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Assessment of the Effects of Total Emission Control Policies on Surface Water Quality in China: 2004 to 2014
Author(s) -
Liu Xia,
Feng Jianfeng,
Qiao Yinhuan,
Wang Yuqiu,
Zhu Lin
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq2016.10.0404
Subject(s) - water quality , environmental science , surface water , pollutant , china , hydrology (agriculture) , water pollution , environmental engineering , pollution , chemical oxygen demand , environmental chemistry , geography , chemistry , wastewater , ecology , engineering , biology , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , archaeology
Water quality deterioration is a problem throughout the globe, especially in China. The Chinese government established national total emission control (TEC) policies related to the nation's surface water quality over the past 10 yr to restore, protect, and promote healthy water quality. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of China's TEC policies by analyzing three water quality constituents (ammonium nitrogen [NH 4 –N], dissolved oxygen [DO], and the permanganate index [COD Mn ]) at 73 monitoring stations, which account for most of the surface waters of eastern China. The seasonal Mann–Kendall test revealed that approximately 60, 50, and 65% of stations had nonsignificant trends for COD Mn , NH 4 –N, and DO, respectively. Concentrations of COD Mn and NH 4 –N significantly (α = 0.05) decreased by 27.4 and 38.4% at the monitoring stations over the 11‐yr study period, whereas DO significantly (α = 0.05) increased by 24.7%. Correlation analysis indicated that the water quality improved at approximately 30% (COD Mn ) and 20% (NH 4 –N) of monitoring sites with the reduction of water pollutant emissions from industrial sources. A seasonal pattern was observed for the three water quality parameters at most of the stations but not at a regional scale. Results also indicated that COD Mn concentrations decreased significantly (α = 0.05) at most river stations but increased significantly (α = 0.05) at nearly all lake stations, suggesting that TEC in China might be more effective for rivers than for lakes and reservoirs. Although there are many nonsignificant relationships with the water quality constituents selected as top pollutants in China, a few noticeable significant relationships were established. Core Ideas A few significant relationships were established with water quality. TEC in China is inadequate to recover the surface water quality status of China. More pollution sources, such as nonpoint sources, need to be considered in China.