Assessing the Impact of Effluents from a Modern Wastewater Treatment Plant on Breakdown of Coarse Particulate Organic Matter and Benthic Macroinvertebrates in a Lowland River

Spänhoff, Bernd; Bischof, R.; Böhme, Anne; Lorenz, Stefan; Neumeister, Katharina; Nöthlich, Antje; Küsel, Kirsten

doi:10.1007/s11270-006-9255-2

Cited by 59 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 40 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…WWTP effluent significantly altered the downstream chemistry and bacterial communities of these rivers. In particular, the concentrations of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus were higher downstream of the effluent, similar to what has been observed for a variety of ecosystems (4,5,(40)(41)(42). However, it was very surprising that despite the higher concentrations of inorganic nutrients, the numbers of sediment bacteria decreased downstream of the effluent inputs.…”

Section: Fig 5 Shannon Diversity Index (A) and Chao 1 Richness Estimasupporting

confidence: 75%

Wastewater Treatment Effluent Reduces the Abundance and Diversity of Benthic Bacterial Communities in Urban and Suburban Rivers

Drury

Rosi‐Marshall

Kelly

2013

Appl Environ Microbiol

312

162

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

bIn highly urbanized areas, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent can represent a significant component of freshwater ecosystems. As it is impossible for the composition of WWTP effluent to match the composition of the receiving system, the potential exists for effluent to significantly impact the chemical and biological characteristics of the receiving ecosystem. We assessed the impacts of WWTP effluent on the size, activity, and composition of benthic microbial communities by comparing two distinct field sites in the Chicago metropolitan region: a highly urbanized river receiving effluent from a large WWTP and a suburban river receiving effluent from a much smaller WWTP. At sites upstream of effluent input, the urban and suburban rivers differed significantly in chemical characteristics and in the composition of their sediment bacterial communities. Although effluent resulted in significant increases in inorganic nutrients in both rivers, surprisingly, it also resulted in significant decreases in the population size and diversity of sediment bacterial communities. Tag pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes revealed significant effects of effluent on sediment bacterial community composition in both rivers, including decreases in abundances of Deltaproteobacteria, Desulfococcus, Dechloromonas, and Chloroflexi sequences and increases in abundances of Nitrospirae and Sphingobacteriales sequences. The overall effect of the WWTP inputs was that the two rivers, which were distinct in chemical and biological properties upstream of the WWTPs, were almost indistinguishable downstream. These results suggest that WWTP effluent has the potential to reduce the natural variability that exists among river ecosystems and indicate that WWTP effluent may contribute to biotic homogenization.

show abstract

Section: Fig 5 Shannon Diversity Index (A) and Chao 1 Richness Estimasupporting

confidence: 75%

Wastewater Treatment Effluent Reduces the Abundance and Diversity of Benthic Bacterial Communities in Urban and Suburban Rivers

Drury

Rosi‐Marshall

Kelly

2013

Appl Environ Microbiol

312

162

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Increased nutrient loading can lead to eutrophication (20) and temporary oxygen deficits (35). Increased organic matter can alter energy relationships in the stream, disrupting biotic community structure and function (17,20,40). Effluent discharge can also deposit sand and grit into aquatic systems, affecting the physical characteristics of sediment.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent on Microbial Function and Community Structure in the Sediment of a Freshwater Stream with Variable Seasonal Flow

Wakelin

Colloff

Kookana

2008

Appl Environ Microbiol

216

127

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We investigated the effects of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharge on the ecology of bacterial communities in the sediment of a small, low-gradient stream in South Australia. The quantification of genes involved in the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nitrogen was used to assess potential impacts on ecosystem functions. The effects of disturbance on bacterial community structure were assessed by PCRdenaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of 16S rRNA genes, and clone library analysis was used to phylogenetically characterize significant shifts. Significant (P < 0.05) shifts in bacterial community structures were associated with alteration of the sediment's physicochemical properties, particularly nutrient loading from the WWTP discharge. The effects were greatest at the sampling location 400 m downstream of the outfall where the stream flow is reduced. This highly affected stretch of sediment contained representatives of the gammaproteobacteria that were absent from less-disturbed sites, including Oceanospirillales and Methylococcaceae. 16S rRNA gene sequences from less-disturbed sites had representatives of the Caulobacteraceae, Sphingomonadaceae, and Nitrospirae which were not represented in samples from disturbed sediment. The diversity was lowest at the reference site; it increased with proximity to the WWTP outfall and declined toward highly disturbed (400 m downstream) sites (P < 0.05). The potential for biological transformations of N varied significantly with the stream sediment location (P < 0.05). The abundance of amoA, narG, and nifH genes increased with the distance downstream of the outfall. These processes are driven by N and C availability, as well as redox conditions. Together these data suggest cause and effect between nutrient loading into the creek, shift in bacterial communities through habitat change, and alteration of capacity for biogeochemical cycling of N.

show abstract

“…Untreated or insufficiently treated wastewater has been the source of surface water pollution for many years on all inhabited continents, and nutrients included in them affect intensification of rivers, reservoirs, and the sea's eutrophication process [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. In Europe, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the necessity to achieve good quality water by the EU states has necessitated modernisation of many wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with insufficient technology and construction of modern efficient WWTPs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These actions will significantly contribute to the recovery of water bodies. However, even effluents from modern WWTPs may cause a hazard if the receiving watercourse is small in relation to the amount of effluents [3,5,[8][9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Assessing the Impact of Wastewater Effluent Diversion on Water Quality

Dąbrowska¹,

Bawiec²,

Pawęska³

et al. 2017

Pol. J. Environ. Stud.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aim of this study was to determine the change of water quality in the Trzemna River after modernisation of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Gołuchów and wastewater effluent diversion (WED) to the Prosna River in 2008. Data was acquired from the State Environmental Monitoring database for the period before and after changing the location of discharge from the treatment plant. The before-after (BA) and before-after-control-impact (BACI) analyses were used to determine the effectiveness of applied solutions. The BA study covered 12 physicochemical parameters and showed improvement of water quality in terms of phosphorous compounds, EC, ammonium nitrogen, TKN, TN, and BOD 5 . Lack of statistically significant differences for nitrates, pH, and TOC were noted. The BACI analysis was only applicable for six physicochemical parameters, and statistically significant differences were shown for TN, TKN, ammonium nitrogen, and TP. There were no differences in the case of nitrates and DO. After wastewater effluent diversion, a high concentration of nitrates in Trzemna water was still observed, with a statistically confirmed increasing trend. This is an effect of the negative impact of agricultural diffuse pollution. Modernisation of a WWTP and wastewater effluent diversion positively affected the quality of Trzemna water. The BA and BACI analyses in relation to statistical tests applied in hydrology can be successfully used to evaluate the impact of changes in the environment on water quality. In the case of BA design it was possible to analyse 12 parameters, whereas in BACI analysis it was only half of them. However, this method is recognised as more reliable and eliminates the impact of natural temporary variations.

show abstract

Assessing the Impact of Effluents from a Modern Wastewater Treatment Plant on Breakdown of Coarse Particulate Organic Matter and Benthic Macroinvertebrates in a Lowland River

Cited by 59 publications

References 40 publications

Wastewater Treatment Effluent Reduces the Abundance and Diversity of Benthic Bacterial Communities in Urban and Suburban Rivers

Wastewater Treatment Effluent Reduces the Abundance and Diversity of Benthic Bacterial Communities in Urban and Suburban Rivers

Effect of Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent on Microbial Function and Community Structure in the Sediment of a Freshwater Stream with Variable Seasonal Flow

Assessing the Impact of Wastewater Effluent Diversion on Water Quality

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About