Assessment of Water Quality Target Attainment and Influencing Factors Using the Multivariate Log-Linear Model in the Nakdong River Basin, Republic of Korea

Because identifying the factors affecting water quality is challenging, water quality assessment of an individual component based on the arithmetic mean method cannot adequately support management policies. Therefore, in this study, we assessed the water quality target attainment at 24 sites in the Nakdong River Basin by applying multivariate log-linear models to identify factors influencing water quality, including flow and season. The temporal and seasonal water quality trend and flow were also analyzed using the calculated model coefficients. Specifically, weekly data on biological oxygen demand (BOD), total phosphorous (TP), and flow during 2013-2018 were used to investigate the 2018 water quality target attainment level for this river. The significance and suitability of the models were analyzed using the F-test, root mean squared error (RMSE), mean absolute percent error (MAPE), and adjusted R-2 values. All 24 models applied in this study showed statistical significance and suitability for the prediction of BOD and TP concentrations. Moreover, flow was identified as the main factor affecting water quality and had a predominant effect on BOD and TP concentrations in tributaries and the main stream, respectively. Furthermore, among the 24 sites, BOD and TP targets were evidently attained at 18 and 17 sites, respectively.

Automated summary

This study used multivariate log-linear models to assess the water quality target attainment in the Nakdong River Basin and identified the main factors influencing water quality and seasonal variations. The analysis revealed that flow is the main factor affecting water quality with a significant impact on BOD and TP concentrations in tributaries and the main stream. The majority of sites have met the water quality targets for BOD and TP.