Caractérisation des débordements d'égouts unitaires et évaluation de leurs impacts sur la qualité de l'eau au niveau des prises d'eau potable

RÉSUMÉ Les eaux de surface, sources d’eau potable, sont fréquemment contaminées par des pollutions chimiques et microbiologiques. En milieu urbain dense, les contaminations en micro-organismes pathogènes proviennent surtout des rejets d’eaux usées provenant d’émissaires de stations d’épuration, de raccordements croisés et de débordements d’égouts unitaires (DEU) ou sanitaires (DES) qui surviennent lorsque la capacité des réseaux d’égout et/ou des stations de récupération des ressources en eau (StaRRE) est dépassée. L’origine précise de ces contaminations mérite d’être déterminée afin de savoir si la pollution peut être réduite à la source pour protéger la qualité des sources d’eau potable et si l’usine de production de l’eau potable doit tenir compte de ces évènements pour définir et ajuster ses traitements. Malgré leur nature transitoire, les évènements de rejets d’eaux d’orage et de surverses peuvent constituer les conditions les plus critiques au niveau des sources d’eau potable et méritent d’être mieux caractérisés. Les rejets de surverse sont, en effet, connus pour avoir des impacts sur la qualité de l’eau du milieu récepteur en raison des contaminants microbiologiques, physico-chimiques et pharmaceutiques qu’ils contiennent. Ils ont également été identifiés comme ayant été une source de contamination de sources d’eau potable entrainant des épidémies.----------ABSTRACT Drinking water sources in dense urban areas are frequently contaminated by chemicals and microbiological pollutants. Water quality fluctuations must be considered at the water intake in order to identify critical periods for adjusting treatment. Variations of water quality at the intake can be explained and predicted by the identification and characterization of the sources of contamination. Untreated or partially treated sewage is a major source of microbial contaminants discharged by plant effluents, bypasses and sanitary or combined sewer overflows (SSOs or CSOs), when the hydraulic capacity of the collection system and/or the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is exceeded. Overflow discharges are indeed known to have impacts on the water quality of the receiving environment due to microbiological, and physico-chemical and pharmaceutical contaminants therein. They were also identified as a source of contamination of drinking water sources causing outbreaks

Hydrodynamic modelling and the dispersion of water fecal contaminants in current and future climates

10 p.International audienceDuring precipitation events in regions with combined sewers, overflows can occur upstream of drinking water treatment plants. The purpose of the research was to model the transport and propagation of pathogens and pharmaceuticals in the Rivière Des Prairies during flood and low flow events. The water quality is quantified in terms of the behaviour of the river, the interactions of contaminants with the environment and the impacts of climate change. Hydrosim was used for hydrodynamic modeling; Dispersim was used to model the dispersion of contaminants. The impact of climate change was represented by the change of flow in the river. To do so, simulations were performed using Hydrotel, a hydrologic model applied to the Ottawa River. Thus, the impact of dispersion and diffusion of contaminants on the water quality were analyzed to determine the potential impact on raw water quality. Water quality will be affected by lower flows and heavy rains, which will change the frequency distributions of fecal contaminants upon which microbial risk models are based

Temporal analysis of E. coli, TSS and wastewater micropollutant loads from combined sewer overflows: Implications for management

A combined sewer overflow (CSO) outfall was monitored to assess the impact of temporal mass loads on the appropriateness of treatment options. Instantaneous loads (mass per s) varied by approximately three orders of magnitude during events (n = 9 in spring, summer and the fall) with no significant seasonal variations. The median fraction of total loads discharged with the first 25% of the total volume ranged from 28% (theophylline) to 40% (Total Suspended Solids (TSS)) and loads remained high for the duration of the events. E. coli and TSS loads originated primarily from wastewater (WW) (63% and 75%, respectively). However, a mix of stormwater (SW) and sewer deposit (SD) resuspension contributed from 73 to 95% for the first 50% of the volume discharged of total TSS loads for 2 events. The contribution of SD resuspension was not negligible for Wastewater Micropollutants (WWMPs), especially for carbamazepine. Sustained high loads over the course of CSOs highlight the need to revisit current CSO and SW management strategies that focus on the treatment of early discharge volumes.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

The effects of combined sewer overflow events on riverine sources of drinking water

This study was set out to investigate the impacts of Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) on the microbiological water quality of a river used as a source of drinking water treatment plants. Escherichia coli concentrations were monitored at various stations of a river segment located in the Greater Montreal Area including two Drinking Water Intakes (DWIs) in different weather conditions (dry weather and wet weather (precipitation and snowmelt period)). Long-term monitoring data (2002-2011) at DWIs revealed good microbiological water quality with E. coli median concentrations of 20 and 30 CFU/100 mL for DWI-1 and DWI-2 respectively. However, E. coli concentration peaks reached up to 510 and 1000 CFU/100 mL for both DWIs respectively. Statistical Process Control (SPC) analysis allowed the identification of E. coli concentration peaks in almost a decade of routine monitoring data at DWIs. Almost 80% of these concentrations were linked to CSO discharges caused by precipitation exceeding 10 mm or spring snowmelt. Dry weather monitoring confirmed good microbiological water quality. Wet weather monitoring showed an increase of approximately 1.5 log of E. coli concentrations at DWIs. Cumulative impacts of CSO discharges were quantified at the river center with an increase of approximately 0.5 log of E. coli concentrations. Caffeine (CAF) was tested as a potential chemical indicator of CSO discharges in the river and CAF concentrations fell within the range of previous measurements performed for surface waters in the same area (~20 ng/L). However, no significant differences were observed between CAF concentrations in dry and wet weather, as the dilution potential of the river was too high. CSO event based monitoring demonstrated that current bi-monthly or weekly compliance monitoring at DWIs underestimate E. coli concentrations entering DWIs and thus, should not be used to quantify the risk at DWIs. High frequency event-based monitoring is a desirable approach to establish the importance and duration of E. coli peak concentrations entering DWIs.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Temporal variability of combined sewer overflow contaminants: Evaluation of wastewater micropollutants as tracers of fecal contamination

A monitoring program was initiated for two sewage outfalls (OA and OB) with different land uses (mainly residential versus institutional) over the course of a year. Eleven CSO events resulting from fall and summer precipitations and a mixture of snowmelt and precipitation in late winter and early spring were monitored. Median concentrations measured in CSOs were 1.5 × 106Escherichia coli/100 mL, 136.0 mg/L of Total Suspended Solids (TSS), 4599.0 ng/L of caffeine (CAF), 158.9 ng/L of carbamazepine (CBZ), in outfall OA and 5.1 × 104E. coli/100 mL, 167.0 mg TSS/L, 300.8 ng CAF/L, 4.1 ng CBZ/L, in outfall OB. Concentration dynamics in CSOs were mostly related to the dilution by stormwater and the time of day of the onset of overflows. Snowmelt was identified as a critical period with regards to the protection of drinking water sources given the high contaminant concentrations and long duration of events in addition to a lack of restrictions on overflows during this period. Correlations among measured parameters reflected the origins and transport pathways of the contaminants, with E. coli being correlated with CBZ. TSS were not correlated with E. coli because E. coli was found to be mostly associated with raw sewage whereas TSS were additionally from the resuspension of in-sewer deposits and surface runoff. In receiving waters, E. coli remained the best indicator of fecal contamination in strongly diluted water samples as compared to WWMPs because WWMPs can be diluted to below their detection limits.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Evaluating pharmaceuticals and caffeine as indicators of fecal contamination in drinking water sources of the Greater Montreal region

a b s t r a c t We surveyed four different river systems in the Greater Montreal region, upstream and downstream of entry points of contamination, from April 2007 to January 2009. The studied compounds belong to three different groups: PPCPs (caffeine, carbamazepine, naproxen, gemfibrozil, and trimethoprim), hormones (progesterone, estrone, and estradiol), and triazine herbicides and their metabolites (atrazine, deethylatrazine, deisopropylatrazine, simazine, and cyanazine). In the system A, B, and C having low flow rate and high TOC, we observed the highest detection frequencies and mass flows of PPCPs compared to the other compounds, reflecting discharge of urban contaminations through WWTPs and CSOs. However, in River D, having high flow rate and low TOC, comparable frequency of detection of triazine and their by-products and PPCPs, reflecting cumulative loads of these compounds from the Great Lakes as well as persistency against natural attenuation processes. Considering large differences in the removal efficiencies of caffeine and carbamazepine, a high ratio of caffeine/carbamazepine might be an indicative of a greater proportion of raw sewage versus treated wastewater in surface waters. In addition, caffeine appeared to be a promising indicator of recent urban fecal contaminations, as shown by the significant correlation with FC (R 2 = 0.45), while carbamazepine is a good indicator of cumulative persistence compounds

Impacts of global change on the concentrations and dilution of combined sewer overflows in a drinking water source

This study presents an analysis of climate change impacts on a large river located in Québec (Canada) used as a drinking water source. Combined sewer overflow (CSO) effluents are the primary source of fecal contamination of the river. An analysis of river flowrates was conducted using historical data and predicted flows from a future climate scenario. A spatio-temporal analysis of water quality trends with regard to fecal contamination was performed and the effects of changing flowrates on the dilution of fecal contaminants were analyzed. Along the river, there was a significant spatial trend for increasing fecal pollution downstream of CSO outfalls. Escherichia coli concentrations (upper 95th percentile) increased linearly from 2002 to 2012 at one drinking water treatment plant intake. Two critical periods in the current climate were identified for the drinking water intakes considering both potential contaminant loads and flowrates: local spring snowmelt that precedes river peak flow and extra-tropical storm events that occur during low flows. Regionally, climate change is expected to increase the intensity of the impacts of hydrological conditions on water quality in the studied basin. Based on climate projections, it is expected that spring snowmelt will occur earlier and extreme spring flowrates will increase and low flows will generally decrease. High and low flows are major factors related to the potential degradation of water quality of the river. However, the observed degradation of water quality over the past 10. years suggests that urban development and population growth may have played a greater role than climate. However, climate change impacts will likely be observed over a longer period. Source water protection plans should consider climate change impacts on the dilution of contaminants in addition to local land uses changes in order to maintain or improve water quality.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe