Risk Assessment of Copper-Contaminated Sediments in the Tsolum River Near Courtenay, British Columbia

1996 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 725-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Deniseger ◽  
Y.T. John Kwong

Abstract Acidic drainage originating from an abandoned copper mine on Mt. Washington has given rise to elevated dissolved copper concentrations that may threaten aquatic life throughout most of the Tsolum River watershed on central Vancouver Island. Only sediments in the upper portion of the watershed near the mine site, however, have tested acutely toxic to the amphipod Hyalella azteca. Despite evidence of mechanical transport of copper up to 18 km down-stream from the mine site, the sediment-bound copper in the lower watershed appear to be highly stable such that the copper-rich sediments are unlikely to become a secondary source of dissolved copper. In addition to copper attenuation through dilution, extensive wetland areas in the lower watershed contribute significant amounts of dissolved organic carbon that form stable complexes with copper and ameliorate the toxic effects of dissolved copper. These observations imply that successful reclamation at the mine site is probably sufficient to assure acceptable water quality farther downstream.

1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 519-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Zandbergen ◽  
Ken J. Hall

Abstract The use of indices in ecosystem management is attractive because it allows for the representation of a complex set of information on ecosystem variables in a simple fashion. Recently the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks developed the British Columbia Water Quality Index (BCWQI). As this index is currently being considered as the basis for other provincial indices and a national water quality index, the character of the BCWQI needs to be carefully considered. This study evaluates the performance of the BCWQI and assesses how useful and appropriate it is as a management tool at the watershed level. For this purpose the index is used to express the results of two sampling programs, one by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, and the other by the Westwater Research Centre, of two relatively small watersheds in the Greater Vancouver area: the Brunette River watershed, heavily impacted by urbanization, and the Salmon River watershed on the urban-rural fringe. For both watersheds the intended use is the protection of aquatic life and only those water quality objectives are considered. The results indicate that the BCWQI is extremely sensitive to sampling design and highly dependent on the specific application of water quality objectives. A comparison is made with another type of index in widespread use in North America: the National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index (NSFWQI). This index appears promising for stream stewardship groups because of its simplicity and ease of use. For watershed managers, an alternative to the BCWQI is suggested, based on exceedance factors for individual objectives. This Simple Water Quality Index (SWQI) recognizes the importance of objectives that are specific to a particular water body, but overcomes some of the limitations of the BCWQI. A presentation format is suggested for objective exceedance factors, with a clear indication of exactly which objectives were included — without this, the final numerical index value is meaningless. This study suggests that the BCWQI in its current form has serious limitations for comparing water bodies and for establishing management priorities. If local watershed managers use the BCWQI in guiding efforts to protect aquatic resources, they should consider these limitations carefully.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 2106-2118
Author(s):  
Kassim Chabi ◽  
Jie Zeng ◽  
Lizheng Guo ◽  
Xi Li ◽  
Chengsong Ye ◽  
...  

Abstract People in remote areas are still drinking surface water that may contain certain pollutants including harmful microorganisms and chemical compounds directly without any pretreatment. In this study, we have designed and operated a pilot-scale drinking water treatment unit as part of our aim to find an economic and easily operable technology for providing drinking water to people in those areas. Our small-scale treatment unit contains filtration and disinfection (UV–C irradiation) stages to remove pollutants from source water. The water quality index was determined based on various parameters such as pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, phosphorus, dissolved organic carbon and bacteria. Water and media samples after DNA extraction were sequenced using Illumina MiSeq throughput sequencing for the determination of bacterial community composition. After the raw water treatment, the reduction of bacteria concentration ranged from 1 to 2 log10. The average removal of the turbidity, ammonium, nitrite, phosphorus and dissolved organic carbon reached up to 95.33%, 85.71%, 100%, 28.57%, and 45%, respectively. In conclusion, multiple biological stages in our designed unit showed an improvement of the drinking water quality. The designed drinking treatment unit produces potable water meeting standards at a lower cost of operation and it can be used in remote areas.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1863-1875 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Thomas ◽  
Benjamin W. Abbott ◽  
Olivier Troccaz ◽  
Jacques Baudry ◽  
Gilles Pinay

Abstract. Direct and indirect effects from human activity have dramatically increased nutrient loading to aquatic inland and estuarine ecosystems. Despite an abundance of studies investigating the impact of agricultural activity on water quality, our understanding of what determines the capacity of a watershed to remove or retain nutrients remains limited. The goal of this study was to identify proximate and ultimate controls on dissolved organic carbon and nutrient dynamics in small agricultural catchments by investigating the relationship between catchment characteristics, stream discharge, and water chemistry. We analyzed a 5-year, high-frequency water chemistry data set from three catchments in western France ranging from 2.3 to 10.8 km2. The relationship between hydrology and solute concentrations differed between the three catchments and was associated with hedgerow density, agricultural activity, and geology. The catchment with thicker soil and higher surface roughness had relatively invariant carbon and nutrient chemistry across hydrologic conditions, indicating high resilience to human disturbance. Conversely, the catchments with smoother, thinner soils responded to both intra- and interannual hydrologic variation with high concentrations of phosphate (PO43−) and ammonium (NH4+) in streams during low flow conditions and strong increases in dissolved organic carbon (DOC), sediment, and particulate organic matter during high flows. Despite contrasting agricultural activity between catchments, the physical context (geology, topography, and land-use configuration) appeared to be the most important determinant of catchment solute dynamics based on principle components analysis. The influence of geology and accompanying topographic and geomorphological factors on water quality was both direct and indirect because the distribution of agricultural activity in these catchments is largely a consequence of the geologic and topographic context. This link between inherent catchment buffering capacity and the probability of human disturbance provides a useful perspective for evaluating vulnerability of aquatic ecosystems and for managing systems to maintain agricultural production while minimizing leakage of nutrients.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Husnah Husnah ◽  
Eko Prianto ◽  
Siti Nurul Aida

Sungai Musi merupakan sungai besar mengaliri wilayah Sumatera Selatan, Lampung, dan Bengkulu , dan bervariasi dalam pemanfaatannya, khususnya di bagian hilir, didominasi oleh kegiatan industri yang membuang limbahnya ke Sungai Musi. Kajian pengaruh industri terhadap Sungai Musi telah dilakukan, namun sebatas analisis fisik dan kimia lingkungan dan belum mengarah kepada pengaruhnya terhadap organisme air. Organisme air adalah indikator penting perubahan lingkungan karena organisme khususnya organisme dasar (benthos) menyimpan sejarah proses-proses terjadi di perairan. Riset yang bertujuan untuk mengetahui kualitas perairan Sungai Musi bagian hilir ditinjau dari karakteristik fisik dan kimia dan struktur makrozoobenthos telah dilakukan di Sungai Musi, Sumatera Selatan pada bulan Mei dan September 2006. Riset dilakukan bersifat survei lapangan. Delapan stasiun ditentukan di Sungai Musi bagian hilir berdasarkan pada perbedaan mikrohabitat. Stasiun riset masing masing antara lain Sejagung, Pulokerto, Jembatan Ampera, Sebokor, Pulau Burung, Upang, Pulau Payung, dan Sungsang. Pada masing masing stasiun, dilakukan pengambilan contoh air untuk parameter fisika, kimia, dan makrobenthos. Contoh air diambil dari atas perahu motor pada kedalaman 1,0 m dari permukaan air dengan menggunakan kemmerer water sampler. Sebagian contoh dianalisis di lapangan (suhu, pH, dan oksigen terlarut) dan sebagian lagi yaitu jumlah padatan tersesuspensi (total suspended solids), jumlah padatan terlarut (total dissolved solids), jumlah karbon organik (total organic carbon), organik karbon terlarut (dissolved organic carbon), konsumsi oksigen biologi (biochemical oxygen demand), nitrat, dan fosfat dianalisis di laboratorium kimia. Contoh makrozoobenthos diambil pada 10 titik di masing-masing stasiun, dengan menggunakan ekman dredge dengan bukaan mulut 400 cm2. Contoh makrobenthos pada masingmasing titik tersebut disortir dengan menggunakan saringan dan kemudian digabungkan (dikomposit) dan diawetkan dengan formalin 10%. Data kualitas air dianalisis dengan principle component analysis dan kelimpahan makrozoobenthos dianalisis dengan analisis cluster. Kualitas perairan di Sungai Musi bagian hilir dikelompokkan atas 2 yang mengalami tekanan berat yaitu dari Sejagung sampai dengan Pulau Burung dan tekanan ringan yaitu dari Upang sampai dengan Muara Sungai Musi. Kelompok pertama dicirikan oleh nilai konsentrasi total dissolved solids, total organic carbon, dan dissolved organic carbon yang tinggi diiringi dengan kelimpahan makrozoobenhthos yang rendah serta didominasi oleh Tubifex sp. Kelompok ke-2 dari Upang sampai dengan Muara Sungai Musi dicirikan oleh nilai konsentrasi total suspended solids yang tinggi, dengan kelimpahan makrozoobenthos yang tinggi dan didominasi oleh Gammarus. Musi River is a large river , crossing three provinces, South Sumatra, Lampung and Bengkulu, and differeing in types and levels of its resources ultization, particularly at the down stream of Musi River, mostly dominated by industries activities producing a waste which flows to the river. Several studies on the effect of industries on the Musi River have been conducted , however , limmieted on physical dan chemical aspects of the water, not yet to evaluate its effect on aquatic organism. Aquatic organism such macrozoobenthos is important indicator of environmental changes since this organism records the history of processes occurred in the water. Study to assess water quality of the down stream Musi River based on physical, chemical water characteristics and macrozoobenthos community structure was conducted at may and september 2006 in Musi River located in South Sumatera Province of Indonesia. The study used inventory field survey. Eight sampling sites; Sejagung, Pulokerto, Jembatan Ampera, Sebokor, Pulau Burung, Upang, Pulau Payung, and Sungsang were selected based on the microhabitat difference. water sampling for physical and chemical parameters and sediment, and  macrozoobenthos were carried in each sampling site. Water sample was collected at a depth of 1.0 m from the water surface by using kemmerer water sampler. Some water quality parameters such as temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen) were directly analyzed in the field, while the others such as total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, total organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, biochemical oxygen demand, nitrate, and phosphate were analyzed in laboratory. Macrozoobenthos was collected at ten sampling points in each sampling sites using Ekman Dredge of 400 cm2 mouth opening. Macrozoobenthos from ten sampling points was composited, sorted and preserved with formalin 10%. Water quality parameters were analyzed with principle component analysis while macrozoobenthos abundance was analyzed with cluster. Results revealed that water quality at the down stream Musi River was classified into two groups. The first group was the heavy degraded sites from Sejagung to Pulau Burung, characterized by having high concentration of total dissolved solids, total organic carbon, and dissolved organic carbon, low abundance of macrozoobenthos with Tubifex sp. as the dominant species. The second group was light degraded sites from Upang to the mouth of Musi River, characterized by high concentration of total suspended solids and high macrozoobenthos abundance with Gammarus sp. as the dominant species.


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