It is essential to recognize that the water consumed in daily life is derived from either underground sources or surface water bodies such as rivers and lakes—the latter being classified as natural water. This raises questions: What is the correlation between such water sources and Water Quality Monitoring? Do these water bodies not possess self-purification capabilities? Should they not be directly usable? A series of such questions emerge, and the following discussion will clarify these points.
The majority of rivers and lakes in China have been contaminated to varying degrees, with lake eutrophication being a prevalent issue that renders these water sources unfit for conventional use. Eutrophication is primarily driven by nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients, which are critical for algal growth. These nutrients originate from both natural and anthropogenic sources, with human activities being the dominant contributor. For instance, during economic production processes, large volumes of industrial wastewater and domestic sewage are discharged into water bodies via channels and other hydrological pathways, leading to severe pollution that exceeds the self-purification capacity of rivers and lakes.
The importance of Water Quality Monitoring for rivers and lakes is multifaceted. Water quality monitoring instruments enable effective, automated, and real-time assessment of water quality conditions, facilitating the establishment of a robust river management mechanism. This mechanism supports the generation of monitoring reports on various pollutants in water bodies, ensuring that water sources are only utilized once their safety is confirmed, thereby preventing water pollution-related accidents. Additionally, water quality monitoring systems allow staff to conduct remote online monitoring of surface water, analyzing key indicators such as total nitrogen and total phosphorus. If an exceedance warning is triggered, it indicates contamination, and the water source should not be directly consumed.
In light of the above, can we still claim that Water Quality Monitoring of rivers and lakes is unimportant or dispensable? This is a matter closely tied to human health—we must not treat it lightly.
