TY - JOUR
T1 - Modelling the interplay of future changes and wastewater management measures on the microbiological river water quality considering safe drinking water production
AU - Demeter, Katalin
AU - Derx, Julia
AU - Komma, Jürgen
AU - Parajka, Juraj
AU - Schijven, Jack
AU - Sommer, Regina
AU - Cervero-Aragó, Silvia
AU - Lindner, Gerhard
AU - Zoufal-Hruza, Christa M
AU - Linke, Rita
AU - Savio, Domenico
AU - Ixenmaier, Simone K
AU - Kirschner, Alexander K T
AU - Kromp, Harald
AU - Blaschke, Alfred P
AU - Farnleitner, Andreas H
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors
PY - 2021/5/10
Y1 - 2021/5/10
N2 - Rivers are important for drinking water supply worldwide. However, they are often impacted by pathogen discharges via wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and combined sewer overflows (CSO). To date, accurate predictions of the effects of future changes and pollution control measures on the microbiological water quality of rivers considering safe drinking water production are hindered due to the uncertainty of the pathogen source and transport variables. The aim of this study was to test an integrative approach for an improved understanding of these effects, i.e. climate change and population growth as well as enhanced treatment at WWTPs and/or prevention of CSOs. We applied a significantly extended version of QMRAcatch (v1.0 Python), a probabilistic-deterministic model that combines fate and transport modelling with quantitative microbial infection risk assessment. The impact of climatic changes until the period 2035-2049 was investigated by a conceptual semi-distributed hydrological model, based on regional climate model outputs. QMRAcatch was calibrated and validated using site- and source-specific data (human-associated genetic microbial source tracking marker and enterovirus). The study showed that the degree to which future changes affect drinking water safety strongly depends on the type and magnitude of faecal pollution sources and are thus highly site- and scenario-specific. For example, if the load of pathogens from WWTPs is reduced through enhanced treatment, climate-change driven increases in CSOs had a considerable impact. Preventing CSOs and installing enhanced treatment at the WWTPs together had the most significant positive effect. The simultaneous consideration of source apportionment and concentrations of reference pathogens, focusing on human-specific viruses (enterovirus, norovirus) and cross-comparison with bacterial and protozoan pathogens (Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium), was found crucial to quantify these effects. While demonstrated here for a large, wastewater-impacted river, the approach is applicable at other catchments and pollution sources. It allows assessing future changes and selecting suitable pollution control measures for long-term water safety planning.
AB - Rivers are important for drinking water supply worldwide. However, they are often impacted by pathogen discharges via wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and combined sewer overflows (CSO). To date, accurate predictions of the effects of future changes and pollution control measures on the microbiological water quality of rivers considering safe drinking water production are hindered due to the uncertainty of the pathogen source and transport variables. The aim of this study was to test an integrative approach for an improved understanding of these effects, i.e. climate change and population growth as well as enhanced treatment at WWTPs and/or prevention of CSOs. We applied a significantly extended version of QMRAcatch (v1.0 Python), a probabilistic-deterministic model that combines fate and transport modelling with quantitative microbial infection risk assessment. The impact of climatic changes until the period 2035-2049 was investigated by a conceptual semi-distributed hydrological model, based on regional climate model outputs. QMRAcatch was calibrated and validated using site- and source-specific data (human-associated genetic microbial source tracking marker and enterovirus). The study showed that the degree to which future changes affect drinking water safety strongly depends on the type and magnitude of faecal pollution sources and are thus highly site- and scenario-specific. For example, if the load of pathogens from WWTPs is reduced through enhanced treatment, climate-change driven increases in CSOs had a considerable impact. Preventing CSOs and installing enhanced treatment at the WWTPs together had the most significant positive effect. The simultaneous consideration of source apportionment and concentrations of reference pathogens, focusing on human-specific viruses (enterovirus, norovirus) and cross-comparison with bacterial and protozoan pathogens (Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium), was found crucial to quantify these effects. While demonstrated here for a large, wastewater-impacted river, the approach is applicable at other catchments and pollution sources. It allows assessing future changes and selecting suitable pollution control measures for long-term water safety planning.
KW - Animals
KW - Cryptosporidiosis
KW - Cryptosporidium
KW - Drinking Water
KW - Environmental Monitoring
KW - Humans
KW - Rivers
KW - Waste Water
KW - Water Microbiology
KW - Water Quality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100148650&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144278
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144278
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 33736313
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 768
SP - 144278
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
M1 - 144278
ER -