Assessment of the Effects of Total Emission Control Policies on Surface Water Quality in China: 2004 to 2014

Abstract

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-N], dissolved oxygen [DO], and the permanganate index [COD]) 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, NH-N, and DO, respectively. Concentrations of COD and NH-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) and 20% (NH-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 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.