Assessing the Effects of Nutrient Management in an Estuary Experiencing Climatic Change: The Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina

Eutrophication is a serious water quality problem in estuaries receiving increasing anthropogenic nutrient loads. Managers undertaking nutrient-reduction strategies aimed at controlling estuarine eutrophication are faced with the challenge that upstream freshwater segments often are phosphorus (P)-limited, whereas more saline downstream segments are nitrogen (N)-limited. Management also must consider climatic (hydrologic) variability, which affects nutrient delivery and processing. The interactive effects of selective nutrient input reductions and climatic perturbations were examined in the Neuse River Estuary (NRE), North Carolina, a shallow estuary with more than a 30-year history of accelerated nutrient loading and water quality decline. The NRE also has experienced a recent increase in Atlantic hurricanes and record flooding, which has affected hydrology and nutrient loadings. The authors examined the water quality consequences of selective nutrient (P but not N) reductions in the 1980s, followed by N reductions in the 1990s and an increase in hurricane frequency since the mid-1990s. Selective P reductions decreased upstream phytoplankton blooms, but increased downstream phytoplankton biomass. Storms modified these trends. In particular, upstream annual N and P concentrations have decreased during the elevated hurricane period. Increased flushing and scouring from storms and flooding appear to have enhanced nutrient retention capabilities of the NRE watershed. From a management perspective, one cannot rely on largely unpredictable changes in storm frequency and intensity to negate anthropogenic nutrient enrichment and eutrophication. To control eutrophication along the hydrologically variable freshwater–marine continuum, N and P reductions should be applied adaptively to reflect point-source–dominated drought and non–point-source–dominated flood conditions.     

Agricultural Land Use and Best Management Practices to Control Nonpoint Water Pollution

In recent years, improvements in point-source depuration technologies have highlighted the problems regarding agricultural nonpoint (diffuse) sources, and this issue has become highly relevant from the environmental point of view. The considerable extension of the areas responsible for this kind of pollution, together with the scarcity of funds available to local managers, make minimizing the impacts of nonpoint sources on a whole basin a virtually impossible task. This article presents the results of a study intended to pinpoint those agricultural areas, within a basin, that contribute most to water pollution, so that operations aimed at preventing and/or reducing this kind of pollution can be focused on them. With this aim, an innovative approach is presented that integrates a field-scale management model, a simple regression model, and a geographic information system (GIS). The Lake Vico basin, where recent studies highlighted a considerable increase in the trophic state, mainly caused by phosphorus (P) compounds deriving principally from the intensive cultivation of hazelnut trees in the lake basin, was chosen as the study site. Using the management model Groundwater Loading Effects of Agricultural Management Systems (GLEAMS), the consequences, in terms of sediment yield and phosphorus export, of hazelnut tree cultivation were estimated on different areas of the basin with and without the application of a best management practice (BMP) that consists of growing meadow under the trees. The GLEAMS results were successively extended to basin scale thanks to the application of a purposely designed regression model and of a GIS. The main conclusions can be summarized as follows: The effectiveness of the above-mentioned BMP is always greater for erosion reduction than for particulate P reduction, whatever the slope value considered; moreover, the effectiveness with reference to both particulate P and sediment yield production decreases as the slope increases. The proposed approach, being completely distributed, represents a considerable step ahead compared to the semidistributed or lumped approaches, which are traditionally employed in research into tools to support the decision-making process for land-use planning aimed at water pollution control.     

不同形态P对Cu、Zn、Cd联合生物毒性效应的影响

运用水潘趋光行为的抑制试验研究了水体中不同磷形态和重金属(Cu、Zn、Cd)共同存在时的联合生物毒性效应.结果表明,水体中重金属的生物毒性不仅取决于它们的种类和浓度,也与溶液中共存的P形态有关.重金属对水溞的生物毒性由强至弱依次为Cu2 ＞Zn2 ＞Cd2 ;当溶液中存在不同形态的P时,重金属的生物毒性发生了改变.中等P营养水平(TP为0.05mg·L-1)时,不同形态P的存在可显著降低Cu、Zn、Cd的生物毒性,在某种程度上减轻重金属对生物的伤害.不同形态P对重金属生物毒性的拮抗作用顺序为H2PO-4≈HPO24-＞PO34-.因此,重金属污染与富营养化双重胁迫水体的生物毒性,将可能因水体中P形态的不同而产生差异.     

An Experiment with Forced Oxygenation of the Deepwater of the Anoxic By Fjord,Western Sweden

In a 2.5-year-long environmental engineering experiment in the By Fjord, surface water was pumped into the deepwater where the frequency of deepwater renewals increased by a factor of 10. During the experiment, the deepwater became long-term oxic, and nitrate became the dominating dissolved inorganic nitrogen component. The amount of phosphate in the water column decreased by a factor of 5 due to the increase in flushing and reduction in the leakage of phosphate from the sediments when the sediment surface became oxidized. Oxygenation of the sediments did not increase the leakage of toxic metals and organic pollutants. The bacterial community was the first to show changes after the oxygenation, with aerobic bacteria also thriving in the deepwater. The earlier azoic deepwater bottom sediments were colonized by animals. No structural difference between the phytoplankton communities in the By Fjord and the adjacent Havsten Fjord, with oxygenated deepwater, could be detected during the experiment.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-014-0524-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

升钟湖水体叶绿素a动态特征及其影响因子分析

2011—2015年每月监测升钟湖湖区的4个代表性断面的水质指标,分析水体中叶绿素a时空分布特征、变化规律及影响水体水质状况的其他要素。结果表明:升钟湖的叶绿素a具有显著性的年际差异,表现为夏季高、冬季低且呈现逐年下降的变化趋势,总磷、总氮、氨氮、溶解氧、透明度监测指标同样表现为夏季高、冬季低的变化趋势,除溶解氧和透明度的监测指标逐年上升外,其他监测指标均逐年下降。构建了叶绿素a与总氮、总磷的多元回归方程模型,该模型可根据水体营养盐状态准确预测升钟湖叶绿素a的变化趋势。     

Phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge ash through an electrodialytic process

The electrodialytic separation process (ED) was applied to sewage sludge ash (SSA) aiming at phosphorus (P) recovery. As the SSA may have high heavy metals contents, their removal was also assessed. Two SSA were sampled, one immediately after incineration (SA) and the other from an open deposit (SB). Both samples were ED treated as stirred suspensions in sulphuric acid for 3, 7 and 14 days. After 14 days, phosphorus was mainly mobilized towards the anode end (approx. 60% in the SA and 70% in the SB), whereas heavy metals mainly electromigrated towards the cathode end. The anolyte presented a composition of 98% of P, mainly as orthophosphate, and 2% of heavy metals. The highest heavy metal removal was achieved for Cu (ca. 80%) and the lowest for Pb and Fe (between 4% and 6%). The ED showed to be a viable method for phosphorus recovery from SSA, as it promotes the separation of P from the heavy metals.     

淀浦河水体中氨氮、总氮和总磷污染变化趋势及相关性分析

根据2005年至2011年的监测结果,分析了淀浦河中下游河段的氨氮、总氮和总磷近几年污染变化趋势,并探讨了氨氮、总氮和总磷的相关性。结果表明,淀浦河总氮和总磷的年均浓度均超过水体富营养化的临界浓度,水体富营养化严重。氨氮、总氮和总磷相互之间存在显著相关性,可以通过氨氮、总氮和总磷中某一参数的测定,确定其他两个参数的数值范围,进而确定测定时的稀释倍数,有利于提高监测效率。     

Alkaline phosphatase activity in the phosphorus-limited southern Chinese coastal waters

Three fractions of alkaline phosphatase activity(APA), including phytoplankton APA(phyto-APA), bacterial APA(bact-APA), and free-APA, were examined in the sea surface microlayer(SML) and the subsurface water(SSW) from Daya Bay, Guishan Island, and Guanghai Bay of southern China. Relationships between APA and environmental parameters were analyzed. The growth of phytoplankton was significantly limited by dissolved inorganic phosphorus(DIP) in the three sea areas, especially in Daya Bay. TotalAPA ranged between 1.41 and 35.26 nmol/L/hr, and the highest value was found in Daya Bay. The increased APA in Daya Bay was the result of the increase of phytoplankton biomass and the response of phytoplankton to P limitation. Phyto-APA was the main contributor in Daya Bay, while phyto-and free-APA co-dominated in Guishan Island and Guanghai Bay. Bact-, phyto-, and total-APA showed a significant inverse power function relationship with DIP, and 0.2 μmol/L was the threshold for DIP on particulates and totalAPA. Pearson correlation analysis suggested that DIP limitation together with high N levels enhanced APA. High water temperature and freshwater input accelerated APA as well.Principal component analysis clearly separated samples from the three sea areas, as well as from the SML and the SSW, which indicated the differences in environmental parameters and APA levels. Our results highlight the influence of phosphorus limitation and environmental parameters on APA.     

浅谈城市污水除磷技术

结合我国城市污水处理现状,简要介绍了几种主要的除磷技术在城市污水处理厂改造或新建时应用的可能性,并比较了它们的优缺点和应用过程中需注意的一些问题。     

倒置A/A/O工艺在城市污水处理中的应用研究

通过对常州市城北、清潭两座城市污水处理厂的倒置A／A／O工艺，采用不同的控制参数运行和相应的试验表明：(1)倒置A／A／O工艺对城市污水中有机物、氮和磷都具有较好的处理效果，出水水质达到《城镇污水处理厂污染物排放标准))(GBl8918—2002)一级标准中的A级标准；(2)推荐的相应控制运行参数为：污泥回流比控制在75～150％，气／水比值控制在3．0～5．0；生化反应池MLSS保持在2．50～3．50g／L，水力停留时间为10h，SRT控制为7～10d左右，生化反应池好氧段DO保持在3mg／L；(3)在进水TP浓度较低(≤2．0mg／L)的条件下，可以省略厌氧段，采用缺氧／好氧(A／O)方式运行。