Assessment of Surface Water Quality (On the Example of the Chumysh River)

Abstract

The surface water pollution issue is urgent as it is the most extensive issue. Large-scale pollution of the environment causes damage to rivers, lakes, water reservoirs, and soils. Pollutants and products of their transformations sooner or later come from the atmosphere to the surface of the Earth. Issues of clean water and protection of aquatic ecosystems become increasingly acute as the historical development of society develops. Furthermore, the influence of scientific and technological progress on nature rapidly increases. Currently, there is a unified criterion for assessing water quality is the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) of substances contained in it in the Russian Federation. The Chumysh River flows in the Kemerovo Region and Altai Krai and is a tributary of the Ob River. The Chumysh River has a length of 644 km and a basin area of 23,900 square km. The assessment of the surface water quality of the Chumysh River is carried out based on data processing of the Roshydromet Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of Russia, which is located on the studied water object near the city of Zarinsk. The primary research goal is to assess the quality of surface waters of the Chumysh River in Zarinsk and Talmenka urban-type settlement. During the study period (nine years), the authors have identified the elements as the primary substances that have provided the most critical contribution to pollution. A comprehensive assessment has been carried out for these substances, and the substances that provide the most significant contribution to surface water pollution are selected based on the product of the points. This factor is of great importance for developing the measures that aim at their purification and planning the future use of the Chumysh River waters.