Determination of the sources of nitrate and the microbiological sources of pollution in the Sava River Basin

Vrzel, Janja; Vuković-Gačić, Branka; Kolarević, Stoimir; Gačić, Zoran; Kračun-Kolarević, Margareta; Kostić, Jovana; Aborgiba, Mustafa; Farnleitner, Andreas; Reischer, Georg; Linke, Rita; Paunović, Momir und Ogrinc, Nives (2016): Determination of the sources of nitrate and the microbiological sources of pollution in the Sava River Basin. In: Science of the Total Environment, Bd. 573: S. 1460-1471

Abstract

Coupled measurements of nitrate (NO3-), nitrogen (N), and oxygen (O) isotopic composition (delta N-15(NO3) and delta O-18(NO3)) were used to investigate the sources and processes of N cycling, while the microbial source tracking (MST) method was used to identify microbiological pollution in the surface water of the Sava River Basin (SRB) in autumn in 2014 and 2015 during high and low water discharge. Atmospheric nitrate deposition or nitrate-containing fertilizers were found not to be significant sources of riverine nitrate in the SRB. The ranges of isotope values suggest that NO3- in the SRB derives from soil nitrification, sewage, and/or manure, which were further supported by MST analysis. Microbiological indicators show the existence of hotspots of fecal pollution in the SRB, which are human associated. Long-term observations indicate persistent fecal contamination at selected locations caused by continuous discharge of untreated wastewaters into the SRB. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Geowissenschaften > Department für Geographie
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 550 Geowissenschaften, Geologie
• ISSN: 0048-9697
• Sprache: Englisch