Long-term chloride concentrations in North American and European freshwater lakes

Abstract

Anthropogenic sources of chloride in a lake catchment, including road salt, fertilizer, and wastewater, can elevate the chloride concentration in freshwater lakes above background levels. Rising chloride concentrations can impact lake ecology and ecosystem services such as fisheries and the use of lakes as drinking water sources. To analyze the spatial extent and magnitude of increasing chloride concentrations in freshwater lakes, we amassed a database of 529 lakes in Europe and North America that had greater than or equal to ten years of chloride data. For each lake, we calculated climate statistics of mean annual total precipitation and mean monthly air temperatures from gridded global datasets. We also quantified land cover metrics, including road density and impervious surface, in buffer zones of 100 to 1,500 m surrounding the perimeter of each lake. This database represents the largest global collection of lake chloride data. We hope that long-term water quality measurements in areas outside Europe and North America can be added to the database as they become available in the future.

Chloride Balance in Freshwater System of a Highly Anthropized Subalpine Area: Load and Source Quantification Through a Watershed Approach

“…Moreover, some treated water could have higher chloride loads, since certain chemical treatment practices add chloride salts (e.g., AgCl 3 and FeCl 3 ) to effluents to remove suspended particles and enhance the phosphorus removal process (Hubbart et al, 2017;Rogora et al, 2015). Fertilizers, livestock waste, industrial effluents, and solid waste incineration constitute further chloride sources (Dugan, Summers, et al, 2017;Kelly et al, 2012). In general, the literature has reported widely the strict relationship between chloride load to aquatic ecosystems and watershed land use practices (Hubbart et al, 2017;Lax et al, 2017;Müller & Gächter, 2012).…”

Salty fertile lakes: how salinization and eutrophication alter the structure of freshwater communities

“…, Dugan et al. ) and, while they co‐occur throughout much of the world, their additive and synergistic effects are not well understood. Thus, it is important to understand whether these co‐occurring disturbances interact to affect lakes ecosystems and food webs, and what the implications might be for lake ecosystem services and future mitigation efforts.…”

“…The contaminants can dramatically alter the structure and function of freshwater lake ecosystems, triggering a loss of ecosystem services . Eutrophication and salinization are two major threats to lake ecosystems (Carpenter et al 1985, Jackson et al 2016, Dugan et al 2017) and, while they co-occur throughout much of the world, their additive and synergistic effects are not well understood. Thus, it is important to understand whether these co-occurring disturbances interact to affect lakes ecosystems and food webs, and what the implications might be for lake ecosystem services and future mitigation efforts.…”

Current to Clean Water – Electrochemical Solutions for Groundwater, Water, and Wastewater Treatment

“…The content of chloride ions (Cl -) is often used to define the salinity of water [14,15]. The salt concentration in brackish water ranges between 3000 and 10 000 ppm, in seawater the average concentration is 35 000 ppm, and in fresh water the salt content is up to 1500 ppm [16,17].…”

“…Desalination of water enables the minimization of water scarcity for water supply by making alternative water sources like brackish water or seawater accessible [17]. Moreover, prior treatment of saline effluent of industries like food-processing industry, leather industry, and petroleum industry pretends rising of the salt concentrations in the recipient water [15,18,19].…”