Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Assessing the impacts of wastewater treatment implementation on the water quality of a small urban river over the past 40 years

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of the implementation of wastewater treatment (WWT) on the water quality of small urban river systems by considering as an extreme case study (volumetric contribution of wastewaters >50 %) the evolution of the Zenne River waters (Belgium) over the last 40 years. In urban rivers, organic matter (OM), oxygen, and nutrients are primarily controlled by wastewater releases which depend on the population and the WWT capacity in the river basin, the latter being dependent on environmental policy decisions. We introduce a novel basin-scale evaluation method that considers the evolution of annual pollutant loads at the outlet of the river basin directly as a function of WWT capacity. Based on this approach, we could prove that the load reductions observed after the implementation of WWT in the river basin was a good indicator of the global treatment efficiency of the WWT plants. We also show that high self-purification processes within the river basin may lead to reach minimum levels of OM before the completion of WWT. In addition, the effects of wet weather conditions did also change as a function of the WWT capacity going from positive effects at low capacity to negative effects at high capacity. Finally, the full implementation of WWT in urban river basins does not necessarily guarantee a good status for water quality, mostly because of the high volumetric proportion of treated wastewaters, which do not have the quality standards of river waters.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bennett JP, Rathburn RE (1972) Reaeration in open-channel flow. USGS Prof Pap 737:75

    Google Scholar 

  • Billen G, Somville M, De Becker E, Servais P (1985) A nitrogen budget of the Scheldt hydrographical basin. Neth J Sea Res 19(3/4):223–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billen G, Garnier J, Deligne C, Billen C (1999) Estimates of early-industrial inputs of nutrients to river systems: implication for coastal eutrophication. Sci Total Environ 243(244):43–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billen G, Garnier J, Rousseau V (2005) Nutrient fluxes and water quality in the drainage network of the Scheldt basin over the last 50 years. Hydrobiologia 540:47–67

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Billen G, Thieu V, Garnier J, Silvestre M (2009) Modelling the N cascade in regional watersheds: the case study of the Seine, Somme and Scheldt rivers. Agric Ecosyst Environ 133:234–246

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bouraoui F, Grizzetti B (2011) Long term change of nutrient concentrations of rivers discharging in European seas. Sci Total Environ 409:4899–4916

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Comber S, Gardner M, Georges K, Blackwood D, Gilmour D (2013) Domestic source of phosphorus to sewage treatment works. Environ Technol 34(10):1349–1358

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cox BA (2003) A review of dissolved oxygen modelling techniques for lowland rivers. Sci Total Environ 314/316:303–334. doi:10.1016/S0048-9697(03)00062-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daniel MHB, Montebelo AA, Bernardes MC, Ometto JPHB, De Camargo PB, Krusche AV, Ballester MV, Victoria RI, Martinelli LA (2002) Effects of urban sewage on dissolved oxygen, dissolved inorganic and organic carbon, and electrical conductivity of small streams along a gradient of urbanization in the Piracicaba river basin. Water Air Soil Pollut 136:189–206

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garnier J, Laroche L, Pinault S (2006) Determining the domestic specific loads of two wastewater plants of the Paris conurbation (France) with contrasted treatments: a step for exploring the effects of the application of the European Directive. Water Res 40:3257–3266

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garnier J, Brion N, Callens J, Passy P, Deligne C, Billen G, Servais P, Billen C (2013) Modelling historical changes in nutrient delivery and water quality of the Zenne River (1790s–2010): the role of land use, waterscape and urban wastewater management. J Mar Syst 128:62–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Instituut voor Hygiene en Epidemiologie (1979) Kwaliteitsoverzicht van een aantal belgische oppervlaktewateren in 1979. Ministerie van Volksgezondheid en van het gezin, Belgium

    Google Scholar 

  • Instituut voor Hygiene en Epidemiologie (1982) Kwaliteitsoverzicht van een aantal belgische oppervlaktewateren in 1982. Ministerie van Volksgezondheid en van het gezin, Belgium

    Google Scholar 

  • Instituut voor Hygiene en Epidemiologie (1984) Meetnet van de kwaliteit van de belgische oppervlaktewateren in 1984. Ministerie van Volksgezondheid en van het gezin, Belgium

    Google Scholar 

  • Instituut voor Hygiene en Epidemiologie (1985) Meetnet van de kwaliteit van de belgische oppervlaktewateren in 1985. Ministerie van Volksgezondheid en van het gezin, Belgium

    Google Scholar 

  • Instituut voor Hygiene en Epidemiologie (1986) Meetnet van de kwaliteit van de belgische oppervlaktewateren in 1986. Ministerie van Volksgezondheid en van het gezin, Belgium

    Google Scholar 

  • Instituut voor Hygiene en Epidemiologie (1987) Meetnet van de kwaliteit van de belgische oppervlaktewateren in 1987. Ministerie van Volksgezondheid en van het gezin, Belgium

    Google Scholar 

  • Instituut voor Hygiene en Epidemiologie (1988) Meetnet van de kwaliteit van de belgische oppervlaktewateren in 1988. Ministerie van Volksgezondheid en van het gezin, Belgium

    Google Scholar 

  • Instituut voor Hygiene en Epidemiologie (1989) Meetnet van de kwaliteit van de belgische oppervlaktewateren in 1989. Ministerie van Volksgezondheid en van het gezin, Belgium

    Google Scholar 

  • Le HM, Petrovic D, Verbanck MA (2014) The semi-sewer river: hydraulic backwater effects and CSO reverse flows in central Brussels now shown to reduce deoxygenation impact further downstream. Water Sci Technol 69(4):903–908

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leta OT (2013) Catchment processes modeling, including the assessment of different sources of uncertainty, using the SWAT Model: the River Zenne basin (Belgium) case study. Dissertation, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

  • Meybeck M (1998) Man and river interface: multiple impacts on water and particulates chemistry illustrated in the Seine river basin. Hydrobiologia 373:1–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mommen A (2002) Belgian economy in the twentieth century. Routledge, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Ranalli AJ, Macalady DL (2010) The importance of the riparian zone and in-stream processes in nitrate attenuation in undisturbed and agricultural watersheds—a review of the scientific literature. J Hydrol 389:406–415

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rees WE (1996) Revisiting carrying capacity: crea-cased indicators of sustainability. Popul Environ: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Stud 17(3):195–215

  • Servais P, Garnier J, Demarteau N, Brion N, Billen G (1999) Supply of organic matter and bacteria to aquatic ecosystems through waste water effluents. Water Res 33:3521–3531

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shrestha NK, Leta OT, De Fraine B, van Griensven A, Bauwens W (2013) OpenMI-based integrated sediment transport modelling of the river Zenne, Belgium. Environ Model Softw 47:193–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smet M (1990) L’environnement en Belgique, Présent et avenir, Etat de l’environnement 1990. Institut d’hygiène et d’épidémiologie, Ministère de la santé publique et de l’environnement, Belgium

    Google Scholar 

  • Soetaert K, Herman P (1995) Nitrogen dynamics in the Westerschelde estuary (SW Netherlands) estimated by means of an ecosystem model (MOSES). Hydrobiologia 311:225–246

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Struyf E, Van Damme S, Meire P (2004) Possible effects of climate change on estuarine nutrient fluxes: a case study in the highly nutrified Schelde estuary (Belgium, The Netherlands). Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 60:649–661

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taleb A (1997) Pollution diffuse ou localisée des eaux de la Senne en amont de Tubize (Belgique) par les nutriments. Dissertation, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

  • Van Damme S, Struyf E, Maris T, Ysebaert T, Dehairs F, Tackx M, Heip C, Meire P (2005) Spatial and temporal patterns of water quality along the estuarine salinity gradient of the Scheldt estuary (Belgium and The Netherlands): results of an integrated monitoring approach. Hydrobiologia 540:29–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vanderborght J-P, Folmer IM, Aguilera DR, Uhrenholdt T, Regnier P (2007) Reactive-transport modelling of C, N, and O2 in a river–estuarine–coastal zone system: application to the Scheldt estuary. Mar Chem 106(1):92–110

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Verbanck MA, Vanderborght J-P, Wollast R (1989) Major ion content of urban wastewater: assessment of per capita loading. Res J Water Pollut Control Fed 61(11,12):1722–1728

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Verbanck MA, Piron C, Vanderborght J-P (2005) Charges polluantes urbaines et industrielles - Réseaux d’égouts. PIRENE Programme intégré de Recherche Environnement-Eau, Rapport final ULB-STEP à la DGRNE, Ministère de la Région Wallonne, Janvier 2005

  • Vollertsen J, Hvitved-Jacobsen T (2002) Biodegradability of wastewater—a method for COD-fractionation. Water Sci Technol 45(3):25–34

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Waterbouwkundig laboratorium Borgerhout (1977) Waterverontereiniging Westerschelde. Overzicht 1971–1975. MOD 295–6

  • Waterbouwkundig laboratorium Borgerhout (1980) Schelde: Waterkwaliteit tussen Hansweert en Burcht en van de bijrivieren. Periode 1972–1979. MOD 295–7

  • Zwolsman JJG (1994) Seasonal variability and biogeochemistry of phosphorus in the Scheldt estuary, south–west Netherlands. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 39:227–248

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was realized in the framework of the research project Towards the “Good Ecological Status” of River Zenne with the financial support of INNOVIRIS (Brussels) through the IMPULSE-Environment 2009 and 2012 initiatives.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Analytical and Environmental Geochemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Natacha Brion & Marc Elskens

  2. Department of Water Pollution Control, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Campus Plaine, CP 208, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Michel A. Verbanck

  3. Department of Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Willy Bauwens & Margaret Chen

  4. Ecologie des Systèmes Aquatiques, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Campus Plaine, CP 221, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Pierre Servais

Authors
  1. Natacha Brion
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michel A. Verbanck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Willy Bauwens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Marc Elskens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Margaret Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Pierre Servais
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Natacha Brion.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Brion, N., Verbanck, M.A., Bauwens, W. et al. Assessing the impacts of wastewater treatment implementation on the water quality of a small urban river over the past 40 years. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 12720–12736 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4493-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4493-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation