Assessment of seasonal and spatial variations of physicochemical parameters and trace elements along a heavily polluted effluent-dominated stream.

This study focuses on a heavily polluted effluent-dominated stream that passes through an industrialized region near Izmir, Turkey. The intermittent creek receives domestic and industrial discharges of Kemalpasa District Center and its neighborhoods and more than 180 factories of the organized industrial zone. A monitoring campaign was conducted on the creek and samples were taken in two different seasons with distinct hydrological characteristics from 20 stations along the creek to quantify the quality status of water and sediment columns. A number of physicochemical parameters, heavy metals, and trace elements were measured by field and laboratory techniques to assess the status of creek's water and sediment quality. The spatial and temporal variations were determined, and statistical tools were used to conduct an environmental forensic overview along the creek. A geo-accumulation index and a modified heavy metal pollution index were calculated to cumulatively assess the quality of sediment and water columns, respectively. The results revealed that the creek was under significant pollution load from the industrial zone where metal processing, food and beverage production, marble and natural stone manufacturing, and paper production are made. In particular, elements such as Co, Cu, Cd, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Zr were found to be above the surface water quality standard values. Similarly, B, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Sn were determined to be in extreme levels in the sediment column with values exceeding the probable effect concentrations.

A large-scale investigation of the quality of groundwater in six major districts of Central India during the 2010-2011 sampling campaign.

This paper investigates the groundwater quality in six major districts of Madhya Pradesh in central India, namely, Balaghat, Chhindwara, Dhar, Jhabua, Mandla, and Seoni during the 2010-2011 sampling campaign, and discusses improvements made in the supplied water quality between the years 2011 and 2017. Groundwater is the main source of water for a combined rural population of over 7 million in these districts. Its contamination could have a huge impact on public health. We analyzed the data collected from a large-scale water sampling campaign carried out by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), Government of Madhya Pradesh between 2010 and 2011 during which all rural tube wells and dug wells were sampled in these six districts. Eight hundred thirty-one dug wells and 47,606 tube wells were sampled in total and were analyzed for turbidity, hardness, iron, nitrate, fluoride, chloride, and sulfate ion concentrations. Our study found water in 21 out of the 228 dug wells in Chhindwara district unfit for drinking due to fluoride contamination while all dug wells in Balaghat had fluoride within the permissible limit. Twenty-six of the 56 dug wells and 4825 of the 9390 tube wells in Dhar district exceeded the permissible limit for nitrate while 100% dug wells in Balaghat, Seoni, and Chhindwara had low levels of nitrate. Twenty-four of the 228 dug wells and 1669 of 6790 tube wells in Chhindwara had high iron concentration. The median pH value in both dug wells and tube wells varied between 6 and 8 in all six districts. Still, a significant number of tube wells exceeded a pH of 8.5 especially in Mandla and Seoni districts. In conclusion, this study shows that parts of inhabited rural Madhya Pradesh were potentially exposed to contaminated subsurface water during 2010-2011. The analysis has been correlated with rural health survey results wherever available to estimate the visible impact. We next highlight that the quality of drinking water has enormously improved since 2011 in all six districts as a result of rigorous treatment of extracted subsurface water on the ground before supplying to rural habitations as well as efficient distribution from healthy wells. Our research could provide impetus to the state government to develop innovative solutions for improving groundwater quality in these areas as existing solutions are largely protective techniques. We have identified specific ions responsible for groundwater contamination in different districts which would allow the development of district specific effective mitigation strategies.

Contaminated Aquatic Sediments.

A review of the literature published in 2015 relating to the assessment, evaluation and remediation of contaminated aquatic sediments is presented. The review is divided into the following main sections: policy and guidance, methodology, distribution, fate and transport, risk, toxicity and remediation.

Reducing nitrogen runoff from paddy fields with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi under different fertilizer regimes.

Nitrogen (N) runoff from paddy fields serves as one of the main sources of water pollution. Our aim was to reduce N runoff from paddy fields by fertilizer management and inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). In northeast China, Shuangcheng city in Heilongjiang province, a field experiment was conducted, using rice provided with 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% of the local norm of fertilization (including N, phosphorus and potassium), with or without inoculation with Glomus mosseae. The volume, concentrations of total N (TN), dissolved N (DN) and particulate N (PN) of runoff water were measured. We found that the local norm of fertilization led to 18.9kg/ha of N runoff during rice growing season, with DN accounting for 60%-70%. We also found that reduction in fertilization by 20% cut down TN runoff by 8.2% while AMF inoculation decreased N runoff at each fertilizer level and this effect was inhibited by high fertilization. The combination of inoculation with AMF and 80% of the local norm of fertilization was observed to reduce N runoff by 27.2%. Conclusively, we suggested that the contribution of AMF inoculation combined with decreasing fertilization should get more attention to slow down water eutrophication by reducing N runoff from paddy fields.

Nutrient concentrations and fluxes in the upper catchment of the Miyun Reservoir, China, and potential nutrient reduction strategies.

The Miyun Reservoir is Beijing's main drinking water source. Increased nutrient levels in the reservoir have resulted in an increased risk of harmful algal blooms. One hundred ten water samples were collected at a range of spatial scales in the upper catchment of the Miyun Reservoir and were analyzed for total nitrogen (TN), nitrate (NO3 (-)-N), ammonium (NH4 (+)-N), total phosphorus (TP), and the potassium permanganate index (CODMn). Empirical equations were developed from relationships between nutrient concentrations and the main controls on nutrient, and were used to identify parts of the catchment that should be targeted with nutrient load reduction measures. Cropland was the main source of sediment for the streams, and much of the phosphorus was associated with sediment. The annual mean TP concentrations were closely correlated with both the annual mean suspended sediment concentrations and the ratio of the cropland area to the total basin area. There was a linear relationship between the annual mean TN concentration and the population density in the basins. Soil conservation may play an important role in reducing TP concentrations in the upper reaches of the Chao and Bai Rivers. It may be useful to (1) construct natural riparian buffers and vegetated buffers along croplands close to the watercourses, (2) implement management strategies to reduce nitrogen (N) fertilizer applications, and (3) construct additional wetlands to reduce nutrient loads in the study area.

Pesticide residue in water--a challenging task in India.

Modern agriculture practices reveal an increase in use of pesticides to meet the food demand of increasing population which results in contamination of the environment. In India, crop production increased to 100 %, but the cropping area has increased marginally by 20 %. Pesticides have played a major role in achieving the maximum crop production but maximum usage and accumulation of pesticide residues is highly detrimental to aquatic and other ecosystem. Pesticide residues in drinking water have become a major challenge over the last few years. It has been monitored in public water supply resources in National capital territory, i.e., Delhi. Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), mainly isomers of hexachlorohexane (HCH), dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), endosulphan, endrin, aldrin, dieldrin, and heptachlore, were identified from potable water samples. Results suggested that continuous consumption of contaminated water can pose severe health threats to local residents of this area. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi, had found α and ß isomers of endosulphan residues in the Yamuna river. High concentrations of γ-HCH (0.259 µg/l) and malathion (2.618 µg/l) were detected in the surface water samples collected from the river Ganga in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh (UP). High concentration of methyl parathion, endosulfan, and DDT were observed in water samples collected from the river at Bhagalpur, Bihar. The Industrial Toxicology Research Centre (ITRC), Lucknow (UP) study also found 0.5671 ppb concentrations of endosulfan in the river at Allahabad, UP. Similar results were found in other water samples in India.

[hygienic assessment of the effectiveness of the implementation of the concept for the improvement the water supply of population in the south-east region of the Republic of Tatarstan].

In the paper there is presented the hygienic evaluation of the implementation of the program aimed at the improvement of the water supply of the population in the oil-producing regions of the Republic of Tatarstan. As a result of the implementation of measures it managed to improve the quality of drinking water in terms of chemical harmlessness and to reduce the risk to public health. Currently following factors as quality of the water from water sources, the mismatch of sanitary protection zone to requirements of sanitary legislation and the failure of regime measures in its territory, water quality deterioration during transportation and the inadequacies in the laboratory control were shown to make the highest contribution to the disadvantage of centralized drinking water systems.

Physical and chemical characteristics of water from the hydrographic basin of the Poxim River, Sergipe State, Brazil.

The Poxim River is one of Sergipe State's major waterways. It supplies water to the State capital, Aracaju, but is threatened by urban and agricultural developments that compromise both the quantity and the quality of the water. This has direct impacts on the daily lives of the region's population. In this work, a multivariate analytical approach was used to investigate the physical and chemical characteristics of the water in the river basin. Four sampling campaigns were undertaken, in November 2005, and in February, May, and September 2006, at 15 sites distributed along the Poxim. The parameters analyzed were conductivity, turbidity, color, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, hardness, chlorophyll-a, and nutrients (total phosphorus, dissolved orthophosphate, nitrite, nitrate, ammoniacal nitrogen, and total nitrogen). Dissolved oxygen contents were very low in the Poxim-Açu River (1.0-2.8), the Poxim River (1.6-4.6), and the estuarine region (1.7-5.1), due to the dumping of wastes and discharges of domestic and industrial effluents containing organic matter into fluvial and estuarine regions of the Poxim. Factor analysis identified five components that were indicative of the quality of the water, and that explained 81.73 % of the total variance.

Water quality in Minho/Miño River (Portugal/Spain).

Minho River, also called Miño (in Spain), extends to about 300 km from Spain to Portugal. The source of the river lies in Spain and in the last 75 km, the river defines the border between Portugal and Spain. Under the scope of a cooperation project between North Portugal and Galicia region of Spain, titled: "Valorization of the natural resources of the Minho/Miño drainage basin", seven water-sampling campaigns were carried out during the last 2 years in Minho River basin. Seven sampling sites were selected along the international stretch, and five were chosen in the main Portuguese and Spanish tributaries of Minho River. Water quality based on the physicochemical and microbial parameters was assessed. According to the Portuguese legislation for surface waters, the international section of Minho River presents a reasonably good water quality (BOD5 <5 mg/L, TNK <2 mg/L, and total phosphorous <1 mg P/L). Valença and Louro were found to be the most polluted sampling sites and Louro the most polluted tributary (maximum values observed: TSS = 26 mg/L, BOD5 = 6.6 mg O2/L, COD = 20.8 mg O2/L, total nitrogen = 9.9 mg N/L; minimum value observed: OD = 1.3 mg O2/L). A one-dimensional stream water quality model QUAL2Kw was calibrated using data measured in field surveys along the international stretch of Minho River. QUAL2Kw was also used to predict the impact of flow conditions, discharges, and tributaries on the water quality of international stretch of Minho River, essential to establish proposals for management and planning of Minho River Basin.

Seasonal variation of nonylphenol concentrations and fluxes with influence of flooding in the Daliao River Estuary, China.

Nonylphenol is an endocrine disruptor with harmful effects including feminization and carcinogenesis on various organisms. This study aims to investigate the distribution and ecological risks of nonylphenol in the Daliao River Estuary, China. Nonylphenol, together with other phenolic endocrine disruptors (bisphenol A, 4-t-butylphenol, 4-t-octylphenol, and 2,4-dichlorophenol), was detected in surface water and sediment on three cruises in May 2009, June 2010, and August 2010, respectively. A large flooding occurred during our sampling campaign in August and its effect on nonylphenol concentrations and fluxes in the estuary was therefore evaluated. The results showed that nonylphenol with a concentration range between 83.6-777 ng l(-1) and 1.5-456 ng g(-1) dw in surface water and sediment was the most abundant among the phenolic compounds, accounting for 59.1-81.0 and 79.9-92.1 % of the total phenolic concentration in surface water and sediment, respectively. The concentrations recorded in May and June were comparable, whereas those in August were considerably higher, mainly due to the flush of flooding. The flooding also caused a 50 times increase in nonylphenol flux from the estuary into the adjacent Bohai Sea. Nonylphenol concentrations in the estuary have exceeded the threshold level of undesirable effects with a potential risk of harm to local species, especially benthic organisms.

How to improve reliability in groundwater analysis: over a decade of experience with external quality control in field campaigns on volatile halogenated compounds.

The reliability in measurement results obtained during environmental monitoring is crucial for the assessment and further planning of remediation efforts on the respective contaminated sites by the responsible authorities. A case study concerned with groundwater contaminated with perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene and 1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane including their degradation products which involves private contract laboratories and an independent provider of quality assurance (QA) is presented. The experience gained with biannual monitoring campaigns over 14 years indicates that the selection of contractors on basis of accreditation status and successful performance in interlaboratory comparisons are not sufficient. Rather the auditing of the contractors by the QA provider prior to each campaign and the crosschecking of selected monitoring samples by the QA provider led to a lasting improvement of reliability in the contractors' measurement results. A mean deviation of 20% from the reference value determined by the QA provider for the crosschecked samples was reached.

Phosphorus concentration and loading reductions following changes in fertilizer application and formulation on managed turf.

Excess phosphorus, particularly in surface waters can lead to severe eutrophication. Identifying source areas, quantifying contributions, and evaluating management practices are required to address current and future water quality concerns. A before-after study was conducted from 2003-2010 on a sub-watershed of Northland Country Club Golf Course in Duluth, MN to demonstrate the impacts of two different phosphorus management approaches (Period 1: traditional application and timing using commercially available synthetic blends; Period 2: reduced rate, low dose applications, and organic formulations). Outflow median dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) and total phosphorus (TP) stream concentrations were significantly less in Period 2 compared to Period 1. There was no statistical difference in the mean TP loading in Period 1 (0.25 kg ha(-1) year(-1)) compared to Period 2 (0.20 kg ha(-1) year(-1)) or between the DRP loading in Period 1 (0.15 kg ha(-1) year(-1)) compared to Period 2 (0.09 kg ha(-1) year(-1)). However, by switching to organic phosphorus formulations and reducing application rates by greater than 75%, substantial reduction in DRP and TP concentrations was achieved. Based on these findings it is recommended that turf managers (parks and recreation to golf courses) explore the feasibility of altering their fertility management related to phosphorus by including organic formulations, low dose applications, and overall rate reductions. Additionally, it is recommended that the fertilizer industry develop and make more readily available commercial blends with lesser to zero amounts of phosphorus.

Impact of intensive horticulture practices on groundwater content of nitrates, sodium, potassium, and pesticides.

A monitoring program of nitrate, nitrite, potassium, sodium, and pesticides was carried out in water samples from an intensive horticulture area in a vulnerable zone from north of Portugal. Eight collecting points were selected and water-analyzed in five sampling campaigns, during 1 year. Chemometric techniques, such as cluster analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and discriminant analysis, were used in order to understand the impact of intensive horticulture practices on dug and drilled wells groundwater and to study variations in the hydrochemistry of groundwater. PCA performed on pesticide data matrix yielded seven significant PCs explaining 77.67% of the data variance. Although PCA rendered considerable data reduction, it could not clearly group and distinguish the sample types. However, a visible differentiation between the water samples was obtained. Cluster and discriminant analysis grouped the eight collecting points into three clusters of similar characteristics pertaining to water contamination, indicating that it is necessary to improve the use of water, fertilizers, and pesticides. Inorganic fertilizers such as potassium nitrate were suspected to be the most important factors for nitrate contamination since highly significant Pearson correlation (r = 0.691, P < 0.01) was obtained between groundwater nitrate and potassium contents. Water from dug wells is especially prone to contamination from the grower and their closer neighbor's practices. Water from drilled wells is also contaminated from distant practices.

The impact of traditional coffee processing on river water quality in Ethiopia and the urgency of adopting sound environmental practices.

Although waste from coffee processing is a valuable resource to make biogas, compost, and nutrient-rich animal food, it is usually dumped into nearby water courses. We carried out water quality assessment at 44 sampling sites along 18 rivers that receive untreated waste from 23 coffee pulping and processing plants in Jimma Zone, Ethiopia. Twenty upstream sampling sites free from coffee waste impact served as control, and 24 downstream sampling sites affected by coffee waste were selected for comparison. Physicochemical and biological results revealed a significant river water quality deterioration as a result of disposing untreated coffee waste into running water courses. During coffee-processing (wet) season, the highest organic load (1,900 mg/l), measured as biochemical oxygen demand, depleted dissolved oxygen (DO) to a level less than 0.01 mg/l, and thus curtailed nitrification. During off season, oxygen started to recuperate and augmented nitrification. The shift from significantly elevated organic load and reduced DO in the wet season to increased nitrate in the off season was found to be the determining factor for the difference in macroinvertebrate community structure as verified by ordination analysis. Macroinvertebrate diversity was significantly reduced in impacted sites during the wet season contrary to the off season. However, there was a significant difference in the ratio of sensitive to pollution-tolerant taxa in the off season, which remained depreciated in the longer term. This study highlights the urgency of research exploring on the feasibility of adopting appropriate pollution abatement technologies to implement ecologically sound coffee-processing systems in coffee-growing regions of Ethiopia.

Water pinch analysis for water and wastewater minimization in Tehran oil refinery considering three contaminants.

This study aims to find an appropriate way to minimize water utility in the petrochemical and petroleum industries due to high rate of water consumption. For this purpose, Tehran oil refinery has been well studied. In this research, three key contaminants including suspended solid, hardness as well as COD have been considered to analyze the water network. In addition, the potential of water reuse was studied for all methods. These key contaminants once were analyzed separately as a single contaminant and the amount of required freshwater was calculated for them. In this stage, amount of freshwater was reduced to about 60.9 (17%), 203 (59.7%) and 143 m(3)/h (42.5%) in terms of suspended solids, hardness, and COD, respectively. Water minimization within operations for suspended solids is less than two others. Therefore, this is a limiting contaminant and can be selected as a key contaminant. In the next stage, three contaminants were analyzed two by two based on their mass transfer. Results show that, in the targeting for minimization based on the suspended solids and hardness, the amount of required water is reduced to 142.74 m(3)/h or 42%. This amount for suspended solids and COD is equal to 86.3 m(3)/h (26%) and for COD and hardness is 124 m(3)/h (37%). Analyzing the methods shows that the method based on the double contaminant gives more precise results rather than single contaminant.

Incidental oligotrophication of North American Great Lakes.

Phytoplankton production is an important factor in determining both ecosystem stability and the provision of ecosystem goods and services. The expansive and economically important North American Great Lakes are subjected to multiple stressors and understanding their responses to those stresses is important for understanding system-wide ecological controls. Here we show gradual increases in spring silica concentration (an indicator of decreasing growth of the dominant diatoms) in all basins of Lakes Michigan and Huron (USA and Canadian waters) between 1983 and 2008. These changes indicate the lakes have undergone gradual oligotrophication coincident with and anticipated by nutrient management implementation. Slow declines in seasonal drawdown of silica (proxy for seasonal phytoplankton production) also occurred, until recent years, when lake-wide responses were punctuated by abrupt decreases, putting them in the range of oligotrophic Lake Superior. The timing of these dramatic production drops is coincident with expansion of populations of invasive dreissenid mussels, particularly quagga mussels, in each basin. The combined effect of nutrient mitigation and invasive species expansion demonstrates the challenges facing large-scale ecosystems and suggest the need for new management regimes for large ecosystems.

Rationale for control of anthropogenic nitrogen and phosphorus to reduce eutrophication of inland waters.

Concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen in surface waters are being regulated in the United States and European Union. Human activity has raised the concentrations of these nutrients, leading to eutrophication of inland waters, which causes nuisance growth of algae and other aquatic plants. Control of phosphorus often has had the highest priority because of its presumed leading role in limiting development of aquatic plant biomass. Experimental evidence shows, however, that nitrogen is equally likely to limit growth of algae and aquatic plants in inland waters, and that additions of both nutrients cause substantially more algal growth than either added alone. A dual control strategy for N and P will reduce transport of anthropogenic nitrogen through drainage networks to aquatic ecosystems that may be nitrogen limited. Control of total phosphorus in effluents is feasible and is increasingly being required by regulations. The control strategy for nitrogen in effluents is more difficult, but could be made more feasible by recognition that a substantial portion of dissolved organic nitrogen is not bioavailable; regulation should focus on bioavailable N (nitrate, ammonium, and some dissolved organic nitrogen) rather than total N. Regulation of both N and P also is essential for nonpoint sources.

Developing transboundary river basin monitoring programmes using the DPSIR indicator framework.

Policymakers are often dissatisfied by the lack of what they consider useful information to support water management. Analysis of this 'water information gap' shows that this is caused by a lack of proper communication between information users and information producers. To improve this communication the process of specification of information needs has been structured. Earlier experiences showed that this not only entailed developing a structure to manage the process, but also developing a structure to guide the breakdown of policy objectives into information needs. Such a structure to organise the problem supports policy makers and monitoring specialists in their communication. This paper describes three pilot projects where the DPSIR indicator framework was used to organise the problem. It is concluded that the DPSIR framework is useful for improving the communication between information users and information producers and is helpful in breaking down policy objectives into information needs in a structured way. The structured approach in this way assists in narrowing the water information gap. Use of the DPSIR framework however leads to a bias towards water management problems and does not provide for all the relevant information needs.

Importance of data management in a long-term biological monitoring program.

The long-term Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program (BMAP) has always needed to collect and retain high-quality data on which to base its assessments of ecological status of streams and their recovery after remediation. Its formal quality assurance, data processing, and data management components all contribute to meeting this need. The Quality Assurance Program comprehensively addresses requirements from various institutions, funders, and regulators, and includes a data management component. Centralized data management began a few years into the program when an existing relational database was adapted and extended to handle biological data. The database's main data tables and several key reference tables are described. One of the most important related activities supporting long-term analyses was the establishing of standards for sampling site names, taxonomic identification, flagging, and other components. The implemented relational database supports the transmittal of data to the Oak Ridge Environmental Information System (OREIS) as the permanent repository. We also discuss some limitations to our implementation. Some types of program data were not easily accommodated in the central systems, and many possible data-sharing and integration options are not easily accessible to investigators. From our experience we offer data management advice to other biologically oriented long-term environmental sampling and analysis programs.

Spatial and temporal variations of manganese concentrations in drinking water.

The objective of this study was to assess the variability of manganese concentrations in drinking water (daily, seasonal, spatial) for eight communities who participated in an epidemiological study on neurotoxic effects associated with exposure to manganese in drinking water. We also assessed the performance of residential point-of-use and point-of-entry devices (POE) for reducing manganese concentrations in water. While the total Mn concentrations measured during this study were highly variable depending on the location (< 1-2,700 µg/L), daily or seasonal variations were minimal. Flushing the tap for 5 minutes did not significantly reduce total manganese concentration for 4 out of 5 sampling locations. The efficiency of reverse osmosis and ion exchange for total Mn removal was consistently high while activated carbon provided variable results. The four POE greensand filters investigated all increased (29 to 199%) manganese concentration, indicating deficient operation and/or maintenance practices. Manganese concentrations in the distribution system were equal or lower than at the inlet, indicating that sampling at the inlet of the distribution system is conservative. The decline in total Mn concentration was linked to higher water residence time in the distribution system.