The Haihe River System (HRS) drains the Chinese megacities Beijing and Tianjin, forming a large-scale irrigation system severely impacted by wastewater-borne pollution. The origin, temporal magnitudes, and annual mass fluxes of a wide range of pharmaceuticals, household chemicals, and pesticides were investigated in the HRS, which drains 70% of the wastewater discharged by 20 million people living in Beijing. Based on Chinese consumption statistics and our initial screening for 268 micropollutants using high-resolution mass spectrometry, 62 compounds were examined in space and time (2009-2010). The median concentrations ranged from 3 ng/L for metolachlor to 1100 ng/L for benzotriazole and sucralose. Concentrations of carbendazim, clarithromycin, diclofenac, and diuron exceed levels of ecotoxicological concern. Mass-flux analyses revealed that pharmaceuticals (5930 kg/year) and most household chemicals (5660 kg/year) originated from urban wastewaters, while the corrosion inhibitor benzotriazole entered the rivers through other pathways. Total pesticide residues amounted to 1550 kg/year. Per capita loads of pharmaceuticals in wastewater were lower than those in Europe, but are expected to increase in the near future. As 95% of the river water is diverted to irrigate agricultural soil, the loads of polar organic micropollutants transported with the water might pose a serious threat to food safety and groundwater quality.

Semiarid regions worldwide are particularly prone to eutrophication, which causes immense ecological and economic problems. One region that is in transition and requires systematic research for effective intervention is the dry landscape of Beijing-Tianjin (P. R. China). We investigated the sources and spatiotemporal loads of nitrogen and phosphorus species over a one-year period in the Haihe catchment that drains the megacity of Beijing. Although wastewater treatment was improved in recent years, the rivers were heavily contaminated by 0.3–5.3 mgP L–1 and 3.0–49 mgN L–1, with toxic levels of nitrite (≥1 mgNO2–N L–1) and ammonia (≥0.6 mgNH3–N L–1). The average NH4+ (16.9 mgN L–1) increased by 160% compared to 1996-levels. Mass fluxes and δ15N-signatures revealed that nutrients originated almost exclusively from sewage. Furthermore, the water balance demonstrated that >90% of the polluted river water was diverted for irrigation, thereby threatening food safety and groundwater quality. Per capita loads of 1.42 kgN/yr and 115 gP/yr were comparable to the peak discharges typical of Europe and the United States in 1970–1990, but concentrations were 2–3 times higher in the Beijing–Tianjin region. Our research identified sewage as the predominant nutrient source in this semiarid region, which suggests that state-of-the-art wastewater treatment would drastically mitigate eutrophication and even more rapidly than was previously observed in Europe.

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h i g h l i g h t sThe studied wastewater facilities are representative for large cities in China. The occurrence, elimination efficiency, and per-capita loads were assessed. Pollutant patterns were similar as in Europe, including caffeine and sucralose. Total per capita pollutant loads are currently lower than in Western countries. Wastewater used directly for irrigation poses a threat to soils and food safety. a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c tAnthropogenic contamination of surface waters in Asia is on the increase. While polar organic contaminants are gradually recognized for their impacts on aquatic ecosystems in the Western World, less is known about the situation in Asia. In developing countries like China, water resources are particularly vulnerable. We investigated the occurrence, elimination, and per capita loads of a wide range of pharmaceuticals, household chemicals and pesticides in five Beijing WWTPs representative for megacities in China, and compare the efficiency of different treatment processes. Based on initial screening for 268 micropollutants using high-resolution mass spectrometry, 33 compounds were examined in detail. ), and the artificial sweetener sucralose (2.7-3.5 lg L À1). Elimination efficiencies varied greatly from <1% to close to 100%, with macrolides, some sulfonamides, metronidazole, iopromide, and 4-acetamidoantipyrine being the most persistent compounds. Total per capita loads of the investigated micropollutants were lower than in communal wastewater of Europe, amounting to 7.9-12.2 and 2.0-6.5 g d À1 1000 inhabitants À1in the influents and effluents, respectively, with an average release of $100 kg d À1 by the 11.4 million people and 2.3 million m 3 of wastewater treated per day. Since the wastewater effluents are often used for agricultural irrigation, residual organic pollutants pose a threat to food safety, the development of antibacterial resistance, and combined effects of micropollutants in the aquatic environment.