ANALYSIS OF WATER QUALITY OF RIVERS AND RESERVOIRS IN CHELYABINSK REGION, SOUTH URAL

Abstract

Overland water resources of the Chelyabinsk region are presented by the basins of the Tobol,
Ural, Volga (Kama) rivers. The total number of rivers exceeds 3.5 thousand, many of them are headwaters.
This work assesses a ten-year change of water quality in 3 rivers and 3 reservoirs of the Tobol basin that are
as well the source of drinking water for the residential area of the Chelyabinsk region. There are many
ferrous, non-ferrous, power and machine-building industry facilities in the region. As a result, most of the
rivers in South Ural are affected by industrial and household wastewaters. Any significant improvement of
the water quality in the studied rivers has not been monitored for 10 years. The water can be characterized as
“polluted” - “very polluted”. The Miass river has the heaviest anthropogenic impact in the Chelyabinsk
region. It used to be “extremely polluted”. The given work aims to reveal interrelations between the water
quality and the state of the studied water-bodies by means of principal component analysis. Principal
component analysis allowed us to distinguish 2-3 periods that are characterized by similar pollution. The
environment of rivers under a human-made impact changes adversely and transforms into another ecological
state for a couple of years.