IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i5p2008-d1600362.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Tracing Anthropogenic and Environmental Impacts on River Water Quality: Sustainable Perspective on Contrasting Environments

Author

Listed:
  • Eyad Abushandi

    (Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Museum Building, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, D02 PN40 Dublin, Ireland)

Abstract

This paper represents a comparative study of two rivers, namely, the Andarax River, Spain, and the River Liffey, Ireland, considering different climatic conditions and human activities and their influences on most water quality parameters. Water samples collected from different sampling sites along each river were analysed for field parameters such as the pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), and nitrates, phosphates, and potassium (NPK) levels of floodplain soil. Spatial changes were assessed using various geostatistical methods such as the Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression (MLR), and water quality index (WQI). The Andarax River had a higher TDS and was turbidly higher with EC due to agricultural activities and the naturally higher evaporation in the semiarid climate. In contrast, DO levels varied widely in the River Liffey, especially in reaches under the influence of urbanisation and agricultural runoff. The artificial surface and agriculture are the strongest negative determinants of water quality in both rivers, with artificial surfaces contributing about 35.72% to the DO variation. The WQI identified the water quality in the Andarax River as poor to very poor in certain locations, while the River Liffey exhibited a good to medium quality overall, although with localised degradation in areas of high human activity. The results of this study are important for developing targeted remedial measures in diversified climate conditions and a customised water sustainability plan to address the challenges of each area.

Suggested Citation

  • Eyad Abushandi, 2025. "Tracing Anthropogenic and Environmental Impacts on River Water Quality: Sustainable Perspective on Contrasting Environments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-22, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:5:p:2008-:d:1600362
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/5/2008/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/5/2008/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Haizhen Hu & Jia Wang & Gang Zhou & Sichen Tong & Weifu Wang & Tingting Hu, 2024. "Understanding the Water Quality Changes of the Typical Plain River Network Area Using Comprehensive Assessment Methods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-18, October.
    2. Juan Torres & Diego L. Valera & Luis J. Belmonte & Carlos Herrero-Sánchez, 2016. "Economic and Social Sustainability through Organic Agriculture: Study of the Restructuring of the Citrus Sector in the “ Bajo Andarax ” District (Spain)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-14, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Karthikeyan Mariappan & Deyi Zhou, 2019. "A Threat of Farmers’ Suicide and the Opportunity in Organic Farming for Sustainable Agricultural Development in India," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Pouria Ataei & Hassan Sadighi & Mohammad Chizari & Enayat Abbasi, 2020. "In-depth content analysis of conservation agriculture training programs in Iran based on sustainability dimensions," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(8), pages 7215-7237, December.
    3. Yuanwei Du & Yiwei Zhang, 2024. "Theoretical Framework for the Supervision of Plateau-Characteristic Agroecological Security," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-21, December.
    4. Cei, Leonardo & Stefani, Gianluca & Defrancesco, Edi, 2020. "The role of group-time treatment effect heterogeneity in long standing European agricultural policies. An application to the European geographical indication policy," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 9(01), April.
    5. Qifan Hu & Bing Xu, 2019. "Differential Game Analysis of Optimal Strategies and Cooperation in Omni-Channel Organic Agricultural Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-34, February.
    6. Vanessa Campos & Joan R. Sanchis & Carmen Talavera, 2021. "The Importance of Social Value in Agroecological Farms: Adjusting the Common Good Balance Sheet to Improve Their Sustainable Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-24, January.
    7. De Leijster, V. & Verburg, R.W. & Santos, M.J. & Wassen, M.J. & Martínez-Mena, M. & de Vente, J. & Verweij, P.A., 2020. "Almond farm profitability under agroecological management in south-eastern Spain: Accounting for externalities and opportunity costs," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    8. Samir Mili & Javier Martínez-Vega, 2019. "Accounting for Regional Heterogeneity of Agricultural Sustainability in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-20, January.
    9. Francesco Sottile & Stefano Massaglia & Cristiana Peano, 2020. "Ecological and Economic Indicators for the Evaluation of Almond ( Prunus dulcis L.) Orchard Renewal in Sicily," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-14, July.
    10. Karol Kociszewski & Andrzej Graczyk & Krystyna Mazurek-Łopacinska & Magdalena Sobocińska, 2020. "Social Values in Stimulating Organic Production Involvement in Farming—The Case of Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-21, July.
    11. Seid Hussen Muhie, 2023. "Concepts, Principles, and Application of Biodynamic Farming: a Review," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 291-304, March.
    12. Némethová Jana & Dubcová Alena & Nagyová Ľudmila & Kramáreková Hilda, 2017. "Ecological Farming in Slovakia and Its Regional Disparities," European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 9(4), pages 746-768, December.
    13. Usama Awan & Andrzej Kraslawski & Janne Huiskonen, 2018. "Governing Interfirm Relationships for Social Sustainability: The Relationship between Governance Mechanisms, Sustainable Collaboration, and Cultural Intelligence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-20, November.
    14. Mireille N. Honoré & Luis J. Belmonte-Ureña & Asensio Navarro-Velasco & Francisco Camacho-Ferre, 2019. "Profit Analysis of Papaya Crops under Greenhouses as an Alternative to Traditional Intensive Horticulture in Southeast Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-22, August.
    15. Piotr Sulewski & Anna Kłoczko-Gajewska & Wojciech Sroka, 2018. "Relations between Agri-Environmental, Economic and Social Dimensions of Farms’ Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-23, December.

    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:17:y:2025:i:5:p:2008-:d:1600362. 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 (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.