Groundwater Quality in Agricultural Lands Near a Rapidly Urbanized Area, South China
Understanding the groundwater quality and its factors is a key issue in the context of the use and protection of groundwater resources in agricultural areas near urbanized areas. This study assessed the groundwater quality in agricultural areas in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) by a fuzzy synthetic eva...
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doaj-757ecd6536cb43cdae6683d51909690b2021-02-13T00:01:23ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1661-78271660-46012021-02-01181783178310.3390/ijerph18041783Groundwater Quality in Agricultural Lands Near a Rapidly Urbanized Area, South ChinaLingxia Liu0Shihua Qi1Wenzhong Wang2School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, ChinaSchool of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, ChinaSchool of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, ChinaUnderstanding the groundwater quality and its factors is a key issue in the context of the use and protection of groundwater resources in agricultural areas near urbanized areas. This study assessed the groundwater quality in agricultural areas in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) by a fuzzy synthetic evaluation method and determined the main factors controlling the groundwater quality by principal component analysis (PCA). Results showed that approximately 85% of groundwater sites in agricultural lands in the PRD were good-quality (drinkable). Drinkable groundwater was 95% and 80% in fissured aquifers and porous aquifers, respectively. Poor-quality groundwater in porous aquifers was controlled by four factors according to the PCA, including the seawater intrusion; the lateral recharge and irrigation of surface water and geogenic sources for As, Fe, NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>, and Mn; the wastewater infiltration; and the geogenic sources for iodide. By contrast, another four factors, including the infiltration of wastewater and agricultural fertilizers, the geogenic sources for heavy metals, the geogenic sources for iodide, and the irrigation of contaminated river water, were responsible for the poor-quality groundwater in fissured aquifers. Therefore, in the future, the groundwater protection in agricultural lands in the PRD should be strengthened because the majority of groundwater in these areas was good-quality and suitable for drinking and agricultural purposes. In addition, poor-quality groundwater in agricultural lands in the PRD was a small proportion and negligible because the factors for poor-quality groundwater are complicated.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1783groundwater qualityagricultural areasPearl River Deltawastewater infiltrationgeogenic sources |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Lingxia Liu Shihua Qi Wenzhong Wang |
spellingShingle |
Lingxia Liu Shihua Qi Wenzhong Wang Groundwater Quality in Agricultural Lands Near a Rapidly Urbanized Area, South China International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health groundwater quality agricultural areas Pearl River Delta wastewater infiltration geogenic sources |
author_facet |
Lingxia Liu Shihua Qi Wenzhong Wang |
author_sort |
Lingxia Liu |
title |
Groundwater Quality in Agricultural Lands Near a Rapidly Urbanized Area, South China |
title_short |
Groundwater Quality in Agricultural Lands Near a Rapidly Urbanized Area, South China |
title_full |
Groundwater Quality in Agricultural Lands Near a Rapidly Urbanized Area, South China |
title_fullStr |
Groundwater Quality in Agricultural Lands Near a Rapidly Urbanized Area, South China |
title_full_unstemmed |
Groundwater Quality in Agricultural Lands Near a Rapidly Urbanized Area, South China |
title_sort |
groundwater quality in agricultural lands near a rapidly urbanized area, south china |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
issn |
1661-7827 1660-4601 |
publishDate |
2021-02-01 |
description |
Understanding the groundwater quality and its factors is a key issue in the context of the use and protection of groundwater resources in agricultural areas near urbanized areas. This study assessed the groundwater quality in agricultural areas in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) by a fuzzy synthetic evaluation method and determined the main factors controlling the groundwater quality by principal component analysis (PCA). Results showed that approximately 85% of groundwater sites in agricultural lands in the PRD were good-quality (drinkable). Drinkable groundwater was 95% and 80% in fissured aquifers and porous aquifers, respectively. Poor-quality groundwater in porous aquifers was controlled by four factors according to the PCA, including the seawater intrusion; the lateral recharge and irrigation of surface water and geogenic sources for As, Fe, NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>, and Mn; the wastewater infiltration; and the geogenic sources for iodide. By contrast, another four factors, including the infiltration of wastewater and agricultural fertilizers, the geogenic sources for heavy metals, the geogenic sources for iodide, and the irrigation of contaminated river water, were responsible for the poor-quality groundwater in fissured aquifers. Therefore, in the future, the groundwater protection in agricultural lands in the PRD should be strengthened because the majority of groundwater in these areas was good-quality and suitable for drinking and agricultural purposes. In addition, poor-quality groundwater in agricultural lands in the PRD was a small proportion and negligible because the factors for poor-quality groundwater are complicated. |
topic |
groundwater quality agricultural areas Pearl River Delta wastewater infiltration geogenic sources |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1783 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT lingxialiu groundwaterqualityinagriculturallandsneararapidlyurbanizedareasouthchina AT shihuaqi groundwaterqualityinagriculturallandsneararapidlyurbanizedareasouthchina AT wenzhongwang groundwaterqualityinagriculturallandsneararapidlyurbanizedareasouthchina |
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1724272591166767104 |