Nutrient Abatement Potential and Abatement Costs of Waste Water Treatment Plants in the Baltic Sea Region

We assess the physical potential to reduce nutrient loads from waste water treatment plants in the Baltic Sea region and determine the costs of abating nutrients based on the estimated potential. We take a sample of waste water treatment plants of different size classes and generalize its properties to the whole population of waste water treatment plants. Based on a detailed investment and operational cost data on actual plants, we develop the total and marginal abatement cost functions for both nutrients. To our knowledge, our study is the first of its kind; there is no other study on this issue which would take advantage of detailed data on waste water treatment plants at this extent. We demonstrate that the reduction potential of nutrients is huge in waste water treatment plants. Increasing the abatement in waste water treatment plants can result in 70 % of the Baltic Sea Action Plan nitrogen reduction target and 80 % of the Baltic Sea Action Plan phosphorus reduction target. Another good finding is that the costs of reducing both nutrients are much lower than previously thought. The large reduction of nitrogen would cost 670 million euros and of phosphorus 150 million euros. We show that especially for phosphorus the abatement costs in agriculture would be much higher than in waste water treatment plants.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-013-0435-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Direct and indirect impact of sewage sludge compost spreading on Quercus coccifera monoterpene emissions in a Mediterranean shrubland

Monoterpene emissions of Quercus coccifera L. were repeatedly measured during the two years following the spreading of a sewage sludge compost at rates of 50 Mg ha⁻¹ and 100 Mg ha⁻¹, in a twelve-year-old post-fire Mediterranean shrubland. We also monitored the patterns of change in soil and leaf nutrient content, plant water potential, chlorophyll fluorescence, and plant growth. Compost spreading resulted in weak changes in leaf nutrient content and plant water status, and therefore no significant effect on monoterpene emissions at leaf scale, except during one summer sampling, probably related to advanced leaf maturity with the highest compost rate. However, compost increased plant growth, particularly the leaf biomass. The results suggest that compost spreading in Mediterranean shrublands has no strong short-term effect on Q. coccifera monoterpene emissions at leaf level, but may indirectly increase volatile organic compound fluxes at the stand scale, which may contribute to regional ozone pollution.     

A chemometric approach to the evaluation of atmospheric and fluvial pollutant inputs in aquatic systems: the Guadalquivir River estuary as a case study

To establish the quality of waters it is necessary to identify both point and non-point pollution sources. In this work, we propose the combination of clean analytical methodologies and chemometric tools to study discrete and diffuse pollution caused in a river by tributaries and precipitations, respectively.During a two-year period, water samples were taken in the Guadalquivir river (selected as a case study) and its main tributaries before and after precipitations. Samples were characterized by analysing nutrients, pH, dissolved oxygen, total and volatile suspended solids, carbon species, and heavy metals. Results were used to estimate fluvial and atmospheric inputs and as tracers for anthropic activities.Multivariate analysis was used to estimate the background pollution, and to identify pollution inputs. Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis were used as data exploratory tools, while box-whiskers plots and Linear Discriminant Analysis were used to analyse and distinguish the different types of water samples.     

Effects of soil data resolution on SWAT model stream flow and water quality predictions

The prediction accuracy of agricultural nonpoint source pollution models such as Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) depends on how well model input spatial parameters describe the characteristics of the watershed. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of different soil data resolutions on stream flow, sediment and nutrient predictions when used as input for SWAT. SWAT model predictions were compared for the two US Department of Agriculture soil databases with different resolution, namely the State Soil Geographic database (STATSGO) and the Soil Survey Geographic database (SSURGO). Same number of sub-basins was used in the watershed delineation. However, the number of HRUs generated when STATSGO and SSURGO soil data were used is 261 and 1301, respectively. SSURGO, with the highest spatial resolution, has 51 unique soil types in the watershed distributed in 1301 HRUs, while STATSGO has only three distributed in 261 HRUS. As a result of low resolution STATSGO assigns a single classification to areas that may have different soil types if SSURGO were used. SSURGO included Hydrologic Response Units (HRUs) with soil types that were generalized to one soil group in STATSGO. The difference in the number and size of HRUs also has an effect on sediment yield parameters (slope and slope length). Thus, as a result of the discrepancies in soil type and size of HRUs stream flow predicted was higher when SSURGO was used compared to STATSGO. SSURGO predicted less stream loading than STATSGO in terms of sediment and sediment-attached nutrients components, and vice versa for dissolved nutrients. When compared to mean daily measured flow, STATSGO performed better relative to SSURGO before calibration. SSURGO provided better results after calibration as evaluated by R(2) value (0.74 compared to 0.61 for STATSGO) and the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient of Efficiency (NSE) values (0.70 and 0.61 for SSURGO and STATSGO, respectively) although both are in the same satisfactory range. Modelers need to weigh the benefits before selecting the type of data resolution they are going to use depending on the watershed size and level of accuracy required because more effort is required to prepare and calibrate the model when a fine resolution soil data is used.     

A long-term survey on anthropogenic impacts to the water quality of coral reefs, southern Taiwan

Before 2001, the ecological protection area in the Kenting National Park (KTNP), southern Taiwan, was poorly described. In this study, a set of four-year data (2001-2004) of seawater qualities at 19 sampling sites around the Nanwan Bay in the KTNP was used to explore anthropogenic impacts to ecological environment, especially coral reefs. The parameters of water quality were analyzed immediately after collection. The results showed that higher values of nutrients and suspended solids were attributed to the higher run-off around Nanwan Bay. The fluxes of nutrients and suspended solids were consistently correlated to rainfall. Hence, equations were developed to calculate nutrient fluxes and suspended solids by using only rainfall data. Our results show that suspended solids and ammonia were the dominant factors leading to the drop in coral coverage. In summary, the water quality in the intertidal zone of Nanwan Bay has been degraded and required greater attention.     

Assessment of sediment concentration and nutrient loads in effluents drained from extensively managed fishponds in France

Expansion of aquaculture has increased concern over its environmental impact. The composition of effluents from intensive aquaculture is well documented, but few data on extensive aquaculture are available. During 12 draining operations, 523 water samples were collected downstream from six extensively-managed fishponds in northeastern France. Study ponds had surface areas of 2-620 ha and were managed for production of Cyprinids and Percids. Concentrations of total suspended solids, total phosphorus, and Kjeldahl nitrogen in effluents from the ponds were greatest during the final stage of draining. Loads of phosphorus were higher than those reported for effluents of more intensive aquaculture ponds in the USA, but the source of the potential pollutants was catchments and sediment rather than feeds and fertilizer. It will be necessary to reduce the water drawdown rate during the fishing stage and possibly implement other best management practices to prevent the TSS concentration from exceeding 1 g/L.     

Responses of herbaceous mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa), a new reclamation species, to soil pH

Growth responses of herbaceous mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa Torr. and Gray), a potential new reclamation species in the SE USA and Mexico, to nine soil pH scales were studied under a controlled environment at Nacogdoches, TX, USA. Twenty seeds were planted in each of 40 (nine scales plus one control in four replicates) 20.3-cm pots filled with Tonkawa sandy soil. These pots were treated with H₂SO₄ or Ca(OH)₂ to adjust each pot to its designated pH level. After 15 days of seeding, the emergence rate was at best about 50–70% for pH 4.7–6.6. The plant can survive and grow at soil pH as low as 4.7, but the optimum growth seems to be on soils with pH ranging from 6.2 to 7.1. At this pH range, the plant exhibits higher values of green and dry biomass, longer shoot growth and lower root/shoot weight and length ratios. The survival rate was greater than 90% for all treatments, except for pH 4.1. There were no nutrient deficiencies in plant tissues on soil pH 4.7 or higher. The plant allocated more growth to the shoot under optimum conditions, but more growth to the roots under environmental stress. It is not suitable for herbaceous mimosa to grow on soils with pH 4.1 or less.     

Seasonal and interannual variability of hydrology and nutrients in the Northeastern Black Sea

The main objective of this work was to investigate the temporal variability of hydrochemical parameters in two coastal regions of the Northeastern Black Sea: the Gelendzhik bay, influenced by anthropogenic activities and the Golubaya bay an open coastal region. Dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, pH, alkalinity, phosphate, organic phosphorus, silicates, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, organic nitrogen, oil products and heavy metals were measured. Si/P and Si/N ratios showed that the Gelendzhik bay waters were significantly enriched in nitrogen and phosphorus compounds. Unlike the Golubaya bay, phosphates were always present in the Gelendzhik bay, and development of photo-synthesis was not limited by these. Features of seasonal variability of nutrients in the Gelendzhik bay (increased concentrations and pronounced summer-autumn maximum) appeared to be a result of human impact—outflow of nutrients with shore input and recreational activities during the summer holiday season. The data obtained indicate that pollution from local spots from the coast of the Black Sea, related primarily to eutrophication, could play a large role in the nutrient balance of the sea and could affect its ecological state.     

Water quality in a mediterranean marine protected area (North Sporades Islands,Greece)

Pollution in the marine protected area of North Sporades Islands was investigated in July 1997. Salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, dissolved inorganic nutrients, organic carbon, hydrocarbons as well as dissolved and particulate trace metals were determined at 15 offshore and coastal stations. Dissolved organic carbon and inorganic nutrient concentrations indicate the mesotrophic character of the investigated waters. The dissolved forms of nitrogen were slightly higher at coastal stations. Dissolved and particulate Cu, Zn and Ni, were higher in coastal stations, whereas concentrations of Pb were generally low and likely of atmospheric origin. Dissolved/Dispersed petroleum hydrocarbons (DDPH) were close to detection limits at all stations. Temperature and salinity vertical profiles, nutrient and trace metal concentrations revealed the presence of a slight influence of the Black Sea water coming from Dardanelles straits.     

Nutrient distribution in locations of the Gulf of Trieste (northern Adriatic sea) suspected of pollution

Nutrients (ammonium‐nitrogen, nitrite, nitrate, orthophosphate and dissolved silica) as well as some chemical‐physical parameters (temperature, pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen and total suspended matter) were determined in filtered seawater samples taken at the surface, at middle depth and at the bottom, in 6 open‐sea locations of the Gulf of Trieste (northern Adriatic Sea) close to pipeline exits that discharge wastewaters from treatment plants. The collected data allow a comparison of the quality of these open‐sea waters with coastal waters and constitute a reference for successive monitoring in these locations suspected of pollution. A multivariate statistical analysis by the principal component method shows that the considered ecosystem can be modeled with two factors: the first one is referenced to the marine environment, in particular to the decomposition of the organic debris in deep water; whereas the second factor is referenced to the input of freshwaters in the Gulf, driving nitrates from agricultural lands.