Management of point source discharges into rivers: Where do environmental quality standards in the new EC‐water framework directive apply?

2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard H. Jirka ◽  
Tobias Bleninger ◽  
Richard Burrows ◽  
Torben Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Point Source ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
Environmental Quality Standards ◽  
Point Source Discharges

scholarly journals Water quality and ecology of the River Lee: mass balance and a review of temporal and spatial data

2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 636-650 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Snook ◽  
P. G. Whitehead
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Point Source ◽  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Nutrient Enrichment ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
Organic Substances ◽  
Aquatic Fauna ◽  
Environmental Quality Standards

Abstract. A regional overview of the water quality and ecology of the River Lee catchment is presented. Specifically, data describing the chemical, microbiological and macrobiological water quality and fisheries communities have been analysed, based on a division into river, sewage treatment works, fish-farm, lake and industrial samples. Nutrient enrichment and the highest concentrations of metals and micro-organics were found in the urbanised, lower reaches of the Lee and in the Lee Navigation. Average annual concentrations of metals were generally within environmental quality standards although, on many occasions, concentrations of cadmium, copper, lead, mercury and zinc were in excess of the standards. Various organic substances (used as herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, chlorination by-products and industrial solvents) were widely detected in the Lee system. Concentrations of ten micro-organic substances were observed in excess of their environmental quality standards, though not in terms of annual averages. Sewage treatment works were the principal point source input of nutrients, metals and micro-organic determinands to the catchment. Diffuse nitrogen sources contributed approximately 60% and 27% of the in-stream load in the upper and lower Lee respectively, whereas approximately 60% and 20% of the in-stream phosphorus load was derived from diffuse sources in the upper and lower Lee. For metals, the most significant source was the urban runoff from North London. In reaches less affected by effluent discharges, diffuse runoff from urban and agricultural areas dominated trends. High microbiological content, observed in the River Lee particularly in urbanised reaches, was far in excess of the EC Bathing Water Directive standards. Water quality issues and degraded habitat in the lower reaches of the Lee has led to impoverished aquatic fauna but, within the mid-catchment reaches and upper agricultural tributaries, less nutrient enrichment and channel alteration has permitted more diverse aquatic fauna. Keywords: River Lee, River Thames, water quality, nutrients, metals, ecology, hydrology, diffuse and point source pollution

scholarly journals Environmental quality standards for diclofenac derived under the European Water Framework Directive: 1. Aquatic organisms

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean Leverett ◽  
Graham Merrington ◽  
Mark Crane ◽  
Jim Ryan ◽  
Iain Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Aquatic Organisms ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
Environmental Quality Standards ◽  
Direct Toxicity ◽  
Freshwater Monitoring ◽  
Assessment Factor

AbstractDiclofenac is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory human and veterinary medicine widely detected in European surface waters, especially downstream from Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs). Veterinary uses of diclofenac in Europe are greatly restricted, so wastewater is the key exposure route for wildlife. Proposed Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) which include an assessment of toxicity to aquatic organisms are under consideration by the European Commission (EC) to support the aims of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The EC approach favours the use of a deterministic (single test value and an assessment factor) approach to the derivation of a direct toxicity EQS for diclofenac, resulting in an EQS of 0.040 µg L−1 based on a single mesocosm study. In this paper, we discuss potential issues with this approach with respect to the EC’s own guidance on EQS derivation and derive an evidence-driven alternative EQS of 0.126 µg L−1 using a probabilistic (species sensitivity distribution) approach that accounts for all of the reliable and relevant data and is in accordance with the guidance. Europe-wide freshwater monitoring data for diclofenac are used in an indicative compliance assessment using the EC and the alternative evidence-driven EQS. The implications of using only some data to derive an EQS that does not adhere to the guidance, compared to a guidance-compliant approach that uses all the data available are also discussed.

Upgrading Vienna's wastewater treatment plant – linking point source emissions to Environmental Quality Standards

2012 ◽  
Vol 65 (7) ◽  
pp. 1290-1297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Gabriel ◽  
Katerina Ruzicka ◽  
Norbert Kreuzinger
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Point Source ◽  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Waste Water Treatment ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
Waste Water Treatment Plant ◽  
Water Quality Standards ◽  
Mixing Processes ◽  
Environmental Quality Standards

The new water quality protection approach of the EU combines the control of emissions with instream Environmental Quality Standards (=EQS). Since 1 April 2006 and actually relevant in the version of 2010 in Austria, priority substances from list A of the EUROPEAN DIERECTIVE 76/464 and further EQS of relevant chemical substances (list B), identified by a national risk assessment, have to be reached to achieve a good ecological state in the surface water (Edict for Water Quality Standards, 2006; changes to the Edict for Water Quality Standards 2010). The practical assessment of these substances after point source emissions is prescribed in the Edict, but rarely carried out. In this paper, two substances, namely: (1) ammonium (list B); and (2) nonylphenol, an endocrine disrupting compound (list A) are presented to discuss: (i) the improvement of treatment efficiency due to the upgrade of a large Waste Water Treatment Plant (=WWTP); (ii) the relevance of mixing processes and modelling as a method to control EQS after point source emissions; and (iii) the improvement of water quality in the ambient surface waters. It is shown that the improved treatment in the case of nonylphenol leads to emission values which fall below the EQS, making an assessment unnecessary. In the case of ammonium emission, values are significantly reduced and violation of EQS is avoided, while mixing modelling is shown to be a suitable instrument to address the resulting instream concentrations at different border conditions.

scholarly journals Environmental quality standards for diclofenac derived under the european water framework directive: 1. Aquatic organisms

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean Leverett ◽  
Graham Merrington ◽  
Mark Crane ◽  
Jim Ryan ◽  
Iain Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Aquatic Organisms ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
Environmental Quality Standards ◽  
Direct Toxicity ◽  
Freshwater Monitoring ◽  
Assessment Factor

Abstract Diclofenac is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory human and veterinary medicine widely detected in European surface waters, especially downstream from Wastewater Treatment Plants. Veterinary uses of diclofenac in Europe are greatly restricted, so wastewater is the key exposure route for wildlife. Proposed Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) which include an assessment of toxicity to aquatic organisms are under consideration by the European Commission (EC) to support the aims of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The EC approach favours the use of a deterministic (single test value and an assessment factor) approach to the derivation of a direct toxicity EQS for diclofenac, resulting in an EQS of 0.040 µg L− 1 based on a single mesocosm study. In this paper, we discuss potential issues with this approach with respect to the EC’s own guidance on EQS derivation and derive an evidence-driven alternative EQS of 0.126 µg L− 1 using a probabilistic (Species Sensitivity Distribution) approach that accounts for all of the reliable and relevant data and is in accordance with the guidance. Europe-wide freshwater monitoring data for diclofenac are used in an indicative compliance assessment using the EC and the alternative evidence-driven EQS. The implications of using only some data to derive an EQS that does not adhere to the guidance, compared to a guidance compliant approach that uses all the data available is also discussed.

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