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A total of 190 grab water samples were collected from 19 rivers along the water conveyance system of the Middle Route of China's interbasin South to North Water Transfer Project (MRSNWTP). Multivariate statistics including principal component/factor analysis (PCA/FA), analysis of variance (ANOVA), and cluster analysis (CA) were employed to assess water quality, and the receptor model of factor analysis-multiple linear regression (FA-MLR) was used for source identification/apportionment of pollutants from natural processes and anthropogenic activities to river waters. Our results revealed that river waters were primarily polluted by COD_Mn, BOD, NH₄⁺-N, TN, TP, and Cd with remarkably spatio-temporal variability, and there were increasing industrial effluents in rivers northward. FA/PCA identified four classes of water quality parameters, i.e., mineral composition, toxic metals, nutrients, and organic pollutants. CA …