River Water Quality Improvement Research Articles

What’s the Problem? River Management, Education, and Public Beliefs

This paper invokes the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a diagnostic tool to explain an existing public education program's limited success at improving river water quality in the City of Perth, Western Australia. A reflective, client-driven research approach was used. A facilitated expert workshop defined an environmental problem (excess nutrients leaving gardens and entering waterways) and a desired behavior (residents purchasing environmentally sensitive fertilizer) to address the problem. A TPB-based belief elicitation survey captured respondents' beliefs regarding the desired behavior. The findings suggest respondents were aware of the links between purchasing environmentally sensitive fertilizer and river water quality. However, this behavior is compromised by the challenges in identifying appropriate products, product quality concerns, and cost. Viewing the content of a public education program through the lens of the TPB reveals insights into how and why the program fell short in achieving one of its key behavioral change goals.

Quantitative evaluation of effects of the soft interventions or cleaner production in households and the hard interventions: A Social Experiment Programme in a large river basin in Japan

Efforts have been made to reduce municipal wastewater pollutant discharge and improve river water quality in the Yamato-gawa River basin since 2005, as part of a Social Experiment Programme. The Programme was the first one in Japan to disseminate soft interventions in households, measurements to reduce pollutant discharge, in a large river basin with more than two million population. The soft interventions in households are similar to cleaner production in industrial sector because they are not the wastewater treatment and changing of lifestyles. This paper presents several methods for quantification of the pollutant discharge reduction. Two hypothetical soft intervention combinations were defined, the effects of 16 soft interventions were estimated using their proliferation rates, and estimated pollutant discharge reduction was compared with changes in river water quality during the Programme events. For the first method, environmental accounting housekeeping (EAH) books were applied to estimate a 38–53% reduction in biological oxygen demand (BOD), 26–40% reduction in total nitrogen (TN), and 21–32% reduction in total phosphorus (TP). These estimation results were comparable with the field survey results of approximately 100 person population, which were conducted in the late 1980s. Soft interventions were found to be several times more cost effective than hard interventions, such as development of municipal wastewater treatment and river water purification systems. The BOD discharge reduction effects of soft interventions initiated during Programme events increased from 0.3–2.3% in 2005–2007 to 2.4–4.7% in 2007–2009. The questionnaire surveys found that participants in the Programme events in average newly implemented three or four soft interventions in addition to those already implemented at normal times.

О повышении эффективности российско-китайского мониторинга качества вод реки Аргунь (Хайлар)

The paper analyses the runoff formation conditions and the water qualitative composition of the transboundary Argun (Khailar) River at its section coinisiding with the state border of the Russian Federation with taking into account both natural conditions and economic activity in this basin on the Russian territory plus the same for the near-boundary zone of the neighboring state (as an estimation). The authors gave reasons for localization of the joint sampling sites in order to enhance effectiveness of monitoring and development of measures aimed at the river water quality improvement.

Research for wetland network used to improve river water quality

Pollutants discharged as a result of urbanization have created a series of environmental problems, especially deterioration of water quality, which influence human health. Water quality improvement has become an urgent priority in water resource management. As “the kidneys of earth,” wetlands have been widely used in pollution control. To make the wetland play a better role in reducing pollution, various methods have been developed in recent years, especially wetland networks. Major factors influencing the functions of wetland are wetland categories, wetland area, wetland site and wetland hydrology, which are sometimes related to flood and dry seasons. Using wetland networks to improve water quality is an important and urgent work for environment protection, and also provides a useful method for water managers.

Cost-effective solutions for river water quality improvement in Eindhoven supported by sewer-WWTP-river integrated modeling

Cost-effective solutions for river water quality improvement in Eindhoven supported by sewer-WWTP-river integrated modeling

Pollutant runoff yields in the Yamato-gawa River, Japan, to be applied for EAH books of municipal wastewater intending pollutant discharge reduction

Summary A Social Experiment Program to decrease municipal wastewater pollutant discharge by “soft interventions” in households and to improve river water quality was conducted in the Yamato-gawa River Basin, Japan. Environmental accounting housekeeping (EAH) books of municipal wastewater were prepared mainly for dissemination purpose to be applied during the Social Experiment Program. The EAH books are table format spreadsheets to estimate pollutant discharges. Pollutant load per capita flowing into water body (PLCwb) and pollutant runoff yields from sub-river basins to the river mouth are indispensable parameters for their preparation. In order to estimate the pollutant runoff yields of the pollutants, BOD, TN and TP, a concept of pollutant runoff yield from upper monitoring point, MPn, to lower monitoring point, MPn+1 (Rmn(n+1)), and that from corresponding sub-river basin (Rd(n+1)(n+1)) was introduced in this paper. When proportion of the pollutant runoff yields, pn (=Rmn(n+1)/Rd(n+1)(n+1)), was equal to 1.0 in all the river sections, which was determined based on the simulation results of Rm and Rd, pollutant runoff yield from sub-river basin n to the monitoring point nearest to the river mouth, Ryn7, were estimated to be 0.3–66.8% for BOD, 25.8–75.8% for TN and 18.9–78.5% for TP. The EAH books of municipal wastewater were prepared by adopting the estimated pollutant runoff yields, Ryn7. The EAH books were thought to be distributed widely, however, they did not seem to be used by many ordinary citizens in the Social Experiment Program in February, 2010, judging from the small number of website visitor counter and less responses from people. Possible reasons for less usage than expected were considered to be unsuccessful negotiation with the official organizations of the Social Experiment Program on the EAH books utilization as official tools and some difficulties in using the EAH books for ordinary people.

Natural purification effects in the river in consideration with domestic wastewater pollutant discharge reduction effects

The first social experiment program in Japan to reduce domestic wastewater pollutant discharge by “soft interventions” in households has been conducted in the Yamato-gawa River drainage area since 2005. The Yamato-gawa River has been listed as one of the worst water quality rivers in Japan because of the larger annual average BOD. “Hard interventions” including deployment of wastewater treatment facilities and artificial installation of natural purification facilities in the river has been conducted in these years to improve river water quality. At the first Yamato-gawa River social experiment program (YR-SEP) in March 2005, BOD at the monitoring point near the river mouth decreased about 6% during the Program. Natural purification effect along the river was evaluated in this article with one-dimensional water quality model for the six river sections. Larger biological oxygen consumption rate, k b, was estimated in the sections with artificially installed natural purification facilities. The effect of “soft interventions” in households in the YR-SEP was estimated as 25% BOD decrease in the nearest monitoring point to the river mouth, when all the households participate in the Program and BOD discharge reduction rate with “soft interventions” in households was 40%.

Using a constructed wetland for non-point source pollution control and river water quality purification: a case study in Taiwan

The Kaoping River Rail Bridge Constructed Wetland, which was commissioned in 2004, is one of the largest constructed wetlands in Taiwan. This multi-function wetland has been designed for the purposes of non-point source (NPS) pollutant removal, wastewater treatment, wildlife habitat, recreation, and education. The major influents of this wetland came from the local drainage trench containing domestic, agricultural, and industrial wastewaters, and effluents from the wastewater treatment plant of a paper mill. Based on the quarterly investigation results from 2007 to 2009, more than 96% of total coliforms (TC), 48% of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and 40% of nutrients (e.g. total nitrogen, total phosphorus) were removed via the constructed wetland system. Thus, the wetland system has a significant effect on water quality improvement and is capable of removing most of the pollutants from the local drainage system before they are discharged into the downgradient water body. Other accomplishments of this constructed wetland system include the following: providing more green areas along the riversides, offering more water assessable eco-ponds and eco-gardens for the public, and rehabilitating the natural ecosystem. The Kaoping River Rail Bridge Constructed Wetland has become one of the most successful multi-function constructed wetlands in Taiwan. The experience obtained from this study will be helpful in designing similar natural treatment systems for river water quality improvement and wastewater treatment.

Improvement of Riverwater Quality by Purification Works within Watercourses.

Improvement of Riverwater Quality by Purification Works within Watercourses.

Impact of decreasing water demand on bank filtration in Saxony, Germany

Abstract. Bank filtration has been of great importance to the drinking water supply in Germany for many decades. The water quality of pumped raw water from bank filtration sites depends to a high degree on the water quality of the infiltrating surface water and the landside groundwater, the mixed portion of both, as well as the flow and transport conditions in the aquifer. Following the improvement of river water quality and a drastic decrease in water demand during the last 20 years in Germany, the influence of landside groundwater quality has become more important for the raw water quality of waterworks relying on bank filtration. The hydrogeologic analysis of three bank filtration sites in Saxony and the management of abstraction rates and well operation in response to fluctuating water demand are discussed.

Structural and Functional Changes in River Microbial Communities After Dairy Wastewater Discharge

ABSTRACTThe introduction of an integration approach for management of the water basins, including assessment and control of stream water quality and sediment quality, as well as regulation of the pollutant influx in the water receiver, is necessary. The changes in the microbial communities, as a response to the chronic discharge of untreated dairy wastewater, were followed in river and in depth, in three river components “stream water—sediment water—sediments”. The water quality of Leva River decreased after dairy wastewater discharge as the microbial communities reacted with structural and functional changes, related with enhancement of aerobic heterotrophs and the values of total dehydrogenase activity and phosphatase activity index. The result was a decrease of organic matter and nutrients in the stream water in Station 4. However, an improvement of river water quality was not ascertained according to the Bulgarian State Standard. The applied ecological theory for r/K- strategists showed that in the stream water the microbial community is presented with fast growing populations, while in the sediment water and sediments prevailed slow growing bacteria. In the sediments aerobic heterotrophs were with higher density and showed higher activities of total dehydrogenase, phosphatase and protease. The obtained results confirmed that microbial community in the sediment zone is an important factor for the regulation of the transformation processes of organic matter and nutrients in water and sediments, as well as for the formation of river water quality in water receiver.

The impact of climate change on drinking water supply by riverbank filtration

Riverbank filtration (RBF) is a well proven natural treatment, which in many countries is part of a multi-barrier concept in drinking water supply. The induced infiltration of river water into the aquifer produces a significant improvement in river water quality. Riverbank filtration wells are characterized by a high capacity. Based on data from recent years, an integrated approach to assessing the impact of climate change on safe drinking water production by RBF is demonstrated in the Lower Rhine Valley, Germany. Influencing factors on quantitative as well as qualitative aspects were identified. During low river water periods, the capacity of the RBF-wells decreases. In addition the lower discharge within the river is accompanied by a increased concentration of several chemical compounds. Together with higher water temperatures which influence the hydrogeochemical processes during RBF, the changing raw water composition has to be considered for the subsequent technical treatment step. However, our investigations reveal that despite the impact of climate change on RBF, the multi-protective barrier concept, including both natural and technical purification, has proven a reliable method for drinking water production. The sanitation of the Rhine over the last decades was an important step to make RBF more resilient to climate change.

50 Years of Environmental Monitoring at Henkel

Abstract The gradually increasing detergents consumption in Germany since 1950 resulted in higher emissions of their ingredients to the environment. The first generation of mineral oil-based surfactants, tetrapropylene benzene sulfonate (TPS), exhibited poor biodegradability and caused public environmental concerns. These prompted Henkel in 1958 to start a systematic measurement of some main detergent constituents in the river Rhine in Germany. Since then, a number of monitoring activities regarding the determination of detergent ingredients concentrations and freights in rivers and waste water treatment plants (WWTP) followed. This paper summarizes 50 years experience at Henkel in monitoring of detergent ingredients in the aquatic environment. The long-term monitoring results on the river Rhine provides an impressive record of the development of the environmental burden by surfactant emissions and of the gradual improvement of river water quality over time. The reasons for the changes are discussed. Further monitoring activities on WWTPs have shown for the first time, that domestic wastewater treatment plants (DWTP) are similarly suitable for the removal of surfactants like municipal ones. The good removal of prominent organic detergent ingredients was shown by several time-proportional sampling campaigns in municipal WWTPs. Finally the positive impact of the modernisation of a municipal WWTP on the chemical and biological water quality on a small river creek is reported over the time period of 7 years. All of the reported studies indicate a low environmental burden due to the use of detergents ingredients today. The learnings from the different activities in environmental monitoring by Henkel have contributed to a solid understanding of the fate of detergent ingredients in the environment. This in turn was the prerequisite for development of reliable exposure prediction models. Today, Henkel employs both, environmental monitoring and modeling instruments, for assessing the environmental exposure of chemicals.

Environmental effects analysis of a wastewater reuse system for agriculture in Korea

The long-term goal of this research is to develop the infra-technologies to reclaim effluents from wastewater treatment plants and reuse them for agricultural water demands. The objectives of this were: 1) to study the effects of various wastewater treatment levels on crop growth and yields; 2) to determine the pollution loads from wastewater applications to paddy fields, and explore potential health hazards; 3) to investigate the treatment efficiencies of three different levels of treatment systems; and 4) to assess the agro-environmental effects of reusable wastewater resources. Wastewater reuse systems can be greatly beneficial for irrigating crops and improving river water quality. Field experiments for cultivating rice with reclaimed wastewater were carried out on the test plots. The effects of various wastewater treatment levels on water quality, paddy soil, crop growth, yields, and the health hazards were investigated.

A new management approach for the remediation of polluted surface water outfalls to improve river water quality

AbstractComprehensive strategies are required by water companies to effectively manage the remediation of polluted surface water outfalls (PSWOs). This paper describes the approach adopted by Thames Water since 1997. The elimination of diffuse pollution sources by identifying and rectifying domestic and commercial foul to surface water drainage misconnections has resulted in sustainable improvements to the local environment across the Thames region.

手賀沼集水域をモデルとした都市河川の水辺価値選好評価

A questionnaire survey was carried out to analyze the residents' preferences for Teganuma basin. Their preferences were measured quantitatively by conjoint analysis, and the relationships between their preferences and personal attributes were analyzed. The estimated monetary values of river attributes can be applied to the effective planning of wastewater treatment in the basin. The results showed that frequent waterfront users gave high monetary values and recognized the waterfronts as amenity spaces. The marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) values were calculated as 4092, -1824, and 790 yen · y-1 per capita for decreasing 1mg · l-1 BOD, 10% water quantity, and 10% life-cycle energy consumption by waste water treatments, respectively. The value for improving river water quality was relatively high and water quantity was also recognized as having a high value. This suggests that a distributed wastewater treatment system ensuring both rivers water quality and quantity can lead to more desirable waterfronts for residents as compared with the conventional sewerage system.

Are people willing to pay for river water quality, contingent valuation

Now a day's water pollution has caused incoveriences for people whom live near the Pavana river in Pune city, India. The river water quality has deteriorated by major water quality parameters like dissolved oxygen (DO), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and phosphates level. In present study it is tried to find people's willingness to pay (WTP) for improvement of river water quality. Contingent valuation method (CVM) was utilized for valuation of river water quality in Pavana river. Five categories of users have been chosen and then interviewed: households, farmers, fishermen, washing clothes women, bath taking people. One kilometer from each side of river was covered by researchers for sampling. Mean of willingness to pay was estimated at Rs 17.6 (45 Indian Rupees=$ 1) per family per month. This research shows CVM applicablity and the importance of river quality for Pune city and can effectively be used in developing countries.

Experiment of impact of river hydraulic characteristics on nutrients purification coefficient

Hydraulic characteristics of a river are the key factors for river water quality improvement and river restoration. A simulated river was exploited to study the interactions between water contaminant purification coefficients and the characteristics of the river, such as the cross-section velocity, water depth, Reynolds number, and Froude number. To enhance the purification capacity of the river, detritus with 5 mm to 10 mm in diameter and contact surface area per volume of 87.6 m 2/m 3 were constructed naturally at the bed and along one side of the bank to form half shape of the river cross-section. During the one-month experiment (including 3 periods) from the third of November to the fourth of December, 2005, three categories of hydraulic conditions were investigated. Results show that the purification coefficient ( K) of total nitrogen ( TN) is closely coherent with the hydraulic retention time ( T), river length ( L), Reynolds number ( Re) and Froude number ( Fr). The relationship of K and T generally agrees with the power law under the three experimental water hydraulic conditions. Based on these results, the optimal Re and Fr ranges can be obtain to serve as a guideline for ecological re-engineering design to improve river water quality and restore river ecosystem.

Lake eutrophication management modeling using dynamic programming

Lake eutrophication problems have received considerable attention in Taiwan, especially because they relate to the quality of drinking water. In this study, steady-state river water quality and lake eutrophication models are solved using dynamic programming algorithms to find the nutrient removal rates for eutrophication control during dry season. The kinetic cycle of chlorophyll-a, phosphorus and nitrogen for a complete-mixed lake is considered in the optimization framework. The Newton-iterative technique is adopted to solve the nonlinear equations for the steady-state lake eutrophication model. The optimization framework is applied to Cheng-Ching Lake in southern Taiwan. Several nutrient loading scenarios for eutrophication control are studied. Optimization results for nutrient removal rates and corresponding wastewater treatment capacities of each reach of the Kao-Ping River define the least cost approach to lake eutrophication control. A natural purification method, structural free water surface wetland, is also suggested to save more investment and improve river water quality at the same time.

식생여과대내 침투능력 향상에 따른 오염물질 저감효과에 대한 실험

Soil layer in vegetation filter strip is one of the very important factor for reduction of non-point pollutants by physical, chemical and biological reactions of it through infiltration process. This study was carried out to prepare more effective vegetation filter strip through modification of soil layer for river water quality improvement. Therefore, the main aims of this study are to compare and evaluate normal (straighten type) and modified (step type) vegetation filter strip, which make artificially change the soil layer to improve infiltration ability, through bench scale experiments. In the results of this study, vegetation filter strip of step type is much more highly reduction effectiveness of pollutants in surface flow compared with normal vegetation filter strip. In case of below effluent, however, it appeared that the vegetation filter strip modified soil layer showed lower reduction effectiveness of pollutants than the general vegetation filter strip. This result was judged because effluent through the vegetation filter strip of step type passed bigger size of aggregate or sand than the vegetation filter strip of straighten type. If we compare it as a definition of pollutant load to estimate total amount of reduced pollutants by vegetation filter strip, reduced pollutants load by step type showed higher than those by straighten type because below effluent amount relied on total effluent amount was higher at step type (4%) than at straighten type (2%). In conclusion, the vegetation filter strip of step type to improve infiltration effect is much more reduction effectiveness of pollutants than vegetation filter strip of straighten type.