The influence of treated wastewater from the Lodz city agglomeration on the ice regime and water temperature of the Ner river

Abstract

The study attempts to answer the following question: Does human impact contribute to changes recorded in the Ner river ice regime? In replying to this question, data on water consumption in Lodz (Łódź) (a city in central Poland) in 1951–2017 were used, as well as observations of ice cover and all ice phenomena for the same period. The ice regime and water temperature of the river have changed over the past 70 years. The changes result not only from changes caused by global warming but also from additional fluctuations in this temperature as determined by changes in the quantity and quality of wastewater discharged into the river from the Lodz city agglomeration. The frequency of ice phenomena in the river decreased, and their duration dropped by almost half. This tendency was compounded by a decrease in number of days with ice phenomena, which in turn was caused by a rapid increase in the amount of waste and thermally polluted waters supplied from Lodz. The river water temperature has now stopped increasing. The course of the river ice regime now resembles that of a natural watercourse again.

Profesor Paweł Jokiel – życiorys wodą pisany

“…Warte podkreślenia są opracowania traktujące o identyfikacji i transformacjach, zdefiniowanych wcześniej z dr. Przemysławem Tomalskim, sezonów hydrologicznych (Jokiel, Tomalski 2018. Do rozważań nad ustrojami rzecznymi włączył też czynnik termiczny, poddając analizie wpływ zrzutów wód pościekowych na reżim lodowy i zmienność temperatury wód rzecznych (Bartnik, Jokiel 2021). Zaadoptował także metodę identyfikacji sezonów hydrologicznych do oceny sezonowości termicznej rzek i wyznaczania sezonów termicznych w rzekach między innymi w kontekście ocieplania klimatu (Marszelewski i in.…”