Turbidity as a proxy for total suspended solids (TSS) and particle facilitated pollutant transport in catchments

Transport of hydrophobic organic pollutants in rivers is mainly coupled to transport of suspended particles. Turbidity measurements are often used to assess the amount of suspended solids in water. In this study, a monitoring campaign is presented where the total concentration of polycyclic aromatic...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental earth sciences 2013-05, Vol.69 (2), p.373-380
Main Authors: Rügner, Hermann, Schwientek, Marc, Beckingham, Barbara, Kuch, Bertram, Grathwohl, Peter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atoms & subatomic particles
Biogeosciences
Catchments
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Environmental Science and Engineering
Geochemistry
Geology
Hydrology/Water Resources
hydrophobicity
linear models
monitoring
Pollutants
Pollution dispersion
Polyallylamine hydrochloride
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Proxy client servers
river water
Rivers
sediments
Solids
Special Issue
Terrestrial Pollution
Total suspended solids
Transport
Turbidity
Turbulent flow
Water analysis
Water pollution
Water sampling
watersheds
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Transport of hydrophobic organic pollutants in rivers is mainly coupled to transport of suspended particles. Turbidity measurements are often used to assess the amount of suspended solids in water. In this study, a monitoring campaign is presented where the total concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the amount of total suspended solids (TSS), and turbidity was measured in water samples from five neighboring catchments in southwest Germany. Linear correlations of turbidity and TSS were obtained which were in close agreement to the literature data. From linear regressions of turbidity versus total PAH concentrations in water, mean concentrations of PAH on suspended particles could be calculated and these varied by catchment. These values furthermore comprise a robust measure of the average sediment quality in a given catchment. Since in the catchments investigated in this study, PAH concentrations on suspended particles were stable over a large turbidity range (1–114 Nephelometric Turbidity Units), turbidity could be used as a proxy for total PAHs and likely other highly hydrophobic organic pollutants in river water if the associated correlations are established. Based on that, online monitoring of turbidity (e.g., by optical backscattering sensors) seems very promising to determine annual pollutant fluxes.
ISSN:1866-6280
1866-6299
DOI:10.1007/s12665-013-2307-1