[Spatiotemporal variation analysis and identification of water pollution sources in the Zhangweinan River basin]

In this study, several statistical methods including cluster analysis, seasonal Kendall test, factor analysis/principal component analysis and principal component regression were used to evaluate the spatiotemporal variation of water quality and identify the sources of water pollution in the Zhangweinan River basin. Results of spatial cluster analysis and principal component analysis indicated that the Zhangweinan River basin can be classified into two regions. One is the Zhang River upstream located in the northwest of the Zhangweinan River basin where water quality is good. The other one covers the Wei River and eastern plain of the Zhangweinan River basin, where water is seriously polluted. In this region, pollutants from point sources flow into the river and the water quality changes greatly. Results of temporal cluster analysis and seasonal Kendall test indicated that the study periods may be classified into three periods and two different trends were detected during the period of 2002-2009. The first period was the year of 2002-2003, during which water quality had deteriorated and serious pollution was observed in the Wei river basin and eastern plain of the Zhangweinan River basin. The second period was the year of 2004-2006, during which water quality became better. The year of 2007-2009 is the third period, during which water quality had been improved greatly. Despite that water quality in the Zhangweinan River basin had been improved during the period of 2004-2009, the water quality in the Wei River (southwestern part of the basin), the Wei Canal River and the Zhangweixin River (eastern plain of the basin) is still poor. Principal component analysis and multi-linear regression of the absolute principal component scores showed that the main pollutants of the Zhangweinan River basin came from point source discharge such as heavy industrial wastewater, municipal sewage, chemical industries wasterwater and mine drainage in upstream. Non-point source pollution such as agricultural pollution and runoff pollution caused by heavy rainfalls also showed considerable impact on water quality in the Zhangweinan River basin during flood seasons. These results provide useful information for better pollution control strategies in the Zhangweinan River basin.