Evaluation of water environmental capacity using a total optimized method — A case study of the guan river estuary in Jiangsu, China

Abstract

Two pollution-creating sources adjacent to the Guan River Estuary (i.e., Guan River and Xinyi River, that fed into Guan River at its mouth) were investigated in this work. A mathematical model is established for simulation analysis of the water environment of Guan River Estuary. Simulation results are verified with measured data experimentally from 12 monitoring stations in July 2007. Annual pollutant discharge of the two rivers were calculated, and the environmental capacity of Guan River Estuary was also evaluated. The dynamic relations of pollution-creating sources of the two rivers can result in the maximum amount and optimal layout of pollution discharge of Guan River and Xinyi River. Present study reveals that amounts of N and P discharged into the two rivers were substantially excessive, and adjacent water quality was below the third- and fourth-class water standard of China.