An investigation on the influence of agricultural and urban land use on the water quality of the River Ouse in the catchment area of York

Abstract

This study set out to investigate how the influence of adjacent land use impacts upon a river. The land uses which were investigated were agricultural and urban, around the city of York. Samples were taken from the village of Nether Poppleton which can be found to the north, the city of York, and Fulford which is located to the south.
Samples gained from each site had their physical and chemical characteristics tested. This was in order to determine the pollution that agricultural and urban land use had upon the water quality. The samples that were acquired were tested in both the field and also the laboratory. The parameters that were tested was temperature (oC), conductivity (μ), pH, dissolved oxygen (mg/l), chlorides (ppm), sulphates (ppm), nitrates (ppm) and suspended solids (g).
From the data that was gathered, it could be seen that anthropogenic influences had a negative effect on the water quality of the river Ouse when compared to the control sample. However, the fifth agricultural sample that was gathered appeared to be abnormal, suggesting that the results are unreliable. It was also noted that through statistics, significant differences were only found between the land uses whilst testing temperature and pH. However, when compared to the control site, it could be seen that anthropogenic influences impacted negatively on the water quality of the river Ouse.