Evaluation of water quality and spatial and temporal variations of urban rivers in Shanghai

JIANG Guoqiang; XU Fang

doi:10.13205/j.hjgc.202511002

Volume 43 Issue 11

Nov. 2025

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JIANG Guoqiang, XU Fang. Evaluation of water quality and spatial and temporal variations of urban rivers in Shanghai[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING , 2025, 43(11): 11-20. doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202511002

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JIANG Guoqiang, XU Fang. Evaluation of water quality and spatial and temporal variations of urban rivers in Shanghai[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING , 2025, 43(11): 11-20. doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202511002

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Evaluation of water quality and spatial and temporal variations of urban rivers in Shanghai

doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202511002

JIANG Guoqiang,
XU Fang^,

Shanghai Water Conservancy Management Affairs Center, Shanghai 200002, China

Received Date: 2024-05-16
Accepted Date: 2024-06-29
Rev Recd Date: 2024-06-10

Available Online: 2026-01-09

Abstract

Abstract

Urban rivers， as an essential component of the urban ecosystem， play a crucial role in urban development， and understanding the variation of water environment and conducting water quality assessments are improtant for urban planning and environmental protection policies formulation. The spatial and temporal variation in water quality of urban rivers in Yangpu District， Shanghai， China， were analyzed based on the monthly data of 18 monitoring sites from 2018 to 2022， using the comprehensive water quality index method （WQI）， the Mann-Kendall trend test， and the principal component analysis in the study. The results indicated that， in terms of water quality parameters， dissolved oxygen showed an increasing trend， and ammonia nitrogen， potassium permanganate index， as well as total phosphorus exhibited opposite trends， but these trends were not statistically significant. Spatially， the water quality at all monitoring sites demonstrated a significant improvement， with upstream water quality being better than the downstream. Temporally， the WQI revealed that the urban rivers in Shanghai improved year by year from 2018 to 2022， with the water quality evaluation improving from Class Ⅲ to Class Ⅱ. This reflected significant enhancement in water quality under remediation efforts. Principal component analysis identified that dissolved oxygen and total phosphorus， as the key factors， influencing the urban river water quality in Shanghai from 2018 to 2022. Furthermore， the water quality of urban rivers in Shanghai during dry seasons was better than that during wet seasons， with dissolved oxygen and total phosphorus similarly being the influencing factors during both periods. These findings suggest that changes in dissolved oxygen and total phosphorus should be paid special attention to in urban rivers management.
- urban river,
- WQI,
- water quality evaluation,
- spatial and temporal changes

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References(36)

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