What group of humic substances determines colour of unpolluted river water? Case study from two different rivers of North-Western Russia
Abstract
Purpose
There is no clear answer to the question as to what kind of humic substances (HSs) (fulvic acids (FAs) or humic acids (HAs)) is primarily responsible for colour of water in water bodies. To resolve this problem, the purpose of this paper is to compare optical properties of the samples of river water with solutions (considered as standard) containing HAs and FAs in different concentrations.
Design/methodology/approach
The author sampled two typical unpolluted rivers of Karelian Isthmus (Leningrad Region, North-Western Russia) with different water colours – Vyun with light-brown water and Kivioja with dark-brown water.
Findings
It is revealed that the shape of the light absorption curve for both rivers is similar to that of FAs. Among the coefficients,
Practical implications
The results outline a more direct approach to decision support in the sphere of ecological monitoring of river water.
Originality/value
The author has concluded that river waters are coloured by FAs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author expresses sincere gratitude to Dr Oleg Romanov, the Associated Professor of the Department of Soil Sciences and Soil Ecology (Institute of Earth Sciences, Saint-Petersburg State University) for his consultations on the humic status of soils and for analysing of soil and preparation. Assistance in the translation of this paper was provided by Dr Anatoly Petrov, a Senior Researcher of the Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint-Petersburg. The author also deeply grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their detailed consideration and recommendations to improve the author’s manuscript.
Citation
Rizhinashvili, A. (2018), "What group of humic substances determines colour of unpolluted river water? Case study from two different rivers of North-Western Russia", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 780-794. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-05-2017-0047
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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