Effect of tourism-generated wastewater on biogenic ions concentrations in stream water in Tatra National Park (Poland)

Abstract

The purpose of the research conducted in the years 2008–2009 was to determine the effect of wastewater generated by several tourist lodges in Tatra National Park (an alpine environment) on the concentration of biogenic ions (NH4 +, NO2 −, NO3 − and PO4 3−) in local streams into which the wastewater was being discharged. Wastewater discharged from mechanical biological wastewater treatment plants operated by tourist lodges usually has high concentrations of NH4 + and PO4 3−. The largest loads of biogenic ions were discharged into streams during the tourist season from May until September. Although the dilution conditions were good, the concentrations of some forms of biogenic ions in streams were significantly higher at points tens of metres downstream from the point of discharge than at points located upstream from the point of discharge. The concentrations of NH4 + and PO4 3− ions increased significantly in streams into which wastewater was being discharged from wastewater treatment plants in Tatra National Park (NP). Concentrations of NO3 − increased in the case of a stream into which untreated wastewater was being discharged after flowing down a mountain couloir for several hundred metres in the Tatras. The water and sewer management situation in Tatra NP has improved significantly since the time when this research was conducted. Poland’s entry into the European Union in 2005 made additional EU funding available to be invested in various environmental projects. Most existing wastewater treatment plants were fully modernized in the years 2010–2011, and new plants were built where none had been. Even so, it seems that transporting wastewater to treatment plants outside the national park is the most effective and reliable method of protecting the oligotrophic mountain waters of the Tatras from pollution.