The assessment and source identification of river pollution in coal cities is highly concerned by researchers at home and abroad. This study focused on Xinbian River and Tuohe River in Suzhou City which is a typical coal city. The chemical oxygen demand （COD）， total phosphorus （TP）， total nitrogen （TN）， ammonia nitrogen （NH₃-N） and permanganate index （COD_Mn） in two rivers were measured. The water quality and pollution sources between two rivers were comparatively revealed based on single factor water quality identification index and correlation analysis. The results show that the contents of TN in Xinbian River and Tuohe River were relatively high while the water quality levels of NH₃-N and TP met the corresponding standards of Water Functional Division in Anhui Province. However， the concentrations of COD_Mn and COD exceeded the standard. NH₃-N and TP concentrations in Xinbian River showed a significant correlation （r = 0.701， P < 0.01）， indicating similar pollution sources which were mainly affected by the use of fertilizer in farmland around the river. TN concentrations presented the significant positive correlation with COD_Mn and NH₃-N in Tuohe River （r = 0.637 and 0.555， respectively， P < 0.01）. NH₃-N showed a positive correlation with COD_Mn （r = 0.418， P < 0.05） but a negative correlation with TP （r = -0.469， P < 0.05）. The correlation between pollutants in Tuohe River indicated that there are different pollution sources of nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants. The distribution of nitrogen pollution in Tuohe River was probably affected by the discharge of coal mining wastewater while the discharge of domestic washing sewage caused the accumulation of phosphorus pollutants. This study can provide a theoretical reference for the impact mechanism of human activities on the distribution of urban river pollution in coal cities.