Project Background

Ecological protection of the Yangtze River is a key national strategic task. To address the lack of "long-term, high-density, multi-dimensional, and spatiotemporal" water quality monitoring data, the project, supported by the National Engineering Research Center for Water Environment Pollution Monitoring Technologies, installs shipborne automatic water quality monitoring stations on cargo vessels along the Yangtze River. This enables continuous, dynamic monitoring of the main channel. Through long-term, high-frequency monitoring of key points from Chongqing to Shanghai, the project aims to systematically understand the water quality and dynamic changes of the river, providing essential data for the Yangtze River Economic Belt development and drinking water safety.

Project Construction

Site Planning: The project aims to establish three Yangtze River Water Quality Automatic Monitoring Demonstration Stations for monitoring the water quality along the main channel of the Yangtze River from Chongqing to Shanghai. The first demonstration station was completed in January 2019, followed by the second station in September of the same year. These stations are strategically located to ensure comprehensive and continuous water quality monitoring across key sections of the river.

Monitoring Method: The monitoring spans 2,688 kilometers from Yibin to Shanghai, with the monitoring vessel making a round trip approximately once a month. Every 2 hours, a set of water quality data is analyzed to ensure continuous and detailed monitoring of the river’s water conditions along the route.

Monitoring Indicators: The first demonstration station monitors 61 water quality indicators, while the second station tracks 67 indicators. These include conventional parameters such as pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and temperature, along with specific pollutants like anionic surfactants, volatile phenols, heavy metals, BOD₅, fecal coliform bacteria, VOCs, and SVOCs. Additionally, the stations collect real-time data on five environmental variables: temperature, humidity, longitude, latitude, and distance traveled.

Remote Quality Control: For water quality parameters that can maintain the integrity of standard samples over extended periods, remote quality control is implemented. This ensures the accuracy and reliability of the monitoring data, maintaining high-quality standards for the collected data throughout the monitoring process.

Data Platform: The "Yangtze River Economic Belt Water Quality Monitoring Platform" has been developed to track and access real-time monitoring data and survey trajectories from the demonstration stations. This platform facilitates water quality data analysis, risk assessment of monitored river sections, and supports management tasks related to environmental protection and monitoring.
 

Implementation Results

●First Comprehensive Water Quality Automated Online Monitoring of the Yangtze River Main Channel.

●The monitoring data from the demonstration stations complement and validate the data from national and provincial online monitoring stations, as well as the monthly sampling data collected by national authorities.

●The expanded monitoring parameters provide data support for identifying the distribution of polluting industries along the river.

●The system provides massive data support for systematically identifying and understanding various ecological hazards and environmental risks, helping to establish a clear baseline of the ecological and environmental conditions.