Baseline concentrations of faecal sterols and assessment of sewage input into different inlets of Admiralty Bay,King George Island,Antarctica

The Antarctic region is one of the best preserved environments in the world. However, human activities such as the input of sewage result in the alteration of this pristine site. We report baseline values of faecal sterols in Admiralty Bay, Antarctica. Four sediment cores were collected during the 2006/2007 austral summer at the Ezcurra (THP and BAR), Mackelar (REF) and Martel (BTP) inlets. Concentrations of faecal sterols (coprostanol + epicoprostanol) were <0.16 μg g⁻¹, suggesting no sewage contamination and probable “biogenic” contributions for these compounds. Baseline values, calculated using the mean concentration of faecal sterols in core layers for THP, BAR, REF and BTP, were 0.04 ± 0.02, 0.03 ± 0.01, 0.07 ± 0.01 and 0.04 ± 0.02 μg g⁻¹, respectively. These results established as natural contributions of faecal sterols, suggesting that these markers can be useful indicators of human-derived faecal input and contributing to monitoring programs to prevent anthropogenic impacts.     

Benthic changes at McMurdo Station, Antarctica following local sewage treatment and regional iceberg-mediated productivity decline

McMurdo Station, the largest research station in Antarctica, ceased on-site garbage dumping in 1988 and initiated sewage treatment in 2003. In 2003-2004 its sea-ice regime was altered by the massive B-15A and C-19 iceberg groundings in the Ross Sea, approximately 100 km distant. Here we follow macrofaunal response to these changes relative to a baseline sampled since 1988. In the submarine garbage dump, surface contaminants levels have declined but associated macrofaunal recolonization is not yet evident. Although sewage-associated macrofauna were still abundant around the outfall nearly 2 yr after initiation of treatment, small changes downcurrent as far as 434 m from the outfall suggest some community recovery. Widespread community changes in 2003-2004, not seen in the decade previously, suggests that the benthos collectively responded to major changes in sea-ice regime and phytoplankton production caused by the iceberg groundings.     

What history reveals about Forge River pollution on Long Island, New York’s south shore

Fifty years ago, the Forge River and Moriches Bay, of Long Island’s south shore lagoonal system, achieved notoriety when their polluted conditions were alluded to in a report of the US President’s Science Advisory Committee (1965). The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution investigated the bay throughout the 1950s, identifying duck farming as the cause of “objectionable”, “highly contaminated” conditions of these waters.Much has changed: duck farming declined; the river was dredged to remove polluted sediments, improve navigation; and barrier island inlets stabilized. Yet, the river remains seasonally eutrophic.Why? This paper reviews what occurred in the Forge River watershed. While governments aggressively curtailed the impacts of duck pollution, they failed to manage development and sewage pollution. The Forge experience indicates that watershed management is a continuing governmental responsibility as development accelerates. Otherwise, we will always be looking for that instantaneous remediation that is usually not affordable and is socially contentious.     

真空负载方式对疏浚淤泥脱水过程中脱水规律的影响

采用自主改装的变压头黏土渗透仪,模拟疏浚淤泥脱水过程中水分在淤泥颗粒多孔介质中的迁移运动过程,通过测定疏浚淤泥脱水过程中渗透系数与过滤常数、渗水量与滤液量、泥饼含水率与孔隙率,探究了负载压力为100 kPa时,不同负载方式（负载时间及负载压力梯度变化）对疏浚淤泥脱水过程中过滤和渗流规律的影响。研究发现：负载下的过滤和渗流同时进行,负载1 h期间,前期0～40 min内过滤占主导地位,后期40～60 min内渗流起关键作用。负载压力梯度由原来1 h内间隔变化1次,变为以20 kPa为梯度递增变化5次,随着压力变化梯度减小,渗透系数、过滤常数增加,淤泥脱水性能得到较明显的改善,并且前期负载压力越小,脱水效果越好。     

Temporal and spatial variations in nutrient stoichiometry and regulation of phytoplankton biomass in Hong Kong waters: influence of the Pearl River outflow and sewage inputs

In 2001, the Hong Kong government implemented the Harbor Area Treatment Scheme (HATS) under which 70% of the sewage that had been formerly discharged into Victoria Harbor is now collected and sent to Stonecutters Island Sewage Works where it receives chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT), and is then discharged into waters west of the Harbor. The relocation of the sewage discharge will possibly change the nutrient dynamics and phytoplankton biomass in this area. Therefore, there is a need to examine the factors that regulate phytoplankton growth in Hong Kong waters in order to understand future impacts. Based on a historic nutrient data set (1986-2001), a comparison of ambient nutrient ratios with the Redfield ratio (N:P:Si=16:1:16) showed clear spatial variations in the factors that regulate phytoplankton biomass along a west (estuary) to east (coastal/oceanic) transect through Hong Kong waters. Algal biomass was constrained by a combination of low light conditions, a rapid change in salinity, and strong turbulent mixing in western waters throughout the year. Potential stoichiometric Si limitation (up to 94% of the cases in winter) occurred in Victoria Harbor due to the contribution of sewage effluent with high N and P enrichment all year, except for summer when the frequency of stoichiometric Si limitation (48%) was the same as P, owing to the influence of the high Si in the Pearl River discharge. In the eastern waters, potential N limitation and N and P co-limitation occurred in autumn and winter respectively, because of the dominance of coastal/oceanic water with low nutrients and low N:P ratios. In contrast, potential Si limitation occurred in spring and a switch to potential N, P and Si limitation occurred in eastern waters in summer. In southern waters, there was a shift from P limitation (80%) in summer due to the influence of the N-rich Pearl River discharge, to N limitation (68%) in autumn, and to N and P co-limitation in winter due to the dominance of N-poor oceanic water from the oligotrophic South China Sea. Our results show clear temporal and spatial variations in the nutrient stoichiometry which indicates potential regulation of phytoplankton biomass in HK waters due to the combination of the seasonal exchange of the Pearl River discharge and oceanic water, sewage effluent inputs, and strong hydrodynamic mixing from SW monsoon winds in summer and the NE monsoon winds in winter.     

Toxicity of a secondary-treated sewage effluent to marine biota in Bass Strait, Australia: development of action trigger values for a toxicity monitoring program

Melbourne Water's Eastern Treatment Plant (ETP) produces a secondary-treated sewage effluent which is chlorinated and discharged into Bass Strait at Boags Rocks, Victoria, Australia. Disappearance of the sensitive brown seaweed Hormosira banksii from rock platforms immediately adjacent to the shore-line discharge was identified in the early 1990s. Subsequently, Melbourne Water and CSIRO undertook an environmental impact assessment and review of land and marine effluent disposal options, which included ambient water quality monitoring, biological monitoring, bioaccumulation studies and toxicity testing of existing effluent to assess the nature and magnitude of the environmental effects. This paper presents data from the toxicity monitoring programs since 2001. Chronic toxicity testing using macroalgal germination and cell division (H. banksii), microalgal growth rate (Nitzschia closterium) and scallop larval development (Chlamys asperrima), confirmed that ammonia was the major cause of effluent toxicity. Results from this toxicity monitoring program were used to develop action trigger values for toxicity for each species, which were then used in a refined monitoring program in 2005-2007. An upgrade of the ETP is in progress to improve nitrification/denitrification in order to reduce ammonia concentrations and the toxicity of the effluent. Toxicity testing with a simulated upgraded effluent confirmed that ammonia concentrations and toxicity were reduced. Estimated "safe" dilutions of effluent, calculated using species sensitivity distributions, decreased from 1:140-300 for existing ETP effluent to 1:20 for nitrified effluent, further confirming that treatment improvements should reduce the impact on marine biota in the vicinity of the discharge.     

真空预压联合石灰稳定法改良淤泥土试验研究

在工程用土资源越来越紧张和环境日益恶化的情况下淤泥资源化利用成为一个亟待解决的问题。通过向河底淤泥中掺入一定量的生石灰,再用真空预压结合外加剂木质素磺酸钙来改善土体的渗透、强度和变形等特性,总结并分析了掺木量对稳定排水量,稳定沉降量、强度、孔隙等的影响以及真空预压后石灰稳定土龄期下土体强度的变化规律。试验结果表明,抽真空后改良土具有较低含水率,土体强度增长较大,孔隙较小,后期沉降较小,加固土体以满足填筑用土要求,经济性分析表明该法是可以接受的。