E3S Web of Conferences 393, 03040 (2023) https://doi.org/10.

1051/e3sconf/202339303040
EPPCT 2023

Water quality evaluation of Dahai Lake in Inner Mongolia based on

improved Nemero pollution index method and principal
component analysis
Wei Hu1, Weigang Hao1*, Hualin Liu1 , Wenjun Wang1,2, Rui Jiao1
1Yinshanbeilu Grassland Ecohydrology National Observation and Research Station, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower
Research, Beijing 100038, China
2Institute of Water Resources for pastoral Area Ministry of Water Resources, Hohhot 010020, Inner Mongolia

Abstract. In order to evaluate the water quality changes of Dahai Lake in Inner Mongolia, the water quality
monitoring data of Dahai Lake from 2008 to 2021 were used as an example, and the improved Nemero
pollution index method and the principal component analysis method were used to evaluate the water quality
changes of Dahai Lake. The results show that the two evaluation methods of Daihai Lake evaluation of water
quality change trend results are basically the same, are able to fully reflect the comprehensive level of water
quality pollution, but each evaluation method has disadvantages, the improved Nemero pollution index
method can not reflect the contribution of each pollutant, the principal component analysis method can not
evaluate the water quality category. Therefore, the combination of two methods, the improved Nemero
pollution index method and the principal component analysis method, can complement and support each
other's evaluation conclusions, and the evaluation results are more accurate and objective, and can reflect the
changes in the water quality of Daihai Lake in a comprehensive manner.

evaluation factors are lost at least, the use of mathematical

1. Introduction
Daihai Lake, located in Ulanqab City, Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region, is a typical inland lake in the semi-
arid region of China. In recent years, due to the reduction
of rainfall in the Daihai Lake basin, the surface runoff has
become weaker and the lake surface has shrunk, which,
together with the impact of human activities, has led to the
continuous deterioration of the lake's water quality.
Although after several years of treatment, water quality
has improved, but the water quality is still not optimistic,
therefore, the use of scientific and appropriate water
quality evaluation methods, for the recognition of the
Daihai Lake water quality changes in the situation, clarify
the main sources of pollution, reasonable protection of the
Daihai Lake ecological environment is of great
importance.
In the practical application of water quality evaluation,
the correctness and validity of the evaluation results are
often directly related to the evaluation method selected. At
present, the commonly used water quality evaluation
methods are mainly single pollution index method [1],
Nemero index method [2], fuzzy comprehensive
evaluation method and gray correlation degree method [3-
4] . Improved Nemero index method to introduce the
concept of weight value [5], to a certain extent weakened
the impact of the great value, and principal component
analysis can be based on the original water quality
methods, from multiple evaluation factors with relevance
to filter out the main evaluation factors [6]. Therefore, this
paper uses the improved Nemero pollution index method
and principal component analysis method to evaluate the
water quality of Daihai Lake, aiming to objectively reflect
the trend of water quality changes in Daihai Lake and
provide a theoretical basis for the water ecological
management of Daihai Lake.
2. Overview of the study area
Daihai Lake at the end of 2021 is about 12km long from
east to west, 7.5km wide from north to south, with an
average depth of about 4m and an area of about 54km2.
Daihai Lake is surrounded by mountains, is a typical
closed inland lake in China's semi-arid region, there are 10
larger river ditches directly into Daihai, of which only
Gongba River, Tiancheng River and Daheyan River for
perennial rivers, the rest are seasonal rivers, the lake water
recharge mainly from ground runoff, underground runoff
and precipitation [7].
According to the water quality monitoring data of
Dahai Lake for a total of 14 years from 2008 to 2021,
seven exceedance factors were selected as representative
indicators to evaluate the trend of water quality changes in
Dahai Lake during 14 years(Figure 1).

*hao_weigang@163.com

© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
E3S Web of Conferences 393, 03040 (2023)
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Figure 1. Daihai Lake 2008 ~ 2021 water quality monitoring results
3. Evaluation methods
3.1. Improvement of Nemero pollution index
method
In the actual water quality evaluation, the traditional
Nemero index evaluation results especially highlight the
impact of the most serious indicators of exceedance,
ignoring the overall impact of the weight of each pollutant
on water quality [8]. The improved Nemero index method
takes into account the comprehensive and different role of
each pollution factor in the water body [9], by giving each
pollution factor the corresponding weight, quantifying the
degree of influence of each factor on the water body, can
be more reasonable comprehensive evaluation of water
quality [10]. The weight calculation formula is:
C max
Ii 
Cij
1 in
wi   Ii
n i 1
In the formula, Cmax is the maximum value of the
calculated criteria for n pollution factors; Cij is the
standard value of the i-th category of pollution factors in
the j-th category (j=1, 2, ⋯, m); Ii is the weight value of
the i-th pollution factor; wi is the weight value of the i-th
https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202339303040
pollution factor; n is the number of pollution factors.
The improved Nemero pollution index method is
calculated by the following equation:
I i , max  I w
I ' max  (3)
2
2
2
I avg  I ' max
P (4)
2
In the formula, P is the improved Nemero pollution
index; Ii, max is the maximum value of the i-th category of
factors; Iw is the corresponding value of the factor with the
largest weight; and Iavg is the average of individual
pollution indices.
3.2. Principal component analysis method
Principal component analysis is a multivariate statistical
(1)
method based on the idea of dimensionality reduction [11],
which transforms multiple indicators into a few composite
indicators. The higher the contribution of the principal
(2) components of the evaluation, the stronger the impact will
be [12]. Its essence is to seek comprehensive alternative
objects of related variables through the correlation of the
original variables, and to ensure the least information loss
in the transformation process.
Assuming that there are p indicator variables for
principal component analysis and a total of n evaluation
objects, it constitutes the original sample matrix A.
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E3S Web of Conferences 393, 03040 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202339303040
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 A11 r12  A1 p  p
A r22  A2 p   / i
A
21
p  i 1
   n (9)
   i

 An1 An 2 An 3 Anp  i 1
(5) In the formula, bj is the information contribution rate
The original sample was standardized and the of Fj; αj is the cumulative information contribution rate of
standardized indicator variables were calculated as F1, ⋯, FP (generally greater than 85%), λi is the i-th
follows: eigenvector of the correlation coefficient matrix. After that,
Aij  Aj the combined principal component score F was calculated
Bij  (6)
Sj using the contribution margin and cumulative contribution
margin.
In the formula, Aj and S j are the sample mean and 1 2 p
F F F  F
sample standard deviation of the j-th indicator. 1  2    p 1 1  2    p 2 1  2    p p
The correlation coefficient matrix of the normalized
data is established and the eigenvalues and eigenvectors (10)
of the correlation coefficient matrix are calculated.
 F1  a11 ZX 1  a21ZX 2    an1ZX n 4. Analysis of evaluation results
 F  a ZX  a ZX    a ZX
 1 12 1 22 2 n2 n
 (7)
  4.1. Improve the evaluation results of Nemero
 Fp  a1m ZX 1  a2 m ZX 2    anm ZX n pollution index method

In the formula, F1 is the 1st principal component, ⋯, Based on the improved Nemero pollution index method to
FP is the mth principal component; a11,⋯, anm are the calculate the Nemero index of each water quality category
eigenvectors of the correlation coefficient matrix. After in different evaluation time, the weight of each evaluation
that, the eigenvalues of the correlation coefficient matrix factor is calculated by taking the limit value of water
are used to calculate the information contribution rate and quality standard of category III in "Surface Water
the cumulative contribution rate [13], which are calculated Environmental Quality Standard" (GB3838-2002) as the
as follows: calculation benchmark (Table 1) [14]. The weight of TP is
the largest, then the pollution contribution of TP in the
i water quality evaluation system of Daihai Lake is
bj  n considered the largest [15].

i 1
i
(8)

Table 1. Evaluation factors of the improved Nemero pollution index evaluation method for Daihai Lake

Pollution wi
indicators CODmn CODcr BOD5 NH3-N TN TP Fluoride
Class I 0.004 0.001 0.003 0.059 0.044 0.881 0.009
Class Ⅱ 0.005 0.001 0.007 0.044 0.044 0.876 0.022
Class Ⅲ 0.007 0.002 0.011 0.043 0.043 0.852 0.043
Class Ⅳ 0.008 0.003 0.014 0.054 0.054 0.813 0.054
Class Ⅴ 0.010 0.004 0.015 0.073 0.073 0.729 0.097

Based on the standard concentrations of the seven pollution index P corresponding to each level was
indicators evaluated, the range of the improved Nemero calculated (Table 2).
Table 2. Classification of the water quality level of Daihai Lake based on the improved Nemero pollution index evaluation method
Pollution Inferior
Class I Class Ⅱ Class Ⅲ Class Ⅳ Class Ⅴ
Index Class Ⅴ
P P≤0.545 0.545<P≤0.71 0.71<P≤1 1<P≤1.809 1.809<P≤3.283 P>3.283

Using the monitoring data of 7 pollutants in Daihai the worse the water quality (Figure 2).
Lake from 2008 to 2021 to calculate P, the larger the P,

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Fig. 2 Calculation results of the improved Nemero pollution index of Daihai Lake from 2008 to 2021
From Figure 2 can be seen, the trend of water quality
changes in Daihai Lake all show that P first increases and
4.2 Evaluation results of principal component
then decreases, and then gradually increases, and the water
analysis method
quality evaluation results are only in 2008, 2009 and 2016
to reach V water quality standards, the rest are inferior Using SPSS statistical software, a total of seven principal
Class V.Caused by Daihai Lake water pollution in two components were extracted from the monitoring values of
main ways, one is the Daihai Lake is a semi-arid region each evaluation index from 2008 to 2021 (Table 3)
inland type closed lake, evaporation, rainfall, endogenous [18].The eigenvalues of the first three principal
pollution load increased [16]; second, human activities components were all greater than 1, and the cumulative
lead to exogenous pollution beyond the self-purification variance contribution rate was 85.33%, which was greater
capacity of the lake [17]. than 85%, indicating that the first three principal
components reflected 85.33% of the information provided
by the original variables; therefore, the use of the first
three principal components to replace the original seven
indicator variables could meet the needs of comprehensive
evaluation.
Table 3. Principal component eigenvalues and cumulative contribution of Daihai Lake
Initial Eigenvalue Extraction of the sum of squares of loads
Ingredients
Percentage of Cumulative Percentage of Cumulative
Total Total
variance (%) variance (%)
1 3.102 44.311 44.311 3.102 44.311 44.311
2 1.868 26.691 71.002 1.868 26.691 71.002
3 1.003 14.328 85.33 1.003 14.328 85.330
4 0.578 8.261 93.591
5 0.348 4.967 98.557
6 0.072 1.034 99.592
7 0.029 0.408 100

The first principal component has a large load on TP, quality of Daihai Lake is not negligible, and the source of
BOD5, fluoride, and potassium permanganate index, pollution may be farmland surface source pollution [20].
which indicates that industrial discharges, together with The third principal component has a large load on NH3-N
farmland retreat and aquaculture, have led to serious and is positive, indicating that its concentration is
organic pollution and gradual deterioration of water increasing, reflecting the existence of aquaculture
quality in Daihai Lake [19].The second principal pollution in Daihai Lake, and the source of pollution is fish
component has a large load on CODcr and TN, which also manure (Table 4) [21].
indicates that the impact of organic pollution on the water
Table 4. Principal component load matrix of Daihai Lake
Components
Pollution indicators
1 2 3
TP 0.881 -0.308 -0.282
BOD5 0.860 0.089 0.156
Fluoride 0.816 0.510 -0.227
CODmn 0.736 -0.522 0.168
CODcr 0.332 -0.759 0.044
TN 0.425 0.733 -0.229
NH3-N 0.296 0.348 0.874

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Based on the principal component loading coefficients calculate the comprehensive score value of the principal
for each pollutant in Table 4, the principal component component evaluation method of water quality pollution
expressions, as well as the integrated evaluation functions, at each monitoring point, the score and ranking reflects the
can be determined as follows: comprehensive quantitative description of the degree of
F1  0.418 X 1  0.189 X 2  0.488 X 3  0.168 X 4  0.241X 5  0.5 X 6  0.463X 7 water pollution, the higher the score, the higher the
F2  0.382 X 1  0.555X 2  0.065X 3  0.255X 4  0.536 X 5  0.225X 6  0.373X 7 ranking, indicating that the more serious pollution (Table
F3  0.168 X 1  0.044 X 2  0.156 X 3  0.873 X 4  0.229 X 5  0.282 X 6  0.227 X 7 5).
According to the comprehensive evaluation function,
Table 5. Daihai Lake 2008 ~ 2021 comprehensive evaluation of water quality

Principal Principal Principal

Overall
Year component component component Ranking
evaluation score
F1 score F2 score F3 score
2008 -2.809 0.176 0.408 -1.139 13
2009 -2.691 -0.158 0.231 -1.202 14
2010 -2.014 -1.011 0.222 -1.130 12
2011 -1.892 -1.200 0.211 -1.129 11
2012 -0.098 -1.428 0.544 -0.347 10
2013 2.599 -0.372 2.627 1.428 1
2014 2.320 -2.794 -1.472 0.072 8
2015 1.747 -0.644 0.075 0.613 5
2016 -0.285 0.563 -1.176 -0.144 9
2017 0.212 0.691 -0.391 0.222 7
2018 0.680 1.591 -0.250 0.690 3
2019 0.539 1.845 -0.494 0.661 4
2020 0.990 0.697 -1.090 0.469 6
2021 0.703 2.045 0.557 0.937 2

From the comprehensive evaluation score, it can be
concluded that Daihai Lake had the best water quality
condition in 2009 and the worst water quality condition in
2013, and the overall water quality change showed a trend
of deterioration first and then improvement, and then
gradually deteriorated, which is basically consistent with
the evaluation results of the improved Nemero pollution
index method.In addition, from the ranking of the
principal component F1 score alone, 2013 is higher than
other years, which means that the water quality pollutants
in that year are mainly TP, BOD5, fluoride and potassium
permanganate index; from the ranking of the principal
component F2 score alone, 2021 is higher than other years,
which means that the water quality pollutants in that year
are mainly CODcr and TN. Thus, it can be seen that the
principal component analysis method can truly reflect the
changes in water quality over the years.
5. Conclusion
This paper uses the water quality monitoring data of
Daihai Lake from 2008 to 2021, and uses the improved
Nemero pollution index method and principal component
analysis to evaluate the changes in water quality of Daihai
Lake, and the results show that:
(1) The improved Nemero pollution index method and
the principal component analysis method are basically
consistent in evaluating the water quality trend of Daihai
Lake, which shows that both evaluation methods can
comprehensively reflect the comprehensive level of water
quality pollution, but each evaluation method has
disadvantages. Improved Nemero pollution index method
can not reflect the contribution of each pollutant, while the
principal component analysis method can not evaluate the
water quality category. Therefore, this paper uses the
combination of the improved Nemero pollution index
method and the principal component analysis method, the
evaluation conclusions of the two methods can
complement and support each other, and can
comprehensively reflect the changes in the water quality
of Daihai Lake.
(2) According to the evaluation results of the improved
Nemero pollution index method, the water quality of
Daihai Lake only reached V water quality standards in
2008, 2009 and 2016, and the rest were poor V water
quality. The main reason for the pollution of the water
body of Daihai Lake is the increase of endogenous
pollution load and exogenous pollution beyond the self-
purification capacity of the lake.
(3) According to the evaluation results of principal
component analysis method, the main pollutants of Daihai
Lake gradually transitioned from being dominated by TP,
BOD5, fluoride and potassium permanganate index to
being dominated by CODcr and TN, which indicates that
the main pollution source of Daihai Lake has been shifted
from industrial discharge, together with farmland retreat
and aquaculture, to the surface source pollution brought
by farmland retreat.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the Science and Technology
Program of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
(2021GG0089).

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