, with an important difference in terms of monitoring and control mechanisms. In addition, they open opportunities for the incorporation of actors and articulation mechanisms between sectors and levels of government, which allow for the recognition and operationalization of certain cross-sectoral interdependencies. The article positions the high courts as important actors in the design of public policies; and raises the need to expand research on the results and effects of judicial decisions in order to understand their capacity to structure sustained changes in such policies.

Comprehensive evaluation of thermally conductive functional layer on snow-melting performance for electric heating bridge system

The most commonly used chemical salt agents for melting ice and snow can lead to the corrosion of the steel structure of the bridge deck, as well as potential pollution of nearby rivers and soil through infiltration and surface runoff. The heating bridge system with electric cable is a promising environmentally friendly technology for snow removal. However, the unique suspension and multi-layer characteristics of the bridge pavement make it challenging to efficiently transfer the heat generated by the electric heating bridge system to the pavement surface. To enhance snow-melting efficiency, a novel directional heat transfer electric heating bridge system with a thermally conductive functional layer (EHBS-TCFL) has been introduced. Initially, a series of tests, including thermal conductivity tests, compressive tests, and bending tests, were performed on TCFL with different mix ratios. Then the TCFL with the most favorable mix ratios was determined based on the fuzzy mathematics method. Subsequently, the heating and snow-melting performance of EHBS-TCFL was evaluated. The results indicated that the thermally conductive functional layer, which includes reduced iron powder with a water-cement ratio of 0.53 and an iron powder-cement ratio of 2, represents the optimal solution for achieving exceptional thermal conductivity, flexural strength, and compressive strength. Furthermore, the presence of TCFL positively impacts the enhancement and uniformity of surface temperatures, leading to a 12.7% increase in total energy utilization efficiency. This study offers significant potential for the application of snow-melting on bridge decks in cold regions.

Assessing the impact of China's river chief system on enterprise pollution discharge.

The River Chief System (RCS), a pivotal environmental governance policy promoted by the Chinese government, has far-reaching implications for public health. This study aims to comprehensively assess the impact of RCS on corporate pollution emissions, emphasizing its role in improving environmental quality and safeguarding public health. Utilizing a database of industrial enterprises and data from heavily polluting enterprises spanning 2003 to 2013. Manual collation of RCS policy implementation across prefecture-level cities during the same period. Application of the DID method to verify the impact of RCS on the extent of corporate pollution emissions. RCS significantly reduces pollution emissions from enterprises. Heterogeneity analysis reveals RCS to be more effective in addressing visible pollutants in rivers, non-provincial capitals, and heavily polluting industries, resulting in a notable reduction in pollution emissions. Mechanism testing underscores the importance of increasing government attention to environmental protection and strengthening environmental regulation as key factors contributing to RCS's success in reducing pollution emissions from enterprises. Additionally, the study finds that improving the business environment of enterprises, measured through the marketization index, enhances the effectiveness of RCS in improving river pollution by enterprises. This study introduces a new perspective on examining the pollution reduction and abatement effects of RCS, addressing a gap in micro-level research. The findings not only contribute to the understanding of RCS's impact on pollution but also offer valuable insights for governments and policymakers in promoting the further development and implementation of RCS policies. The results of this research are of significant importance in strengthening environmental governance and safeguarding public health. By effectively controlling corporate pollution emissions, RCS contributes positively to improving environmental quality and, consequently, enhancing public health outcomes.

Penentuan Status Mutu Air Sungai Wrati Pasuruan Jawa Timur dengan Indeks Kualitas Air

The Wrati River is located in Pasuruan Regency. This river crosses three sub-districts and six sub-districts, with a total distance of 13.6 kilometers. The subdistrict through which this river passes has land use for household, agricultural, and industrial purposes. These activities hurt rivers, causing pollution and decreasing water quality. Determining water quality status is very important to understand the suitability of river water for various purposes. Understanding water quality can be fundamental information for managing and preventing river pollution. The pollutant index approach used in this research refers to the guidelines in the Decree of the Minister of the Environment Number 115 of 2003. The research results show that the water quality of the Wrati River from upstream to downstream is included in the lightly polluted category at each sampling point, with an index value of 4.94. The main factor causing light pollution in Wrati River water is the excessive phosphate content and other parameters that exceed the specified quality standards. Based on the findings of this research, waste management efforts need to be made to improve the quality of this river water.

Kajian Lingkungan Pembangunan Gedung Bertingkat di Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta Special Region is widely known as a student, tourist, and cultural city. These conditions triggered Yogyakarta's development and growth to be very rapid. So environmental problems arise, which, if not immediately addressed, will worsen environmental conditions. The type of research carried out was descriptive-qualitative through observation and interviews. The research results showed that many developments violated legal and environmental rules. The environmental impacts that occur include a reduction in the amount of green open land, a reduction in water catchment areas, sanitation problems, groundwater availability, and river pollution. Disaster risks arising from development include landslides on river borders due to development, flooding, and land shifts. Efforts that need to be implemented to manage and prevent environmental damage include the implementation of environmental and social management systems, the implementation of institutional functions, and efforts to develop community capacity through training and community education. Meanwhile, efforts are being made to reduce disaster risk through physical mitigation, biological mitigation, and the mitigation of social, economic, and cultural impacts.

Nontargeted Analysis Reveals a Broad Range of Bioactive Pollutants in Drinking Water by Estrogen Receptor Affinity-Mass Spectrometry.

Exposure to environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can cause extensive health issues. However, specific EDCs remain elusive. This work aimed at performing nontargeted identification of estrogen receptor α (ERα)-active compounds using an ERα protein affinity assay combined with high-resolution mass spectrometry in the source and drinking water sampled from major rivers in China. Fifty-one potential ERα-active compounds across 13 categories were identified. For the first time, diisodecyl phenyl phosphate was found to have antiestrogenic activity, and three chemicals (galaxolidone, bensulfuron methyl, and UV234) were plausible ERα ligands. Among the 51 identified compounds, 12 were detected in the aquatic environment for the first time, and the concentration of N-phenyl-2-naphthylamine, a widely used antioxidant in rubber products, was up to 1469 and 1190 ng/L in source and drinking water, respectively. This study demonstrated the widespread presence of known and unknown ERα estrogenic and antiestrogenic pollutants in the major rivers that serve as key sources of drinking water in China and the low removal efficiency of these chemicals in drinking water treatment plants.

A Multi-Criteria Generalised L-R Intuitionistic Fuzzy TOPSIS with CRITIC for River Water Pollution Classification

A generalised L-R intuitionistic fuzzy numbers is an L-R intuitionistic fuzzy numbers that incorporates confidence level for both membership and non-membership functions. Therefore, this intuitionistic fuzzy number is suitable for classifying the river water pollution. This study aims to introduce the generalised L-R intuitionistic fuzzy numbers (GLRIFNs) which includes the membership and non-membership functions to classify the river water pollution using TOPSIS with CRITIC method. Due to the insufficient river data, this study has simulated the river data using the bootstrap method. This study had classified river water pollution for several rivers in Johor, Malaysia, namely Kim Kim River, Sayong River, Telor River, Pelepah River, and Bantang River from 2017 to 2021. The result shows that the Bantang River is the cleanest river, while the Kim Kim River is the most polluted river. The results proved that the GLRIFNs is quite a reliable method to classify river water pollution.

Assessment of a new nutrient management strategy to control harmful cyanobacterial blooms in Lake Taihu using a hydrodynamic-ecological model

The external nutrient loading significantly affects large shallow lakes, particularly those with intricate rive networks. In Lake Taihu, pollutant discharge standards have traditionally been quantified based on water environmental capacity, while neglecting the response characteristics of algal growth in different regions to boundary inputs. For that analysis, this study first estimated the river pollutant loadings of 16 most significant inflow and outflow rivers of Lake Taihu from 2008 to 2020 and explored the correlations between inflow water quality parameters and lacustrine chlorophyll-a levels. Results highlighted the significant influence of high river input of permanganate values in spring on the chlorophyll-a levels in the lake. Based on this, this study proposed the hypothesis that reducing the inflow concentration of permanganate in spring would inhibit algal growth, which was further validated using coupled hydrodynamic and ecological models. The simulation results indicated that the reduction of permanganate inflow concentration during spring would significantly decrease chlorophyll-a concentration in spring and summer, especially leading to a notable impact on peak values. However, due to variations in background concentrations among rivers, the extent of reduction in lake chlorophyll-a levels showed significant spatial differences. Additionally, analysis of extracted algal bloom areas revealed that there still remained a relatively high risk of algal blooms occurring in the main regions, particularly during autumn when inflow pollutant concentrations increased rapidly. These findings emphasized the importance of formulating reasonable exogenous reduction schemes, which should consider the concentration and variation trend of inflow pollutants, as well as the response characteristics of algal bloom growth in different lake zones to the boundary.

Case Study on River Pollution of Pune City and Waste Management

Case Study on River Pollution of Pune City and Waste Management

USAGE OF BILECIK LEFKE STONE AND BENTONITE CLAY FOR PHOSPHORUS REMOVAL IN WATER

The rapid increase in the world population, the development of the industry, the excessive usage of fertilizers in agriculture, and the increase in detergents and chemicals used for cleaning accelerate the pollution of water resources. Conservation and recovery of damaged water resources along with the deteriorated ecosystem is of great importance for living things. An important part of water pollution in lakes and rivers is the increase in the content of nutrients. Nutrient elements, especially phosphorus, cause the transparency of water to decrease gradually. Over time, this situation, called eutrophication, causes an algae bloom and the aquatic ecosystem is disrupted. Uncontrolled discharge of wastewater containing phosphorus in high concentrations accelerates this process. These nutrients must be removed in order to maintain water quality and reduce the risk of eutrophication. The main ways of removing phosphorus from water are physical, chemical and biological methods. Among these, as an alternative to settling with chemical substances, the usage of clay (based on fixation) has an important place. In this study, different dosages of bentonite, lefke stone and ferrous sulphate heptahydrate (FeSO4.7H2O) were used in water with three different pH values (4, 7 and 10) and three different phosphorus contents (20, 40, 60 ppm). The per cent yields of the phosphorus removed with ferrous sulphate heptahydrate, lefke stone and bentonite are 72%, 57% and 39%, respectively. In addition, it was determined that the dosage of additives used should be renewed depending on the phosphorus content of the environment and that the high pH value of the environment increased the efficiency, especially in the usage of ferrous sulphate heptahydrate. In conclusion, as an alternative to the usage of chemicals, it has been revealed that lefke stone can be used for phosphorus removal in water, and its effectiveness can be further increased with further studies.

Catchment scale assessment of macroplastic pollution in the Odaw river, Ghana

Catchment-scale plastic pollution assessments provide insights in its sources, sinks, and pathways. We present an approach to quantify macroplastic transport and density across the Odaw catchment, Ghana. We divided the catchment into the non-urban riverine, urban riverine, and urban tidal zones. Macroplastic transport and density on riverbanks and land were monitored at ten locations in December 2021. The urban riverine zone had the highest transport, and the urban tidal zone had the highest riverbank and land macroplastic density. Water sachets, soft fragments, and foam fragments were the most abundant items. Our approach aims to be transferable to other catchments globally.

Can policy achieve environmental fairness and environmental improvement? Evidence from the Xin’an River project in China

In a river basin across regions, is environmental improvement in downstream areas based on actions that negatively impact economic development and social welfare in upstream areas? This paper takes the pilot of Transverse Eco-compensation Mechanism (TECM) in Xin'an River of China as a quasi-natural experiment and uses the difference-in-differences strategy to estimate the impact of TECM on environmental inequality. We find that the government’s environmental policy may lead to more environmental inequality，which is often overlooked. Our results show that the pilot of TECM depresses the upstream economy, reduces upstream resident income, especially rural residents, and widens the regional income gap between the upstream and downstream. Heterogeneous tests confirm our findings. Our mechanism test shows that the industries’ shutting down and relocation are the main driving forces for the regional environmental inequality in the short term. Therefore, in implementing future TECM, the upstream government needs to pay attention to the economic slowdown and the subsequent unemployment and resident welfare loss. The central and downstream governments should help the upstream regions upgrade the industrial structure, rather than just pay compensation funds, thereby reducing the resulting environmental inequality. Our findings have important policy implications for the treatment of trans-regional river pollution.

Assessing Heavy Metal Contamination Using Biosensors and a Multi-Branch Integrated Catchment Model in the Awash River Basin, Ethiopia

Metal pollution in rivers from untreated industrial and domestic wastewater is a major issue in economically developing countries worldwide. The Awash River Basin in Ethiopia is one of those rivers that faces rising heavy metal concentrations due to poor wastewater management and loose law enforcement controlling effluent discharge into rivers. In this study, surface water and wastewater samples were collected within the Awash River Basin, with metals analysis using ICP-MS techniques. Acute toxicity of water was determined using new molecular biosensor technology based on engineered luminescent bacteria. A multi-branch Integrated Catchment Model (INCA) for metals, including Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Lead, Manganese, and Zinc was applied to the Awash River Basin to simulate the impact of tannery discharge on the river water pollution levels and to evaluate a set of treatment scenarios for pollution control. Results show that all samples from tannery wastewater have high levels of metals, such as Chromium and Manganese with high levels of toxicities. River water samples from upper Awash near Addis Ababa showed elevated concentrations of heavy metals due to the untreated wastewater from the dense population and a large number of industries in that area. The modeling scenarios indicate that improved wastewater management will reduce the metal concentration significantly. With a 50% reduction in effluent concentrations, the mean concentrations of heavy metals (such as Chromium) over two years would be able to reach 20 to 50% reduction in river water samples.