An analysis of U.S. wastewater treatment plant effluent dilution ratio: Implications for water quality and aquaculture

Siddiqui, Samreen; Conkle, Jeremy L.; Scarpa, John; Sadovski, Alexey

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137819

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Large variations in dilution factors also exist within a country, e.g., annual dilution factors in different locations in the United States illustrated a variation of two orders of magnitude (from 33 to 3600) difference between 25th and 75th percentiles, and four orders of magnitude (from 4.5 to 89,000) difference between 5th and 95th percentiles. Spatial variation usually becomes larger for a higher spatial resolution (i.e., more local scale) [51][52][53] . Temporal/seasonal variations also cause up to seven orders of magnitude variations in some tropical countries 50 .…”

Section: Dilution and Decay Of Sars-cov-2 In Receiving Water Bodiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential discharge, attenuation and exposure risk of SARS-CoV-2 in natural water bodies receiving treated wastewater

et al. 2021

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Recently reported detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater around the world has led to emerging concerns on potential risk in water bodies receiving treated wastewater effluent. This review aims to provide an up-to-date state of key knowledge on the impact of SARS-CoV-2 in natural water bodies receiving treated wastewater. In this review, SARS-CoV-2 concentrations in wastewater, expected removal in WWTPs, and possible dilution and decay in water bodies are reviewed based on past studies on SARS-CoV-2 and related enveloped viruses. We suggest a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) framework to estimate the potential risk of SARS-CoV-2 in natural water bodies through various water activities. Dose–response model of SARS-CoV and Poisson’s distribution is employed to estimate possible viral ingestion and the annual chance of infection through several water activities in natural water bodies. Finally, future perspectives and research needs have been addressed to overcome the limitations and uncertainty in the risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 in natural water bodies.

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Section: Dilution and Decay Of Sars-cov-2 In Receiving Water Bodiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential discharge, attenuation and exposure risk of SARS-CoV-2 in natural water bodies receiving treated wastewater

et al. 2021

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“…In terms of the receiving water perspective, climate-related hydrological regimes of receiving rivers play crucial roles in determining the ecological risk-status of WWTPemissions. Lower magnitude of river flow provides less dilution capacity, resulting in higher fraction of WWTP-effluents in receiving streams and likely more direct exposure of people to anthropogenic pollutants in recreational places (Yang et al, 2019b;Siddiqui et al, 2020). In addition, the persistence of drier hydrological regimes results in prolonged residence time for solutes or particulate matters from WWTPs in river water columns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Determines the Future Ecological Risks of Wastewater Discharges in River Networks: Load, Location or Climate Change?

Yang¹,

Büttner²,

Kumar³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Over the last decades, treatment of domestic wastewater promoted by environmental regulations have reduced human health risks and improved water quality. However, ecological risks caused by effluents of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) discharged into rivers still persist. Moreover, the evolution of these ecological risks in the future is intimately related to effects of changing climate, especially regarding streamflow in receiving rivers. Here, we present a systematic and transferable framework for assessing the ecological risks posed by individual WWTP-effluents at the catchment-scale. The framework combines the size-class k of WWTPs, which is a proxy for load, with the location of their outflows in river networks, represented by its stream-order ω. We identify ecological risks by using three proxy indicators: the urban discharge fraction and the local-scale concentrations of each total phosphorous and ammonium-nitrogen discharged from WWTPs. About 3,200 WWTPs over three large catchments (Rhine, Elbe, and Weser) in Central Europe were analyzed by incorporating simulated streamflow for the most extreme projected climate change scenario. We found that WWTPs causing ecological risks in future prevail in lower stream-orders, across almost all size-classes. Distinct patterns of ecological risks are identified in the k-ω framework for different indicators and catchments. We show that, as climate changes, intensified risks are especially expected in lower stream-orders receiving effluents of intermediate size WWTPs. We discuss implications of our findings for prioritizing WWTPs advancement and urging updates on environmental regulations. Further applications of the k-ω framework are discussed to help achieving global long-term commitments on freshwater security.

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“…In terms of the receiving water perspective, climate‐related hydrological regimes of receiving rivers play crucial roles in determining the ecological risk status of WWTP emissions. A lower magnitude of river flow provides less dilution capacity, resulting in a higher fraction of WWTP‐effluents in receiving streams and likely more direct exposure of people to anthropogenic pollutants in recreational places (Siddiqui et al., 2020; Yang, Büttner, Kumar, et al., 2019). In addition, the persistence of drier hydrological regimes results in prolonged residence time for solutes or particulate matters from WWTPs in river water columns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Analytical Framework for Determining the Ecological Risks of Wastewater Discharges in River Networks Under Climate Change

et al. 2022

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Human settlements require clean water in sufficient quantity with constant supply and at the same time produce continuous wastewater flows loaded with pathogens, organic and mineral matter, nutrients, and pollutants (Ceola et al., 2019;HDR, 2002). Exposure to household wastewater in living environments can directly endanger human health caused by waterborne pathogens and accelerating their spread (Naik & Stenstrom, 2012;Wolfe et al., 2018). Thus, collecting and draining wastewater from domestic sources were considered as key strategies to sanitizing residential areas, resulting in ∼60% connection of the recent global population to sewer systems (WWAP, 2017). As the basic needs for human health have been satisfied, larger-scope environmental problems induced by untreated wastewater releases have been addressed and resolved to mitigate water quality impairment, protect aquatic ecosystem integrity, and further ensure sufficient freshwater availability (Arden & Jawitz, 2019;EEA, 2015;Viessman et al., 2009). Centralized wastewater treatment systems, such as municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), have played major and significant roles in accomplishing these complex and long-term societal and environmental challenges. Jones et al. (2021) estimate that as of 2015, about 52% of worldwide municipal and manufacturing wastewater is released into the environment after treatment processes, with values ranging from ∼16% in Sub-Saharan Africa to ∼86% in western Europe. Over the coming decades, construction of new WWTPs is expected to meet targets to halve untreated wastewater discharges by 2030 under the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 6.3 formulated by the United Nations (UN, 2015). In addition, the need for extended wastewater collection and treatment will be amplified due to continuous increase of human-produced wastewater followed by substantial growth of the global population and its demand for water, which is projected to increase of 50% by 2030 (UN, 2016).

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An analysis of U.S. wastewater treatment plant effluent dilution ratio: Implications for water quality and aquaculture

Cited by 12 publications

References 51 publications

Potential discharge, attenuation and exposure risk of SARS-CoV-2 in natural water bodies receiving treated wastewater

Potential discharge, attenuation and exposure risk of SARS-CoV-2 in natural water bodies receiving treated wastewater

What Determines the Future Ecological Risks of Wastewater Discharges in River Networks: Load, Location or Climate Change?

An Analytical Framework for Determining the Ecological Risks of Wastewater Discharges in River Networks Under Climate Change

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