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Eutrophic urban ponds suffer from cyanobacterial blooms: Dutch examples

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 21, pages 9983–9994 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Ponds play an important role in urban areas. However, cyanobacterial blooms counteract the societal need for a good water quality and pose serious health risks for citizens and pets. To provide insight into the extent and possible causes of cyanobacterial problems in urban ponds, we conducted a survey on cyanobacterial blooms and studied three ponds in detail. Among 3,500 urban ponds in the urbanized Dutch province of North Brabant, 125 showed cyanobacterial blooms in the period 2009–2012. This covered 79 % of all locations registered for cyanobacterial blooms, despite the fact that urban ponds comprise only 11 % of the area of surface water in North Brabant. Dominant bloom-forming genera in urban ponds were Microcystis, Anabaena and Planktothrix. In the three ponds selected for further study, the microcystin concentration of the water peaked at 77 μg l−1 and in scums at 64,000 μg l−1, which is considered highly toxic. Microcystin-RR and microcystin-LR were the most prevalent variants in these waters and in scums. Cyanobacterial chlorophyll-a peaked in August with concentrations up to 962 μg l−1 outside of scums. The ponds were highly eutrophic with mean total phosphorus concentrations between 0.16 and 0.44 mg l−1, and the sediments were rich in potential releasable phosphorus. High fish stocks dominated by carp lead to bioturbation, which also favours blooms. As urban ponds in North Brabant, and likely in other regions, regularly suffer from cyanobacterial blooms and citizens may easily have contact with the water and may ingest cyanobacterial material during recreational activities, particularly swimming, control of health risk is of importance. Monitoring of cyanobacteria and cyanobacterial toxins in urban ponds is a first step to control health risks. Mitigation strategies should focus on external sources of eutrophication and consider the effect of sediment P release and bioturbation by fish.

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Acknowledgments

The research was realized by a Water Framework Directive Innovation Grant of the NL Agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, by a subsidy of the Province North Brabant and by contributions of the Wageningen University, the regional water authorities Aa en Maas, Brabantse Delta and De Dommel and the Dutch Foundation for Applied Water Research. EF is supported by grant 817.02.019 from The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). Joris van Buul is thanked for the drawing of Fig. 1. We thank two referees for their valuable comments on the manuscript.

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  1. Aquatic Ecology & Water Quality Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Guido W. A. M. Waajen, Elisabeth J. Faassen & Miquel Lürling

  2. Regional Water Authority Brabantse Delta, P.O. Box 5520, 4801 DZ, Breda, The Netherlands

    Guido W. A. M. Waajen

  3. Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), P.O. Box 50, 6700 AB, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Miquel Lürling

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  1. Guido W. A. M. Waajen
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  2. Elisabeth J. Faassen
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Waajen, G.W.A.M., Faassen, E.J. & Lürling, M. Eutrophic urban ponds suffer from cyanobacterial blooms: Dutch examples. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 9983–9994 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2948-y

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Keywords

  • Pond
  • Cyanobacteria
  • Bloom
  • Toxicity
  • Microcystin
  • Chlorophyll
  • Lake restoration
  • Phosphorus