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EVALUATION OF REAL-TIME INNOVATIVE BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL MONITORING SYSTEMS TO PROTECT SOURCE WATERS
Citation:
Goodrich*, J A., R C. Haught*, H. J. Allen, AND J M. Lazorchak. EVALUATION OF REAL-TIME INNOVATIVE BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL MONITORING SYSTEMS TO PROTECT SOURCE WATERS. Presented at American Water Works Association 2003 Source Water Protection Symposium, Albuquerque, NM, 1/19-22/2003.
Description:
Evaluation of Real-Time Innovative Biological and Chemical Monitoring Systems
To Protect Source Waters
Drinking water supplies have in recent years come under increasing pressure from regulatory concerns regarding TMDL designations and restoration strategies as well environmental pressures of non-point sources of pollution, land use change, and national security. An important component missing in many of these issues are ample data sets with which to properly characterize water quality and aquatic habitat. Another important aspect of protecting source waters under the Safe Drinking Water Act is a real-time early warning system. Such a system could be used to provide timely and spatially relevant information on the quality of the source water for emergency response as well as source water assessment planning, and TMDL load allocations/designations.
Recent technological advances offer the possibility of a new generation of chemical and biological monitoring systems that can be arrayed to provide real-time water quality toxicity data over a range of spatial and temporal scales. Different types of real-time biological monitors have been used in several European countries, but little is known regarding the sensitivity and dose response to various classes of compounds and the diverse bioelectrical and behavioral changes these instruments measure. The biomonitoring systems to be evaluated monitor the (1) behavior of daphnia, (2) bioelectric signals from bluegill or fathead minnows, (3) algal fluorescence change, and (4) clam gape. Other instruments utilize fiber optics, digital imagery, spectrometry, and multiple probes. The goal is to determine which, if any, instruments are responsive to various classes of contaminants such as pesticides, herbicides, and toxics as opposed to normal variations in ambient conditions. The final result could be a suite of sensors that can be installed in either source waters or finished drinking waters to provide real-time water quality information.
This task is being approached in three phases. Phase one consists of controlled laboratory experiments in parallel, spiking various types of raw and finished waters with a range of contaminants from the Contaminant Candidate List (CCL). Data will be generated for response and recovery times for a range of dose and exposure times. Phase two will attempt to fine-tune the various behavioral or bioelectrical parameters to specific contaminants. Phase three will consist of field demonstrations and evaluations. This will include lake, river, and finished waters and include real-time data generation and collection to be used for modeling, trend analyses, and emergency response. Real-time data collection may include satellite, cell phone, and/or line-of-sight radio communications. Field applications must consider a variety of hazards such as fouling, debris, vandalism, and high flows. Special consideration will be required for finished water applications because of the disinfectant residual that in itself could be hazardous to the biological organisms.
Phase one is currently underway. The daphnia and algae monitors have undergone initial shakedown testing for exposures to gasoline, cadmium, and atrazine under various DO, pH, alkalinity, and hardness ambient conditions. Alarm responses have been observed within minutes to hours depending on dose and source water characteristics. Recovery periods also vary from minutes to hours. The different monitors have multiple responses such as the swimming speed or height of the daphnia or the number of clams that are open and their degree of openness that must be further investigated to determine the primary response mechanism to the contaminant. Phase one is scheduled for completion in 2003 with phase three field demonstrations finished in 2005.