In order to solve the problem of apparent pollution causes, 796 data samples were collected from Suzhou urban river network. The types of apparent pollution of landscape water were divided and defined, and the relationship between the types of apparent pollution of water and water quality index was explored through statistical analysis of data samples. The results show that oxidation-reduction potential, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a, permanganate index and turbidity have good discrimination for different types of water pollution, which can be used as the main characteristic indexes. The landscape water can be divided into four types of apparent pollution: organic-dominated type, inorganic-dominated type, nutrient-dominated type and mixed type. The order of priority discrimination for different types of surface polluted water bodies is determined, which is organic dominant type, inorganic dominant type, nutrient dominant type, mixed type.