Evaluating the impacts of an urban catchment on water and sediment quality of a receiving river
type: CreativeWork
description: The EU Water Framework Directive requires all water bodies to achieve good ecological and chemical status by 2027. To achieve this a range of measures to improve the quality of water, particularly in urban areas, are required. It is within this context that this thesis uses a combination of field, laboratory and desk-based studies to identify contaminant loadings and their distributions within water bodies located in the Lower Lee catchment (London, United Kingdom). Specifically, water and sediment samples were collected at 11 sites on the River Lee, its’ Navigation Channel and main tributaries, over a period of two years. Samples were analysed for a range of metals (cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, tin and zinc) and 11 polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) including anthracene, fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene and benzo(a)pyrene. Laboratory batch test experiments which focused on evaluating the release of metals from field sediments were undertaken to better understand the relationship between sediment and the overlying water column. Substance flow analysis (SFA) was then applied to predict mass loads of selected pollutants entering the receiving waters within 1 km of sampling sites to evaluate the potential use of the approach as a screening tool to identify pollutant hotspots in an urban river catchment. Field sampling data and substance flow analysis outputs were compared to evaluate the use of substance flow analysis as a desk-based approach to predict sediment pollutant hotspots in the field. Use of the approach as a tool to support catchment managers identify locations for interventions to improve water and sediment quality, as well inform the development of policies targeting environmental enhancement, are discussed. The results show that mean cadmium (2.33 ± 2.79 μg/g), copper (141.07 ± 111.00 μg/g), mercury (0.53 ± 0.45 μg/g), lead (175.70 ± 82.96 μg/g) and zinc (499.92 ± 264.66 μg/g) concentrations in the sediment exceed selected Dutch (Esdat, 2000) a…
abstract: The EU Water Framework Directive requires all water bodies to achieve good ecological and chemical status by 2027. To achieve this a range of measures to improve the quality of water, particularly in urban areas, are required. It is within this context that this thesis uses a combination of field, laboratory and desk-based studies to identify contaminant loadings and their distributions within water bodies located in the Lower Lee catchment (London, United Kingdom). Specifically, water and sediment samples were collected at 11 sites on the River Lee, its’ Navigation Channel and main tributaries, over a period of two years. Samples were analysed for a range of metals (cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, tin and zinc) and 11 polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) including anthracene, fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene and benzo(a)pyrene. Laboratory batch test experiments which focused on evaluating the release of metals from field sediments were undertaken to better understand the relationship between sediment and the overlying water column. Substance flow analysis (SFA) was then applied to predict mass loads of selected pollutants entering the receiving waters within 1 km of sampling sites to evaluate the potential use of the approach as a screening tool to identify pollutant hotspots in an urban river catchment. Field sampling data and substance flow analysis outputs were compared to evaluate the use of substance flow analysis as a desk-based approach to predict sediment pollutant hotspots in the field. Use of the approach as a tool to support catchment managers identify locations for interventions to improve water and sediment quality, as well inform the development of policies targeting environmental enhancement, are discussed. The results show that mean cadmium (2.33 ± 2.79 μg/g), copper (141.07 ± 111.00 μg/g), mercury (0.53 ± 0.45 μg/g), lead (175.70 ± 82.96 μg/g) and zinc (499.92 ± 264.66 μg/g) concentrations in the sediment exceed selected Dutch (Esdat, 2000) a…
author: Alves, L.
date published: 2021
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:03:56Z
provider: Middlesex University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Middlesex University