| Title | Biogeochemical impacts of sewage effluents in predominantly rural river catchments: Are point source inputs distinct to background diffuse pollution? |
| Publication Type | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication | 2022 |
| Authors | Richards S., Bidgood L., Watson H., Stutter M. |
| Journal | Journal of Environmental Management |
| Volume | 311 |
| Pagination | 15 |
| Date Published | Jun |
| Type of Article | Article |
| ISBN Number | 0301-4797 |
| Accession Number | WOS:000783050300001 |
| Keywords | Environmental Sciences & Ecology, functions, MICROBIAL, pharmaceuticals, quality, Riverbed sediments, Rural pollution sources, sediment, STREAM WATER, WASTE-WATER, Wastewater effluent, Water quality, water treatment-plant |
| Abstract | Discharge of treated sewage effluent to rivers can degrade aquatic ecosystem quality, interacting with multiple stressors in the wider catchment. In predominantly rural catchments, the river reach influence of point source effluents is unknown relative to complex background pressures. We examined water column, sediment and biofilm biogeochemical water quality parameters along river transects (200 m upstream to 1 km downstream) during summer at five wastewater treatment works (WWTW) in Scotland.& nbsp;Treated sewage effluent (subset, n = 3) pollutant concentrations varied between sites. Downstream concentration profiles of water and sediment biogeochemical parameters showed complex spatial changes. A hypothesised point source signature of elevated concentrations of pollution immediately downstream of WWTW then a decaying pollution 'plume' did not commonly occur. Instead, elevated soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), ammonium and coliforms (maximum 0.23 mgP/l, 0.33 mgN/l and > 2 x 106 MPN/100 ml) occurred immediately downstream of two WWTW, whereas some downstream pollutant concentrations decreased. Microbial substrate respiration responses only differed 1 km downstream. Significantly greater concentrations of sediment metal occurred > 500 m downstream, likely due to the redeposition of historic contaminated sediments. Significantly lowered chlorophyll -a downstream of one WWTW coincided with elevated metals, despite water SRP and sediment P increases. Overall, stress caused to microbes and algae by effluent contaminants outweighed the subsidy effect of WWTW nutrients.& nbsp;We observed variable effluent flows to the rivers limited localised pollution downstream of WWTW and overall influence of arable land cover on river water quality. Together, this challenges views of consistently discharging point sources impacting low dilution sensitive rivers in summer contrasting with 'diffuse' sources. Thus, river water column and benthic compartments are altered at varying scales by point source effluents in combination with rural catchment pollution sources, both discrete (e.g. farmyards and septic tanks) and diffuse.
|
| Short Title | J. Environ. Manage.J. Environ. Manage. |
| Alternate Journal | J. Environ. Manage. |
stdClass Object
(
[vid] => 713
[uid] => 11
[title] => Biogeochemical impacts of sewage effluents in predominantly rural river catchments: Are point source inputs distinct to background diffuse pollution?
[log] =>
[status] => 1
[comment] => 0
[promote] => 1
[sticky] => 0
[nid] => 595
[type] => biblio
[language] => und
[created] => 1652363872
[changed] => 1652363872
[tnid] => 0
[translate] => 0
[revision_timestamp] => 1652363872
[revision_uid] => 11
[biblio_type] => 102
[biblio_number] =>
[biblio_other_number] =>
[biblio_sort_title] => Biogeochemical impacts of sewage effluents in predominantly rura
[biblio_secondary_title] => Journal of Environmental Management
[biblio_tertiary_title] =>
[biblio_edition] =>
[biblio_publisher] =>
[biblio_place_published] =>
[biblio_year] => 2022
[biblio_volume] => 311
[biblio_pages] => 15
[biblio_date] => Jun
[biblio_isbn] => 0301-4797
[biblio_lang] => English
[biblio_abst_e] => Discharge of treated sewage effluent to rivers can degrade aquatic ecosystem quality, interacting with multiple stressors in the wider catchment. In predominantly rural catchments, the river reach influence of point source effluents is unknown relative to complex background pressures. We examined water column, sediment and biofilm biogeochemical water quality parameters along river transects (200 m upstream to 1 km downstream) during summer at five wastewater treatment works (WWTW) in Scotland.& nbsp;Treated sewage effluent (subset, n = 3) pollutant concentrations varied between sites. Downstream concentration profiles of water and sediment biogeochemical parameters showed complex spatial changes. A hypothesised point source signature of elevated concentrations of pollution immediately downstream of WWTW then a decaying pollution 'plume' did not commonly occur. Instead, elevated soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), ammonium and coliforms (maximum 0.23 mgP/l, 0.33 mgN/l and > 2 x 106 MPN/100 ml) occurred immediately downstream of two WWTW, whereas some downstream pollutant concentrations decreased. Microbial substrate respiration responses only differed 1 km downstream. Significantly greater concentrations of sediment metal occurred > 500 m downstream, likely due to the redeposition of historic contaminated sediments. Significantly lowered chlorophyll -a downstream of one WWTW coincided with elevated metals, despite water SRP and sediment P increases. Overall, stress caused to microbes and algae by effluent contaminants outweighed the subsidy effect of WWTW nutrients.& nbsp;We observed variable effluent flows to the rivers limited localised pollution downstream of WWTW and overall influence of arable land cover on river water quality. Together, this challenges views of consistently discharging point sources impacting low dilution sensitive rivers in summer contrasting with 'diffuse' sources. Thus, river water column and benthic compartments are altered at varying scales by point source effluents in combination with rural catchment pollution sources, both discrete (e.g. farmyards and septic tanks) and diffuse.
[biblio_abst_f] =>
[biblio_full_text] => 0
[biblio_url] =>
[biblio_issue] =>
[biblio_type_of_work] => Article
[biblio_accession_number] => WOS:000783050300001
[biblio_call_number] =>
[biblio_notes] => ISI Document Delivery No.: 0N7YU
Times Cited: 0
Cited Reference Count: 30
Richards, Samia Bidgood, Lucy Watson, Helen Stutter, Marc
Richards, Samia/0000-0001-7524-7241; Stutter, Marc/0000-0003-1483-376X
Scottish Government's Rural and Environmental Sciences and Analytical Services [201622]
This work is funded by the Scottish Government's Rural and Environmental Sciences and Analytical Services under funding to the 201622 Environment Program.
3
Academic press ltd- elsevier science ltd
London
1095-8630
[biblio_custom1] =>
[biblio_custom2] =>
[biblio_custom3] =>
[biblio_custom4] =>
[biblio_custom5] =>
[biblio_custom6] =>
[biblio_custom7] => 114891
[biblio_research_notes] =>
[biblio_number_of_volumes] =>
[biblio_short_title] => J. Environ. Manage.J. Environ. Manage.
[biblio_alternate_title] => J. Environ. Manage.
[biblio_original_publication] =>
[biblio_reprint_edition] =>
[biblio_translated_title] =>
[biblio_section] =>
[biblio_citekey] => 595
[biblio_coins] =>
[biblio_doi] =>
[biblio_issn] =>
[biblio_auth_address] => [Richards, Samia; Watson, Helen; Stutter, Marc] James Hutton Inst, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, Scotland. [Bidgood, Lucy] Univ Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, Scotland. [Stutter, Marc] Univ Lancaster, Lancaster Environm Ctr, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, England.
Richards, S (corresponding author), James Hutton Inst, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, Scotland.
samia.richards@hutton.ac.uk
[biblio_remote_db_name] =>
[biblio_remote_db_provider] =>
[biblio_label] =>
[biblio_access_date] =>
[biblio_refereed] =>
[biblio_md5] => eb59312b0ba9df751f123df342bf0018
[biblio_formats] => Array
(
[biblio_abst_e] => full_html
[biblio_abst_f] => full_html
[biblio_notes] => full_html
[biblio_research_notes] => full_html
[biblio_custom1] => full_html
[biblio_custom2] => full_html
[biblio_custom3] => full_html
[biblio_custom4] => full_html
[biblio_custom5] => full_html
[biblio_custom6] => full_html
[biblio_custom7] => full_html
[biblio_coins] => full_html
[biblio_auth_address] => full_html
)
[biblio_type_name] => Journal Article
[biblio_contributors] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[nid] => 595
[vid] => 713
[cid] => 1651
[auth_type] => 1
[auth_category] => 1
[rank] => 0
[merge_cid] => 0
[aka] => 0
[alt_form] => 0
[drupal_uid] =>
[name] => Richards, S.
[lastname] => Richards
[firstname] => S.
[prefix] =>
[suffix] =>
[initials] =>
[affiliation] =>
[literal] => 0
[md5] => 5ae77df62739dff879653cc02717a848
)
[1] => Array
(
[nid] => 595
[vid] => 713
[cid] => 1652
[auth_type] => 1
[auth_category] => 1
[rank] => 1
[merge_cid] => 0
[aka] => 0
[alt_form] => 0
[drupal_uid] =>
[name] => Bidgood, L.
[lastname] => Bidgood
[firstname] => L.
[prefix] =>
[suffix] =>
[initials] =>
[affiliation] =>
[literal] => 0
[md5] => 6b4b4d183cfa0f5c52be9bf180378eb8
)
[2] => Array
(
[nid] => 595
[vid] => 713
[cid] => 162
[auth_type] => 1
[auth_category] => 1
[rank] => 2
[merge_cid] => 0
[aka] => 0
[alt_form] => 0
[drupal_uid] =>
[name] => Watson, H.
[lastname] => Watson
[firstname] => H.
[prefix] =>
[suffix] =>
[initials] =>
[affiliation] =>
[literal] => 0
[md5] => a471a651de258bd04c36f4f44ca2c078
)
[3] => Array
(
[nid] => 595
[vid] => 713
[cid] => 631
[auth_type] => 1
[auth_category] => 1
[rank] => 3
[merge_cid] => 0
[aka] => 0
[alt_form] => 0
[drupal_uid] =>
[name] => Stutter, M.
[lastname] => Stutter
[firstname] => M.
[prefix] =>
[suffix] =>
[initials] =>
[affiliation] =>
[literal] => 0
[md5] => 8710aaf18f4891359e4e568d86c7c553
)
)
[biblio_keywords] => Array
(
[450] => Environmental Sciences & Ecology
[1944] => functions
[514] => MICROBIAL
[1947] => pharmaceuticals
[196] => quality
[1943] => Riverbed sediments
[1945] => Rural pollution sources
[1948] => sediment
[920] => STREAM WATER
[737] => WASTE-WATER
[1941] => Wastewater effluent
[1942] => Water quality
[1946] => water treatment-plant
)
[body] => Array
(
)
[rdf_mapping] => Array
(
[rdftype] => Array
(
[0] => sioc:Item
[1] => foaf:Document
)
[title] => Array
(
[predicates] => Array
(
[0] => dc:title
)
)
[created] => Array
(
[predicates] => Array
(
[0] => dc:date
[1] => dc:created
)
[datatype] => xsd:dateTime
[callback] => date_iso8601
)
[changed] => Array
(
[predicates] => Array
(
[0] => dc:modified
)
[datatype] => xsd:dateTime
[callback] => date_iso8601
)
[body] => Array
(
[predicates] => Array
(
[0] => content:encoded
)
)
[uid] => Array
(
[predicates] => Array
(
[0] => sioc:has_creator
)
[type] => rel
)
[name] => Array
(
[predicates] => Array
(
[0] => foaf:name
)
)
[comment_count] => Array
(
[predicates] => Array
(
[0] => sioc:num_replies
)
[datatype] => xsd:integer
)
[last_activity] => Array
(
[predicates] => Array
(
[0] => sioc:last_activity_date
)
[datatype] => xsd:dateTime
[callback] => date_iso8601
)
)
[name] => clare.cameron
[picture] => 0
[data] => a:13:{s:16:"ckeditor_default";s:1:"t";s:20:"ckeditor_show_toggle";s:1:"t";s:14:"ckeditor_width";s:4:"100%";s:13:"ckeditor_lang";s:2:"en";s:18:"ckeditor_auto_lang";s:1:"t";s:19:"biblio_show_profile";i:0;s:19:"biblio_my_pubs_menu";i:0;s:21:"biblio_contributor_id";s:1:"0";s:22:"biblio_id_change_count";s:1:"0";s:17:"biblio_user_style";s:6:"system";s:18:"biblio_baseopenurl";s:0:"";s:18:"biblio_openurl_sid";s:0:"";s:19:"biblio_crossref_pid";s:0:"";}
[entity_view_prepared] => 1
)