Application of Effect-Based Methods to Water Quality Monitoring: Answering Frequently Asked Questions by Water Quality Managers, Regulators, and Policy Makers.

Effect-based methods (EBM) have great potential for water quality monitoring as they can detect the mixture effects of all active known and unknown chemicals in a sample, which cannot be addressed by chemical analysis alone. To date, EBM have primarily been applied in a research context, with a lower level of uptake by the water sector and regulators. This is partly due to concerns regarding the reliability and interpretation of EBM. Using evidence from the peer-reviewed literature, this work aims to answer frequently asked questions about EBM. The questions were identified through consultation with the water industry and regulators and cover topics related to the basis for using EBM, practical considerations regarding reliability, sampling for EBM and quality control, and what to do with the information provided by EBM. The information provided in this work aims to give confidence to regulators and the water sector to stimulate the application of EBM for water quality monitoring.

Effect-based monitoring to integrate the mixture hazards of chemicals into water safety plans.

Water safety plans (WSPs) are intended to assure safe drinking water (DW). WSPs involve assessing and managing risks associated with microbial, chemical, physical and radiological hazards from the catchment to the consumer. Currently, chemical hazards in WSPs are assessed by targeted chemical analysis, but this approach fails to account for the mixture effects of the many chemicals potentially present in water supplies and omits the possible effects of non-targeted chemicals. Consequently, effect-based monitoring (EBM) using in vitro bioassays and well plate-based in vivo assays are proposed as a complementary tool to targeted chemical analysis to support risk analysis, risk management and water quality verification within the WSP framework. EBM is frequently applied to DW and surface water and can be utilised in all defined monitoring categories within the WSP framework (including 'system assessment', 'validation', 'operational' and 'verification'). Examples of how EBM can be applied within the different WSP modules are provided, along with guidance on where to apply EBM and how frequently. Since this is a new area, guidance documents, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and decision-making frameworks are required for both bioassay operators and WSP teams to facilitate the integration of EBM into WSPs, with these resources being developed currently.

Multi-Toxin Occurrences in Ten French Water Resource Reservoirs.

Cyanobacteria are known to produce a wide array of metabolites, including various classes of toxins. Among these, hepatotoxins (Microcystins), neurotoxins (Anatoxin-A and PSP toxins) or cytotoxins (Cylindrospermopsins) have been subjected to numerous, individual studies during the past twenty years. Reports of toxins co-occurrences, however, remain scarce in the literature. The present work is an inventory of cyanobacteria with a particular focus on Nostocales and their associated toxin classes from 2007 to 2010 in ten lakes used for drinking water production in France. The results show that potential multiple toxin producing species are commonly encountered in cyanobacteria populations. Individual toxin classes were detected in 75% of all samples. Toxin co-occurrences appeared in 40% of samples as two- or three-toxin combinations (with 35% for the microcystins⁻anatoxin combination), whereas four-toxin class combinations only appeared in 1% of samples. Toxin co-occurrences could be partially correlated to species composition and water temperature. Peak concentrations however could never be observed simultaneously and followed distinct, asymmetrical distribution patterns. As observations are the key for preventive management and risk assessment, these results indicate that water monitoring should search for all four toxin classes simultaneously instead of focusing on the most frequent toxins, i.e., microcystins.

Assessment of source water pathogen contamination.

During the last decade, the source to tap risk-based approach to pathogens in drinking water has been largely promoted. This paper addresses the issue of source water pathogen contamination, which is the first step of quantitative microbial risk assessment. It is focused on a selection of pathogens considered to be a major risk to human health. Source water quality is highly variable and understanding the reasons for this variability is important as it will influence the requirements for treatment, treatment efficiency and the resulting health risk associated with the finished water. A framework for source water microbial quality assessment based on catchment surveys and monitoring programmes was set and tested on ten water sources. The monitoring programmes included faecal indicators and pathogens, during both baseline and hazardous event conditions. Concentrations varied greatly within and between systems. Faecal indicators were shown to be poor surrogates for pathogen presence and concentrations. There was no recurring evidence that the pathogens correlated together and links between microbial parameters appeared to be very site specific. Such variability between systems shows the importance of running local monitoring programs for use in risk assessment. Finally, pathogen detection methods are not yet optimal due to their sensitivity and to the lack of knowledge on viability and infectivity of pathogens. A great effort needs to be made in the future to ensure better quality data as this may have large implications in the statistical risk assessment calculations.

Spatial distribution of pollution in an urban stormwater infiltration basin.

Infiltration basins are frequently used for stormwater drainage. Because stormwater is polluted in highly toxic compounds, assessment of pollution retention by infiltration basins is necessary. Indeed, if basins are not effective in trapping pollution, deep soil and groundwater may be contaminated. This study's objective is to investigate soil pollution in infiltration basins: spatial distribution of soil pollution, optimisation of the number of soil samples and a contamination indicator are presented. It is part of a global project on long-term impact of stormwater infiltration on groundwater. Soil sampling was done on a basin in suburban Lyon (France). Samples were collected at different depths and analysed for nutrients, heavy metals, hydrocarbons and grain size. Pollutant concentrations decrease rapidly with depth while pH, mineralisation and grain size increase. Sustainable metal concentrations are reached at a 30-cm depth, even after 14 years of operation; hydrocarbon pollution is deeper. Principal component analysis shows how pollutants affect each level. The topsoil is different from other levels. Three specifically located points are enough to estimate the mass of pollution trapped by the basin with a 26% error. The proposed contamination indicator is calculated using either average level concentrations or maximum level concentrations. In both cases, the topsoil layer appears polluted but evaluation of lower levels is dependent on the choice of input concentrations.

Indicators for hydraulic and pollution retention assessment of stormwater infiltration basins.

Infiltration basins are frequently used for stormwater management even though their long-term evolution is not well understood nor controlled. The two main problems encountered are clogging which compromises the hydraulic capacity of the basin and possible contamination of underlying soil and groundwater. This paper defines a framework for evaluating the hydraulic and pollution retention performance of infiltration basins in the long-term. Sets of context and performance indicators are proposed, along with two complementary modes of evaluation. Context indicators are identified in order to define the clogging and contamination states of the basins. Performance indicators are developed to assess several aspects of basin performance: drainage duration, overflow frequency, predictive life period, particle filtration and pollution trapping. Modes of evaluation include field investigation and long-term simulation modeling. Indicators are tested on five infiltration basins in suburban Lyon (France). Both context indicators and hydraulic performance indicators are reliable and their evaluation is representative of basin behavior. This is not the case for pollution retention performance indicators. Their assessment is difficult because of data quality. Field data has high uncertainties. The model is satisfactory for the hydraulic simulation and the evolution of clogging. Improvements are necessary for pollution flow simulation and the acquisition of better quality data is required.