Domestic Waste Inputs of Nitrogen and Phosphorus to Onondaga Lake, and Water Quality Implications

Effler, Steven W.; Brooks, Carol M.; Whitehead, Keith A.

doi:10.1080/07438149609354003

Cited by 34 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Urban lakes are often plagued by water quality problems related to street runoff, leaky sewer lines, and intentional discharges of wastewater [1][2][3][4]. The accumulation of nutrients in lake sediments and the recycling of those nutrients via resuspension of the sediments or, in the case of phosphate, release during anoxic conditions in the hypolimnion, exacerbate eutrophication problems associated with allochthonous nutrient loading [5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrients and Phytoplankton in a Shallow, Hypereutrophic Urban Lake: Prospects for Restoration

Norris

2017

Water

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University Lake, a shallow, artificial, urban lake adjacent to the campus of Louisiana State University, has a long history of water quality problems, including algal blooms, fish kills, and high concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria. Periodic dredging of the lake is necessary to prevent its return to swampland. This study was undertaken to elucidate the roles of allochthonous versus autochthonous nutrients as causes of water quality problems in the lake, with the expectation that this information would help identify strategies for lake restoration. Photosynthetic rates and concentrations of inorganic nutrients and phytoplankton pigments were measured over a period of one year. More than 90% of the chlorophyll a (chl a) in the lake was accounted for by Chlorophyceae, Cyanophyceae, and Bacillariophyceae. Concentrations of chl a, which averaged 75 µg L −1 , fluctuated weekly during dry weather by as much as a factor of four. Phytoplankton growth rates were about 30% higher 1-2 days after rain events than after periods of dry weather, the implication being that allochthonous nutrient loading has a significant effect on the dynamics of the phytoplankton community in the lake. Therefore, dredging of sediments will likely produce no long-term improvement in water quality. More than 100 storm drains currently discharge into the lake, and diversion of those drains may be the most cost-effective strategy for effecting a long-term improvement in water quality.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrients and Phytoplankton in a Shallow, Hypereutrophic Urban Lake: Prospects for Restoration

Norris

2017

Water

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“…Greater flows (e.g., runoff events) receive only partial treatment before discharge to the lake. The Metro presently represents approximately 20% of the annual inflow to the lake and often is the single largest source of water during the low fluvial flow interval of late summer (Effler et al, 1996a).…”

Section: Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implications of Industrial Loads for Ammonia Pollution in an Urban Lake

Effler¹,

Gelda²,

Matthews³

2001

Water Environment Research

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The recent history of loading of total ammonia (T-NH 3 ) and organic nitrogen (N) from a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility to a municipal treatment plant (Metro) in Syracuse, New York, and the discharge of these constituents from Metro to N-polluted Onondaga Lake is documented. Further, the benefit of the implementation of pretreatment at the pharmaceutical plant, and the effect of an upset event at this treatment facility on loading to Metro and the lake and inlake concentrations are also documented. Models are used as analytical tools to couple loading and in-lake concentrations, to delineate the role that this pharmaceutical facility has played in the lake's ammonia pollution problem, and to evaluate the potential implications of future pretreatment upset events for the success of a rehabilitation program that is underway for the lake. The responsiveness of the lake to reductions in external loading is established by the lower T-NH 3 concentration observed in the upper waters of the lake in the spring of 1999. Model analysis demonstrates this reduction was primarily (ϳ 75%) because of the decrease in loading from the pharmaceutical facility achieved by pretreatment. An abrupt increase in loading in May 1999 associated with an upset event at the pretreatment facility caused a corresponding increase in the T-NH 3 concentration of the lake of approximately 0.5 mg N/L. Model projections demonstrate that the load from the pharmaceutical plant before construction of the pretreatment facility exacerbated the lake's ammonia problems by increasing the occurrence and margin of violations of the toxicity standard. Continued upset events at the pretreatment plant could compromise the lake rehabilitation program. Water Environ. Res., 73, 192 (2001).

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“…Instead of being effectively eliminated, ammonia may accumulate in water columns especially in eutrophic lakes. For example, its concentration exceeded 1 mg l −1 in a eutrophic lake in the center of Ivory Coast (Parinet et al 2004) and ranged from 1.5 to 4 mg l −1 in polluted, hypereutrophic Onondaga Lake (Effler et al 1996). The average ammonia concentrations in 33 Chinese lakes were 0.358-1.295 mg l −1 (Wu et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adverse Effects of Ammonia on Nitrification Process: the Case of Chinese Shallow Freshwater Lakes

Chen

Cao

Song

et al. 2009

Water Air Soil Pollut

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Nitrification is a process in which ammonia is oxidized to nitrite (NO 2 − ) that is further oxidized to nitrate (NO 3 − ). The relations between these two steps and ambient ammonia concentrations were studied in surface water of Chinese shallow lakes with different trophic status. For the oxidations of both ammonia and NO 2 − , more eutrophic lakes generally showed significantly higher potential and actual rates, which was linked with excessive ammonia concentrations. Additionally, both potential and actual rates for ammonia oxidation were higher than those for NO 2 − oxidation in the more eutrophic lakes, while in the lakes with lower trophic status, both potential and actual rates for ammonia oxidation were almost equivalent to those for NO 2 − oxidation. This can be explained by the excessive unionized ammonia (NH 3 ) concentration that inhibits nitrite-oxidizing bacteria in the more eutrophic lakes. The laboratory experiment with different ammonia concentrations, using the surface water in a eutrophic lake, showed that ammonia oxidation rates were proportional to the ammonia concentrations, but NO 2 − oxidation rates did not increase in parallel. Furthermore, NO 2 − oxidation was less associated with particles in natural water of the studied lakes. Without effective protection, it would be selectively inhibited by the excessive ammonia in hypereutrophic lakes, resulting in NO 2 − accumulation.Shortly, the increased concentrations of ammonia cause a misbalance between the NO 2 − -producing and the NO 2 − -consuming processes, thereby exacerbating the lake eutrophication.

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Domestic Waste Inputs of Nitrogen and Phosphorus to Onondaga Lake, and Water Quality Implications

Cited by 34 publications

References 39 publications

Nutrients and Phytoplankton in a Shallow, Hypereutrophic Urban Lake: Prospects for Restoration

Nutrients and Phytoplankton in a Shallow, Hypereutrophic Urban Lake: Prospects for Restoration

Implications of Industrial Loads for Ammonia Pollution in an Urban Lake

Adverse Effects of Ammonia on Nitrification Process: the Case of Chinese Shallow Freshwater Lakes

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