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Publication
Considerations on the monitoring of water quality in urban streams: a case study in Portugal
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Monitoring water quality in urban stream is
of utmost importance for water resources managers,
who are pressured to optimize monitoring schemes in
order to reduce costs. The present study aims to use the
results of a 2-year-long water quality monitoring pro-
gram of an urban stream in Portugal to identify improve-
ment opportunities. The urban stream under study was
subjected to wastewater treatment plants effluent dis-
charges, leachates from a major sealed landfill, low-
class housing effluents, and nonpoint sources of pollu-
tion. Contributing watersheds are mostly artificial sur-
faces and agricultural land, which irrigate directly from
the river. River water quality was evaluated on 11 sam-
pling locations for 24 months from October 2013 to
September 2015. The present paper describes statistical
analysis of the results obtained for 12 physicochemical
parameters in order to optimize the monitoring scheme.
Cluster analysis detected a seasonal variation in the
water quality and a spatial pattern based on the major
point sources of pollution. A factor analysis showed that
the parameters that mostly contribute to water quality
assessment in this urban river are alkalinity, ammonia,
electrical conductivity, pH, temperature, and dissolved
oxygen. Results suggest that the monitoring efforts—
and associated costs—may be reduced by decreasing
monitoring frequency, sampling points, and monitored
parameters. The statistical analysis described in this
study may be replicated in other water quality monitor-
ing programs, providing useful and important informa-
tion for the systematic and iterative assessment of the
adequacy of water quality sampling programs towards a
sustainable management of water quality surveillance.
Description
Keywords
Water quality Urban stream Monitoring scheme Multivariate statistical analysis Spatial variation Temporal variation
Citation
Guerreiro, M.S., Abreu, I.M., Monteiro, Á. et al. (2020). "Considerations on the monitoring of water quality in urban streams: a case study in Portugal". In: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. vol.192, 347, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-8245-y
Publisher
Springer