Groundwater Chemical Characteristics and Controlling Factors in a Region of Northern China with Intensive Human Activity

Abstract

The identification of groundwater chemical characteristics and the controlling factors is of major concern in water environment studies. In this study, we identified the groundwater chemical characteristics, evolution laws and main control factors in a region severely affected by human activities using hydrochemical and multivariate statistical techniques. The results showed that the concentrations of NO3− and TH were the primary pollution factors in the region with intensive human activity because of high concentration and over the standard rates. The major types of groundwater chemistry were HCO3·SO4–Ca and HCO3·SO4–Ca·Mg. The sulfate-type water was as high as 75.0%, 69.2% and 41.2% in the three hydrogeological units. In addition, there were Cl-type and Na-type waters, indicating that the groundwater in this area has been significantly affected by human activities. A principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that the three factors affecting groundwater hydrochemistry in the study area are domestic sewage and fertilizer, water–rock interactions and industrial wastewater. Therefore, we suggest that the government and water environment management departments should prevent the discharge of domestic and industrial wastewater without standardized treatment first in order to effectively prevent the further deterioration of groundwater quality in this area.