Water contamination of Moscow’s small rivers with different anthropogenic impacts

In 2010–2013 we took out a survey of five of Moscow’s small rivers with different levels of anthropogenic impact: Los, Kotlovka, Nischcenka, Businka and Tarakanovka. The first goal of our observation was to determine the level of water pollution in these rivers. To achieve the goal we analyzed water samples for parameters such as pH value, heavy metal concentrations, dichromate oxidation and others. Also, we calculated such parameters as the water pollution index (WPI) and bottom accumulation coefficient (BAC) for Zn and Cu, which was calculated using bottom sediment contamination data. The results of our survey showed that the most polluted river is River Tarakanovka, which has a huge anthropogenic impact; the major contaminants being Fe, Cu and Zn