Groundwater in rural area of Suzhou, northern Anhui Province, China: Heavy metal concentrations and statistical analysis

Sun Linhua and Peng Weihua

Abstract

The issue of water contamination is becoming more serious in nowadays, especially the heavy metal pollution. For revealing the groundwater quality in rural area of Suzhou, northern Anhui Province, China, a total of seventy samples have been collected and analyzed for six kinds of heavy metal concentrations. The results indicate that all of the heavy metals have low concentrations with significant spatial variations. In comparison with the quality standards of World Health Organization and Chinese government, they are classified as excellent. Statistical analyses, including correlation, cluster and factor analysis, suggest that two factors are responsible for the heavy metals in the groundwater. One is responsible for Fe and Mn, and another is responsible for Cr, Cd, Pb and Ni, and both of them are related to geological conditions, rather than anthropogenic activities.