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ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS OF SOUTH KAZAKHSTAN AND POLLUTION OF DRINKING GROUNDWATER

Murat Mukhamedzhanov

Abstract

The purpose of the investigation is to study environmental problems in the territory of South Kazakhstan and the state of drinking groundwater. In this paper, we consider environmental problems on the territory of 4 regions of Ka-zakhstan (South Kazakhstan, Zhambyl, Almaty, Kyzylorda), in particular, the city of Taraz, Shymkent and Almaty, through which the Great Silk Road passed. All these cit-ies belong to the most ecologically polluted cities of the Republic of Kazakhstan [1-8]. In the South Kazakhstan region (SKR), 3 geographical areas are conventionally distin-guished from the point of view of environmental interests: 1. The territory of the ecological pre-crisis state is an increased content of radionu-clides in objects of the natural environment, and, above all, in groundwater. 2. The territory of a powerful technogenic impact. In the town of Kentau there are areas of high soil contamination with heavy metals. In the city of Shymkent the main source of concerns is the soils affected by lead, zinc and arsenic in concentrations 10 times higher than the MPC. This affects large spaces and, in particular, the territories allotted for growing vegetable crops. 3. The rest of the region is under moderate anthropogenic impact. SKR is one of the six environmentally unfriendly regions of Kazakhstan, and the city of Shymkent is among the three cities most polluted by motor vehicle emissions, which emissions account for more than 70% of the total gross emissions. The level of air pol-lution is high, the atmospheric pollution index (API) = 10.6. The increase in emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere is mainly associated with the development of construction, an increase in the number of vehicles, poor quality of motor fuel, non-compliance with environmental standards, unresolved issues of produc-tion and consumption waste disposal. In the increase in emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, the main share was made by manufacturing enterprises; their share in total emissions was 76.9%, enterprises pro-ducing and distributing electricity, gas and water - 8.3%, other industries - 14.8%. The largest air pollutants are concentrated in the city of Shymkent, where a large num-ber of mobile and stationary sources of emissions of harmful substances are function-ing: from motor transport, emissions of which (on average 98 thousand tons per year) led to an increase in the maximum permissible concentrations for lead and formalde-hyde.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgem2019/1.2/s02.027

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