Tannery wastewater contains large quantities of organic and inorganic compounds, including toxic substances such as sulfides and chromium salts. The evaluation of wastewater quality in Chile nowadays is based on chemical specific measurements and toxicity tests. The goal of this research was to characterize tannery wastewater and to relate its physical/chemical parameters with its acute toxicity effect on Daphnia pulex. To distinguish the most important toxic compounds, physical/chemical techniques were applied to a grab sample of a final effluent based on the Phase I toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) procedure. In addition, the toxicity of a beamhouse effluent after an activated sludge reactor treatment was investigated on Daphnia magna (introduced species) and D. pulex (native species). Effluent from different tannery processes (soaking, beamhouse, tanning and final) demonstrated high values of chemical organic demand (COD; 2840-27,600 mg L(-1)), chloride (1813-16,500 mg L(-1)), sulfate (230-35,200 mg L(-1)), and total solids (8600-87,100 mg L(-1)). All effluents showed extremely toxic effects on D. pulex, with 24-h mean lethal values (LC(50)) ranging from 0.36% to 3.61%. The Phase I TIE profile showed that toxicity was significantly reduced by air stripping, filtration, and a cationic exchange resin, with toxicity reductions ranging between 46% and 76%. The aerobically treated beamhouse effluent showed significantly less toxicity for both species (43%-74%). The chemical parameters demonstrated that the remaining toxicity of the treated beamhouse effluent was associated with its ammonia (120 mg N-NH(3) L(-1)) and chloride (11,300 mg Cl(-) L(-1)) contents.
Because of the importance of surface waters from the Chillán River watershed (Chile) for recreation, agricultural irrigation, and the production of drinking water, local concern about river water quality has increased considerably during the last decade. Agricultural and forestry activities in the watershed, characterized by an intensive use of pesticides, are thought to play an important role in the generation of non-point-source pollution, whereas the discharge of urban wastewater from the city of Chillán constitutes a major point source of pollution. In the present investigation, acute and chronic laboratory bioassays using Daphnia spp. were conducted on surface water samples from 17 river stations located throughout the watershed. Sampling occurred on 6 occasions during a 16-month period (2000 to 2001) and included both high and low flow conditions. Almost all toxic effects observed in summer were directly related to the discharge of urban wastewater, whereas toxicity in rural areas was mainly detected during the winter period when rainfall and river flow are high. Toxicity test results were compared with measured physicochemical water-quality data. Mortality and alterations in reproductive success of Daphnia spp. were not consistently reflected in detected chemical pollution. With only one exception (atrazine), detected pesticide concentrations were below known toxicity levels. However, additive and synergistic effects of the presence of a mixture of pesticides could not be excluded as a possible cause of observed toxicity. At several stations, filtering of the water sample led to a strong decrease in toxicity, which suggests the presence of xenobiotics attached to the smaller sediment fraction. Inclusion of sediment chemical analysis and sediment toxicity testing in future work should therefore be encouraged. The presented approach provided information about the adverse effects of human activities on surface water quality in the watershed, not easily obtained from classical monitoring schemes. In specific cases, the approach may represent an economically attractive alternative to physicochemical analyses. Modifications to the proposed methodology should be introduced if the effects of intrastorm and interstorm variability of water quality are to be analyzed.
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