The occurrence of sewage fungus in rivers in the United Kingdom

Curtis, E.J.C.; Harrington, D. W.

doi:10.1016/0043-1354(71)90173-4

Cited by 31 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The ratio of organic matter incorporated into the slime to the total amount removed from the surrounding medium varies from 60%, during initial colonization, to 11 % for a heavily builtup slime. 130 In laboratory experiments, Amberg and Cormack 127 found that at an initial BOD 5 loading of 2.5 mg/i, 0.33 g BOD 5 per gram slime per day, or 72% of the BOD 5 load, was removed, and if the BOD 5 loading was increased to 22.0 mg/i, 0.93 g BOD 5 per gram slime per day, or 52% of the BOD 5 load, was removed.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…127 A wide range of simple carbohydrates, organic acids, and alcohols can be utilized as the carbon and energy source by the slime. Curtis 130 considered that the outbreaks of slime in United Kingdom rivers could be correlated with BOD 5 measurements of the water and that slime outbreaks were likely to occur only when the BOD 5 levels were greater than 5 mg/i for biologically treated or 2 mg/i for nonbiologically treated effluent. This conclusion was based on results obtained from an investigation of rivers receiving a wide range of domestic and industrial effluent.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The combined oxygen demand of macrophytes, sediment, and slime in a system receiving organic wastes from the manufacture of resin and glue was 2.1 to 2.94 g O 2 /mVhr, of which 71% could be attributed to the slime. 126 In addition to this oxygen demand, due to the respiration of the slime, the degradation of dead slime by other heterotrophic organisms will also result in an oxygen demand on the system, often a considerable distance from the actively growing slime zone.…”

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The effects of the pulp and paper industry on the aquatic environment

Poole

Wildish

Kristmanson

et al. 1977

C R C Critical Reviews in Environmental Control

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The effects of the pulp and paper industry on the aquatic environment

Poole

Wildish

Kristmanson

et al. 1977

C R C Critical Reviews in Environmental Control

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“…These results suggest that respiration of benthic communities rapidly failed to increase with the increase of benthic organic load, probably because of a saturation effect of organic substrates on the metabolism of benthic communities . This low efficiency of respiration has been shown by Curtis et al (1971) for sewage fungus communities in an artificial channel . We have shown previously (Fontvieille & Pattee, 1979 ;Fontvieille & Cazelles, 1982) that the downstream decrease of the benthic carbon concentration is generally followed by the decrease of the exchanges of gas (0 2 or C0 2 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The consequences of excess organic load supplied to flowing waters have often been described, especially the qualitative modifications of some components of the biocoenosis, mainly macroinvertebrates (Cole, 1973 ;Armitage, 1980 ;Dratnal & Kasprzak, 1980 ;Lock, 1981 ;Lemly, 1982) and microorganisms, either algae (Cairns et al, 1972 ;Rama Rao et al, 1979) or bacteria (Curtis & Harrington, 1971 ;Czapik, 1982 ;Kondratieff et al, 1984).…”

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confidence: 99%

Changes in biologically controlled carbon fluxes in a small stream following continuous supply of excess organic load

Fontvieille

Cazelles

1990

Hydrobiologia

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The consequences of a constant supply of organic load from a pigsty to a small 2nd order stream are analysed through simultaneous consideration of amount of carbon stored in benthic biomass and of main biologically controlled carbon fluxes .The results show that the allochthonous load induced a general increase in all fluxes and therefore stimulated processes of carbon elimination from the receiving system .The increase of biologically controlled fluxes was due to qualitative changes of populations toward specialization for an optimal use of the newly supplied organic substrates . This was especially evident in this stream for macro-invertebrate biomass production and for insect emergence .Effects of trophic pollution ranged from drastic modifications near the input of the pig waste to a place where the additional supply of organic substrate increased the numbers of individuals of macroinvertebrate populations without any change in their specific diversity .Variations of CO 2 production appeared to be more related to biomass of microbial populations in the downstream station and to macroinvertebrates in the upstream station .Although the allochthonous load caused significant increases in several processes involved in its own elimination, the magnitude of these increases was small compared to the influx of organic carbon from upstream and from the pigsty . 123

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Early detection and environmental drivers of sewage fungus outbreaks in rivers

Albini,

Lester,

Sanders

et al. 2023

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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Sewage effluent is a major ongoing threat to water quality and biodiversity in freshwater environments. It can cause outbreaks of sewage fungus (fungus‐like bacteria which form macroscopic masses) but, until now, these were only qualitatively recorded from visual inspection, ignoring microscopic forms. Here, we used an innovative method that combines machine learning, microscopy and flow cytometry, to rapidly and efficiently quantify the presence and abundance of sewage fungus in rivers. Our study involved 11 rivers with (n = 6) and without (n = 5) sewage input in England over four sampling occasions. We were able to detect and enumerate the filaments before masses became visible to the naked eye and, as expected, we found a higher number of filaments downstream of sites where treated sewage was offloaded into the river. Therefore, our detection method could be used as a ‘canary in the coal mine’ for future outbreaks allowing early intervention. Combining our quantitative data on filaments with data on the physical and chemical parameters of the rivers, we found that high conductivity, sulphate, nitrates and TDS were associated with the presence and proliferation of sewage fungus. This information can be extremely useful for regulatory bodies and water companies to develop mitigating strategies and action to prevent future outbreaks.

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The occurrence of sewage fungus in rivers in the United Kingdom

Cited by 31 publications

References 6 publications

The effects of the pulp and paper industry on the aquatic environment

The effects of the pulp and paper industry on the aquatic environment

Changes in biologically controlled carbon fluxes in a small stream following continuous supply of excess organic load

Early detection and environmental drivers of sewage fungus outbreaks in rivers

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