The Problem of Reducing the Diffuse Pollution of Water Bodies and Improving the Efficiency of Water Protection Programs

Water Resources - Regularities in the formation of diffuse pollution of water bodies are discussed as their understanding is required for the development of an adequate water-protection strategy....     

Development of a Prototype of an Expert System for Decision Making Support in Optimizing Measures Aimed to Protect Water Objects from Diffuse Pollution: Case Study of the Volga Basin

Water Resources - A prototype of an expert system for decision-making support in optimizing measures aimed to protect pilot water objects from diffuse pollution in the Volga basin was developed...     

Diffuse Pollution of Water Bodies and Estimation of Export of Biogenic Elements under Different Scenarios of Water Use in the Watershed

Water Resources - The notion of diffuse pollution process in water bodies of different dimensions is formulated. An algorithm is given for calculating the average annual volume of the export of...     

Development and application of a catchment scale diffuse nitrate modelling tool

Water pollution from diffuse sources is a problem of increasing concern. Efforts to control diffuse pollution have been confined mainly to agricultural land and forests. Little attention has been paid to sources of diffuse pollution from urban areas. A diffuse nitrate modelling tool (DNMT) has been developed for modelling the fate of nitrate in urban areas. This tool works at the catchment scale and has a modular structure that consists of three components: the hydrological module, the nitrogen cycle module and the nitrate transport module. The hydrological model describes the possible flow pathways. The nitrogen cycle model accounts for the mass balance of nitrate and calculates the amount of nitrate for potential loss. The nitrate transport module simulates the movement of nitrate within and from the soil to the receiving water. This paper demonstrates the development of the tool and its application in the White Cart Water catchment. This implementation of the tool shows that it has a good capability for simulating the fate of nitrate in urban catchments. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling water fluxes for the analysis of diffuse pollution at the river basin scale

Diffuse pollution is a significant and sometimes even major component of surface water pollution. Diffuse inputs of pollutants to the surface water are related to runoff of precipitation. This means that the analysis of diffuse pollutant fluxes from the land surface to the surface water requires an analysis of water fluxes. In this paper we have modelled the average long‐term total runoff, groundwater recharge index and groundwater residence times for two large European river basins (Rhine and Elbe). We applied and compared two independently developed and recently published methods. We found that with the available large‐scale databases and methods we could simulate successfully the regional patterns of the average long‐term total runoff. The reported groundwater recharge indices and groundwater residence times should be interpreted as estimates based on available knowledge and databases. They do not represent absolute values, but illustrate the possible travel times and spatial patterns of the different runoff components that have to be taken into account for the analysis of diffuse pollution at large regional and temporal scales. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Studying the Formation Features and the Extent of Diffuse Pollution Formed by Large Industrial Complexes: Case Study of the Solikamsk–Berezniki Industrial Hub

Water Resources - The issues of formation and assessment of diffuse pollution of water objects in the zones near large mining and chemical industrial complexes are discussed. The study object is...     

Pesticides in the River Rhine Pestizide im Rhein

Since 1987 significant decrease of pesticide concentrations in the river Rhine has been observed. This is due to the improvement of waste water treatment processes and the closing of some pesticide production sites in the Rhine basin area. Whereas in the last years point pollution from waste water effluents was the dominant source for pesticide input into the river, nowadays the nonpoint pollution (diffuse runoff) becomes more and more important. This leads to seasonal occurrence or to higher concentration peaks after application in agriculture. Only for atrazine and its metabolite desethylatrazine very low ?background”?-levels could regularly be found along the river and all over the year. Furthermore pesticide metabolites and byproducts seem to be interesting for evaluating pesticide pollution in the river Rhine.     

Water quality in rural areas of the Czech Republic: Key study Slapanka River catchment

The article evaluates the water quality in rural areas in the Czech part of Labe River catchment using the example of Slapanka River catchment. This river drains a typical landscape of Ceskomoravska Highland. Water quality in rural areas is still very low and the attention is paid to organic substances and nutrients. Increased amount of them in streams is caused mainly by agriculture and production of municipal wastewater resulting in increased eutrophication. A significant part of the article consists in the evaluation of point and non-point sources of water pollution. Identifying the type of the pollution source is helped by regression analysis using data from the public monitoring network. Eleven sampling sites were selected for evaluating the water quality. Physical and chemical analyses were made 12 times during the field monitoring in the years 2001–2003.In long-term development water quality has improved in all monitored parameters during the last 15 years. Least significant improvement has been found with the concentration of nitrate nitrogen. The water quality within the whole catchment area still remains low.To reduce the influence of pollution sources, we recommend the sanitation of diffuse sources of pollution from small settlements with less than 2000 inhabitants, and a successive change from agricultural management and intensive mass production to extensive ways, especially in mountain and sub-mountain areas.     

An approach to catchment‐scale groundwater nitrate risk assessment from diffuse agricultural sources: a case study in the Upper Bann,Northern Ireland

DRASTIC has drawbacks in groundwater risk assessment that are important in guiding activities to prevention agricultural diffuse groundwater pollution. This paper presents an improved and GIS‐based D‐DRASTIC approach for groundwater nitrate risk assessment from diffuse agricultural sources based on DRASTIC. D‐DRASTIC considers the risk concept, nitrate loading, pollutant transport with runoff, depth to water, net recharge, aquifer media, soil media, topography, impact of the vadose zone media, and the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer. D‐DRASTIC was developed within an ArcGIS environment and applied to the Upper Bann Catchment, Northern Ireland as a case study. D‐DRASTIC shows that ‘very high’ and ‘high’ zones of groundwater nitrate risk occupy 5% and 11% of the case study area, respectively. When considering groundwater pollution sources and pathways, the results using D‐DRASTIC are helpful in guiding the activities of groundwater pollution prevention at the catchment scale in the context of better implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of Razdol’naya River on the environmental state of Amur Bay (the Sea of Japan)

Seasonal variations in biogenic substances (nitrates, nitrites, ammonium, phosphates, and silicates), dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic matter, chlorophyll, humus, and suspended matter at seven stations on the Razdol’naya River are examined. Based on seasonal variations, the local sources of river water pollution by biogenic substances were identified. The annual and daily fluxes of biogenic substances through the Razdol’naya River into Amur Bay are calculated. A diffuse pollution source—agricultural fields in river valley—are shown to be the main source of biogenic substance fluxes. The vast hypoxia in the bottom water of Amur Bay, detected by the authors in 2007 and 2008, is supposed to be mostly caused by floods on the Razdol’naya R., which create favorable conditions of water blooming in Amur Bay in summer. The biomass of dead phytoplankton, experiencing microbiological decomposition and oxidation, causes hypoxia of bottom waters in the bay.     

Catchment-scale vulnerability assessment of groundwater pollution from diffuse sources using the DRASTIC method: a case study

Abstract

The catchment-scale groundwater vulnerability assessment that delineates zones representing different levels of groundwater susceptibility to contaminants from diffuse agricultural sources has become an important element in groundwater pollution prevention for the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). This paper evaluates the DRASTIC method using an ArcGIS platform for assessing groundwater vulnerability in the Upper Bann catchment, Northern Ireland. Groundwater vulnerability maps of both general pollutants and pesticides in the study area were generated by using data on the factors depth to water, net recharge, aquifer media, soil media, topography, impact of vadose zone, and hydraulic conductivity, as defined in DRASTIC. The mountain areas in the study area have “high” (in 4.5% of the study area) or “moderate” (in 25.5%) vulnerability for general pollutants due to high rainfall, net recharge and soil permeability. However, by considering the diffuse agricultural sources, the mountain areas are actually at low groundwater pollution risk. The results of overlaying the maps of land use and the groundwater vulnerability are closer to the reality. This study shows that the DRASTIC method is helpful for guiding the prevention practices of groundwater pollution at the catchment scale in the UK.

Citation Yang, Y. S. & Wang, L. (2010 Yang, Y. S. and Wang, L. 2010. A review of modelling tools for implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive in handling diffuse water pollution. Water Resour. Manage., 24: 1819–1843.  [Google Scholar]) Catchment scale vulnerability assessment of groundwater pollution from diffuse sources using the DRASTIC method: a case study. Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(7), 1206–1216.     

The beachwatch pollution monitoring programme: Changing priorities to recognize changed circumstances

Since the commissioning of the three major deepwater outfalls in Sydney, there has been a dramatic improvement in general beach water quality at Sydney's ocean beaches. This has required the NSW Environment Protection Authority's Beachwatch Programme to shift from assessing the impacts of gross sewage pollution due to nearshore outfalls to more diffuse pollution from stormwater and sewer overflows.

The visual indicators of gross sewage pollution originally used by Beachwatch for the daily assessment of bacterial water quality are now of limited value. General linear models (with multiple effects) were constructed to identify the secondary indicators which best describe the levels of bacterial contamination due to stormwater pollution. Data from four representative Sydney beaches were modelled separately due to the site-specific effects of pollution sources and hydrodynamics. Factors which were built into the models and were known on the day of prediction were rain amount, presence of stormwater material, the maximum daily stormwater rating, drain or lagoon flows at the time of sampling, and the drain/lagoon bacterial concentration two days before sampling.

Results indicate that there is a general linear relationship between visual indicators and bacterial density; however, the reliability of the prediction on a daily basis is poor and rainfall alone as a predictor is equivalent to or better than visual assessment alone. The primary source of information for the preparation of Beachwatch daily pollution bulletins now is rainfall reports from a telemetered network of rain gauges along the coast. This is a more cost-effective approach and has allowed the reallocation of resources to address more directly the problem of stormwater pollution at higher risk beaches.     

Future trends in transport and fate of diffuse contaminants in catchments,with special emphasis on stable isotope applications

A summary is provided of the first of a series of proposed Integrated Science Initiative workshops supported by the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme. The workshop brought together hydrologists, environmental chemists, microbiologists, stable isotope specialists and natural resource managers with the purpose of communicating new ideas on ways to assess microbial degradation processes and reactive transport at catchment scales. The focus was on diffuse contamination at catchment scales and the application of compound‐specific isotope analysis (CSIA) in the assessment of biological degradation processes of agrochemicals. Major outcomes were identifying the linkage between water residence time distribution and rates of contaminant degradation, identifying the need for better information on compound specific microbial degradation isotope fractionation factors and the potential of CSIA in identifying key degradative processes. In the natural resource management context, a framework was developed where CSIA techniques were identified as practically unique in their capacity to serve as distributed integrating indicators of process across a range of scales (micro to diffuse) of relevance to the problem of diffuse pollution assessment. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于梯度扩散薄膜技术(DGT)的氨基生物炭覆盖沉积物水界面铜、铅释放研究

湖泊沉积物的重金属污染防治一直是环境领域的热点问题.本研究采用氨基生物炭作为覆盖材料,利用梯度扩散薄膜技术(DGT),研究了上覆水不同pH及水流扰动条件下Cu(Ⅱ)、Pb(Ⅱ)在沉积物水界面间的原位释放特征,以及氨基生物炭对湖泊沉积物重金属污染的原位修复效果.研究结果表明,在0 r/min或100 r/min水动力条件下,可移动态重金属离子有不断由沉积物向其他介质扩散的趋势,1.81 kg/m 2的氨基生物炭覆盖强度可降低Cu(Ⅱ)、Pb(Ⅱ)释放通量达89%以上,有效减小了水环境中重金属的潜在生态风险.在pH=5的酸性及pH=9的碱性水环境中原位修复效果较差,水体中大量的H+或络合物均会削弱氨基生物炭对重金属离子的吸附,当上覆水在pH=7的中性条件时原位修复效果最佳.100 r/min水流扰动下的上覆水Cu(Ⅱ)、Pb(Ⅱ)含量在释放平衡时较0 r/min条件下高出0.036~0.096μg/mL,说明高强度的水流扰动易造成覆盖材料的扬起和浮动,导致覆盖材料与重金属发生解吸.     

太湖诱变剂污染调查分析

应用蚕豆根尖细胞微核试验监测太湖水污染,结果表明太湖诱变剂污染轻,分布面积小,限于西北湖区,污染分布及程度受水位状况影响较大。微核指标和其他理化性质指标互为补充,被用于评价太湖水质,并就太湖水湖保护及污染控制提出了若干建议     

Designing river water quality policy interventions with scarce data: the case of the Middle Tagus Basin,Spain

ABSTRACT

Anthropic pressures deteriorate river water quality, so authorities need to identify their causes and define corrective actions. Physically based water quality models are a useful tool for addressing physicochemical pollutants, but they must be calibrated with an amount of data that is often unavailable. In this study, we explore the characterization of a model to design corrective interventions in a context of sparse data. A calibration indicator that is both simple and flexible is proposed. This approach is applied to the Middle Tagus Basin in central Spain, where the physicochemical concentration of pollutants is above legal standards. We quantify the effects of the main existing pressures (discharge from wastewater treatment plants, agricultural diffuse pollution and a major inter-basin water transfer) on the receiving waters. In particular, the study finds that wastewater treatment plant effluent concentrations should be reduced to up to 0.65 mg/L of ammonium and 0.55 mg/L of phosphate to achieve the environmental goals. We propose and prioritize a set of policy actions that would contribute to the good status of surface water bodies in the region.     

Nitrogen Removal in Vegetated and Unvegetated Drainage Ditches Impacted by Diffuse and Point Sources of Pollution

Secondary drainage canals have the potential to effectively mitigate excess nitrogen loads from diffuse and point sources. In vegetated (Phragmites australis and Typha latifolia) and in unvegetated canals subjected to diffuse and point pollution, nitrogen removal was evaluated by means of simple in–out mass balance and potential uptake by macrophytes was estimated from biomass data. Results suggest an elevated control of nitrogen in vegetated ditches receiving point source of pollution (average abatement of 50% of the total N load per linear km), whereas removal processes are much less effective in unvegetated ditches. The comparison between net abatement and plant uptake, highlights the presence of other unaccounted for processes responsible for a relevant percentage of total N removal. Overall, results from this study suggest the importance of actions aiming at the appropriate management of emergent vegetation, in order to improve its direct and indirect metabolic functions and maximize nitrogen removal in impacted watersheds.     

Methodological approaches to pollution assessment in water bodies within the operation zone of mining plants

A series of methods for assessing water body pollution by chemical characteristics are considered as applied to water bodies in the operation zone of mining plants. In some methods, the estimate of water body pollution may reflect regional features of waters, rather than their pollution. Evaluating the environmentally allowable concentrations of elements and their biogeochemical tolerance has shown those values to increase with increasing water body pollution, a fact that contradicts the essence of those characteristics. The most simple and universal is a procedure for evaluating water pollution index with the use of regional MACs, taking into account the geochemical background concentrations of the elements and their toxicity using as a criterion the value of MAC for water bodies used for fishery.     

太湖地区农业源污染核算研究进展

太湖地区水体污染严重,控制太湖污染、改善太湖水质,对发挥太湖的综合服务功能,促进全流域经济可持续发展和社会稳定具有重要的战略意义.充分把握和核算太湖地区农业源污染排放量、入河量及其时空分布是落实太湖地区污染物科学减排从而进一步改善太湖水质的基础.本研究总结和概述了太湖地区农业源污染现有的核算方法、产排污参数、控制途径等,结合太湖地区农业源污染构成、排放与布局的复杂情况,提出综合运用各种核算研究方法,充分考虑各污染来源,确定农业源污染的产污量、排污量和入河量,并通过建立分期、分区、细分类型的农业源污染排放、入河参数,为科学确定农业源污染减排指标以及制定减排措施提供依据.