Abstract
The uMhlatuzana, uMbilo and aManzimnyama river catchments located on the eastern seaboard of the KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, form the core of urbanization and industrialization, contributing the only natural freshwater inflows to the Bayhead Canal portion of the Durban Harbour. In this study, seasonal discharges and physico–chemical water properties were used to quantitatively determine the material mass transport capacity of the river systems on the basis of hydrographic inputs and chemical loading from the surrounding land use sectors. The mass transport of the total dissolved solids (TDS), ammonia (NH4), phosphorous (P), aluminum (Al), calcium (Ca), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), sulphur (S) and vanadium (V) was determined for each river. Results indicated that land use, seasonality and river flow were significant determinants for the material loading in the rivers and the receiving port waters. The spatio-temporal distribution patterns of chemical fluxes indicated that industrial activity associated with the aManzimnyama canal contributed the most, with regards to TDS, NH4, Ca, K, Mg, Na, S and V, loading in both wet and dry seasons, as well as Al, Cu, Hg and Pb during the dry season. Similarly, industrial activity associated with the uMbilo/uMhlatuzana Canal at the lower reaches accounted for the highest P, Al, Cu and Pb fluxes in the wet season alone. Fluxes of these parameters are used to explain the observed elemental concentrations and patterns of the receiving port waters of the Bayhead Canal.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bullard WE (1966) Effects of land use on water resources. Water Pollut Control Fed 38:645–659
CEQG (2005) Canadian environmental quality guidelines summary table. canadian council of ministers of the environment. http://st-ts.ccme.ca/. Accessed 02 Nov 2012
Chapman D (ed) (1992) Water quality assessments: a guide to the use of biota, sediments and water in environmental monitoring, 2nd edn. E & FN Spon, London
Cruzado A, Velasquez Z, del Carmen Perez M, Bahamon N, Grimaldo NS, Ridolfi F (2002) Nutrient fluxes from the Ebro River and subsequent across-shelf dispersion. Cont Shelf Res 22:349–360
Dauer DM, Weisberg SB, Ranasinghe JA (2000) Relationships between benthic community condition, water quality, sediment quality, nutrient loads, and land use patterns in Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries 23:80–96
DWAF (1995) South African water quality guidelines, vol 1: for coastal and marine waters—natural environment. Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Pretoria, South Africa
DWAF (1996a) South African water quality guidelines, vol 7: aquatic ecosystems. Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Pretoria
Lee JH, Bang KW (2000) Characterization of urban stormwater runoff. Wat Res 34:1773–1780
Li S, Gu S, Liu W, Han H, Zhang Q (2008) Water quality in relation to land use and land cover in the upper Han River Basin, China. Catena 75:216–222
Masamba WRL, Mazvimavi D (2008) Impact on water quality of land uses along Thamalakane-Boteti River: an outlet of the Okavango Delta. Phys Chem Earth 33:687–694
MER/ERM (2011) Development of the bay of natal estuarine management plan: situation assessment. Report prepared for eThekwini municipality, transnet national port authority and the department of agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development
Ngila JC (2008) Environmental chemistry practical manual. School of pure and applied chemistry, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus
Robson AJ, Neal C (1997) A summary of regional water quality for Eastern UK rivers. Sci Total Environ 194(195):15–37
SASRI (2013) Weather web: rainfall data for Mount Edgecombe monitoring station for 01 Nov 2011–30 Sept 2012
Sigleo A, Frick W (2007) Seasonal variations in river discharge and nutrientexport to a Northeastern Pacific estuary. Estuar, Coastal Shelf Sci 73:368–378
South African Sugarcane Research Institute. http://portal.sasa.org.za/weatherweb/. Accessed 04 April 2013
Tomar M (1999) Quality assessment of water and wastewater. Lewis, New York
Tong STY, Chen W (2002) Modeling the relationship between land use and surface water quality. J Environ Manag 66:377–393
Weijters MJ, Janse JH, Alkemade R, Verhoeven JTA (2009) Quantifying the effect of catchment land use and water nutrient concentrations on freshwater river and stream biodiversity. Aquat Conserv 19:104–112
WHO (2000) Air quality guidelines, 2nd edn. Regional office for Europe, Copenhagen
Wilkinson BH, McElroy BJ (2007) The impact of humans on continental erosion and sedimentation. GSA Bull 119:140–156
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the National Research Foundation (NRF) for financial support during this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11631-016-0118-2.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Moodley, K., Pillay, S., Pather, K. et al. Seasonal discharge and chemical flux variations of rivers flowing into the Bayhead canal of Durban Harbour, South Africa. Acta Geochim 35, 340–353 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-016-0100-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-016-0100-z