Water pollution biology

Water Pollution Problems and Solutions 1 1.1 The scale of water pollution 2 1.2 Metalliferous rivers 4 1.2.1 The Rivers East and West Allen 8 1.2.2 Physical and Chemical Survey 10 1.2.3 Biological Survey 12 1.2.4 Zinc Toxicity 14 1.2.5 Some Further Questions 17 1.3 Toxicity and the status of fisheries 20 2 Sources and Effects of Water Pollutants 29 2.1 The nature of effluents 29 2.2 The environmental requirements of aquatic organisms 32 2.3 Organic pollution 35 2.4 Nutrient pollution 41 2.5 Eutrophication 42 2.6 Thermal pollution 45 2.7 Toxic pollution 52 2.7.1 Heavy Metals 53 2.7.2 Ammonia, Cyanides and Phenols 55 2.7.3 Pesticides 56 2.8 Suspended solids 57 2.9 Extreme pH and acidification 58 2.10 Detergents 63 2.11 Oil and petroleum products 65 v 3 Biological Monitoring of Water Quality 67 3.1 The conceptual basis of biological monitoring 67 3.2 Indicator organisms 71 3.3 Sampling methods 73 3.3.1 Evaluating Sampling Techniques 80 3.4 Data analysis and interpretation 83 3.4.1 Pollution Indices 85 3.4.2 Diversity Indices 87 3.4.3 Biotic Indices 90 3.4.4 Similarity Indices 95 3.4.5 Other Multivariate Techniques 104 3.4.6 RIVPACS 105 3.4.7 Some General Comments about Data Analysis and Interpretation 109 4 The Toxicity of Pollutants to Aquatic Organisms 113 4.1 Lethal toxicity and its measurement 115 4.1.1 The Experimental Conditions 115 4.1.2 Data Collection and Analysis 116 4.1.3 Probit Lines 119 4.1.4 Toxicity Curves 122 4.1.5 Alternative Methods for Measuring Lethal Toxicity 127 4.2 Factors influencing toxicity 128 4.2.1 The Toxic Properties of the Pollutant 128 4.2.2 The Effects of Environmental Conditions 130 4.2.3 Combinations of Poisons 134 4.2.4 Fluctuating Concentrations 138 4.2.5 Biotic Factors Influencing Toxicity 139 4.2.6 Intraspecific Variation 141 4.3 Applications of lethal toxicity measurements 142 4.4 Sublethal toxicity 145 4.4.1 Single-species Toxicity Tests 146 4.4.2 Experimental Ecosystems 153 4.4.3 Bioaccumulation 156 4.5 Evaluating toxicological data 159 4.6 Quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) 161 5 Water Pollution and Public Health 165 5.1 Water pollution and pathogens 166 5.1.1 Bacterial Pathogens 166 5.1.2 Viral Pathogens 170 5.1.3 Parasitic Infections 172 5.1.4 Pathogens in the Aquatic Environment and in Waste Water Treatment Processes 175 5.2 Monitoring pathogens in water 176 Contents vi 5.2.1 Monitoring for Coliforms 177 5.2.2 Monitoring for Viruses 181 5.2.3 Monitoring for Parisites 181 5.3 Water pollution and water supply 182 5.3.1 Potable Water Supply 182 5.3.2 Agricultural Water Supply 183 5.3.3 Industrial Water Supply 184 6 Water Pollution Control 187 6.1 Biological treatment of waste water 188 6.1.1 Primary Treatment 189 6.1.2 Secondary Treatment 190 6.1.3 Tertiary Treatment 195 6.1.4 Sludge Disposal 196 6.1.5 Biological Treatment of Industrial Waste Water 198 6.2 The legislative and administrative framework of water pollution control 199 6.2.1 The ‘Polluter Pays’ Principle 201 6.2.2 Receiving Water Quality Standards 202 6.2.3 Emission Standards 207 6.2.4 Water Quality Objectives 209 6.3 Water pollution law in practice 214 6.3.1 Water Pollution Law in Britain 216 6.3.2 European Water Pollution Law 218 6.3.3 Water Pollution Law in the USA 221 7 Estuarine and Marine Pollution 225 7.1 Pollution of estuaries 226 7.2 Pollution of the seas 230 7.2.1 Oil Pollution 231 7.2.2 Sewage and Domestic Wastes 234 7.2.3 Toxic Pollutants 236 7.3 Marine biological monitoring 241 7.3.1 Indicator Organisms 241 7.3.2 Sampling Methodology 245 7.3.3 Data Analysis 247 7.4 International co-operation on marine pollution 248 References 255 Index 279