Assessment of an Evaluation Approach for Malodorous Rivers

摘要

Urban river systems have increasingly become polluted in China due to rapid industrialization and urbanization. Although there are standards for classification of surface water in terms of water quality, no classification exists for malodorous rivers. In this study we used a combined approach of quantitative index and sensory evaluation for assessing heavily polluted river water. Two urban rivers in Ningbo, China were selected to test the proposed approach. Results showed that the quantitative index based on the measured concentration of chemical oxygen demand, ammonia nitrogen and dissolved oxygen agreed well the sensory evaluation, indicating that the proposed approach could effectively be used for evaluating malodorous rivers.