A New Approach to Use Load Duration Curves to Evaluate Water Quality: A Study in the Doce River Basin, Brazil

Although water availability depends both on qualitative and quantitative aspects, most studies focus only on one of these. Therefore, the goal here is to relate water quality and quantity with the construction of Load Duration Curves (LDC) and to estimate <i>E. coli</i> load patterns in...

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Main Authors: Ligia de Oliveira Serrano, Alisson Carraro Borges, Fernando Falco Pruski, Marília Carvalho de Melo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-03-01
Series:Water
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/3/811
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spelling doaj-74d16fea15054eb7b12029660cd7d8202020-11-25T02:10:42ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412020-03-0112381110.3390/w12030811w12030811A New Approach to Use Load Duration Curves to Evaluate Water Quality: A Study in the Doce River Basin, BrazilLigia de Oliveira Serrano0Alisson Carraro Borges1Fernando Falco Pruski2Marília Carvalho de Melo3Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of Vicosa (UFV), Viçosa-MG 36570-900, BrazilDepartment of Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of Vicosa (UFV), Viçosa-MG 36570-900, BrazilDepartment of Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of Vicosa (UFV), Viçosa-MG 36570-900, BrazilMinas Gerais Water Management Institute (IGAM), Belo Horizonte-MG 30000-000, BrazilAlthough water availability depends both on qualitative and quantitative aspects, most studies focus only on one of these. Therefore, the goal here is to relate water quality and quantity with the construction of Load Duration Curves (LDC) and to estimate <i>E. coli</i> load patterns in different flow conditions, seasons, and positions of two sub-basins of the Doce watershed (Brazil): Piracicaba and Piranga. A novel methodology is proposed in which the Burr XII distribution is adjusted to the LDC to compare all observed loads to their respective Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), allowing the estimation of the relative difference (RD) between these. Higher values of RD were observed for low flows for the Piracicaba basin, more urbanized, where point sources of pollution are the primary concern, reaching up to 99% of needed load reduction. In the Piranga basin, more agricultural, there was a broader RD variation, from 9% to 97% load reduction needed, which is an evidence of point sources of pollution combined with non-point sources. The new methodology can be used to estimate the load reduction of any pollutant and can be used by environmental agencies to identify effective practices to minimize and control pollution in different locations of the basins.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/3/811water qualitywater quality managementtmdl<i>e. coli</i>
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Ligia de Oliveira Serrano
Alisson Carraro Borges
Fernando Falco Pruski
Marília Carvalho de Melo
spellingShingle Ligia de Oliveira Serrano
Alisson Carraro Borges
Fernando Falco Pruski
Marília Carvalho de Melo
A New Approach to Use Load Duration Curves to Evaluate Water Quality: A Study in the Doce River Basin, Brazil
Water
water quality
water quality management
tmdl
<i>e. coli</i>
author_facet Ligia de Oliveira Serrano
Alisson Carraro Borges
Fernando Falco Pruski
Marília Carvalho de Melo
author_sort Ligia de Oliveira Serrano
title A New Approach to Use Load Duration Curves to Evaluate Water Quality: A Study in the Doce River Basin, Brazil
title_short A New Approach to Use Load Duration Curves to Evaluate Water Quality: A Study in the Doce River Basin, Brazil
title_full A New Approach to Use Load Duration Curves to Evaluate Water Quality: A Study in the Doce River Basin, Brazil
title_fullStr A New Approach to Use Load Duration Curves to Evaluate Water Quality: A Study in the Doce River Basin, Brazil
title_full_unstemmed A New Approach to Use Load Duration Curves to Evaluate Water Quality: A Study in the Doce River Basin, Brazil
title_sort new approach to use load duration curves to evaluate water quality: a study in the doce river basin, brazil
publisher MDPI AG
series Water
issn 2073-4441
publishDate 2020-03-01
description Although water availability depends both on qualitative and quantitative aspects, most studies focus only on one of these. Therefore, the goal here is to relate water quality and quantity with the construction of Load Duration Curves (LDC) and to estimate <i>E. coli</i> load patterns in different flow conditions, seasons, and positions of two sub-basins of the Doce watershed (Brazil): Piracicaba and Piranga. A novel methodology is proposed in which the Burr XII distribution is adjusted to the LDC to compare all observed loads to their respective Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), allowing the estimation of the relative difference (RD) between these. Higher values of RD were observed for low flows for the Piracicaba basin, more urbanized, where point sources of pollution are the primary concern, reaching up to 99% of needed load reduction. In the Piranga basin, more agricultural, there was a broader RD variation, from 9% to 97% load reduction needed, which is an evidence of point sources of pollution combined with non-point sources. The new methodology can be used to estimate the load reduction of any pollutant and can be used by environmental agencies to identify effective practices to minimize and control pollution in different locations of the basins.
topic water quality
water quality management
tmdl
<i>e. coli</i>
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/3/811
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