IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v8y2016i7p597-d72743.html

Impact on Water Quality of Nandoni Water Reservoir Downstream of Municipal Sewage Plants in Vhembe District, South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Jabulani Ray Gumbo

    (Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Venda, P/Bag x5050, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa)

  • Ratshilumela Aaron Dzaga

    (Department of Geography & Geo-Information Science, University of Venda, P/Bag x5050, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa)

  • Nthaduleni Samuel Nethengwe

    (Department of Geography & Geo-Information Science, University of Venda, P/Bag x5050, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa)

Abstract

The deterioration of water quality in our freshwater sources is on the increase worldwide and, in South Africa, mostly due to the discharge of municipal sewage effluent. Here we report on the use of principal component analysis, coupled with factor and cluster analysis, to study the similarities and differences between upstream and downstream sampling sites that are downstream of municipal sewage plants. The contribution of climatic variables, air temperature, humidity, and rainfall were also evaluated with respect to variations in water quality at the sampling sites. The physicochemical and microbial values were higher than the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. The cluster analysis showed the presence of two clusters for each of the Mvudi, Dzindi, and Luvuvhu Rivers and Nandoni reservoir sampling sites. The principal component analysis (PCA) accounted for 40% of the water quality variation and was associated strongly with pH, electrical conductivity, calcium, magnesium, chloride, bromide, nitrate, and total coliform, and negatively with rainfall, which represented Mvudi downstream and was attributed to the Thohoyandou sewage plant. The PCA accounted for 54% of the variation and was associated strongly with electrical conductivity, sulfate; total dissolved solids, fluoride, turbidity, nitrate, manganese, alkalinity, magnesium, and total coliform represented Dzindi downstream, with inflows from the Vuwani sewage plant and agriculture. The PCA accounted for 30% of the variation and was associated strongly with total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, magnesium, fluoride, nitrate, sulfate, total coliform average air temperature, and total rainfall, and negatively associated with manganese and bromide represented Luvuvhu upstream and was associated with commercial agriculture. The PCA accounted for 21% of the variation and was associated strongly with turbidity, alkalinity, magnesium, chloride, fluoride, nitrate, and strongly negatively associated with rainfall, which represented Luvuvhu downstream, associated with inflows from Vuwani oxidation ponds, Elim and Waterval sewage plants, and agriculture. The PCA accounted for 14% of the variation and was moderately associated with rainfall and weakly associated with chloride and bromide and negatively associated with nitrate, which represented the natural Nandoni reservoir system. The continued discharge of effluent may render the raw water supply unsuitable for human consumption and lead to eutrophication due to nitrate enrichment and proliferation of harmful algal blooms and schistomiasis infections in the long term.

Suggested Citation

  • Jabulani Ray Gumbo & Ratshilumela Aaron Dzaga & Nthaduleni Samuel Nethengwe, 2016. "Impact on Water Quality of Nandoni Water Reservoir Downstream of Municipal Sewage Plants in Vhembe District, South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-16, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:7:p:597-:d:72743
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/7/597/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/7/597/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    2. Henry Kaiser, 1974. "An index of factorial simplicity," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 39(1), pages 31-36, March.
    3. Yared Kassahun Kebede & Tesfu Kebede, 2012. "Application of Principal Component Analysis in Surface Water Quality Monitoring," Chapters, in: Parinya Sanguansat (ed.), Principal Component Analysis - Engineering Applications, IntechOpen.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Natasha Potgieter & Simbarashe Karambwe & Lutendo Sylvia Mudau & Tobias Barnard & Afsatou Traore, 2020. "Human Enteric Pathogens in Eight Rivers Used as Rural Household Drinking Water Sources in the Northern Region of South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-15, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pedro Vega-Marcote & Mercedes Varela-Losada & Pedro Álvarez-Suárez, 2015. "Evaluation of an Educational Model Based on the Development of Sustainable Competencies in Basic Teacher Training in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Bing Wang & Tianchi Chen, 2024. "What do the sustainable development goals reveal, and are they sufficient for sustainable development?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(11), pages 1-23, November.
    3. Lillemo, Shuling Chen, 2014. "Measuring the effect of procrastination and environmental awareness on households' energy-saving behaviours: An empirical approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 249-256.
    4. CHEN, Helen S.Y., 2020. "Designing Sustainable Humanitarian Supply Chains," OSF Preprints m82ar, Center for Open Science.
    5. Denise Ravet, 2011. "Lean production: the link between supply chain and sustainable development in an international environment," Post-Print hal-00691666, HAL.
    6. Mara Del Baldo, 2012. "Corporate social responsibility and corporate governance in Italian SMEs: the experience of some “spirited businesses”," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 16(1), pages 1-36, February.
    7. Michael Howes & Liana Wortley & Ruth Potts & Aysin Dedekorkut-Howes & Silvia Serrao-Neumann & Julie Davidson & Timothy Smith & Patrick Nunn, 2017. "Environmental Sustainability: A Case of Policy Implementation Failure?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-17, January.
    8. Parnphumeesup, Piya & Kerr, Sandy A., 2011. "Stakeholder preferences towards the sustainable development of CDM projects: Lessons from biomass (rice husk) CDM project in Thailand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3591-3601, June.
    9. Chin-Shan Lu & Kuo-Chung Shang & Chi-Chang Lin, 2016. "Examining sustainability performance at ports: port managers’ perspectives on developing sustainable supply chains," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(8), pages 909-927, November.
    10. Kebede, Yohannes, 1993. "The Limits to Common Resource Management: The Bypassed Commons or Commons without Tragedy," MPRA Paper 662, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 May 1993.
    11. John Stanley & Janet Stanley, 2023. "Improving Appraisal Methodology for Land Use Transport Measures to Reduce Risk of Social Exclusion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-18, August.
    12. Simplice A. Asongu, 2014. "Knowledge Economy and Financial Sector Competition in African Countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 26(2), pages 333-346, June.
    13. Nora Mzavanadze, 2009. "Building A Framework For National Sustainable Development Assessment And Application For Lithuania: Sustainability In Transition," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 11(01), pages 97-130.
    14. Pishchulov, Grigory & Trautrims, Alexander & Chesney, Thomas & Gold, Stefan & Schwab, Leila, 2019. "The Voting Analytic Hierarchy Process revisited: A revised method with application to sustainable supplier selection," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 166-179.
    15. Pasura Aungkulanon & Walailak Atthirawong & Pongchanun Luangpaiboon & Wirachchaya Chanpuypetch, 2024. "Navigating Supply Chain Resilience: A Hybrid Approach to Agri-Food Supplier Selection," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-42, May.
    16. Isin Ceti̇n, 2017. "Accounting Requirements And Records On Bank Subscribed Capital Compliance With European Directives," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1, pages 52-68, February.
    17. Jean-Michel Sahuta & Sandrine Boulerne & Medhi Mili & Frédéric Teulon, 2014. "What Relation Exists Between Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr) And Longevity Of Firms?," Working Papers 2014-248, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.
    18. Rodríguez-Fuentes, Carlos Javier & Hernández-López, Montserrat, 1997. "Análisis de diferencias estructurales interregionales determinantes en el impacto de la política monetaria," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 7, pages 141-157, Junio.
    19. Alba Rocio Gutierrez Garzon & Pete Bettinger & Jacek Siry & Bin Mei & Jesse Abrams, 2019. "The Terms Foresters and Planners in the United States Use to Infer Sustainability in Forest Management Plans: A Survey Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-20, December.
    20. Shehu Folaranmi Gbolahan Yusuf & Oluwabunmi Oluwaseun Popoola & Lindokhule Gwala & Thinandavha Nesengani, 2021. "Promoting University–Community Alliances in the Experiential Learning Activities of Agricultural Extension Postgraduate Students at the University of Fort Hare, South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-18, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:7:p:597-:d:72743. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.