Pollution in Freshwater Systems and Water Quality Assessment

Dear Colleagues,

Since industrialization and increased agricultural and industrial activities, environmental problems have threatened ecosystem functionality and human health. Agrochemical substances, such as pesticides, fertilizers or heavy metals, nutrients from the excessive application of fertilizers, and emerging contaminants such as micro- or nano-plastics from various sources are released into terrestrial and aquatic environments. Contamination of critical freshwater resources, such as rivers and streams, reservoirs and lakes, and aquifers, is a significant consequence. These contaminants will influence the local water quality with often unknown risks for the environment and human health. Thus, it is urgent and necessary to evaluate the freshwater quality and related health risks.

This Special Issue focuses on how migration and transformation of pollutants take place within surface water (including lakes, rivers, and streams) and groundwater systems. With a special focus on new emerging contaminants in porous media (e.g., soil and groundwater aquifers), the development of numerical models predicting contaminants transport in freshwater systems, and the evolution of groundwater quality. These aspects are essential for preventing, assessing, and renovating water and soil pollution. In this Special Issue, we try to reveal the mechanisms controlling these processes, which does a favor to the sustainable development of our society.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

1. Contaminants transport in (un)saturated porous media (e.g., soil, mineral rock sediment);
2. Fate and behavior of micro/nano plastics in fluvial systems;
3. Adsorption and desorption of contaminants in the aquatic environment;
4. Water quality assessment and health risks evaluation;
5. Hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater or surface water;
6. Numerical studies on the migration of pollutants in groundwater or surface water.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Taotao Lu
Dr. Hao Peng
Dr. Sven Frei
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• freshwater system
• contaminant transport
• adsorption
• numerical simulation
• groundwater quality evolution
• hydrochemistry
• health risk assessment