Source apportionment and spatial heterogeneity of agricultural non-point source pollution based on water environmental function zoning

Taking township as basic unit, the inventory analysis method and equivalent standard method were conducted to determine the discharge amount of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) from different types of agricultural non-point sources, including chemical fertilizer application, animal manure application, crop straws, animal husbandry, aquaculture and rural sewage. The impact of agricultural non-point source pollution (ANPSP) on water environment and its spatial heterogeneity were analyzed based on water environmental function zoning at the scales of county and town. The results indicated that, the absolute discharge amount of COD, TN and TP from ANPSP were 4.42×104, 1.13×104, 0.44×104 t/a respectively, and the discharge amount in equivalent standard were 0.16×104, 0.93×104, 1.65×104 m3/a respectively. The primary pollution source was animal husbandry, which load ratio in equivalent standard reached 66.31%, and the primary pollutant was TP, which load ratio in equivalent standard reached 60.32%. Discharge concentration of COD, TN and TP caused by ANPSP in different districts were in the range of 4.16–40.91, 1.30–8.71, 0.23–4.94 mg/L respectively, while the average water quality index ranged from 0.67 to 5.91. From the point view of town-based pollution stress, the pollution extent of the towns in South Shanghai and Chongming Island was much higher, which had greater agriculture productive value and located near the water conservation area with stricter water quality standards.