Nutrient Pollution in Laucala Bay, Fiji Islands

Abstract

The Laucala Bay coastal system was investigated from 2003 to 2005 to evaluate the changes in water quality (nutrients) after improvements in sewage effluent quality from Kinoya sewage treatment plant (KSTP), whose output is discharged into the bay. The oxidized nitrogen (NO x –N) values averaged 1.31 µM, but varied from 0.76 to 3.77 µM, and the filterable reactive phosphate or orthophosphate (FRP) averaged 0.77 µM, ranging from 0.24 to 2.37 µM. The mean concentrations of NO x –N and FRP, respectively, were two and ten times higher than concentrations found in unpolluted sites in Fiji. Based on these values and NH3 concentrations from parallel studies, Redfield ratio estimates suggest that primary productivity of the bay is N limited. No significant decrease in concentration of both NO x –N and FRP was found in Laucala Bay waters during the present investigation compared to concentrations found in two previous studies. This indicates that KSTP effluent may be only a minor source of nutrients into the bay, and to protect the Laucala Bay ecosystem from increasing nutrient pollution, there is a need to control nutrient input from other major point and nonpoint sources.