Transcript Ecosystem and Watershed Ecology of Drinking

Ecosystem and Watershed Ecology for Sustainable
Clean and Healthy Drinking Water.
Asit Mazumder
NSERC-Industry Research Program
Environmental Management of Drinking Water
University of Victoria
<www.UVic.ca/water>
Funding Partners
Contributing Research Team
NSERC-Industry Research Chair Grant
CRD Water Department
Vancouver Water Department
BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection
Crestbrook Forest Industries
Galloway Lumber Company
BC Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
N. Okanagan Cattleman’s Association
BC Beef/Cattle Industries Development Fund
Agriculture Agri-Food Canada
Health Canada
Environment Canada
Grad Students: W. Nowlin, JM. Davies, C.
Meays, B. Matthews, P. Furey, M. Deagle, R.
McMackin, D. Bryant, J. Lambert.
PDFs & Research Professionals: M. Kainz,
S. Verenitch, R. Nordin, T. Peace, Y. Liang,
B. Basu, T. De Monoye, S. Thompson,
Collaborators: R. Roy (UVic), K. Telmer
(UVic), M. Samadpour (UWA), K. Broersma
(AAFC), J. Aramini (HC),
Quality and Quantity of Drinking Water
is a Major Problem
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Worldwide, millions of people die each year from contaminated
drinking water.
During last four years, Canadians faced several drinking water
disasters
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Walkerton- Seven people died and 100s became sick.
Battleford - Many people got sick from intestinal disease
Each year 1000s of water supplies in Canada give boil-water advisories.
Recent report says BC has 40% greater incidences of water related disease than
any other provinces in Canada.
Majority of these problems start at the source water ecosystems and
watersheds, yet very little is done to sustain water quality at the
source.
Challenge? To manage the quality of drinking water under
unsustainable land/ water-use, poor source water, and failing
infrastructure.
Why take ecosystem and watershed approach to sustain
clean and healthy water? Because problems originate at the
source water ecosystems and watersheds.

What are the quality and health indicators of water quality?
 Pathogenic bacteria and protozoans- intestinal disease
 Excessive nutrients and algae - taste/odour, toxins, disinfection
byproducts
 Harmful chemicals - pesticides, herbicides, metals, antibiotics
and phamacare products
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Unfortunately, treatment and disinfection cannot eliminate all of the water
quality problems.
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While disinfection and filtration can be effective in reducing risk of
pathogens, they produce disinfection byproducts with significant health
risk and make water supply very expensive and inefficient.

Why not develop source water management and protection to reduce these
risks, to provide healthy water, to reduce cost and increase efficiency?
Poor quality water at the source increases health risk of
drinking water at home.
Source Water Quality
•Bacteria, Algae, Pathogens
•TOC, DOC, Turbidity, Toxins
Coagulation/Flocculation removes colloidal particles by adding
certain chemicals (coagulants)
Sedimentation
Floc settles
down to the
bottom
Disinfection kill bacteria and
other organisms
Filtration
remove particles
through filters
Disinfection Byproducts formed
during treatment and disinfection
Storage for
disinfection to
take place, and
for variable
water demand
NSERC-Industry Research Chair Program in
Environmental Management of Drinking Water
Our Research at UVic currently cover the following specific aspects:
• Watershed processes leading to nutrient, chemical, sediment and pathogen loading to
source water.
• Aquatic processes regulating source water quality in relation to water level and
watershed changes.
• Ecology and source
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
tracking
of GIF
pathogens
as a function
are needed to see this picture.
of land-use patterns.
• Production of carcinogenic byproducts in drinking water in relation to source water.
• Development of GIS and Remote Sensing based models for land-use patterns and
water quality/quantity.
• Modeling waterborne disease in BC using medical billing and prescription data.
*
• Reconstruction of historic climatic conditions, land/water use, *
water quality, and
foodweb changes using sediment chronology.
*
• Hg contamination of fish in BC lakes and its health*implication
*
*
*
Ecosystem and watershed processes affect the quality of
water at the source and the quality of water at the tap.
Land-use activities and practices
--Agriculture
--Farming
--Waste disposal
--Pesticides / Herbicides
--Harvesting
--Roads & Highways
Loading of
--Nutrients
--Bacteria/Pathogens
--Metals/Organics
--Humic compounds
Quality of source water
Bacteria, Pathogens, Humic
compounds, Pesticides,
Herbicides, Heavy metals
Quality of drinking water
Human health risks from
pathogens, byproducts,
metals & contaminants
Aquatic processes modify the
impacts of external loading
Nutrient-foodweb processes within source water are
critical determinants of water quality and the impact
external loading of nutrients, chemicals & pathogens.
Fish Communities
Grazers
Large & efficient grazers
Small & inefficient grazers
Bacteria/Algae
Pathogens
Nutrients
Poor
Source water
(From watershed land-use, sediment and atmosphere)
20
84%
43%
Small Grazers
Large Grazers
15
10
5
Low disinfection efficiency
High disinfection byproducts
High cost and high health risk
0
<0.2
>2
Grazer Size (mm)
TOC (mg/liter)
1000
100
10
High disinfection efficiency
Low disinfection byproducts
Low cost and low health risk
1
0.1
1
10
100
Nutrients (µg/liter)
1000
>2
Increasing concentrations of disinfection byproducts
(several of them can produce long-term health problems)
 TOC-DBP relationship
 DOC-DBP relationship
 Impact of Ozone and UV treatment on DBP formation
 Type and intensity of disinfection on DBPs
Long-term health impacts
of source water quality
need more attention.
Increasing concentrations of biological materials in source
water (such as bacteria, algae, dissolved organic carbon)
Some of the taste and odor and toxin producing algae
in source drinking water.
Taste and Odor in Drinking Water
Emerging technologies that could help developing
robust risk assessment and management tools.
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Source tracking of pathogens using ribotyping.
Source tracking of nutrients using stable isotopes.
Foodweb structure (grazers in lakes, reservoirs or streams)
to evaluate the aquatic systems capability to minimize
external inputs of nutrients, chemicals and pathogens.
GIS and Remote Sensing models quantifying nutrient,
chemical and pathogen loading to source water.
Expert system for real time monitoring and assessment of
water and watershed conditions.
Water and watershed management strategies based on
integrated expert system.
Improved public communication and education based on
integrated watershed science.
Tracking the sources of bacteria
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One of the most recent technology is DNA
finger printing to track source of pathogens.
– This is a technology that has long been used by
food industry.
– This technique is capable of distinguishing
sources like humans, birds, wildlife (by type)
and farmed mammals.
Tracking sewage/organic inputs to source water by
using stable isotopes of d15N
Predicted d15N
for
100 people/km2
Range for
Cucheon/Elk Lake
Detecting sewage/organic
inputs to source water
9
8
Anthropogenic
7
d15N
6
5
of
4
Organisms3
Productivity
2
1
0
-1
0
1
2
3
Index of: productivity/anthropogenic influence
Application of Medical Billing and Services Data from communities is a
powerful way of evaluating the health related to water.
Integrated Technology for Decision Making
* Real-time water quality monitoring and risk assessment
* Drinking water and watershed Protection
* Sustainable Watershed Management
* Prediction of pathogens and health impacts
Treatment
Water Quality & Watershed
Data Management
Distribution
Systems
Prototype under development
in our laboratory at the
University of Victoria
Simulation of early warning
Decision making
Expert System
Advantages of Expert System
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Integrates: land-use planning, hydrology, water quality.
meteorology, system characteristics
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Assesses-Warns: Source water quality, taste and odour events,
pathogens, turbidity
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Simulates: behavior of system under various natural and perturbed
conditions of watersheds and source water
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Optimizes: location of instrumentation, operating protocol etc.
Analyses: sensitivity of source system, cause and effect
Assists: provides feedback and guidance e.g. disinfection, source
switching, land use planning
12
Annual Consumption (Billion Gallons)
9
6
3
400
Population of Greater Victoria (Thousands)
300
200
100
2700
2015
2005
1995
1985
1975
1965
1955
1945
1935
1925
1915
1905
100-Yr. Mean
1895
2400
2100
1800
1500
1200
900
Annual Rainfall (mm)
Sooke Lake and the intake tower supplying water to Victoria.
• A 100-year draught in 2000 caused severe water shortage.
• Severe drawdown like this causes water quality problems by changing the
thermal stability and nutrient release from sediment to water
August, 2001
QuickTime™ and a
Photo - JPEG decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
Photo - JPEG decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Seymour Reservoir of Vancouver Water Supply during October
2002. Heavy Consumption and low rainfall during summer created
this historic low level of water.
High exposure of sediment has caused extremely high levels of iron
and ammonia in drinking water
What are the immediate challenges for
Canadian communities?
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We need to think beyond treating water as the sole solution. We must develop
integrated water and watershed science linking source water ecosystems to tap to
community health.
Integration science and policies for best land- and water-use practices for clean and
healthy drinking water will need:
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Clean Water Policies and Guidelines that go beyond treatment and disinfection into shortand long-term human and environmental health.
Multi-barrier approaches capable of assessing health risks from chemical and biological
agents in source and supply water.
Province-wide and nation-wide programs integrating ecosystem and watershed knowledge
into the quality of source and supply water and community health.
Transfer of integrated understanding of water quality to the utility managers, especially to
the managers of small to medium water supplies and communities.
What can government/industries do to achieve the goal of sustainable clean water
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Develop enforceable policies and regulations for water and watershed management and
protection.
Enhance support for infrastructure, modern analytical facilities, training program and
public education.
Model Community Watershed Approach for Clean
and Healthy Drinking Water
Track/Model sources of
• Pathogens
• Toxic & organic chemicals
• Disinfectants
• Waterborne disease
Map watershed with GIS
for assessing:
• Land use & planning
• Loading of pathogens,
nutrients & chemicals
• Source water quality
Science
Characterize watershed
and source water quality
Integration
Assess/model
health risks
Integrate science into
community and culture
Stakeholders, Managers, Public,
Deliver Watershed
Decision Makers
Education/Technology
Science/Technology
• Train managers
In partnership with communities, industries
• Involve communities
• Help policy development
government and scientists, we have been applying
• Science-based decisions
this approach to individual community watersheds
for clean & healthy drinking water.
Thank you