DOI: 10.2478/jwld-2019-0046 © Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), Committee on Agronomic Sciences JOURNAL OF WATER AND LAND DEVELOPMENT Section of Land Reclamation and Environmental Engineering in Agriculture, 2019 2019, No. 42 (VII–IX): 67–75 © Institute of Technology and Life Sciences (ITP), 2019 PL ISSN 1429–7426, e-ISSN 2083-4535 Available (PDF): http://www.itp.edu.pl/wydawnictwo/journal; http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/jwld; http://journals.pan.pl/jwld Received 04.01.2019 Dynamics of changes Reviewed 18.02.2019 Accepted 05.04.2019 A – study design in surface water quality indicators B – data collection C – statistical analysis D – data interpretation of the Western Bug River basin within Ukraine E – manuscript preparation F – literature search using GIS technologies Igor GOPCHAK1) ABCD, Tetiana BASIUK2) ABCD, Ihor BIALYK3) ABCD, Oleg PINCHUK4) CDEF , Ievgenii GERASIMOV5) CDEF 1) orcid.org/0000-0003-4774-5504; National University of Water and Environmental Engineering, Rivne, Ukraine; e-mail: [email protected] 2) orcid.org/0000-0003-2861-0460; International University of Economics and Humanities Academician Stepan Demianchuk, Rivne, Ukraine; e-mail: [email protected] 3) orcid.org/0000-0003-0120-8930; National University of Water and Environmental Engineering, Rivne, Ukraine 4) orcid.org/0000-0001-6566-0008; National University of Water and Environmental Engineering, Soborna St, 11, 33000 Rivne, Ukraine; e-mail: [email protected] 5) orcid.org/0000-0001-7194-8251; National University of Water and Environmental Engineering, Rivne, Ukraine; e-mail: [email protected] For citation: Gopchak I., Basiuk T., Bialyk I., Pinchuk O., Gerasimov I. 2019. Dynamics of changes in surface water quality indicators of the Western Bug River basin within Ukraine using GIS technologies. Journal of Water and Land Development. No. 42 (VII–IX) p. 67–75. DOI: 10.2478/jwld-2019-0046. Abstract The environmental assessment of the surface water quality of the Western Bug River has been made using the system of classification quality of land surface water of Ukraine in accordance with the approved methodology, which allows comparing water quality of separate areas of water objects of different regions. The calculation of the environmental as- sessment of water quality has been carried according to three blocks: block of salt composition, block of trophic and sapro- bic (ecological and sanitary) indicators and block of indicators of content of specific toxic substances. The results are pre- sented in the form of a combined environmental assessment, based on the final conclusions of the three blocks and consists in calculating the integral ecological index. Comprehensive studies of changes in the water quality of the Western Bug Riv- er have been conducted within the territory of Ukraine for a long-term period. The water quality of the river on the final values of the integral indicators of the ecological condition corresponded mainly to 4nd category of the 3rd class – the wa- ter is “satisfactory” by condition and “little polluted” by degree of purity (except for points of observation that located within the Volyn region, where the water quality corresponded to 3rd category and the 2nd class. It is “good” by condition and “fairly clean” by the degree of purity). Visualization and part of the analysis are performed using GIS technologies in the software of the ArcGIS 10.3. Key words: ecological index, environmental assessment, environmental condition, GIS technologies, river, surface water, water quality INTRODUCTION perceptible problem and constitutes a hidden danger for present and future generations. The main sources of pollu- The deterioration of the ecological situation of river tion of river basins are industrial and municipal waste wa- systems in Ukraine as a result of irrational use of water ter, agricultural runoff, surface runoff and atmospheric resources, significant technological influences is a very precipitation. The issue of assessing the quality of surface © Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) in Warsaw, 2019; © Institute of Technology and Life Sciences (ITP) in Falenty, 2019 68 I. GOPCHAK, T. BASIUK, I. BIALYK, O. PINCHUK, I. GERASIMOV water during the transboundary transfer of pollutants by classification of standards of the assessment of the quality rivers from the territory of one state to another, which can of surface waters in Ukraine, given in the “Methodolo- lead to negative changes in the river basin, creating poten- gy...” [YATSYK et al. 2006]. On the basis of common envi- tial threats to the environment and human security, is be- ronmental criteria, the method allows comparing the quali- coming particularly urgent [BIELSKI 2012; KLYMENKO et ty of water in separate areas of water objects in time and al. 2013; KLYMENKO, LIKHO 2009]. space, to determine the impact of anthropogenic loading on The study of water quality is a pressing issue, is of aquatic ecosystems, to assess changes in the condition of theoretical and practical importance since the Western Bug water resources. In our opinion, it fully meets the require- River is transboundary. The water resources of the Western ments of the EU Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC Bug are used not only by Ukraine, but also by Poland and [2000]. Belarus. Characteristics of surface water quality includes a set However, the existing significant anthropogenic load of hydrophysical, hydrochemical, hydrobiological, specific on the ecosystem of the river basin leads to a number of and other indicators that reflect the features of the abiotic negative processes causing among other things the water and biotic components of aquatic ecosystems [KLYMENKO, quality deterioration. This issue is extremely important VOZNYUK 2010]. since it should be borne in mind that on the territory of Environmental assessment of water quality involves Poland, the Western Bug River flows into the Zegrze Res- the following steps: 1) collecting, grouping and statistical ervoir, which is the main source of drinking water for the processing of source information; 2) definition of classes city of Warsaw. and categories of water quality according to individual in- Monitoring of the environmental condition of surface dicators; 3) generalization of water quality assessments by water, especially transboundary rivers, is one of the main separate indicators of each block with the definition of in- tasks of the state’s environmental activities, the solution of tegral values of classes and water quality categories for which requires the joint efforts and means of neighbouring each block; 4) determination of the joint assessment of states aiming to preservation, rational use of surface water quality in a water object for a certain period of ob- waters, as well as mutual approximation of national and servation. international laws, standards, implementation of active The calculation of the environmental assessment of international environmental cooperation. Therefore, it is water quality carried out within three blocks (Fig. 1): 1) necessary to conduct timely observations of the qualitative block of indicators salt composition (І1) which includes condition of the surface water of the river basins and to chlorides, sulphates, criterion of mineralization; 2) block of analyze and summarize information about the condition of trophic and saprobiological (ecological and sanitary) indi- water bodies and predict its changes [KLYMENKO et al. cators (І2), including content: suspended matter, nitrates, 2013; KLYMENKO, VOZNYUK 2010; KRENGEL et al. 2018; nitrites, ammonium nitrogen, phosphates, dissolved oxy- ZABOKRYTSKA 2011]. gen, hydrogen index – pH, chemical oxygen consumption, The aim of the study is to analyze the changes in the biochemical oxygen consumption for 5 days; 3) block of quality indicators of the surface water of the Western Bug indicators of content of specific toxic substances (І3), River basin (within Ukraine). which consists from one (general iron) to eight compo- A lot of scientific studies is devoted assessing of the nents (general iron, copper, zinc, manganese, total chromi- water quality from different positions. A lot of scientific um, phenols, petroleum products, synthetic surface active studies is devoted of the ecological condition of the river substances). An integral (ecological) index (І ) was calcu- were carried out after the creation of the transboundary Е lated on a base of the values of block indices for to deter- association “Euroregion Bug”. mine the class and water quality category. The procedure A significant contribution to the methodology of com- for determining the categories of water quality according plex and integrated assessment of the ecological condition to the ecological classification for each hydrochemical in- of river basins were made by YATSYK et al. [2006] and dicator by average values allowed the absolute quantitative KLYMENKO, VOZNYUK [2010]. The research of the assess- values to be converted into unified, integral indicators of ment of the ecological condition of river basins were car- water quality (indices, categories, subcategories, classes), ried out by such scientists as: KLYMENKO, LIKHO [2009], which reflect the essence of the process. This one the ZABOKRYTSKA [2011], KOYNOVA et al. [2012], KOZYT- changes in the conditions for the formation of water quality SKA, MUZYCHENKO [2015], BURZYŃSKA [2016], VOZ- under the influence of anthropogenic factors were fixed by NYUK et al. [2017], and YATSYIK et al. [2017]. the indices, and were defined boundaries of fluctuations