Water quality assessment in the rivers along the water conveyance system of the Middle Route of the South to North Water Transfer Project (China) using multivariate statistical techniques and receptor modeling

► We assess riverine water quality along the water conveyance systems. ► Multivariate statistics reveal remarkable spatio-temporal variations in water quality. ► Waters are more polluted due to increasing industrial effluents northward. ► CA and total factor scores vs sampling sites generate 3 significant categories. ► FA-MLR indicates more anthropogenic contributions to rivers in Beijing and Tianjin.