Using diatoms as quality indicators for a newly-formed urban lake and its catchment

Periphytic diatoms were studied to evaluate the water quality of a newly created lake, formed by the enclosure of the formerly tidal Cardiff Bay (Wales, UK), and the effects of two inflowing rivers which drain densely populated and industrialised catchments. Seven sites in Cardiff Bay and two locations on the inflowing rivers were monitored for diatoms and water chemistry over 2 years. Water quality was assessed using a revised UK trophic diatom index (TDI) and new methods to determine ecological quality ratios and ecological status classes as required by the EU Water Framework Directive. Diatom assemblages reflected spatiotemporal variations in environmental conditions between the rivers and Cardiff Bay and within the bay. In the bay, diatoms reflected differences in river quality and possibly local pollution in certain areas of the lake. High values of the TDI indicated eutrophic to hypertrophic conditions in both rivers and in the bay and diatoms indicated poor ecological status.     

Arsenic in shallow aquifer in the eastern region of Bangladesh: insights from principal component analysis of groundwater compositions

Probable sources and mechanisms of arsenic (As) release in shallow aquifer in eastern Bangladesh are evaluated using statistical analysis of groundwater compositions. Dissolved As in 39 samples ranged from 8.05 to 341.5 μg/L with an average of 95.14 μg/L. Ninety seven percent of wells exceed the WHO limit (10 μg/L) for safe drinking water. Principal component analysis is applied to reduce 16 measured compositional variables to five significant components (principal components—PCs) that explain 86.63% of the geochemical variance. Two component loadings, namely PC 1 and PC 2 (45.31% and 23.05%) indicate the natural processes within the aquifers in which organic matter is a key reactant in the weathering reactions. Four groups of wells are defined by the PCA and each group of wells represents distinct physicochemical characteristics. Among them, group III groundwater shows higher As concentration together with high concentrations of Fe, Mn, dissolved organic carbon, $\text{PO}_{4}^{3-}$ and $\text{HCO}_{3}^{-}$ than groups I and II. Speciation calculations suggest that only wells of group III are saturated with respect to siderite, and all groups of samples are supersaturated with respect of rhodochrosite. The relationship of As with these parameters in the different groups of wells of the study area suggests that reductive dissolution of Fe–Mn oxyhydroxides with microbially mediated degradation of organic matter is considered to be the dominant processes to release As in groundwater.     

The 210Po and 210Pb levels in surface sediment samples in the Izmir Bay (Aegean Sea-Turkey)

Bottom sediments reflect in general the relative contamination of a sea area. Therefore, a great deal of monitoring work has been dedicated to the analysis of bottom sediments. Izmir Bay is a very important pollution centre in Turkish Aegean coast region due to a densely populated community, industrial complex and maritime transportation, and there are many streams flowing into the bay that pass through a number of industrial and agricultural areas. It had received the majority of domestic and industrial wastewaters until the wastewater treatment plant was constructed. It is well known that sediments play an important role as reservoirs of a fraction of the pollution in aquatic systems. Therefore, sediment samples were collected monthly from three stations which are located in the inner part of the bay during the period January to December 2003. Temporal variations and seasonal changes on their ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb contents were examined, and the activity concentrations of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb were found to vary from 43±6 to 132±12 and 27±5 to 91±9 Bq kg^???1 dry wt, respectively. The highest values of those natural radionuclides were measured at Kar??yaka Station because of the current systems of the bay. Seasonally, the ²¹⁰Pb levels were found to increase during the winter time for all the stations.     

Impact of overland traffic on heavy metal levels in highway dust and soils of Istanbul, Turkey

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of overland traffic on the spatial distribution of heavy metals in urban soils (Istanbul, Turkey). Road dust, surface, and subsurface soil samples were collected from a total of 41 locations along highways with dense traffic and secondary roads with lower traffic and analyzed for lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) concentrations. Statistical evaluation of the heavy metal concentrations observed along highways and along the secondary roads showed that the data were bimodally distributed. The maximum observed Pb, Zn, and Cu concentrations were 1,573, 522 and 136 mg/kg, respectively, in surface soils along highways and 99.3, 156, and 38.1 mg/kg along secondary roads. Correlation analysis of the metal concentrations in road dust, surface and 20-cm depth soils suggests the presence of a common pollution source. However, metal concentrations in the deeper soils were substantially lower than those observed at the surface, indicating low mobility of heavy metals, especially for Pb and Zn. A modified kriging approach that honors the bimodality of the data was used to estimate the spatial distribution of the surface concentrations of metals, and to identify hotspots. Results indicate that despite the presence of some industrial zones within the study area, traffic is the main heavy metal pollution source.     

Fire risk evaluation using multicriteria analysis—a case study

Forest fires are one of the major causes of ecological disturbance and environmental concerns in tropical deciduous forests of south India. In this study, we use fuzzy set theory integrated with decision-making algorithm in a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) framework to map forest fire risk. Fuzzy set theory implements classes or groupings of data with boundaries that are not sharply defined (i.e., fuzzy) and consists of a rule base, membership functions, and an inference procedure. We used satellite remote sensing datasets in conjunction with topographic, vegetation, climate, and socioeconomic datasets to infer the causative factors of fires. Spatial-level data on these biophysical and socioeconomic parameters have been aggregated at the district level and have been organized in a GIS framework. A participatory multicriteria decision-making approach involving Analytical Hierarchy Process has been designed to arrive at a decision matrix that identified the important causative factors of fires. These expert judgments were then integrated using spatial fuzzy decision-making algorithm to map the forest fire risk. Results from this study were quite useful in identifying potential “hotspots” of fire risk, where forest fire protection measures can be taken in advance. Further, this study also demonstrates the potential of multicriteria analysis integrated with GIS as an effective tool in assessing “where and when” forest fires will most likely occur.     

Monsoon-induced changes in the size-fractionated phytoplankton biomass and production rate in the estuarine and coastal waters of southwest coast of India

Changes in the autotrophic pico- (0.2–2 μm), nano- (2–20 μm), and microplankton (>20 μm) biomass (chlorophyll a) and primary production were measured in the estuarine and coastal waters off Cochin, southwest coast of India during the onset and establishment of a monsoon. During this period, the estuary was dominated by nutrient-rich freshwater, whereas the coastal waters were characterized with higher salinity values (>30 psu) and less nutrients. The average surface chlorophyll a concentrations and primary production rates were higher in the estuary (average 13.7 mg m^???3 and 432 mgC m^???3 day^???1) as compared to the coastal waters (5.3 mg m^???3 and 224 mgC m^???3 day^???1). The nanoplankton community formed the major fraction of chlorophyll a and primary production, both in the estuary (average 85 ± SD 8.3% and 81.2 ± SD 3.2%) and the coastal waters (average 73.2 ± SD 17.2% and 81.9 ± 15.7%). Nanoplankton had the maximum photosynthetic efficiency in the coastal waters (average 4.8 ± SD 3.9 mgC mgChl a m^???3 h^???1), whereas in the estuary, the microplankton had higher photosynthetic efficiency (average 7.4 ± 7 mgC mgChl a m^???3 h^???1). The heavy cloud cover and increased water column turbidity not only limit the growth of large-sized phytoplankton in the Cochin estuary and coastal waters but also support the proliferation of nanoplankton community during the monsoon season, even though large variation in nanoplankton chlorophyll a and production exists between these two areas.     

Assessing the water quality index of water treatment plant and bore wells, in Delhi, India

Water quality monitoring exercise was carried out with water quality index (WQI) method by using water characteristics data for bore wells and a water treatment plant in Delhi city from December 2006 to August 2007. The water treatment plant received surface water as raw water, and product water is supplied after treatment. The WQI is used to classify water quality as excellent, good, medium, bad, and very bad. The National Sanitation Foundation WQI procedure was used to calculate the WQI. The index ranges from 0 to 100, where 100 represents an excellent water quality condition. Water samples were collected monthly from a bore well in Nehru Camp (site 1), a bore well in Sanjay Gandhi pumping station (site 2), and water treatment plant in Haiderpur (site 3). Five parameters were analyzed, namely, nitrate, pH, total dissolved solids, turbidity, and temperature. We found that the WQI was around 73–80 in site 3, which corresponds to “good,” and it decreased to 54.32–60.19 and 59.93–70.63 in site 1 and site 2, respectively, indicating that these bore wells were classified as “medium” quality.     

Metal fractionation study on bed sediments of Hussainsagar Lake, Hyderabad, India

Hussainsagar Lake in the heart of Hyderabad City (India) receives toxic substances through five streams draining from a catchment area of 245 km². Of particular interest are heavy metals received from urban runoff as well as municipal sewage and industrial effluents. Heavy metals entering the lake get adsorbed onto the suspended sediments, which eventually settle down in the bottom of the lake. In this study, fractionation of metal ions has been studied on the bed sediments of Hussainsagar Lake in order to determine the ecotoxic potential of metal ions. Comparison of sediments with average shale values indicated anthropogenic enrichment with copper, nickel, lead, cadmium, and zinc. The risk assessment code as applied to the present study reveals that 10–17% of manganese, 10–18% of nickel, 14–24% of chromium, 10–19% of lead, 21–30% of cadmium, and 18–28% of zinc exist in exchangeable fraction and, therefore, comes under medium risk category and may enter into food chain. The association of these metals with the exchangeable fraction may cause deleterious effects to aquatic life. The present database will help in formulating guidelines for carrying out dredging operations under restoration programs in the Hussainsagar Lake.     

Hydrogeochemical characterization of fluoride rich groundwater of Wailpalli watershed, Nalgonda District, Andhra Pradesh, India

The groundwater of Nalgonda district is well known for its very high fluoride content for the past five decades. Many researchers have contributed their scientific knowledge to unravel causes for fluoride enrichment of groundwater. In the present paper, an attempt has been made to relate the high fluoride content in the groundwater to hydrogeochemical characterization of the water in a fracture hard rock terrain—the Wailpally watershed. Groundwater samples collected from all the major geomorphic units in pre- and post-monsoon seasons were analyzed for its major ion constituents such as Ca^2?+?, Mg^2?+?, Na^?+?, K^?+?, CO $_{3}^{-}$ , HCO $_{3}^{-}$ , Cl^???, SO $_{4}^{-2}$ , NO $_{3}^{-}$ , and F^???. The groundwaters in the watershed have the average fluoride content of 2.79 mg/l in pre-monsoon and 2.83 mg/l in post-monsoon. Fluoride concentration in groundwater does not show perceptible change neither with time nor in space. The ionic dominance pattern is in the order of Na^?+? > Ca^2?+??> Mg^2?+??> K^??? among cations and HCO $_{3}^{-}\:\,>$ Cl^????> SO $_{4}^{-2} >$ NO $_{3}^{-} >$ F^??? among anions in pre-monsoon. In post-monsoon, Mg replaces Ca^2?+? and NO $_{3}^{-}$ takes the place of SO $_{4}^{-2}$ . The Modified Piper diagram reflect that the water belong to Ca^?+?2–Mg^?+?2–HCO $_{3}^{-}$ to Na^?+?–HCO $_{3}^{-}$ facies. Negative chloralkali indices in both the seasons prove that ion exchange between Na^?+? and K^?+? in aquatic solution took place with Ca^?+?2 and Mg^?+?2 of host rock. The interpretation of plots for different major ions and molar ratios suggest that weathering of silicate rocks and water–rock interaction is responsible for major ion chemistry of groundwater in Wailpally watershed. Chemical characteristics and evolution of this fluoride-contaminated groundwater is akin to normal waters of other hard rock terrain; hence, it can be concluded that aquifer material play an important role in the contribution of fluoride in to the accompanying water. High fluoride content in groundwater can be attributed to the continuous water–rock interaction during the process of percolation with fluorite-bearing country rocks under arid, low precipitation, and high evapotranspiration conditions.     

Emissions of SO2, NO x and particulates from a pipe manufacturing plant and prediction of impact on air quality

Integrated pipe manufacturing industry is operation intensive and has significant air pollution potential especially when it is equipped with a captive power production facility. Emissions of SO₂, NO _x , and particulate matter (PM) were estimated from the stationary sources in a state-of-the-art pipe manufacturing plant in India. Major air polluting units like blast furnace, ductile iron spun pipe facility, and captive power production facility were selected for stack gas monitoring. Subsequently, ambient air quality modeling was undertaken to predict ground-level concentrations of the selected air pollutants using Industrial Source Complex (ISC 3) model. Emissions of SO₂, NO _x , and particulate matter from the stationary sources in selected facilities ranged from 0.02 to 16.5, 0.03 to 93.3, and 0.09 to 48.3 kg h^???1, respectively. Concentration of SO₂ and NO _x in stack gas of 1,180-kVA (1 KW = 1.25 kVA) diesel generator exceeded the upper safe limits prescribed by the State Pollution Control Board, while concentrations of the same from all other units were within the prescribed limits. Particulate emission was highest from the barrel grinding operation, where grinding of the manufactured pipes is undertaken for giving the final shape. Particulate emission was also high from dedusting operation where coal dust is handled. Air quality modeling indicated that maximum possible ground-level concentration of PM, SO₂, and NO _x were to the tune of 13, 3, and 18 μg/m³, respectively, which are within the prescribed limits for ambient air given by the Central Pollution Control Board.