Study of Karst Water Quality in Fugu, Northern Shaanxi, China

The development opportunities of energy base in China's northern Shaanxi are broad; however, a serious shortage of water resources there is restricting the construction and development of the base. The eastern half of the base, located in Fugu County, covers a karst groundwater system of Tianqiao Spring Basin that has a broad distribution area and good recharge conditions. Unfortunately, the base is at the downstream end of this karst groundwater system, where the water has high hardness and TDS or elevated manganese and nitrogen concentrations. Based on data obtained in a survey of karst water in Fugu in the past two years, a water quality evaluation was conducted in accordance with "Quality Standard for Groundwater" (GB/T14848-93) for cities, industrial and mining water supply. The evaluation concluded that: the quality of most karst water in Fugu exceeds the standard of Grade III, reaching Grade IV and Grade V, and items over standards are respectively total hardness, TDS, sulfate, chloride, manganese, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, fluoride. As a source of water supply for cities, industrial and mining enterprises, the karst water must be treated with different water treatment technologies before use.