Nutrient flux in the Rhode River: Tidal transport of microorganisms in brackish marshes

Concentrations of bacteria, chlorophyll a, and several dissolved organic compounds were determined during 11 tidal cycles throughout the year in a high and a low elevation marsh of a brackish tidal estuary. Mean bacterial concentrations were slightly higher in flooding (7·1 × 10⁶ cells ml⁻¹) than in ebbing waters (6·5 × 10⁶ cells ml⁻¹), and there were no differences between marshes. Mean chlorophyll a concentrations were 36·7 μg l⁻¹ in the low marsh and 20·4 μg l⁻¹ in the high marsh. Flux calculations, based on tidal records and measured concentrations, suggested a small net import of bacterial and algal biomass into both marshes. Over the course of individual tidal cycles, concentrations of all parameters were variable and not related to tidal stage. Heterotrophic activity measured by the uptake of ³H-thymidine, was found predominantly in the smallest particle size fractions (< 1·0 μm). Thymidine uptake was correlated with temperature (r = 0·48, P < 0·01), and bacterial productivity was estimated to be 7 to 42 μg Cl⁻¹ day⁻¹.     

Zum Einfluß von Sauerstoffkonzentration und pH-Wert bei der heterotrophen Denitrifikation Heterotrophic Denitrification: The Influence of Oxygen and pH Value

A demonstration plant for biological heterotrophic water treatment of nitrate polluted groundwater has been operated in Coswig near Dresden since 1989. In this NEBIO tube reactor process the denitrification is achieved in a downstream fluidized bed with continuous regeneration of sintered polystyrene particles as inert carrier material. A nutrient consisting of ethanol and phosphate is dosed in the reactor influent. In the subsequent treatment stages the denitrified water is aerated, filtered through a multilayer and GAC filter, and is finally disinfected with chlorine gas. The influence of changing raw water quality (oxygen content, pH value) on the process performance was examined. Increasing oxygen concentration lowers the nitrate reduction potential and rises the consumptive ratio ΔC/ΔNO₃. The technology shows a high removal performance of 270 g NO₃ m^?3 h^?1 in the range of pH 6.2 to pH 7.3 which is typical for natural groundwaters. The degradation of nitrate is increasingly inhibited for pH values beyond 7.6. Nitrite production occurs significantly in high pH ranges. The results lead to further insight in the stoichiometry of heterotrophic denitrification. By expressing the stoichiometric equations for nitrate and oxygen respiration as functions of oxygen and pH value it could be shown that the influent water quality has strong effects on the consumption of ethanol. A kinetic model was developed to predict the reactor performance under changing raw water conditions. A two stage kinetic model was designed, regarding two main effects: biochemical degradation of oxygen, nitrate and ethanol and distribution of active biomass due to hydraulic properties of the tube reactor. This model may be helpful for reactor design for sites of various ground water qualities.     

Variation of the Chemistry of the Dead Sea Brine as Consequence of the Decreasing Water Level

For many years, the Dead Sea suffers from an annual inflow deficiency of about one billion cubic meters, flood and baseflow. The water level changes are related to the majority of surface water inflows diverted for irrigation purposes, in addition to intensive loss of water by the high rate of evaporation and industrial water use. This causes the Dead Sea water level to decline about 35 m within the last 50 years for a long-term average of about 0.79 m per year. The changes in the hydrochemical composition were simulated experimentally to determine the changes that take place as a function of brine water evaporation level and its density. The Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and the density of the Dead Sea water varies as a function of its water evaporation level changes. It was found that the density variation is not following a linear function with respect to water volume changes. But it follows the total amount of precipitate that occurred at different water levels. The electrical conductivity (EC) changes with respect to time and the prevailing temperature. There was no formula to calculate the high salinity of brine water above the normal ocean water. Consequently, the EC measurements were adopted to represent the Dead Sea water salinity. But in this research a converging factor (0.80971) has been found to convert the TDS values into salinity values. On contrary, the pH values revealed an inverse relationship with respect to the evaporation levels.