Potential tracers for tracking septic tank effluent discharges in watercourses.

Septic tank effluent (STE) contributes to catchment nutrient and pollutant loads. To assess the role of STE discharges in impairment of surface water, it is essential to identify the sources of pollution by tracing contaminants in watercourses. We examined tracers that were present in STE to establish their potential for identifying STE contamination in two stream systems (low and high dilution levels) against the background of upstream sources. The studied tracers were microbial, organic matter fluorescence, caffeine, artificial sweeteners and effluent chemical concentrations. The results revealed that tracer concentration ratios Cl/EC, Cl/NH4-N, Cl/TN, Cl/TSS, Cl/turbidity, Cl/total coliforms, Cl/sucralose, Cl/saccharin and Cl/Zn had potential as tracers in the stream with low dilution level (P < 0.05). Fluorescence spectroscopy could detect STE inputs through the presence of the tryptophan-like peak, but was limited to water courses with low level of dilution and was positively correlated with stream Escherichia coli (E. coli) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP). The results also suggested that caffeine and artificial sweeteners can be suitable tracers for effluent discharge in streams with low and high level of dilution. Caffeine and saccharin were positively correlated with faecal coliforms, E. coli, total P and SRP, indicating their potential to trace discharge of a faecal origin and to be a marker for effluent P. Caffeine and SRP had similar attenuation behaviour in the receiving stream waters suggesting caffeine's potential role as a surrogate indicator for the behaviour of P downstream of effluent inputs. Taken together, results suggest that a single tracer alone was not sufficient to evaluate STE contamination of watercourses, but rather a combination of multiple chemical and physical tracing approaches should be employed. A multiple tracing approach would help to identify individual and cumulative STE inputs that pose risks to stream waters in order to prioritise and target effective mitigation measures.

Removal and attenuation of sewage effluent combined tracer signals of phosphorus, caffeine and saccharin in soil.

Contaminants in septic tank effluent (STE) are expected to be removed by the soil system before discharging to the environment. However, potential contaminants such as phosphorus (P), caffeine and artificial sweeteners do find their way to watercourses impacting aquatic eco systems. In this study, the attenuation of STE P, caffeine and saccharin were investigated in untreated soil and in soil with reduced microbial activity, in aqueous solutions and in the complex matrix of STE. Time series sorption and desorption experiments using batch equilibrium and a column experiment of STE P attenuation were conducted. The results revealed that the soil distribution coefficients (Kd) were: P 81.57 > caffeine 22.16 > saccharin 5.98 cm3/g, suggesting greater soil affinity to P adsorption. The data revealed that 80% of saccharin and 33% of caffeine attenuation was associated with microbial activities rather than adsorption processes. However, a complete removal of saccharin and caffeine did not occur during the equilibration period, suggesting their leaching potential. The dominant mechanism of P attenuation was adsorption (chemical and physical), yielding P retention of >73% and 35% for P in aqueous solution and in STE matrix, respectively, for batch equilibrium. The soil in the column acted as effluent P sink retaining 125 µg P/g soil of effluent P. The attenuation of P, caffeine and saccharin in the aqueous solution was greater than in STE, suggesting that the complex composition of STE reduced soil adsorption ability, and that other substances present in STE may be competing for soil binding sites. The data revealed that caffeine and P had similarities in the interaction with soils and thus caffeine may be considered as a STE tracer of anthropogenic source of P in receiving waters.

Temporal variability in domestic point source discharges and their associated impact on receiving waters.

Discharges from the widely distributed small point sources of pollutants such as septic tanks contribute to microbial and nutrient loading of streams and can pose risks to human health and stream ecology, especially during periods of ecological sensitivity. Here we present the first comprehensive data on the compositional variability of septic tank effluents (STE) as a potential source of water pollution during different seasons and the associated links to their influence on stream waters. To determine STE parameters and nutrient variations, the biological and physicochemical properties of effluents sampled quarterly from 12 septic tank systems were investigated with concurrent analyses of upstream and downstream receiving waters. The study revealed that during the warmer dryer months of spring and summer, effluents were similar in composition, as were the colder wetter months of autumn and winter. However, spring/summer effluents differed significantly (P<0.05) from autumn/winter for concentrations of biological oxygen demand (BOD), arsenic, barium (Ba), cobalt, chromium, manganese, strontium (Sr), titanium, tungsten (W) and zinc (Zn). With the exception of BOD, Ba and Sr which were greater in summer and spring, the concentrations of these parameters were greater in winter. Receiving stream waters also showed significant seasonal variation (P≤0.05) in alkalinity, BOD, dissolved organic carbon, sulphate, sulphur, lithium, W, Zn and Escherichiacoli abundance. There was a clear significant influence of STE on downstream waters relative to upstream from the source (P<0.05) for total suspended solids, total particulate P and N, ammonium-N, coliforms and E. coli. The findings of this study found seasonal variation in STE and place effluent discharges as a factor affecting adjacent stream quality and call for appropriate measures to reduce or redirect STE discharges away from water courses.

Abiotic methyl bromide formation from vegetation, and its strong dependence on temperature.

Methyl bromide (CH3Br) is the most abundant brominated organic compound in the atmosphere. It is known to originate from natural and anthropogenic sources, although many uncertainties remain regarding strengths of both sources and sinks and the processes leading to its formation. In this study a potential new CH3Br source from vegetation has been examined, analogous to the recently discovered abiotic formation of methyl chloride from plant pectin. Several plant samples with known bromine content, including ash (Fraxinus excelsior), saltwort (Batis maritima), tomato reference material (NIST-1573a), hay reference material (IAEA V-10), and also bromine enriched pectin, were incubated in the temperature range of 25-50 degrees C and analyzed for CH3Br emission using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. All plant samples inspected showed an exponential increase in CH3Br emission as a function of temperature increase, i.e., emissions were observed to approximately double with every 5 degrees C rise in temperature. Next to temperature, it was found that emissions of CH3Br were also dependent on the bromine content of the plants. The highest CH3Br release rates were found for the saltwort which contained the highest bromine concentration. Arrhenius plots confirmed that the observed emissions were from an abiotic origin. The contribution of abiotic CH3Br formation from vegetation to the global budget will vary geographically as a result of regional differences in both temperature and bromide content of terrestrial plants.