The Water Chemical Characteristics of Qinglongdong Karst Spring, Kunming, China

Binggui Cai, Hong Liu
2018 Proceedings of the 15th Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst and the 3rd Appalachian Karst Symposium   unpublished
Kunming city, and is one of the largest surface water bodies in Yunnan province. It once was one of the main water sources for municipal water supply. Unfortunately, it has been heavily polluted since the late 1980s, which exacerbated the water shortage of Kunming. Kunming is located within a karst faulted basin, which is a unique landform. Hundreds of karst springs exist in this basin. These karst springs are now the other main water sources for municipal purposes for the city and most are
more » ... by the municipal water supply systems. Karst water contributes around 50% of the drinking water in Kunming. Karst aquifers are fragile and are very sensitive to human activities and environmental change (Ravbar, 2007). The influence of industry and agriculture on karst aquifers is a global problem, which has attracted worldwide attention (Drew et al., 1999) . With rapid urbanization and a growing economy in the last decades, many human activities are straining the karst groundwater resources of Kunming City. The groundwater has been overexploited because of the increasing demand for water. This largescale land use change in karst areas inevitably results in negatively affecting the quality and quantity of the groundwater. Hundreds of springs in the Kunming faulted karst basin have dried out and produced less water. Some important water source springs have been contaminated, including Haiyuansi Spring and Kunming Heilongtan Springs. The latter has been abandoned as a drinking water source. Nevertheless, there are few studies that have been done to investigate those springs. In 2007, construction on Kunming City's new international airport was started. This site is adjacent to the outlet of Qinglongdong Spring (QLDS), which is an important drinking water source spring. Most of the recharge area of the spring
doi:10.5038/9780991000982.1065 fatcat:5kmd5ijq2vcaphkj6aznidvv4a