Belastung des Neusiedler Sees mit anthropogenen Spurenstoffen: Überlegungen zu Herkunft und Verhalten

In this paper, we first present the contamination of Lake Neusiedl with anthropogenic trace substances regulated at national or EU level. Second, we identify main emission pathways for selected substances into the River Wulka and Lake Neusiedl and identify the potential environmental behaviour of trace substances in the aquatic system. Even if a comprehensive monitoring of all regulated substances in the lake is at present still missing, we can assume the compliance with environmental quality standards for most of them based on measurements carried out in the River Wulka and from biota-monitoring in the lake. For some substances quality criteria are not or probably not met, for others a final diagnosis is currently not possible due to analytical constraints. Depending on the examined substance, effluents from waste water treatment plants, agricultural erosion or atmospheric deposition on the lake surface may be the dominant pathway of contamination into the River Wulka and Lake Neusiedl. Besides specific considerations for individual substances, taking into account the enormous number of anthropogenic trace substances that are released into the environment, Lake Neusiedl must be regarded as especially vulnerable to this kind of contamination. The high vulnerability mainly derives from the lake acting as a substance-sink. Persistent chemicals which enter the lake may concentrate in the water of the lake or may be stored in the sediments of the reed belt, from where they might be mobilized later on. Even if many of the highly persistent chemicals are removed from the lake water through degradation or conversion to metabolites, little is known about the end products of this conversion and they cannot be monitored completely because of their high number. As a basis for the development of strategies for a long-term and efficient management of the lake, a regular monitoring of trace substances in lake and reed belt should be reinforced considerably to detect any undesirable developments as early as possible.EU-Projekt ATHU53 REBEN5225361

Stoffbilanzmodellierung für Spurenstoffe auf Einzugsgebietsebene

Stand: 28. Juli 202036

Occurrence and levels of micropollutants across environmental and engineered compartments in Austria

Occurrence and concentration of a broad spectrum of micropollutants are investigated in Austrian river catchments, namely polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), organotin compounds, perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) and metals. The parallel analysis across multiple environmental and engineered compartments sheds light on the ratio of dissolved and particulate transport and on differences in concentration levels between point and diffuse emission pathways. It is found that some PAHs and organotins are present in rivers, groundwater and bulk deposition at higher concentrations than in municipal wastewater effluents. Among PFAAs and metals, highest concentrations were recorded either in atmospheric deposition or in discharges from wastewater treatment plants. The relevance of the analysis across compartments is best shown by the case of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). Despite municipal wastewater effluents being the emission pathway with highest concentrations, this study reveals that not only rivers, but also atmospheric deposition and groundwater sometimes exceed the environmental quality standard for surface waters. Moreover, this work reveals partially counterintuitive patterns. In rivers with treated wastewater discharges, increasing levels of dissolved compounds were measured at rising flow conditions, whereas the opposite would be expected owing to the dilution effect. This might derive from the mobilisation from soil or suspended particulate matter or rather find its explanation in high concentrations in atmospheric deposition. These hypotheses require however being tested through targeted studies. Additional future research includes the analysis of how regional or catchment specific characteristics might alter the relative importance of different emission pathways, and the modelling of emission and river loads to assess their relative contribution to river pollution.Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism (BMNT)6366531

Spatial patterns of enzymatic activity in large water bodies: Ship-borne measurements of beta-D-glucuronidase activity as a rapid indicator of microbial water quality

This study used automated enzymatic activity measurements conducted from a mobile research vessel to detect the spatial variability of beta‑d‑glucuronidase (GLUC) activity in large freshwater bodies. The ship-borne observations provided the first high-resolution spatial data of GLUC activity in large water bodies as rapid indication of fecal pollution and were used to identify associations with hydrological conditions and land use. The utility of this novel approach for water quality screening was evaluated by surveys of the Columbia River, the Mississippi River and the Yahara Lakes, covering up to a 500 km river course and 50 km2 lake area. The ship-borne measurements of GLUC activity correlated with standard E. coli analyses (R2 = 0.71) and revealed the effects of (1) precipitation events and urban run-off on GLUC activity in surface waters, (2) localized point inlets of potential fecal pollution and (3) increasing GLUC signals along gradients of urbanization. We propose that this ship-borne water quality screening to be integrated into future water inventory programs as an initial or complementary tool (besides established fecal indicator parameters), due to its ability to provide near real-time spatial information on potential fecal contamination of large surface water resources and therefore being helpful to greatly reduce potential human health risks.Austrian Science Fund (FWF)Vienna University of TechnologyNorth Temperate Lakes–Long Term Ecological Researc

Monitoring, modeling and management of water quality

This article belongs to the Special Issue Monitoring, Modelling and Management of Water Quality.In this special issue, we are able to present a selection of high-level contributions showing the manifold aspects of the monitoring, modeling, and management of water quality. Monitoring aspects range from cyanobacteria in water using spectrophotometry via wide-area water quality monitoring and exploiting unmanned surface vehicles, to using sentinel-2 satellites for the nearreal-time evaluation of catastrophic floods. Modeling ranges from small scale approaches by deriving a Bayesian network for assessing the retention efficacy of riparian buffer zones, to national scales with a modification of the MONERIS (Modeling Nutrient Emissions in River Systems) nutrient emission model for a lowland country. Management is specifically addressed by lessons learned from the long-term management of a large (re)constructed wetland and the support of river basin management planning in the Danube River Basin.16

Bedeutung und Steuerung von Nährstoff- und Schwermetallflüssen des Abwassers

21

Möglichkeiten und Probleme der Klärschlammentsorgung

1251393

Die Klärschlammproblematik als wichtiges Entscheidungskriterium für die Lösungssuche von Entsorgungsproblemen

1304194422

Assessing the Impact of Storm Drains at Road Embankments on Diffuse Particulate Phosphorus Emissions in Agricultural Catchments.

This study presents a simple mapping key suitable for quick and systematic assessments of the types of agricultural and civil engineering structures present in a certain agricultural catchment as well as the impact they may have on the spatial distribution of critical source areas.An application of this mapping key to three small sub-catchments of a case study catchment with an area of several hundred square kilometres (one-stage cluster sampling) in Austria clearly reveals that road embankments with subsurface drainage can exert a major influence on emissions and transport pathways of sediment-bound pollutants like particulate phosphorus (PP). Due to this, the semi-empirical, spatially distributed PhosFate model is extended to separately model PP emissions into surface waters via storm drains along road embankments. Furthermore, the overall share of road embankments with subsurface drainage on all road embankments in the case study catchment is inferred with the help of a Bayesian hierarchical model. The combination of the results of these two models shows that the share of storm drains at road embankments on total PP emissions ranges from about one fifth to one third in the investigated area.The State Government of Upper Austria1

Development and evaluation of a self-cleaning custom-built auto sampler controlled by a low-cost RaspberryPi microcomputer for online enzymatic activity measurements

A fully automated on-site device (SAMP-FIL) that enables water sampling with simultaneous filtration and effective cleaning procedures of the device's components was developed and field-tested. The SAMP-FIL was custom-built using commercially available components and was controlled by a RaspberryPi single-board computer operating open-source software. SAMP-FIL was designed for sample pre-treatment with minimal sample alteration to meet the requirements of on-site measurement devices that cannot handle coarse suspended solids within the measurement procedure or cycle. A highly effective cleaning procedure provides a fresh and minimally altered sample for the connected measurement device. The construction and programmed software facilitates the use of SAMP-FIL for different connected measurement devices. The SAMP-FIL sample pretreatment was tested for over one year for rapid and on-site enzymatic activity (beta-d-glucuronidase, GLUC) determination (BACTcontrol) in sediment-laden stream water. The formerly used proprietary sampling set-up was assumed to lead to significant damping of the measurement signal due to its susceptibility to clogging, debris accumulation and bio-film accumulation. The implementation of SAMP-FIL considerably increased the error-free running time and measurement accuracy of BACTcontrol devices. This paper describes how low-cost microcomputers, such as the RaspberryPi, can be used by operators to substantially improve established measuring systems via effective sampling devices. Furthermore, the results of this study highlight the importance of adequate sample pretreatment for the quality of on-site measurements.Austrian Science Fun