Impact of Land Use and Urban Runoff on the Contamination of the Sarno River Basin in Southwestern Italy

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the contaminantlevel of the Sarno River basin, a small creek located insouthwestern Italy. Six sampling site locations were selected tocoincide with two previous studies conducted in 1975 and 1985 toprovide a basis for comparison. For each location, twelve sampleswere collected over the period October 1997–September 1998.Results indicated a degradation in river water quality, especiallynear the mouth. This was reflected by a dissolved oxygenconcentration of about 0.8 mg L-1 near the urban areas ofScafati, Pompei and Castellamare of Stabia. At the same locations,BOD5 and COD values were two to five times higher than theallowable regulatory maximum levels, respectively. About 4 kmfrom the headwaters, the average oxygen concentration was 4.7 mgL-1, BOD5 values were close to the standard limit (37 vs 40 mg L-1), and COD values were above the standard limits(252 vs 160 mg L-1). Highest concentrations were detectedduring peak tomato production. During this time, settleable solidswere also elevated, two to six times the regulatory standard.Coliform bacteria densities were found in excess of the standardlimits at all sites. Near the head of the river, mean fecalcoliform (22,571 MPN mL-1) and streptococci densities (14,214 MPN mL-1) surpassed the regulatory level of 120 and 20 MPN mL-1, respectively, reflecting the input from the urbansettings of Sarno and agricultural fields. The heavy metaldissolved concentrations were low at all sampling sites. Most ofthe analyzed contaminants increased when comparend with 1985data. BOD5 increased 5 to 10 times at sites near the urbansettings of Scafati, Pompei and Castellamare di Stabia, whereasCOD increases were twofold at all sites. A decline of chromiumlevels was observed due to the recent effective treatment ofwaste water from the tanning plants.