Assessment of the Impact of Sewage Storage Ponds on the Water Environment in Surrounding Area

Kairat Ospanov,Dariusz Andraka,Menlibai Myrzakhmetov,Timur Rakhimov

doi:10.3390/w12092483

Abstract

Due to geographical limitations (lack of natural receivers of treated wastewater) large sewage storage ponds are the main method of sewage disposal in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The paper presents the results of research on the environmental impact of sewage ponds serving the city of Kostanay (Kazakhstan). The scope of the research included the determination of basic quality parameters of raw and treated wastewater, the analysis of the chemical composition of groundwater in the vicinity of sewage ponds, and the analysis of the water quality of the Tobol River. The obtained results showed that efficiency of treatment facilities was unsatisfactory and water quality in the ponds did not meet requirements for surface waters for fishery. Highest contamination of groundwater was observed in sampling points close to the sewage ponds and was decreasing while the distance from the ponds was increasing. Multivariate analysis of the research data indicated that sewage from storage ponds, infiltrating into the ground, may affect quality of groundwater, which in turn supplying the Tobol River may also determine the quality of the river water.

Highlights

Requirements and activities related to the rational use and protection of water resources and the prevention of their pollution are among the most important tasks in the environmental protection system [1,2,3]
Wastewater samples collected from treatment facilities (S1–S3) and sewage ponds (S4–S7) allowed to determine changes in the qualitative characteristics of wastewater at various stages of treatment
Data obtained from the analysis of wastewater samples showed that primary settling tanks of the

Summary

Introduction

Requirements and activities related to the rational use and protection of water resources and the prevention of their pollution are among the most important tasks in the environmental protection system [1,2,3]. Especially the collection and disposal of municipal wastewater, undoubtedly plays a key role in this system [4,5] For this purpose, in addition to advanced and complex technical and technological systems, methods of natural wastewater treatment and management with the use of sewage ponds and lagoons are still widely used. It was found that both wastewater treatment systems with infiltration of sewage into the ground [8,9,10,11] and sewage reservoirs, in which infiltration into the ground is limited by the sealing of the bottom [12,13,14] may affect the quality of ground and surface waters in their vicinity Another factor hazardous to the aquatic environment and related to the collection of wastewater in natural conditions are surfactants, Water 2020, 12, 2483; doi:10.3390/w12092483 www.mdpi.com/journal/water. Multivariate Statistical Methods: A Primer, 4th ed.; Chapman & Hall/CRC: Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2016; p. 163.

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