Characterization of fish hold effluent discharged from commercial fishing vessels into harbor waters

Fish hold effluent and the effluent produced from the cleaning of fish holds may contain organic material resulting from the degradation of seafood and cleaning products (e.g., soaps and detergents). This effluent is often discharged by vessels into near shore waters and, therefore, could have the potential to contribute to water pollution in bays and estuaries. We characterized effluent from commercial fishing vessels with holds containing refrigerated seawater, ice slurry, or chipped ice. Concentrations of trace heavy metals, wet chemistry parameters, and nutrients in effluent were compared to screening benchmarks to determine if there is a reasonable potential for effluent discharge to contribute to nonattainment of water quality standards. Most analytes (67%) exceeded their benchmark concentration and, therefore, may have the potential to pose risk to human health or the environment if discharges are in significant quantities or there are many vessels discharging in the same areas.     

Bacteriological water quality along the Tijuana-Ensenada, Baja California, México shoreline

This survey was part of a Binational Program (Mexico-United States) in microbiological water quality, with a goal to assess the shoreline bacteriological water quality from Tijuana to Ensenada, Mexico. Samples were collected at 29 sites (19 beaches and 10 outfalls), from the United States border to Punta Banda, Baja California, during summer (1998) and winter (1999). Total coliforms, fecal coliforms and enterococci were used as bacterial indicators. Standard methods were used for total and fecal coliforms, while the Enterolert quick method (IDEXX) was used for the enterococci. Compared with outfalls, the beaches exceeded water quality standards by a small percent, 25.3% in summer and 17% in winter. For outfalls, the percentage of shoreline that exceeded bacterial indicator thresholds had a minor value in summer (32.7%) than in winter (50%). Sites near wastewater discharges had the lowest quality and did not meet the microbiological water quality criteria for recreational use.     

High‐frequency water quality monitoring in an urban catchment: hydrochemical dynamics,primary production and implications for the Water Framework Directive

This paper describes the hydrochemistry of a lowland, urbanised river‐system, The Cut in England, using in situ sub‐daily sampling. The Cut receives effluent discharges from four major sewage treatment works serving around 190 000 people. These discharges consist largely of treated water, originally abstracted from the River Thames and returned via the water supply network, substantially increasing the natural flow. The hourly water quality data were supplemented by weekly manual sampling with laboratory analysis to check the hourly data and measure further determinands. Mean phosphorus and nitrate concentrations were very high, breaching standards set by EU legislation. Although 56% of the catchment area is agricultural, the hydrochemical dynamics were significantly impacted by effluent discharges which accounted for approximately 50% of the annual P catchment input loads and, on average, 59% of river flow at the monitoring point. Diurnal dissolved oxygen data demonstrated high in‐stream productivity. From a comparison of high frequency and conventional monitoring data, it is inferred that much of the primary production was dominated by benthic algae, largely diatoms. Despite the high productivity and nutrient concentrations, the river water did not become anoxic, and major phytoplankton blooms were not observed. The strong diurnal and annual variation observed showed that assessments of water quality made under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) are sensitive to the time and season of sampling. It is recommended that specific sampling time windows be specified for each determinand, and that WFD targets should be applied in combination to help identify periods of greatest ecological risk. © 2015 The Authors. Hydrological Processes published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

A risk assessment model for produced water discharge from offshore petroleum platforms-development and validation

Produced water discharge accounts for the greater portion of wastes arising from offshore oil and gas production operations. Development and expansion of Canada’s offshore oil and gas reserves has led to concerns over the potential long-term impacts of produced water discharges to the ocean. To examine this emerging environmental issue at a regional scale, an integrated risk assessment approach was developed in this study based on the princeton ocean model (POM), a random walk (RW) and Monte Carlo simulation. The use of water quality standards arrayed in a Monte Carlo design in the developed approach has served to reflect uncertainties and quantify environmental risks associated with produced water discharge. The model was validated against field data from a platform operating off Canada’s east coast, demonstrating its usefulness in supporting effective management of future produced water discharge.     

Reuse of waste water: impact on water supply planning / Remploi de l'eau résiduaire: influence sur la planification des systèmes de distribution des eaux

Abstract

As the urban population of the world increases and demand on easily developable water supplies are exceeded, cities have recourse to a range of management alternatives to balance municipal water supply and demand. These alternatives range from doing nothing to modifying either the supply or the demand variable in the supply-demand relationship. The reuse or recycling of urban waste water in many circumstances may be an economically attractive and effective management strategy for extending existing supplies of developed water, for providing additional water where no developable supplies exist and for meeting water quality effluent discharge standards. The relationship among municipal, industrial and agricultural water use and the treatment links which may be required to modify the quality of a municipal waste effluent for either recycling or reuse purposes is described. A procedure is described for analysing water reuse alternatives within a framework of regional water supply and waste water disposal planning and management.     

Developing water quality standards for coastal dolphins

The EU Habitats Directive requires Member States to consider the potential impact of sewage discharges on protected wildlife populations, but efforts to reduce these threats are constrained by the lack of appropriate water quality guidelines for wildlife. In Scotland, recommendations for higher discharge standards in areas frequented by bottlenose dolphins have been criticised on the basis of scientific uncertainty. This Viewpoint article outlines the background to this issue, and discusses whether the scientific frameworks used for assessing water quality standards for human bathers can realistically be used to develop water quality standards for coastal dolphins. Importantly, it highlights that widely accepted EU standards for human bathers are based on extremely limited scientific data, and argues that unrealistic demands for empirical data from wildlife populations should not prevent more precautionary measures being introduced to reduce disease risks to these species.     

Microbiological water quality at non-human influenced reference beaches in southern California during wet weather

Although urban wet weather discharges may have elevated concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria impacting water quality at swimming beaches, not all of these bacteria may arise from human sources. In this study, the contribution of non-human fecal indicator bacteria was quantified by sampling coastal reference beaches in southern California. Samples were collected at beaches near stormwater discharges from undeveloped watersheds and analyzed for total coliform, Escherichia coli, and enterococci. Surfzone samples exceeded water quality thresholds >10 times more frequently during wet weather than dry weather. Exceedences were greatest <24 h following rainfall, then steadily declined on successive days. Early season storms exceeded thresholds more frequently, and by greater magnitude, compared to late season storms. Large storms exceeded thresholds more frequently than smaller-sized storms, partly due to the breaching of sand berms. When discharges did reach the surf zone, bacterial concentrations in the wave wash were correlated with watershed bacterial flux.     

Are toxic contaminants accumulating in Massachusetts coastal sediments following startup of the Massachusetts Bay outfall: a comprehensive comparison of baseline and post-diversion periods

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) conducts monitoring to address concerns related to the 2000 diversion of secondarily treated effluent discharge into Massachusetts Bay. Baseline data (1992-2000) showed multiple regions defined by physical and chemical composition. Near the Massachusetts Bay outfall, there is a series of heterogeneous sediments in relatively close proximity to the primary historic source of contaminants (Boston Harbor). Farfield sediments exhibited greater compositional definition from one another, which was attributed to the greater spatial separation of the sampling locations. Factors that influence contaminant variability include local and distributed sources, and are primarily related to gradients in depositional environments. Post-diversion sediment data suggest that 4 years of treated effluent discharge has not increased contaminant concentrations to the bay system. However, abundance of the sewage tracer, Clostridium perfringens, has increased variably in sediments located within 2 km of the outfall, providing a distinct effluent signal near the outfall.     

Modelling potential impacts of coalbed methane development on stream water quality in an American watershed

Coalbed methane (CBM) development raises serious environmental concerns and concerted efforts have been made to collect chemistry, salinity, and sodicity data on CBM produced water. A model is sorely needed to make use of this data to quantify potential changes in stream water quality resulting from directly and/or indirectly receiving CBM produced water, on which little information is available in the literature. However, the application of existing hydrodynamic and water quality models such as CE‐QUAL‐W2 is not straightforward because the number of outfalls is usually large and the channels poorly defined for intermittent streams in semiarid areas such as the Powder River watershed, located in the states of Wyoming and Montana. Hence, the objectives of this study were to: (1) develop a CBM produced water routing (CBMPRO) model, and (2) apply the new CBMPRO model, along with a CE‐QUAL‐W2 model, to examine potential changes in stream water quality due to CBM development in the Powder River watershed. The CBMPRO model was developed and used to chart the CBM discharge and the transport of its associated constituents (e.g. total dissolved solids and alkalinity) from an outfall to its inclusive subwatershed outlet. In turn, the outputs from the CBMPRO model were applied as inputs into the CE‐QUAL‐W2 model to predict changes in the water quantity and quality along the Powder River mainstem. The results indicate that discharges from CBM developments adversely affect the stream water quality. Compared with the baseline conditions, the developments would increase the stream flows as well as make the stream water warmer and more saline. In addition, the impacts were predicted to undergo seasonal and spatial variations and to become smaller with time, as expected. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ballast water: A threat to the Amazon Basin

Ballast water exchange (BWE) is the most efficient measure to control the invasion of exotic species from ships. This procedure is being used for merchant ships in national and international voyages. The ballast water (BW) salinity is the main parameter to evaluate the efficacy of the mid-ocean ballast water exchange. The vessels must report to the Port State Control (PSC), via ballast water report (BWR), where and how the mid-ocean BWE was performed. This measure allows the PSC to analyze this information before the ship arrives at the port, and to decide whether or not it should berth.Ship BW reporting forms were collected from the Captaincy of Santana and some ships were visited near the Port of Santana, located in Macapá (Amazon River), to evaluate the BW quality onboard. We evaluated data submitted in these BWR forms and concluded that the BWE efficacy might be compromised, because data contained in these BWR indicate that some ships did not change their BW. We found mistakes in filling the BWR forms and lack of information. Moreover, these ships had discharged BW with high level of salinity, Escherichia coli and total coliforms into the Amazon River. We concluded that the authorities of the Amazon Region need to develop more efficient proceedings to evaluate the ballast water reporting forms and BW quality, as there is potential risk of future invasion of exotic species in Brazilian ports.     

Longitudinal impacts of anthropogenic pressures on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in a large transboundary Mediterranean river during the low flow period

Changes in lotic benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages along the transboundary Axios‐Vardar River (Greece – Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia) were examined in order to identify major anthropogenic impacts correlated to the benthic community composition during the low flow season. Macrozoobenthos and water samples were collected from 21 sites during summer 2000 and beginning of autumn 2001. Parallel to sampling, the recording of the physical structure of the sites took place using the River Habitat Survey (RHS) method. The multivariate techniques of FUZZY and Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA), as well as the Hellenic biotic score (HES) and the habitat quality scores (HMS, HQA) were applied to the data. Total dissolved solids and total suspended solids were found to be the primary factors affecting the structure of the observed communities. Additionally, species composition responded to anthropogenic activities, e. g. untreated sewage effluents, industrial discharges, agricultural runoff, intense water abstraction and impoundment. As expected, macrozoobenthos community composition shifted from sensitive to tolerant taxa where human impacts were most evident.     

Water quality monitoring in the Paul do Boquilobo Biosphere Reserve

The Paul do Boquilobo is an important wetland ecosystem classified by Unesco as a MAB Biosphere reserve also awarded Ramsar site status, representing one of the most important habitats for the resident nesting colony of Cattle Egret (Bulbucus ibis). Yet owing to its location, it suffers from human induced impacts which include industrial and domestic effluent discharges as well as agricultural land use which have negatively impacted water quality. The current study reports the results obtained from the introductory monitoring programme of surface water quality in the Nature Reserve to emphasize the detrimental impact of the anthropogenic activities in the water quality of such an important ecosystem. The study involved physicochemical and biotic variables, microbial parameters and biological indicators. Results after 3 years of monitoring bring to evidence a poor water quality further impaired by seasonal patterns. Statistical analysis of data attributed water quality variation to 3 main parameters – pH, dissolved oxygen and nitrates, indicating heavy contamination loads from both organic and agricultural sources. Seasonality plays a role in water flow and climatic conditions, where sampling sites presented variable water quality data, suggesting a depurative function of the wetland.     

Particle Size Distribution Analysis of Chemical Oxygen Demand Fractions with Different Biodegradation Characteristics in Black Water and Gray Water

The study investigated the particle size distribution of major organic pollutants in black water and gray water fractions of domestic sewage. Particle size distribution was assessed by means of a filtration/ultrafiltration sequence together with laser diffraction. Emphasis was placed upon the correlation between the size distribution of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and its biodegradation characteristics obtained by respirometric analysis. Particle size distribution analysis provided specific fingerprints for COD, total organic carbon (TOC), carbohydrates, proteins, and color for black water and gray water: Aside from significant difference between COD contents, the more concentrated COD was predominantly in particulate form in black water, whereas soluble COD accounted for nearly 60% of the total in gray water. TOC and carbohydrate exhibited a similar pattern. Size distribution of particulate matter yielded different characteristics for the two fractions and indicated that settleable matter should be considered as a significant portion in assessing biodegradation. Particle size distribution of COD, although not directly related, gave an accurate image of biodegradation, indicating that particle size was basically the main parameter for differentiating and predicting major COD fractions with different biodegradation characteristics. It explained the dual hydrolysis mechanism associated with the black water based on the existence of a significant settleable COD fraction.     

Effect of sampling frequency on shoreline microbiology assessments.

More than 80,000 shoreline bacteriological samples are collected annually in southern California to protect beachgoer health, but sampling frequency varies from daily to monthly among sampling sites. To assess the effectiveness of various sampling frequencies, we used five years of data from 24 Los Angeles area sites that have been monitored daily to simulate five alternative sampling strategies: five weekdays, five days per week including a weekend day, three days per week, weekly, and monthly. For each of these sampling strategies, we included in the simulation the local custom of adaptive sampling, in which a site is resampled the following day if bacterial concentrations exceed the State of California's beach water quality standards. We found that sampling five times per week resulted in observing about 80% of the events in which State standards were exceeded. This frequency dropped to 55%, 25%, and 5% for three times per week, weekly, and monthly sampling, respectively. Adaptive sampling was ineffective because nearly 70% of the water quality exceedences were single-day events, even at the most frequently contaminated sites. This high frequency of single-day events is of concern because the public is typically notified about water quality conditions 24-48 h after samples are collected, meaning that most warnings are out-of-date when they are issued.     

A synthesis of dominant ecological processes in intensive shrimp ponds and adjacent coastal environments in NE Australia

One of the key environmental concerns about shrimp farming is the discharge of waters with high levels of nutrients and suspended solids into adjacent waterways. In this paper we synthesize the results of our multidisciplinary research linking ecological processes in intensive shrimp ponds with their downstream impacts in tidal, mangrove-lined creeks. The incorporation of process measurements and bioindicators, in addition to water quality measurements, improved our understanding of the effect of shrimp farm discharges on the ecological health of the receiving water bodies. Changes in water quality parameters were an oversimplification of the ecological effects of water discharges, and use of key measures including primary production rates, phytoplankton responses to nutrients, community shifts in zooplankton and delta15N ratios in marine plants have the potential to provide more integrated and robust measures. Ultimately, reduction in nutrient discharges is most likely to ensure the future sustainability of the industry.     

Twenty years of Belgian North Sea aerial surveillance: a quantitative analysis of results confirms effectiveness of international oil pollution legislation

Over the years many policy measures have been taken to prevent illegal oil discharges from ships, like the MARPOL 73/78 Convention (1983) and the Bonn Agreement (1969/1983). However, the number of discharges remained high, leading to chronic oiling of seabirds and sensitive coastlines, therefore further measures were taken. The aim of this study is to quantify the effectiveness of two key legislative regulations: the IMO-designation of the North Sea as MARPOL Special Area which took effect in 1999, and the adoption of the EU Directive on Port Reception Facilities in 2000. Under study is the heavily navigated Belgian Surveillance Area, monitored since 1991, characterised by shallow waters with ecologically important sandbanks. The aerial surveillance data from 1991 to 2010 show a stepwise decrease in ship-source oil pollution. Three time periods can be distinguished with two turning points coinciding with the actual implementation of these key legislative measures, confirming their effectiveness.     

Bestimmung von Umweltqualitätsnormen für potenziell gewässerrelevante Stoffe

With the Water Framework Directive (WFD) the European Commission (EC) is requested to define environmental quality standards for pollutants to protect aquatic life in surface waters. Quality standards have to be derived by a scientific risk assessment and should not be exceeded. The recommended quality standards are mainly based on long term toxicological tests with algae, crustaceans and fish. The lowest effect concentration is divided by an assessment factor between 10 and 1000, which considers the data quality and quantity. In this work funded by the German Länder Working Party on Water (Länderarbeitsgemeinschaft Wasser – LAWA) environmental quality standards for 40 considered relevant substances were derived for aquatic ecosystems. The data sheets cover the identification of the compounds, their behaviour in the environment (physical‐chemical properties, biotic and abiotic degradation, sorption, bioaccumulation), information about mode of action, uses, analytical determination and available quality criteria. Ecotoxicological effect concentrations for bacteria, algae, protozoa, aquatic plants, crustaceans, fish, amphibians, insects and molluscs are listed. For 17 of the 40 hazardous substances investigated, quality objectives above 1 μg/L were derived. For 12 substances the values were between 0.1 μg/L and 1 μg/L and for 5 substances lower than 0.1 μg/L. Incomplete ecotoxicological data sets of the remaining compounds do not allow the derivation of quality standards. Especially for drugs further ecotoxicological test results are needed.     

Effects of urbanization on stream water quality in the city of Atlanta,Georgia, USA

A long‐term stream water quality monitoring network was established in the city of Atlanta, Georgia during 2003 to assess baseline water quality conditions and the effects of urbanization on stream water quality. Routine hydrologically based manual stream sampling, including several concurrent manual point and equal width increment sampling, was conducted ～12 times annually at 21 stations, with drainage areas ranging from 3·7 to 232 km². Eleven of the stations are real‐time (RT) stations having continuous measures of stream stage/discharge, pH, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, water temperature and turbidity, and automatic samplers for stormwater collection. Samples were analyzed for field parameters, and a broad suite of water quality and sediment‐related constituents. Field parameters and concentrations of major ions, metals, nutrient species and coliform bacteria among stations were evaluated and with respect to watershed characteristics and plausible sources from 2003 through September 2007. Most constituent concentrations are much higher than nearby reference streams. Concentrations are statistically different among stations for several constituents, despite high variability both within and among stations. Routine manual sampling, automatic sampling during stormflows and RT water quality monitoring provided sufficient information about urban stream water quality variability to evaluate causes of water quality differences among streams. Fecal coliform bacteria concentrations of most samples exceeded Georgia's water quality standard for any water‐usage class. High chloride concentrations occur at three stations and are hypothesized to be associated with discharges of chlorinated combined sewer overflows, drainage of swimming pool(s) and dissolution and transport during rainstorms of CaCl₂, a deicing salt applied to roads during winter storms. One stream was affected by dissolution and transport of ammonium alum [NH₄Al(SO₄)₂] from an alum‐manufacturing plant; streamwater has low pH (<5), low alkalinity and high metals concentrations. Several trace metals exceed acute and chronic water quality standards and high concentrations are attributed to washoff from impervious surfaces. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Developing environmental standards for abstractions from UK rivers to implement the EU Water Framework Directive / Développement de standards environnementaux sur les prélèvements d'eau en rivière au Royaume Uni pour la mise en œuvre de la directive cadre sur l'eau de l'Union Européenne

Abstract

Under the European Union Water Framework Directive, Member States must put in place a river basin planning framework to determine what measures are necessary to maintain and improve the ecological status for all surface water bodies. The governmental organisations legally responsible for implementing the Directive in the UK have recognised that an appropriate river flow regime is fundamental to maintain a healthy river and, as a result, they need to regulate abstractions and effluent discharges and ensure sufficient water is released from impoundments. This paper reports on the process of producing environmental standards that define the maximum abstraction allowable from UK rivers, to leave sufficient flow to maintain a healthy river ecosystem. As there are currently insufficient data available to determine the relationships between river flow and ecological status empirically, expert knowledge was captured through a series of workshops at which leading UK freshwater scientists defined maximum levels of river flow regime alteration that would achieve ecological objectives for different river water body types. For the least ecologically sensitive rivers, maximum abstractions in the range 15–35% of the natural flow were proposed, depending on the flow magnitude and time of year. For the most sensitive rivers, the maximum abstraction proposed was in the range 7.5–25%. The knowledge was used by the responsible UK authorities to develop environmental standards. The authorities subsequently used the environmental standards to determine regulatory standards that could be implemented within practical constraints and current licensing policies.     

Subsurface Transport of Inorganic and Organic Solutes from Experimental Road Spreading of Oil-Field Brine

A study designed to evaluate ground water quality changes resulting from spreading oil-field brine on roads for ice and dust control was conducted using a gravel roadbed that received weekly applications of brine eight times during the winter phase and 11 times during the summer phase of the study. A network of 11 monitoring wells and five pressure-vacuum lysimeters was installed to obtain ground water and soil water samples. Thirteen sets of water- quality samples were collected and analyzed for major ions, trace metals, and volatile organic compounds. Two sets of samples were taken prior to brine spreading, four sets during winter-phase spreading, five sets during summer- phase spreading, and two sets during the interim between the winter and summer phases. A brine plume delineated by elevated specific-conductance values and elevated chloride concentrations developed downgradient of the roadbed during both the winter and summer phases. The brine plume caused chloride concentrations in ground water samples to exceed U.S. EPA public drinking-water standards by two-fold during the winter phase and five-fold during the summer phase. No other major ions, trace metals, or volatile organic compounds exceeded the standards during the winter or summer phases. More than 99 percent dilution of the solutes in the brine occurred between the roadbed surface and the local ground water flow system. Further attenuation of calcium, sodium, potassium, and strontium resulted from adsorption, whereas further attenuation of benzene resulted from volatilization and adsorption.