Seasonal Source Apportionment of Heavy Metals and Physicochemical Parameters: A Case Study of Sapanca Lake Watershed

This study was aimed to evaluate the water quality and pollution sources in Sapanca Lake and its tributaries by applying multivariate statistical techniques to physicochemical parameters and toxic metals. For this purpose, the multivariate statistical methods such as principal component analysis (PCA) and absolute principal component score-multiple linear regression (APCS-MLR) model have been employed. It was tried to determine the seasonal pollution sources of physicochemical parameters and toxic metals obtained from 22 different sampling points between the years of 2015 and 2017. PCA was applied to the datasets, and 6 varimax factors describing 84%, 80%, 76%, and 79% of the total variance for each season were extracted. The obtained factors were analyzed using the APCS-MLR model for the apportionment of various pollution sources affecting physicochemical parameters and toxic metals. The results show that the natural soil structure, municipal-industrial wastewater, agricultural-atmospheric runoff, highways, and seasonal effects are the major pollution sources for toxic metals and physicochemical parameters. The material contribution of pollutant sources to toxic metals and physicochemical parameters was calculated and verified by the concentrations analyzed. Consequently, multivariate statistical techniques are useful to determine the physicochemical parameters and toxic metals through reciprocal correlation and assess the seasonal impact of pollutant sources in the basin. This study also provides a basis for the creation of measurement programs, determination of pollution sources, and provision of sustainable watershed management regarding other water resources.