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Environmental assessment of wastewater discharges at river basin level by means of waste absorption footprint

2019; Elsevier BV; Volume: 21; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.spc.2019.10.006

2352-5509

Daniela Căilean, Carmen Teodosiu, Mircea David,

Municipal Solid Waste Management

The 1st River Basin Management Plan period (2009–2015) had as major focus the "good water quality status" for surface waters in the European Union, by 2015, according to the Water Framework Directive. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the extent of the reduction of pressures induced by wastewater discharges generated from domestic, industrial and agricultural activities in Romanian river basins, during the above mentioned period, as a consequence of the measures implemented at river basin level. To achieve this objective, three representative river basins, namely Prut-Barlad, Banat and Arges-Vedea, covering 25% of Romania's surface, have been analysed by using the Waste Absorption Footprint Indicator (WAF). The reference years for this study are: 2006 and 2015. WAF results, together with the waste absorption capacity (WAC) and the deficit and/or reserve data, at different levels: county, river basin (regional level), and individual for specific pollutants (expressed by the water quality indicators: chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen and phosphorous) were calculated. Results have shown that the 2015 WAF results are in general even with 1 order of magnitude lower than the 2006 results. Irrespective of the year, at county level, the biggest urban agglomerations in these areas, Iasi county in Prut-Barlad, respectively Timis in Banat river basin and Bucuresti (within Ilfov county) in Arges-Vedea river basin have the largest impacts. In 2015, at river basin level, organic substances presence is not of concern in the Arges-Vedea river basin with a reserve of 543.5 rha, but with deficits of -816.74 rha in Banat and –315.18 rha in Prut-Barlad. Nitrogen compounds pressure is no longer present in 2015, in Arges-Vedea river basin, with a reserve of 1190.43 rha, while the other 2 river basins have a deficit of -3335.97 rha (Prut-Barlad) and -4126.46 rha (Banat river basin). In 2015, phosphorous compounds registered a deficit between-1451.17 rha in Arges-Vedea and -2455 rha in Banat river basin.