Monitoring the eutrophication of freshwaters

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY LE THI HUONG MAI MONITORING THE EUTROPHICATION OF FRESHWATERS BACHELOR THESIS Study Mode: Full-time Major: Environmental Science and Management Faculty: Advanced Education Program Office Batch: 2014-2018 Thai Nguyen, 25/09/2018 Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry Degree Program Bachelor of Environmental Science and Management Student name Le Thi Huong Mai Student ID DTN1453060057 Thesis Title Monitoring the eutrophication of freshwaters Supervisor(s) Prof Dr Chihpin Huang- National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan Dr Do Xuan Luan- Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry, Vietnam Supervisor’s signature Abstract: The eutrophication has emerged as a major concern in developing countries The present study sought to assess eutrophication and manage water quality in two research regions in Taiwan Besides, also evaluating the effects of installation solar panels in these places The study was designed as a collecting the water quality parameters: Chlorophyll-α (Chl- α), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5), Ammonia Nitrogen (NH3-N) and transparency (SD) calculate and compare water quality through the River Pollution Index From calculations and analysis, there has been no eutrophication phenomenon affecting the quality of the water as well as the harmful effects of solar panels on the water that are installed in the reservoir Although most of the parameters indicate that water in the two study areas meets the criteria, further research is required to detect and handle promptly when signs of impact from eutrophication or solar panels occur, especially in the water used for irrigation i Keywords Eutrophication, RPI, Water Quality Index Number of pages 33 Date of submission 25th September, 2018 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Firstly, I would like to thanks to the cooperation between Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry and National Chiao Tung University for giving me a precious chance to my research in wonderful country like Taiwan It brings me abundant honor to work and submit my thesis for graduation I really want to show my deeply grateful to Prof Dr Chihpin Huang for his generous and useful suggestions during the planning and development of my research work His pleasure to give his time so valuable to help me finished my internship in Taiwan I sincerely thanks to Dr Do Xuan Luan for his conscientious contribution, enthusiastic attitude and precious critiques of this research work and after I arrived to Taiwan, helping me to understand how to complete proposal and gave me thesis structure I am also thankful to Ms Hsiao-Fen and Mr Ngo Dinh Ngoc Giao for teaching me various techniques and methods used in water analysis field They were very helpful in providing me constructive feedback and suggestions on my project and helping me to successful complete several of my experiments and report Without them help and devotion, I afraid that I would not able to catch this stage I feel really lucky to be a part in Prof Dr Chihpin Huang’s lab Thanks to all the members in Professor Huang’s laboratory who willing give me a hand when I work in there I also show deep gratitude to my family for giving me emotional, encouragement and physical and financial support At last, I would like to thank all those other persons who supported me in finishing this report Due to my lack of knowledge, the mistake is inevitable, I am so thankful if I obtain the comments and opinions from teachers and others to contribute my report Sincerely, Le Thi Huong Mai iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF FIGURES vi LIST OF TABLE vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii PART I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research rationale 1.2 Research’s objectives 1.3 Research question 1.4 Limitations PART II LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Eutrophication 2.2 Eutrophication Index 2.3 Eutrophication assessment in Taiwan PART III MATERIALS AND METHODS 3.1 Water sampling and analysis 3.2 Water quality assessment 10 3.2.1 Estimation of Chlorophyll-a: 10 3.2.2 Analyze Suspended Solids (SS) 11 3.2.3 Analyze the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) index 13 3.2.4 Measurement of the Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5) index: 14 iv 3.2.5 Measure pH and ORP values 15 3.2.6 Measure Transparency 15 3.2.7 Ammonia Nitrogen measurement 16 2.3.8 Analyze the Total Phosphorous (TP) index: 17 3.2 Calculation RPI and CTSI 17 PART IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 20 4.1 Water Quality Assessment 20 4.2 River Pollution Index 25 4.2.1 Calculation of the RPI 25 4.2.2 Calculation of CTSI 27 PART V CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 30 5.1 Conclusion 30 5.2 Recommendation 30 REFERENCES 32 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1: Flood detention pond in North of Taiwan 10 Figure 3.2: Steps to estimate chlorophyll-α index 10 Figure 3.3: Alcohol 90% and a DR 6000 spectrophotometer using in Chl-α estimation11 Figure 3.4: Procedure of Suspended Solids measurement 12 Figure 3.5: Glass fiber filter, furnace and electronic balance using in SS measurement12 Figure 3.6: Hach COD test kit and a DR 6000 spectrophotometer using in COD analysis 13 Figure 3.7: The measurement device using in measuring DO index 14 Figure 3.8: Low temperature incubator using in keeping water sample 14 Figure 3.9: The device using in measuring pH and ORP values 15 Figure 3.10: Secchi disk using in measuring the transparency 15 Figure 3.11: Ammonia Nitrogen test procedure 16 Figure 3.12: Hach NH3-N reagent set 16 Figure 3.13: Hach Total Phosphorous Test Kit using in TP analysis 17 Figure 4.1: Diagram about some water parameters in site A 24 vi LIST OF TABLE Table 2.1: Nutrient level, biomass and productivity of lakes at each trophic category Table 2.2: Methodological tools, indicators, and ranges used for Greek coastal areas for the eutrophication assessment Table 3.1: Location of water sample Table 3.2: The calculation and comparison baselines for RPI (Environmental Protection Administration Executive Yuan, R.O.C, Taiwan) 18 Table 3.3: The comparison baselines for CTSI (Environmental Protection Administration Executive Yuan, R.O.C, Taiwan) 19 Table 4.1: Water quality index results in site A 20 Table 4.2: Water quality index results in site B 25 Table 4.3: River Pollution Index results in site A 26 Table 4.4: River Pollution Index results in site B 27 Table 4.5: CTSI results in site A 28 Table 4.6: CTSI results in site B 29 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS E.I Eutrophication Index RPI River pollution Index EPA Environmental Protection Admisnitration Executive Yuan, R.O.C (Taiwan) DO BOD SS CTSI Dissolve Oxygen Biochemical Oxygen Demand Suspended Solids Carlson’s Trophic State Index SD Transparency Chl-α Chlorophyll a TP Total Phosphorous COD Chemical Oxygen Demand ORP Oxidation-Reduction Potential viii PART I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research rationale Eutrophication is a harmful environmental issue because it leads to a deterioration of water quality and is one of the biggest impediments to achieving the quality objectives established by the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) at the European level Following the Survey of the State of the World's Lakes- a promoted project by the International Lake Environment Committee announced that eutrophication affects on 54% of Asian lakes, 53% of those in Europe, 48% of those in North America, 41% of those in South America and 28% of those in Africa (www.lescienze.it) All water parts are impacted by a natural and slow eutrophication process, which consists of a continuously growing in the contribution of nutrients, primarily nitrogen and phosphorus (organic load) up to it overloads the capacity of the water body (i.e the capacity of a lake, river or sea to purify itself), resulting in structural changes in the waters That circumstance has gone through a very rapid progression in the last few decades because of the appearance of human as well as their activities Eutrophication also occurs naturally over thousands of years as the lakes grow old and filled with sediments Besides, human activities have sped up the degree and rate of eutrophication through both minimal source and maximal source discharges of the chemical nutrients (phosphates and nitrates) into aquatic systems Some of the consequences of eutrophication include threatens the survival of fish and other aquatic life forms; deterioration of water quality and limits access to safe drinking water; poisoning and impact on human health; endangers fishing and degradation of recreational opportunities Remarkeable, one of the major effects of Where: SD = Transparency (m) Chl-a = Chlorophyll-a Concentration (μg/L) TP = Total Phosphate (μg/L) After calculation the CTSI, using Table 3.3.2 to comprise and determine the eutrophication level of reservoir Table 3.3: The comparison baselines for CTSI (Environmental Protection Administration Executive Yuan, R.O.C, Taiwan) CTSI Index Value Eutrophication level of a reservoir CTSI50 Eutrophic 19 PART IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Sampling work is done regularly every month during the time I did the internship Sampling time is decided in the morning because at this time domestic indicators are stable and accurate in analyzing water samples Water samples after being collected into the bottle are kept stable to avoid disturbing the substances in the water and brought to the laboratory, then stored in a cold room to ensure accuracy for the measurement process later The water samples were measured and recorded in turn, then calculated and I used to tabulate, evaluate and draw the graph showing the changes of them 4.1 Water Quality Assessment - Site A: Flood detention pond: Table 4.1: Water quality index results in site A Date 2017 /09/20 2017 /10/13 2017 /10/26 2017 /11/09 2017 /11/23 Chl-a SS NH3-N COD DO BOD5 TP (µg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (µg/L) Sample ND 18 0.36 4.9 1.4 10730 8.73 285 Sample ND 12 0.36 4.8 1.8 2030 8.27 284 Sample 59.24 10 0.39 1.7 1530 8.42 280 Sample ND 23 0.5 4.6 1.8 275 7.87 429 Sample ND 27 0.6 18 4.2 1.4 275 7.67 427 Sample ND 18 0.37 11 4.2 1.6