Detecting pollutant sources and pathways: High-frequency automated online monitoring in a small rural French/German transborder catchment

Meyer, Angelika M.; Fuenfrocken, Elisabeth; Kautenburger, Ralf; Cairault, Alban; Beck, H. P.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112619

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…This finding is consistent with the relationship between nitrate concentration and the rainfall reported by the Refs. [69,70], who studied the coastal region of the Júcar River, and also with other results previously reported in different basins [54,[71][72][73]. The lower concentration in summer is influenced by the large number of dams that significantly modify river flows.…”

Section: Point and Diffuse Pollution Sourcessupporting

confidence: 70%

Integrated Surface-Groundwater Modelling of Nitrate Concentration in Mediterranean Rivers, the Júcar River Basin District, Spain

et al. 2021

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High nutrient discharge from groundwater (GW) into surface water (SW) have multiple undesirable effects on river water quality. With the aim to estimate the impact of anthropic pressures and river–aquifer interactions on nitrate status in SW, this study integrates two hydrological simulation and water quality models. PATRICAL models SW–GW interactions and RREA models streamflow changes due to human activity. The models were applied to the Júcar River Basin District (RBD), where 33% of the aquifers have a concentration above 50 mg NO3−/L. As a result, there is a direct linear correlation between the nitrate concentration in rivers and aquifers (Júcar r2 = 0.9, and Turia r2 = 0.8), since in these Mediterranean basins, the main amount of river flows comes from groundwater discharge. The concentration of nitrates in rivers and GW tends to increase downstream of the district, where artificial surfaces and agriculture are concentrated. The total NO3− load to Júcar RBD rivers was estimated at 10,202 tN/year (239 kg/km2/year), from which 99% is generated by diffuse pollution, and 3378 tN/year (79 kg/km2/year) is discharged into the Mediterranean Sea. Changes in nitrate concentration in the RBD rivers are strongly related to the source of irrigation water, river–aquifer interactions, and flow regulation. The models used in this paper allow the identification of pollution sources, the forecasting of nitrate concentration in surface and groundwater, and the evaluation of the efficiency of measures to prevent water degradation, among other applications.

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Section: Point and Diffuse Pollution Sourcessupporting

confidence: 70%

Integrated Surface-Groundwater Modelling of Nitrate Concentration in Mediterranean Rivers, the Júcar River Basin District, Spain

et al. 2021

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“…It can be used for investigative monitoring, which is usually carried out less frequently but with more effort [18]. Among other examples, the federal state of Saarland in Germany has been successfully carrying out investigative monitoring for several years by using online monitoring over a certain time span for "at-risk" water bodies to identify and evaluate the contributions of point sources and diffuse pollution, crosscheck the efficiency of measures to improve ecosystem quality, and capture the eutrophication state of a water body (www.gewaesser-monitoring.de/en/ (accessed on 13 March 2024), [58,59]).…”

Section: Performance Of Stom In Comparison To Grab Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Short-Term Online-Monitoring Improve the Current WFD Water Quality Assessment Regime? Systematic Resampling of High-Resolution Data from Four Saxon Catchments

Benisch,

Helm,

Chang

et al. 2024

Water

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The European Union Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC; WFD) aims to achieve a good ecological and chemical status of all bodies of surface water by 2027. The development of integrated guidance on surface water chemical monitoring (e.g., WFD Guidance Document No. 7/19) has been transferred into national German law (Ordinance for the Protection of Surface Waters, OGewV). For the majority of compounds, this act requires monthly sampling to assess the chemical quality status of a body of surface water. To evaluate the representativeness of the sampling strategy under the OGewV, high-frequency online monitoring data are investigated under different sampling scenarios and compared with current, monthly grab sampling data. About 23 million data points were analyzed for this study. Three chemical parameters (dissolved oxygen, nitrate-nitrogen, and chloride concentration) and discharge data were selected from four catchments of different sizes, ranging from 51,391 km2 to 84 km2 (Elbe, Vereinigte Mulde, Neiße and two stations at Lockwitzbach). In this paper, we propose short-term online-monitoring (STOM) as a sampling alternative. STOM considers the placement of online sensors over a limited duration and return interval. In general, we: (I) compare the results of conventional grab sampling with STOM, (II) investigate the different performance of STOM and grab sampling using discharge data as a proxy for analyzing event-mobilized pollutants, and (III) investigate the related uncertainties and costs of both sampling methods. Results show that STOM outperforms grab sampling for parameters where minimum/maximum concentrations are required by law, as the probability of catching a single extreme value is higher with STOM. Furthermore, parameters showing a pronounced diurnal pattern, such as dissolved oxygen, are also captured considerably better. The performance of STOM showed no substantial improvements for parameters with small concentration variability, such as nitrogen-nitrate or chloride. The analysis of discharge events as a proxy parameter for event-mobilized pollutants proves that the probability of capturing samples during events is significantly increased by STOM.

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“…Recent technological progress has been made to deploy efficient and effective water quality monitoring systems (WQMSs). Technological innovation in this area includes online automated data that capture pollutant sources monitoring [10], novel transmission networks [11], advanced data analysis software [12], remote sensing [13,14], the internet of things [15], smart sensors [16], paper strips, and kit tests [17][18][19][20]. Such technological innovation may aid in the production of reliable, continuous, and comprehensive data on water quality resources over a broad range of spatial and temporal scales.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Performance of a Citizen Science Based Water Quality Monitoring Program for Nitrates Using Test Strips Implemented in the Medjerda Hydrosystem in Northern Tunisia

Chaabane,

Riahi,

Khlifi

et al. 2024

Hydrology

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Recent technological progress in water management of hydrosystems has been made to deploy efficient and effective water quality monitoring systems (WQMS). Among these, a citizen science (CS)-based water quality monitoring (WQM) program using test strips is considered as a smart tool that may aid in the production of reliable, continuous, and comprehensive data on the water quality resources of hydrosystems over a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. In this case study, the objective is to evaluate the performance of a CS-based WQM for nitrates assessment using test water quality strips for the Medjerda watershed in Northern Tunisia. Overall, 137 samples were collected from 24 sampling sites and were analyzed by 33 participants. Citizens involved in the program were regrouped in five citizen types according to their socio-economic characteristics. Statistical tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple correspondence analyses (MCA) were achieved to survey the goodness of fit of CS as a contribution to data collection in terms of the socio-economic profile of the participant. The results show that this tool could be reliable for obtaining the levels of nitrate in water samples. Water quality test trips can conveniently be used by citizens for WQM of nitrates when they are rigorously following the manufacturer’s instructions. Additional efforts in communication and training could help to improve the performance of this CS-WQM program for nitrate in the Medjerda watershed.

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Detecting pollutant sources and pathways: High-frequency automated online monitoring in a small rural French/German transborder catchment

Cited by 7 publications

References 38 publications

Integrated Surface-Groundwater Modelling of Nitrate Concentration in Mediterranean Rivers, the Júcar River Basin District, Spain

Integrated Surface-Groundwater Modelling of Nitrate Concentration in Mediterranean Rivers, the Júcar River Basin District, Spain

Can Short-Term Online-Monitoring Improve the Current WFD Water Quality Assessment Regime? Systematic Resampling of High-Resolution Data from Four Saxon Catchments

Assessing the Performance of a Citizen Science Based Water Quality Monitoring Program for Nitrates Using Test Strips Implemented in the Medjerda Hydrosystem in Northern Tunisia

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