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INFLUENCE OF DEEP OCEAN SEWAGE OUTFALLS ON THE MICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF THE SURROUNDING SEDIMENT
Citation:
Novitsky, J. AND D. Karl. INFLUENCE OF DEEP OCEAN SEWAGE OUTFALLS ON THE MICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF THE SURROUNDING SEDIMENT. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-85/498.
Description:
The microbial activity near two deep ocean sewage outfalls off the coast of the island of Oahu, HI, was characterized. Water samples and sediment samples to a depth of 4.5 cm were analyzed from an area of approximately 4.5 x 10000 sq m surrounding the outfalls. Although the effluent water at both sites exhibited heterotrophic activity that was 2 orders of magnitude greater than water from a control site, ambient water samples taken within 1 m of the discharge ports exhibited activity only twice that of the control site for surface samples collected within 10 m of the outfall. Likewise, the rates of microbial nucleic acid synthesis and carbon production in the sediment were only elevated immediately adjacent to the outfalls. Total microbial biomass, as determined by the ATP content of the sediment, varied spatially but was generally elevated at the outfall sites. The specific growth rates calculated for the sediment microbial populations, however, were not greater at the outfall sites. (Copyright (c) 1985, American Society for Microbiology.)