Marine Pollution Bulletin 157 (2020) 111285

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Marine Pollution Bulletin

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpolbul

Application of modified water quality index (WQI) in the assessment of T

coastal water quality in main aquaculture areas of Dalian, China
⁎
Zhen Maa,b, Haixia Lia,b, Zhangying Yec, Junpu Wena,b, Yu Hua,b, Ying Liua,b,
a
Key Laboratory of Environment Controlled Aquaculture, Ministry of Education, China, Dalian 116023, People's Republic of China
b
Dalian Ocean University, #52. Heishijiao Street, Shahekou District, Dalian 116023, People's Republic of China
c
Key Laboratory of Equipment and Informatization in Environment Controlled Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Hangzhou 310058, People's Republic of China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In the present study, a modified water quality index (WQI) was used to evaluate the water quality in south
A modified WQI coastal aquaculture area of Dalian, Liaoning Province, China. Four main culture areas with 40 sampling stations
Coastal area were covered. Ten variables were selected for principal component analysis/factor analysis (PCA/FA), and the
Water quality assessment major factors affecting water quality were identified. The PCA results showed that these factors were mainly
Aquaculture
associated with nutrients, natural conditions and organic matter. The modified WQI was calculated to identify
PCA/FA
the classes of water quality and to evaluate the spatial and temporal changes among the sampling areas. The
results revealed that the water quality generally performed the worst in June, and the best in October. The
modified WQI proved to be a useful method for water quality classification and characterizing spatial and
temporal changes in Dalian aquaculture areas.

1. Introduction coastal aquaculture industry in Dalian has highly developed in recent

Coastal areas are important for human livelihood and economic
development due to the unique geographical environment (Kim and
Lipton, 2011; Wei et al., 2017; Mitra et al., 2018). Economic and social
activities are always well developed in coastal areas, which are in-
habited by numerous plants and animals. The coastal water quality is
affected by human activities (Ferreira et al., 2011; Jha et al., 2015;
Vijay et al., 2016; Barik et al., 2019), and deteriorating water quality
can adversely affect the marine ecosystem and the environmental bal-
ance. Consequently, increasing attention has been paid in protecting the
coastal environment in recent years (Vijay et al., 2016; Kang and Xu,
2016; Rajendran et al., 2018). Given that water quality analysis is
useful in water monitoring, it is difficult to comprehensively under-
stand the global changes in a set of variations. Thus, water quality
evaluation using multiple variables can provide a thorough under-
standing of water quality and help in coastal environmental manage-
ment (Ferreira et al., 2011; Sun et al., 2016).
Dalian is an important coastal city in China and the coastal area is
considered an essential component for development. It is divided into
four areas, including fisheries/aquaculture, transportation, tourism and
other functional areas in accordance with the function of natural en-
vironmental features, natural resources advantage, development and
utilization of the coastal area, as well as environmental protection. The
years. The coastal aquaculture area in 2015 was 332.34 km2, which
accounted for 37% of the total reclamation sea area (Wang et al., 2017;
Wei et al., 2017). However, water quality in aquaculture areas is
usually degraded due to human activities, such as wastewater drainage,
aquaculture residues discharge and ecosystem degradation (Ma et al.,
2013; Kang and Xu, 2016; DSEB, 2018). Therefore, establishing an ef-
ficient method to comprehensively evaluate coastal water quality is
essential for aquaculture industry and city management in Dalian.
Generally, water quality monitoring will generate a large and
complex database comprising biological, physical and chemical vari-
ables which is hard to deal with (Sutadian et al., 2015; El-Mezayen
et al., 2018). The application of multivariate statistical techniques, such
as principal component analysis/factor analysis (PCA/FA), can objec-
tively identify the potential key factors and improve the interpretation
of complex data matrices (Nilufar et al., 2011; Jha et al., 2015). Besides,
water quality index (WQI) has been occasionally used to convert a
whole set of water characterization data into a single number, which
represents a range of water quality (from excellent to very poor)
(Ferreira et al., 2011; Abtahi et al., 2015). The WQI analysis can be
applied to various water quality assessments using rational evaluation
variables and criteria. Despite the extensive use of WQI, several lim-
itations of WQI need to be considered, such as insufficient number and
random selection of variables. Thus, efforts have been made to develop

⁎
Corresponding author at: Key Laboratory of Environment Controlled Aquaculture, Ministry of Education, China, Dalian 116023, People's Republic of China.
E-mail address: yingliu@dlou.edu.cn (Y. Liu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111285
Received 26 November 2019; Received in revised form 15 May 2020; Accepted 17 May 2020
Available online 29 May 2020
0025-326X/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Z. Ma, et al. Marine Pollution Bulletin 157 (2020) 111285

Fig. 1. Study area and sampling stations at the south coastal of Dalian, Liaoning Province, China.

a modified WQI to make it a more effective method (Abtahi et al., 2015;
Sun et al., 2016; Mukate et al., 2019). For instance, excess inorganic
nitrogen and phosphorus were used in aquaculture WQI analysis while
other water quality variables were less appreciated (Sutadian et al.,
2015; Kang and Xu, 2016; Vijay et al., 2016).
Currently, little knowledge is available about water quality of
multiple aquaculture areas in Dalian. Thus, four main aquaculture
coastal areas of Dalian were sampled, and the large data matrix was
subjected to multivariate statistical analysis to identify variables asso-
ciated with water quality. The modified WQI was then used for

2
 pH
T (°C)

≤0.25
Table 2
Table 1

> 0.95
variables.
Z. Ma, et al.

TUR (NTU)
DIP (mg/L)
TAN (mg/L)

COD (mg/L)

Chl-a (mg/L)

BOD5 (mg/L)
NO3-N (mg/L)
NO2-N (mg/L)

The value of WQI

0.5 < WQI ≤ 0.75

0.25 < WQI ≤ 0.5

2.1. Sampling area

I

0.75 < WQI ≤ 0.95

1
5
5
1

22

0.1
8.50
0.02
0.38

0.015

2. Materials and methods

II

Modified WQI evaluation classes.

Bad
Poor
3
5
2

26 or 18
10

Good

June, August and October in 2018.

Medium
0.26
8.00
0.48

Excellent
0.025
0.065
III
Limits of water quality classes

Water condition
4
8
3

30 or 14
15

2.2. Water quality variables and chemical analysis

0.64
7.60
0.11
0.68

0.035
IV

I
II

V
III
IV
5
4

11
30 or 10
20

1.60
7.20
0.88

0.045
0.155
V

to characterize the temporal and spatial variations of water quality.

Evaluation classes
10
30 or 6
5

13
20

station with three replicates. All samples were stored in polyethylene

salinity (SAL), pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), turbidity (TUR) and total
5 L horizontal water sampler from a depth of 0.5 m at each sampling

chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) were analyzed according to the National

Yellow Spring Instrument Co., Yellow Springs, OH, USA). Nitrite ni-
Mezayen et al., 2018; Mohanty et al., 2018). Water temperature (T),

(Manganese; COD), five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) and

dissolved solids (TDS) were measured using YSI meter (YSI 6920,
1997), “Discharge Standards of Marine Aquaculture Water” (DB 21/T
analyzed within 1 week. A total of 13 variables describing pollution
plastic bottles at 4 °C until they were transported to the laboratory and
and Fujiazhuang. Forty sampling stations were randomly selected and
comprehensive water quality assessment of each aquaculture area and

monitoring reports, including “Sea Water Quality Standards” (GB 3097,

The collection, transportation and analysis of water samples was
marked with the Global Positioning System, among which the far
aquaculture areas were included, namely Zhuanghe, Pikou, Dengshahe
the present study, 4589 km2 in the Northern Yellow Sea (Fig. 1). Four
between the longitudes 121°44′27″ and 123°11′34″ E was sampled in
The area between the latitudes 38°76′30″ and 39°64′23″ N and
The five interval classes (I, II, III, IV, and V) to the selected water quality

N), dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP), chemical oxygen demand

2428, 2015), as well as previous studies (Challouf et al., 2017; El-
based on the relative official standards and conventional water quality
characteristics were included. They were analyzed for all water samples
Monitoring (SEPA, 2002). Briefly, water samples were collected with a
performed in according with the National Specifications for Marine
193 km apart. Sampling times were set in four points, which were April,
southwest sampling station and the far northeast sampling station were

trogen (NO2-N), total ammonia nitrogen (TAN), nitrate nitrogen (NO3-

4.00
6.80
0.20
1.00

0.045

3
Table 3
Mean ± standard error (SE) of water quality variables of coastal area of Dalian, China, 2018.
NO2-N TAN NO3-N COD T pH DO SAL DIP TDS Chl-a TUR (NTU) BOD5
(mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (°C) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L)

Apr. Fujiazhuang 0.002 ± 0.000 0.012 ± 0.005 0.012 ± 0.002 16.93 ± 2.81 8.21 ± 0.04 8.16 ± 0.05 9.96 ± 0.34 31.47 ± 0.05 0.146 ± 0.012 19,491 ± 392 0.874 ± 0.196 13.27 ± 0.45 6.93 ± 0.70
Dengshahe 0.004 ± 0.000 0.362 ± 0.065 0.132 ± 0.017 3.44 ± 0.61 7.00 ± 0.18 8.11 ± 0.06 10.31 ± 0.11 31.96 ± 0.21 0.056 ± 0.007 37,515 ± 1200 7.640 ± 0.169 20.73 ± 0.48 13.36 ± 0.60
Pikou 0.002 ± 0.000 0.015 ± 0.004 0.059 ± 0.008 3.59 ± 0.42 6.88 ± 0.17 7.83 ± 0.06 10.25 ± 0.16 31.99 ± 0.16 1.391 ± 0.159 12,465 ± 497 0.948 ± 0.106 11.83 ± 0.93 5.51 ± 0.65
Zhuanghe 0.014 ± 0.004 0.043 ± 0.005 0.150 ± 0.008 2.15 ± 0.32 6.42 ± 0.14 7.90 ± 0.07 9.07 ± 0.06 31.41 ± 0.20 0.043 ± 0.004 30,344 ± 504 3.205 ± 0.452 16.63 ± 1.02 10.31 ± 1.14
Jun. Fujiazhuang 0.005 ± 0.001 0.006 ± 0.001 0.008 ± 0.002 9.62 ± 1.57 21.72 ± 0.08 8.00 ± 0.05 7.70 ± 0.14 32.31 ± 0.07 0.282 ± 0.050 13,332 ± 942 0.855 ± 0.109 11.12 ± 0.93 8.51 ± 0.32
Dengshahe 0.006 ± 0.002 0.004 ± 0.001 0.003 ± 0.009 3.73 ± 0.38 21.43 ± 0.18 7.69 ± 0.08 7.97 ± 0.11 32.05 ± 0.14 0.027 ± 0.006 14,410 ± 854 5.352 ± 0.417 7.65 ± 0.27 11.92 ± 1.23
Pikou 0.004 ± 0.001 0.004 ± 0.001 0.029 ± 0.005 4.65 ± 0.30 20.41 ± 0.22 7.47 ± 0.10 7.99 ± 0.24 32.00 ± 0.13 0.472 ± 0.173 10,199 ± 687 1.080 ± 0.209 5.95 ± 0.21 5.89 ± 0.75
Zhuanghe 0.033 ± 0.009 0.045 ± 0.008 0.051 ± 0.013 4.39 ± 0.83 20.35 ± 0.25 7.63 ± 0.08 7.66 ± 0.21 31.11 ± 0.26 0.052 ± 0.011 12,945 ± 1888 2.409 ± 0.345 6.45 ± 0.31 10.09 ± 0.57
Aug. Fujiazhuang 0.006 ± 0.001 0.010 ± 0.004 0.019 ± 0.002 6.55 ± 0.78 25.03 ± 0.12 7.25 ± 0.10 7.99 ± 0.04 32.33 ± 0.07 0.189 ± 0.022 12,183 ± 946 1.140 ± 0.188 6.41 ± 0.16 9.64 ± 1.09
Dengshahe 0.004 ± 0.001 0.005 ± 0.001 0.031 ± 0.007 3.02 ± 0.38 23.25 ± 0.31 7.69 ± 0.95 7.75 ± 0.12 31.65 ± 0.93 0.017 ± 0.003 12,951 ± 632 4.862 ± 0.581 6.71 ± 0.26 11.15 ± 0.92
Pikou 0.004 ± 0.000 0.006 ± 0.001 0.013 ± 0.003 4.00 ± 0.47 23.49 ± 0.22 7.74 ± 0.09 7.78 ± 0.09 31.90 ± 0.10 0.232 ± 0.062 10,083 ± 1126 0.720 ± 0.209 3.97 ± 0.44 4.82 ± 0.54
Zhuanghe 0.020 ± 0.009 0.043 ± 0.011 0.030 ± 0.008 5.33 ± 0.39 23.11 ± 0.17 7.70 ± 0.13 7.75 ± 0.13 31.20 ± 0.06 0.021 ± 0.007 11,341 ± 1266 1.035 ± 0.110 4.20 ± 0.16 6.29 ± 0.51
Oct. Fujiazhuang 0.018 ± 0.008 0.042 ± 0.009 0.037 ± 0.012 4.70 ± 0.82 17.39 ± 0.19 7.90 ± 0.06 7.88 ± 0.36 31.46 ± 0.18 0.191 ± 0.025 10,771 ± 328 1.040 ± 0.117 7.73 ± 0.48 4.85 ± 0.49
Dengshahe 0.004 ± 0.001 0.107 ± 0.019 0.040 ± 0.003 5.42 ± 0.79 17.06 ± 0.26 7.80 ± 0.11 8.08 ± 0.21 30.95 ± 0.22 0.064 ± 0.018 15,071 ± 347 0.987 ± 0.120 5.91 ± 0.32 6.44 ± 0.75
Pikou 0.022 ± 0.006 0.013 ± 0.005 0.024 ± 0.006 4.34 ± 0.73 17.04 ± 0.28 7.91 ± 0.09 7.49 ± 0.15 31.05 ± 0.35 0.021 ± 0.004 15,817 ± 371 3.526 ± 0.430 7.30 ± 0.37 7.49 ± 0.41
Zhuanghe 0.046 ± 0.013 0.023 ± 0.002 0.029 ± 0.003 6.41 ± 1.34 16.11 ± 0.01 7.83 ± 0.09 8.24 ± 0.37 31.71 ± 0.20 0.017 ± 0.003 19,119 ± 249 5.999 ± 0.967 6.26 ± 0.29 4.52 ± 0.43
Marine Pollution Bulletin 157 (2020) 111285
Z. Ma, et al. Marine Pollution Bulletin 157 (2020) 111285

Table 4
Correlation among the variables using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient as a nonparametric test.
NO2-N TAN NO3-N COD T pH DO SAL DIP TDS Chl-a TUR BOD5

NO2-N
TAN −0.564⁎
NO3-N −0.200 0.697⁎
COD −0.571⁎ 0.590⁎ 0.243
T −0.188 −0.297 −0.430 −0.261
pH 0.600⁎ −0.721⁎⁎ −0.600⁎ −0.742⁎⁎ 0.358
DO 0.267 −0.547 −0.091 −0.521 0.280 0.310
SAL 0.237 0.116 0.195 −0.171 0.146 0.176 −0.399
DIP 0.624⁎ −0.212 −0.055 0.122 −0.212 0.188 −0.182 0.456
TDS 0.273 −0.212 0.103 −0.067 0.491 −0.055 0.061 −0.036 −0.012
Chl-a −0.297 −0.164 0.067 −0.073 0.261 −0.273 0.480 −0.505 −0.382 0.200
TUR −0.467 0.503 0.685⁎ 0.298 −0.030 −0.539 −0.353 0.480 −0.055 −0.152 0.188
BOD5 −0.624⁎ 0.176 0.188 0.140 0.479 −0.248 0.116 −0.122 −0.333 0.236 0.721⁎⁎ 0.515

⁎
Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level.
⁎⁎
Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level.

Specifications for Marine Monitoring (SEPA, 2002). standardized concentration variable, i is the total number of variables,
VFk is the value of the kth PC, zk is the measured value of kth VF, andk is
2.3. Variables selection and preparation the number of VFs.

Appropriate selection of variables improves the accuracy of eva-

luation results during water quality assessment (Mitra et al., 2018;
Rakotondrabe et al., 2018). PCA is designed to elucidate variance of a
large set of intercorrelated variables among which the dependency
should be tested before PCA (Ferreira et al., 2011; Ma et al., 2013;
Tripathi and Singal, 2019). All 13 variables were analyzed using
Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (rs) as a nonparametric measure
considering the interaction among the variables. The variable that had
no significant correlation with the other 12 variables was excluded from
subsequent analysis process (Field, 2005). In addition, all correlation
coefficients were checked to avoid extreme multicollinearity (R ≥ 0.9),
where variables were exceedingly correlated or perfectly correlated
(Field, 2005). All selected variables were normalized through z-scale
transformation to avoid classification errors from values and dimen-
sions differences (Ferreira et al., 2011; Beaumont, 2012; Duan et al.,
2016). All mathematical and statistical calculations were performed
using Microsoft Office Excel 2016 and SPSS 21.0.
2.4.3. Calculation of the modified WQI
After FA, the modified WQI was obtained by multiplying the weight
(% of variance) of VFs and their value of the VFs, and then summing
them. The calculation formula is as follows:
n
WQI = ∑k =1 (Wk VFk ) (3)
where WQI is the integrated score for water quality, and Wk is the
weight (% of variance) of the kth VF.
The modified WQI values were calculated using the level limited
values of selected water quality variables by Eq. (3). Based on the above
equations, the modified WQI classified the water quality into five levels,
including bad (≤0.25), poor (0.25–0.5), medium (0.5–0.75), good
(0.75–0.95) and excellent (> 0.95) (Table 2). The higher the number,
the better the water quality.

2.4. Modified WQI 3. Results and discussion

2.4.1. Classification standard 3.1. Description statistics and selection

In this study, five classification criteria from I to V were proposed
for each variable (Table 1). These criteria were determined according to
the official standards (GB 3097, 1997 and DB 21/T 2428, 2015) and the
continuous monitoring dataset of the present study (such as T and SAL).
2.4.2. PCA and FA analysis
The normalized variables were transformed by PCA into new and
smaller sets of uncorrelated variables called principal components
(PCs). Each PC was a linear combination of the original variables and
could not reflect the strength of the relationship between the variables
and their characteristics. To increase their interpretation, Varimax ro-
tation was conducted using FA. Afterwards, new variables known as
varifactors (VFs) were obtained (Mitra et al., 2018). The VFs included
unobservable and potential variables (common characteristics of ob-
servable variables), which were subsequently combined linearly. The
equation can be expressed as:
z = a1 x1 + a2 x2 + +ai x i
n collinearity, and no correlation coefficient was found at above 0.9 in
VFk = ∑ zk
k=1
where z is the measured value of a VF, a is the factor loading, x is the
The descriptive statistics of the water quality variables were per-
formed on 2080 total observations (40 sampling stations × 13 vari-
ables × 4 sampling times) and are summarized in Table 3. These sta-
tistics provided the mean values ( ± SE) of the results. Some variables
in the comprehensive evaluation of water quality may have a little
impact on the change of water quality. Therefore, the comprehensive
analysis of water quality mainly aimed to extract possible least in-
tegrated variables to reflect the comprehensive status of water quality
(Sun et al., 2016; Rakotondrabe et al., 2018).
In this study, a correlation analysis was conducted to eliminate ir-
relevant variables and improve the analysis accuracy. The results
showed that DO, SAL and TDS were not significantly correlated with the
other variables (Table 4). In addition, none of these three variables was
beyond the normal range (DO > 7 mg/L, 30.95 < SAL < 32.33,
TDS < 35,000 mg/L). Thus, they were not treated as limiting variables
to the water quality (Mitra et al., 2018) and were excluded from sub-
(1) sequent analysis. All correlation coefficients were checked for multi-
the present study. Ten of the 13 variables, including NO2-N, TAN, NO3-
(2) N, COD, T, pH, DIP, Chl-a, TUR and BOD5 were eventually selected for
subsequent analysis.

4
Z. Ma, et al. Marine Pollution Bulletin 157 (2020) 111285

Table 5 3.2. Multivariate statistical analysis of water quality

Loading of selected variables on significant PCs for the four coastal areas.
Variablesi VF1ii VF2iii VF3iv PCA can ideally reduce the dimensionality of a multivariate dataset
and perfectly maintain the original characteristics of variables at the
Fujiazhuang (three significant components) same time (Sutadian et al., 2015; Sun et al., 2016; Tripathi and Singal,
NO2-N −0.350 −0.335 0.850v
2019). In this study, a standardized set of the ten selected variables was
TAN 0.875 −0.034 0.146
NO3-N 0.897 0.094 0.238
used to conduct PCA. Next, in order to determine the characteristics of
COD 0.728 −0.243 −0.384 water quality, FA with Varimax rotation was performed on the PCs to
T 0.530 −0.351 0.414 extract eigenvalues, and the main factors that contribute to water
pH 0.810 0.099 −0.429 quality were identified (Kim and Lipton, 2011; Sun et al., 2016;
DIP 0.236 −0.136 0.763
Rakotondrabe et al., 2018). The results showed that different sets of VFs
Chl-a −0.112 0.828 −0.116
TUR 0.619 0.585 0.024 were obtained for each sampling area (Table 5).
BOD5 0.023 0.859 −0.304 For the Fujiazhuang area dataset, VF1 accounted for 36.11% of the
total variance with a strong positive loading (> 0.75) on NO3-N, TAN
Rotation sums of squared loadings and pH. TAN concentration is generally highly related to pH, and the
Total 3.611 2.099 1.991 solubility of TAN could be due to increased pH (DB 21/T 2428, 2015).
% Total variance 36.11 20.99 19.91 VF2 accounted for 20.99% of the total variance with a strong positive
Cumulative % variance 36.11 57.10 77.01
loading on BOD5 and Chl-a, which were the indicators of phytoplankton
Dengshahe (three significant components) biomass and input organic contaminants, respectively (Howley et al.,
NO2-N 0.774 0.290 −0.062 2018; Mitra et al., 2018). VF2 was proposed as the indicator of organic
TAN −0.010 −0.424 0.857 pollution loading. VF3 accounted for 19.91% of the total variation with
NO3-N −0.090 0.288 0.916
a strong positive loading on NO2-N and DIP. Both VF1 and VF3 were
COD −0.772 0.299 0.177
T 0.063 0.764 0.045 proposed to represent the loading of inorganic nutrients. For the
pH −0.819 0.016 −0.168 Dengshahe area dataset, VF1 accounted for 31.24% of the total variance
DIP 0.198 0.836 −0.006 with a strong positive loading on Chl-a and NO2-N in addition to a
Chl-a 0.823 0.350 0.265 strong negative loading on COD and pH. VF2 accounted for 22.20% of
TUR −0.498 −0.071 −0.674
BOD5 0.530 −0.611 0.038
the total variance with a strong positive loading on DIP and T. More-
over, VF3 accounted for 21.66% of the total variance with a strong
Rotation sums of squared loadings
positive loading on NO3-N and TAN. The main pollutants in Dengshahe
Total 3.124 2.220 2.166
% Total variance 31.24 22.20 21.66 area were suggested to be inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus.
Cumulative % variance 31.24 53.44 75.10 For the Pikou area dataset, VF1 accounted for 33.71% of the total
variance with a strong positive loading on pH and DIP. VF2 accounted
Pikou (three significant components) for 30.66% of the total variance with a strong positive loading on T and
NO2-N 0.494 0.782 0.156
TAN −0.097 −0.089 0.043
NO2-N. VF3 accounted for 20.00% of the total variance with a strong
NO3-N −0.610 0.048 0.200 positive loading on COD. For the Zhuanghe area dataset, VF1 accounted
COD −0.187 0.936 0.871 for 27.07% of the total variance, with a strong positive loading on pH,
T 0.308 0.902 0.449 DIP and NO3-N, and a strong negative loading on TUR. VF2 accounted
pH 0.843 0.036 0.049
for 25.05% of the total variance and was highly influenced by T and
DIP 0.829 0.032 0.458
Chl-a 0.314 −0.006 −0.678 NO2-N. VF3 accounted for 23.27% of the total variance with a strong
TUR 0.353 −0.031 0.247 positive loading on COD. The main loading factors of VF2 and VF3 in
BOD5 −0.253 0.589 −0.085 the Zhuanghe area were similar to those in the Pikou area. This in-
dicates that the variables in these two areas had similar characteristics
Rotation sums of squared loadings and organic pollutants were the principal contaminants.
Total 3.371 3.066 2.000 The PCA results revealed that the main variable groups (strong
% Total variance 33.71 30.66 20.00
loadings) in the four sampling areas were inorganic nutrients (inorganic
Cumulative % variance 33.71 64.37 84.37
nitrogen and DIP), natural conditions (pH and T) and organic matters
Zhuanghe (three significant components) (COD, Chl-a and BOD5). Eutrophication was suggested to be the main
NO2-N −0.066 0.764 0.071 threat in the sampling areas. Previous studies have shown that intensive
TAN −0.319 0.285 0.042
aquaculture activities accelerated eutrophication of coastal environ-
NO3-N 0.832 0.237 0.342
COD 0.266 0.702 0.936
ments (Kang and Xu, 2016; Tavakol et al., 2017; Ni et al., 2018). Such
T 0.237 0.892 −0.429 probable negative impact might be mainly related to the accumulation
pH 0.899 0.754 0.028 of feed residues and excreta at a higher rate than the marine self-pur-
DIP 0.865 0.170 0.372 ification capacity (Challouf et al., 2017; Wei et al., 2017; El-Mezayen
Chl-a −0.156 0.745 −0.513
et al., 2018). In addition, the coastal area is affected by the interaction
TUR −0.778 0.289 0.187
BOD5 0.161 −0.045 0.480 between the ocean and the land. It is a buffer area for humans to defend
marine disasters to occur and also an isolation area for land-based
Rotation sums of squared loadings
Total 2.707 2.505 2.327 pollution due to its special environmental attributes, such as high
% Total variance 27.07 25.05 23.27 productivity, high biodiversity, and ecosystem complexity (Balci and
Cumulative % variance 27.07 52.12 75.39 Balkis, 2016). With excessive development of ecological resources in
i
the coastal area, aquaculture activities may significantly weaken such
The water quality variables were chosen by the bivariate correlation test.
buffering capacity and lead to the decrease of self-purification ability of
ii
The first varifactor.
iii the coastal areas (Ma et al., 2013; El-Mezayen et al., 2018). Therefore,
The second varifactor.
iv
The second varifactor.
further studies are needed to clarify such specific mechanism. Natural
v
Bold-faced values represent strong loadings (> 0.75). conditions (T and pH) were also identified as major contributors to
water quality in this study. They directly or indirectly affected the
aquaculture environment, such as the growth of phytoplankton, the

5
Z. Ma, et al.
Fig. 2. WQI values of the four sampling areas. A denotes the WQI values at different sampling time points; and B denotes the WQI values in different sampling areas.
metabolic activity of aquatic animals and accumulation of pollutants
(Ni et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2020). The natural conditions are thus
proposed as part of further assessment of water quality in aquaculture
areas.
3.3. Modified WQI
The WQI analysis in the present study referred to other published
WQI studies (Abtahi et al., 2015; Sun et al., 2016; Mukate et al., 2019).
We modified the WQI in three ways: (1) reducing the variable number
from 13 to ten, (2) assigning weight factors based on local pollution
characteristics and (3) obtaining a wider range of WQI values through
z-score transformation (not limited to 0 < WQI < 1) (Beaumont,
2012; Abtahi et al., 2015; Sun et al., 2016; Hou et al., 2016). In addi-
tion, the weights of VFs were determined through the further ex-
planation of the data itself. Thereafter, all the VFs were summed up to
assess water quality more intuitively.
The WQI values in the four sampling areas are shown in Fig. 2,
where obvious spatial and temporal differences of coastal water quality
6
Marine Pollution Bulletin 157 (2020) 111285
in Dalian were observed. The four sampling areas exhibited WQI classes
ranging from “bad” to “medium” apart from Pikou, where the WQI in
August reached “Excellent”. In respect to the different sampling time
points, the water quality generally performed the worst in June and the
best in October in Fujiazhuang, Pikou and Zhuanghe areas (Fig. 2A).
This is possibly because the variations of the coastal water quality were
greatly influenced by human activities (Balci and Balkis, 2016), from
which the pollutant concentration was generally higher in the wet
season (June) than in the dry season (October) (Liu et al., 2011). The
positive water quality data in June for Dengshahe area might be due to
less human activities in this area. This is because (1) Dengshahe is the
only area without wharf; (2) Dengshahe area has the lowest human
population size among the four areas; (3) Dengshahe is the only area
that does not have human living next to the coast. Moreover, dramatic
changes in water quality were observed in Pikou area, indicating that
WQI can fully reflect the spatiotemporal changes of water quality at
different sampling areas and times (Sun et al., 2016; Tavakol et al.,
2017; El-Mezayen et al., 2018).
Consistent with our findings, Dalian Environmental Monitoring
Z. Ma, et al.
Center reported that the water quality in Pulandian Bay (Pikou) was
inferior to Class IV standard (Dalian State of the Environment Bulletin,
2018). However, the results of DSEB were based on a single-factor
evaluation using inorganic nitrogen and phosphate. Besides, monitoring
only nitrogen and phosphorus pollution changes is very insufficient for
water quality evaluation in aquaculture areas. Furthermore, our results
revealed that other variables were also major factors in coastal aqua-
culture area, such as natural conditions and organic matters, which
were in good agreement with previous studies (Kim and Lipton, 2011;
Sun et al., 2016; El-Mezayen et al., 2018).
One benefit of this modified WQI analysis was to expand the range
of WQI values, and any variable below desirable limit as well as those
above permissible limit contributed to the index value (Abtahi et al.,
2015; Hou et al., 2016; Mukate et al., 2019). Taking the results in Fu-
jiazhuang area as an example, although the water quality was de-
termined as “bad” during the whole sampling period, we can further
rank the sampling time points using our modified WQI range in the
order of April > October > August > June. In addition, the results of
the modified WQI provides an accurate and scientific evaluation of even
if one variable deteriorated. This makes up for the deficiency that some
previous evaluation methods lack as they need to consider various
single-factor evaluations together (Ma et al., 2013). For example, the
DIP concentration in Pikou area was five times higher than that of the
national standard in June, and the modified WQI analysis can reflect
such deterioration and thus offer a better assessment than other WQI
formulations (WQI = −1.92).
4. Conclusion
In the present study, a total of ten variables with significant corre-
lation were selected and used for PCA. Potential factors accounting for
75%–84% of the total variance of water quality were identified for each
aquaculture area. The main factors affecting coastal water quality were
inorganic nutrients (inorganic nitrogen and DIP), natural conditions
(pH and T) and organic matter (COD, Chl-a and BOD5). The modified
WQI analysis was conducted to evaluate the spatial and temporal
changes of water quality. These results provide insight into complex
water quality changes in coastal aquaculture areas and contribute to the
management of environmental protection.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Zhen Ma: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation,
Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Haixia Li:
Methodology, Investigation. Zhangying Ye: Resources,
Supervision, Funding acquisition. Junpu Wen: Methodology,
Investigation. Yu Hu: Investigation. Ying Liu: Conceptualization,
Resources, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing,
Supervision, Funding acquisition.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ-
ence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Key Laboratory of Equipment
and Informatization in Environment Controlled Agriculture, Ministry of
Agriculture, P.R. China (2011NYZD1702), National Key Research &
Development Program of China (2017YFD0701700), and by contribu-
tions from the AET. Thanks are given to Cheng Zhou and Zhiqiang
Zhang of our research group for their field and laboratory work assis-
tance. Special thanks are also given to the anonymous reviewers for
7
Marine Pollution Bulletin 157 (2020) 111285
their constructive comments regarding the manuscript.
References
Abtahi, M., Golchinpour, N., Yaghmaeian, K., Rafiee, M., Jahangiri-rad, M., Keyani, A.,
Saeedi, R., 2015. A modified drinking water quality index (DWQI) for assessing
drinking source water quality in rural communities of Khuzestan Province, Iran. Ecol.
Indic. 53, 283–291.
Balci, M., Balkis, N., 2016. Assessment of phytoplankton and environmental variables for
water quality and trophic state classification in the Gemlik Gulf, Marmara Sea
(Turkey). Mar. Pollut. Bull. 115 (1–2), 172–189.
Barik, S.K., Bramha, S., Behera, D., Bastia, T.K., Cooper, G., Rath, P., 2019. Ecological
health assessment of a coastal ecosystem: case study of the largest brackish water
lagoon of Asia. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 138, 352–363.
Beaumont, R., 2012. An Introduction to Principal Component Analysis & Factor Analysis
Using SPSS 19 and R (Psych Package). pp. 8–11.
Challouf, R., Hamza, A., Mahfoudhi, M., Ghozzi, K., Bradai, M.N., 2017. Environmental
assessment of the impact of cage fish farming on water quality and phytoplankton
status in Monastir Bay (eastern coast of Tunisia). Aquacult. Int. 25 (6), 2275–2292.
Dalian State of the Environment Bulletin. 2018. Dalian Municipal Bureau of Ecology and
Environment.
DB 21/T 2428, 2015. Discharge Standard of Marine Aquaculture Water. pp. 1–3.
Duan, W., He, B., Nover, D., Yang, G., Chen, W., Meng, H., Zhou, S., Liu, C., 2016. Water
quality assessment and pollution source identification of the eastern Poyang lake
basin using multivariate statistical methods. Sustainability 8, 133.
El-Mezayen, M.M., Rueda-Roa, D.T., Essa, M.A., Muller-Karger, F.E., Elghobashy, A.E.,
2018. Water quality observations in the marine aquaculture complex of the Deeba
Triangle, Lake Manzala, Egyptian Mediterranean coast. Environ. Monit. Assess.
190 (7).
Ferreira, N.C., Bonetti, C., Seiffert, W.Q., 2011. Hydrological and water quality indices as
management tools in marine shrimp culture. Aquaculture 318, 425–433.
Field, A.P., 2005. Discovering statistics using SPSS. In: Research Methods II, 2nd edition.
Sage Publications Ltd, London, pp. 1–2, 5.
GB 3097, 1997. Sea Water Quality Standard. pp. 3–5.
Hou, W., Sun, S., Wang, M., Li, X., Zhang, N., Xin, X., Sun, L., Li, W., Jia, R., 2016.
Assessing water quality of five typical reservoirs in lower reaches of Yellow River,
China: using a water quality index method. Ecol. Indic. 61, 309–316.
Howley, C., Devlin, M., Burford, M., 2018. Assessment of water quality from the
Normanby river catchment to coastal flood plumes on the northern great barrier reef,
Australia. Mar. Freshw. Res. 69 (6), 859–873.
Jha, D.K., Devi, M.P., Vidyalakshmi, R., Brindha, B., Vinithkumar, N.V., Kirubagaran, R.,
2015. Water quality assessment using water quality index and geographical in-
formation system methods in the coastal waters of Andaman Sea, India. Mar. Poll.
Bull. 100 (1), 555–561.
Kang, P., Xu, S., 2016. The impact of mariculture on nutrient dynamics and identification
of the nitrate sources in coastal waters. Environ. Sci. Pollut. R. 23 (2), 1300–1311.
Kim, D.H., Lipton, D., 2011. A comparison of the economic performance of offshore and
inshore aquaculture production systems in Korea. Aquacult. Econ. Manag. 15 (2),
103–117.
Liu, S., Lou, S., Kuang, C., Huang, W., Chen, W., Zhang, J., Zhong, G., 2011. Water quality
assessment by pollution-index method in the coastal waters of Hebei Province in
western Bohai Sea, China. Mar. Poll. Bull. 62 (10), 2220–2229.
Ma, Z., Song, X.F., Wan, R., Gao, L., 2013. A modified water quality index for intensive
shrimp ponds of Litopenaeus vannamei. Ecol. Indic. 24, 287–293.
Mitra, S., Ghosh, S., Satpathy, K.K., Bhattacharya, B.D., Sarkar, S.K., Mishra, P., Raja, P.,
2018. Water quality assessment of the ecologically stressed Hooghly River Estuary,
India: a multivariate approach. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 126, 592–599.
Mohanty, R.K., Ambast, S.K., Panigrahi, P., Mandal, K.G., 2018. Water quality suitability
and water use indices: useful management tools in coastal aquaculture of Litopenaeus
vannamei. Aquaculture 485, 210–219.
Mukate, S., Wagh, V., Panaskar, D., Jacobs, J.A., Sawant, A., 2019. Development of new
integrated water quality index (IWQI) model to evaluate the drinking suitability of
water. Ecol. Indic. 101, 348–354.
Ni, M., Yuan, J., Liu, M., Gu, Z., 2018. Assessment of water quality and phytoplankton
community of Limpenaeus vannamei pond in intertidal zone of Hangzhou Bay, China.
Aquacult. Rep. 11, 53–58.
Nilufar, I., Rehan, S., Manuel, J.R., Alex, F., 2011. Reviewing source water protection
strategies: a conceptual model for water quality assessment. Environ. Rev. 19,
68–105.
Rajendran, V., Shrinithivihahshini, N.D., Srinivasan, B., Rengaraj, C., Mariyaselvam, S.,
2018. Quality assessment of pollution indicators in marine water at critical locations
of the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve, Tuticorin. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 126, 236–240.
Rakotondrabe, F., Ndam Ngoupayou, J.R., Mfonka, Z., Rasolomanana, E.H., Nyangono
Abolo, A.J., Ako Ako, A., 2018. Water quality assessment in the Bétaré-Oya gold
mining area (East-Cameroon): multivariate statistical analysis approach. Sci. Total
Environ. 610–611, 831–844.
State Environmental Protection Administration, 2002. Water and Wastewater Monitoring
Analysis Methods, 4th ed. Chinese Environment Science Press, Beijing, China (49, 88,
104, 226, 271-274, 279-280).
Sun, W., Xia, C., Xu, M., Guo, J., Sun, G., 2016. Application of modified water quality
indices as indicators to assess the spatial and temporal trends of water quality in the
Dongjiang River. Ecol. Indic. 66, 306–312.
Sutadian, A.D., Muttil, N., Yilmaz, A.G., Perera, B.J.C., 2015. Development of river water
quality indices-a review. Environ. Monit. Assess. 188 (1), 58.
Tavakol, M., Arjmandi, R., Shayeghi, M., Monavari, S.M., Karbassi, A., 2017. Application
Z. Ma, et al.
of multivariate statistical methods to optimize water quality monitoring network
with emphasis on the pollution caused by fish farms. Iran. J. Public Health 46 (1),
83–92.
Tripathi, M., Singal, S.K., 2019. Use of principal component analysis for parameters se-
lection for development of a novel water quality index: a case study of River Ganga,
India. Ecol. Indic. 96, 430–436.
Vijay, R., Mardikar, T., Kumar, R., 2016. Impact of sewage discharges on coastal water
quality of Mumbai, India: present and future scenarios. Environ. Monit. Assess. 188
(7), 420.
Marine Pollution Bulletin 157 (2020) 111285
Wang, X.G., Li, X.Y., Jia, M.M., Wang, Z.M., Ren, C.Y., Mao, D.H., 2017. Analysis on
changes in coastline and reclamation in Dalian from 1975 to 2015. Mar. Environ. Sci.
36 (1), 87–93.
Wei, J.W., Ke, L.N., Li, Y., Dong, Y.N., Pang, L., 2017. Analysis of temporal and spatial
evolution of coastline and reclamation in Dalian. Territory & Resources Study 6,
34–37.
Zhang, X.Y., Zhang, Y.Q., Zhang, Q., Liu, P.W., Guo, R., Jin, S.Y., Liu, J.W., Chen, L., Ma,
Z., Liu, Y., 2020. Evaluation and analysis of water quality of marine aquaculture area.
Int. J. Env. Res. Pub. He. 2020. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17041446.