Using generalized indicators to evaluate the water pollution level in the Bolshoy Cheremshan river

During the expedition organized by the Ulyanovsk branch of the Russian Geographic Society, which took place from May 25 till June 1, 2013, students of the faculty of ecology of Ulyanovsk State University conducted a hydrochemical study of the water in the Bolshoy Cheremshan river to determine its level of pollution. The water quality indicators were assessed using “NKV” portable field laboratories. The data obtained during the hydrochemical analysis was used to calculate the water pollution index (WPI). The ecological and hydrochemical study showed the pollution level in the Bolshoy Cheremshan river to be extremely high as a result of violation of the existing norms in relation to 3 ingredients, of which two indicators of the chemical composition of water with a particularly harmful effect were iron and copper compounds.