Water Quality Management

Chapter 2:
Limnology – rehabilitation methods

Dr.-Ing. Harald Schoenberger, based on

Prof. Dr.- Ing. Heidrun Steinmetz
Dipl.-Ing. Ralf Minke

Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste

Management
- Chair of Sanitary Engineering and Water Recycling - 1

Chapter 2: Limnology UNIVERSITÄT

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 Characterisation and assessment of lakes

Eutrophication
 the process of fertilisation of lakes
 causes high primary production and biomass in aquatic systems
 Eutrophication can be a natural or civilising process that impairs water
quality by
 a change of biodiversity and abundance number
 enhanced sedimentation processes
 changes of the oxygen balance and
 growth of microorganisms that affect water use for drinking water supply, fishery,
irrigation purposes and industrial use.

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 Characterisation and assessment of lakes

Eutrophication
 The primary production is strongly affected by
 solar radiation
 water temperature
 Stratification
 Photosynthesis can be expected to be higher in shallow warm lakes than in
deep and cold lakes
 Best indicator of checking the state of eutrophication is collecting a vertical
oxygen profile.

Caused by human activities only?

Or does it occur in natural systems as well?
General ontogeny of lakes: from lower to higher
productivity!! 3

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 Ontogeny
Potential ontogeny for the
four main types of lakes

Wetzel, Limnology, 2001

„brown water lakes“
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 Causes and effects of eutrophication

Causes and effects of eutrophication

Source: WHO, Water Quality assessments, 1996 5

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 Managing freshwater ecosystems

Management
should avoid environmentally or ecological negative effects
 But mostly starts to restore rivers and lakes
 Basis: good understanding of the system!
 Measures, e.g.
 Source control: removal from wastewater or agricultural inputs
 Aeration and/or mixing
 Algae (and/or macrophyte) harvesting
 Algae growth control (e.g. copper sulfate dosage but disadvantage??)
 Biomanipulation of the food chain

 Measures can have also undesired effects on the whole ecosystem!

 Measures should include watershed management (integrated /
holistic approach)
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 Improving water quality of lakes
Why lakes?

 Lakes are sensible concerning water quality inputs of nutrients!!

 long retention time of substances
 little oxygen supply during stratification
 Storage of nutrients in sediments & release under special
conditions
 High interaction between several physical, chemical and biological
processes

Rehabilitation Measures  Reducing load input

 Phosphorus (nitrogen) removal from waste water
 Wastewater diversion
 Removal of nutrients from diffuse sources
 Catch basins at the entrance side of lakes
 Phosphorus removal from tributaries (constructed wetlands, soil retention plants, technical
removal) 7

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 Remember: Classification of Lakes

Ultra- Oligo- Meso- Eu- Hyper-

Trophic Status oligotroph. trophic trophic trophic eutrophic

Total Phosphorus
(Annual average) g/L
<4 4 - 10 10 - 35 35 - 100 > 100

Chlorophyll-
mean <1 < 2,5 2,5 – 8 8 - 25 > 25
concentration
g/L Cla max < 2,5 <8 8 - 25 25 - 75 > 75

mean > 12 >6 6-3 3 – 1,5 < 1,5

Visibility Depth
m
max >6 >3 3 – 1,5 1,5 – 0,7 < 0,7

 Removal of P!!!
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 Wastewater treatment

Primary Sed. Biological treatment Final Sedimentation Filtration

Denitrification, nitrification Chemical Addition

Return Sludge Excess Sludge ES

Primary Sl.
Chemical sludge

 Post –precipitation with filtration for further phosphorus- removal (or

simultaneous precipitation …)

 Wastewater treatment plants in sensitive areas (Lake Constance….)

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Minimizing the (phosphorus) input from tributaries

Phosphorus removal from

tributaries or outlets of
combined or separated
Bank soil
sewer systems during
rainfall
 retention soil basins

Filtersand

sealant
Filter gravel Protection fleece

Source: MUNLV NRW: Retentionsbodenfilter

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Minimizing (phosphorus) input from tributaries
Retention soil basin

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 Improving water quality of lakes
Restoration Measures
 Supporting Restoration of already polluted water bodies

 Liming of acidic lakes

 Technical aeration
 Technical destratification (mixing)
 Technical nutrient removal or P- precipitation in the lake
 Hydraulic measures: dilution, diversion of the deep water (hypolimnic
water)
 Sludge removal
 Sediment treatment (oxidation)
 Liming (acid rain), weed removal
 (Use of pesticides or other toxic substances)
 Biomanipulation
 Morphological changes of the lake 12

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 Denitrification in the Hypolimnion
Heterotrophic nitrate dissimilation in the hypolimnion of a reservoir

Negative effects?

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 Deep water diversion in small lakes

Surface water
buoy
Float for fixing Water from the depth

Common flow

Thermocline

Effects?

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 Artificial aeration
Deep-level aeration

Aeration of the hypolimnion of a lake

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 Hypolimnetic aeration

(Source: Horne et.al., Limnology (1994))

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Acid rain in the seventies and eighties

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 Titration curves of NaOH and NH3 with HCl

Similar titration points occured in lakes

NaOH

NH3

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 Liming acid lakes in Sweden
Since the eighties, thousands of lakes
and rivers have been limed

Source: Bengtsson, B. et al.,Ambio, Vol. 9, No. 1 (1980), pp. 34-36 20

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 Acid rain – development of pH and sulphate
Rachelsee in Bavaria – development of pH
pH value

Rachelsee in Bavaria –
close to the Czech border

Rachelsee in Bavaria – development of sulphate

Sulphate in [mg/L]

21
(Source: https://www.lfu.bayern.de/wasser/auswirkung_versauerung/seen/index.htm) UNIVERSITÄT
Chapter 2: Limnology
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Addition of chemicals to reduce PO43- concentrate.

Effects?

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 P- Removal by precipitation

Phosphorus removal by artificial calcite precipitation – two lakes

(hypolimnetic injection of lime milk – CaO)

Epilimnion

Hypolimnion

Control enclosure Test 23

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P- Removal by precipitation as Ca3(PO4)2
Phosphorus removal by artificial calcite precipitation

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 P- Removal by precipitation

Container for
precipitation Container for
floating material
Treated water – inflow into Buoy for the pump
the lake

buoy

P- rich water from the

depth – inflow into
container

Precipitation
floatation
reactor
P- rich floatate
P- rich water
from depth
Cleaned water

precipitant air

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Sludge removal

Effects?

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 Weed harvesting I

Effects?

(Source: Horne et.al., Limnology (1994))

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 Weed harvesting II

Effects?

(Source: Horne et.al., Limnology (1994))

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 Biomanipulation
Improving Water Quality – Biomanipulation -

Effects?

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 Case: Lake Washington

Characteristic
monomictic coastal fjord lake
 A = 88 km²
 mean depth = 33 m, max depth = 62 m
Naturally (1920): mesotrophic to oligothrophic lake
 minimum secchi depth > 3m
 Diatom – dominated phytoplankton
Growing of near by Seattle led to severe pollution
1950: Phytoplankton Secchi disk
 blue-green algae dominated
 secchi depth below 1 m
 loss of water clarity
Demand for lake clean up!

(Source: Horne et.al., Limnology (1994))

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 Cultural eutrophication in Lake Washington

(Source: Horne et.al., Limnology (1994))

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Case: Lake Washington (in surface water – upper 10 m)

Source: E. B. Welch, Ecological Effects of Wastewater

Applied limnology and pollutat effects, Chapman & Hall

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 Lake Constance

 Water supply for about 4.5 mio people

taken from www.esa.int

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 Lake Constance

Characteristics of Lake Constance

Lake Constance:
 Area covered: 572 square kilometers
 Maximum depth: 254 m
 Content: 50 cubic kilometers = 50 billion m³
 Mean annual flow: 11.5 cubic kilometers
 Mean run-off at Constance: 365 cubic meters/s
 major centre of residence tourism, industry and agriculture
 18 waterworks withdraw water for water supply of about 4.5 million
 3 countries: Germany, Swiss, Austria

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 Lake Constance
Lake Constance Water Supply (Bodenseewasserversorgung)
 Water rights for the daily intake of 670.000 cubic meters of raw water
corresponding to a nominal capacity of approx. 7755 l/s on average
 175 member towns, communities and supply boards
 approx. 3.7 millions inhabitants in the area serviced
 distribution system with up to 2250 mm pipe diameter
 approx. 1600 km mostly large-diameter high-pressure lines
 29 reservoirs with a total capacity of 470,600 cubic meters
 electrical power of pumping stations: approx. 96.000 kW; 340 employees;
Drinking water from Lake Constance
 Temperature at intake depth of 60 m 4.5 – 5.5 degrees C
 pH-value approx. 7.9
 Total hardness 1.6 mmol/l
 Phosphate-phosphorus at intake approx. 0.011 mg/l
 Nitrate approx. 4.6 mg/l
 If detectable at all, unfavourable compounds and health-related parameters are far below
national and international guide levels and limits.but many ubiquitous pollutants are present 39

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 Water treatment Sipplingen – Lake Constance
Raw water from Lake Constance Ozonation
and micro screens

2-layer filter (FeCl3 dosage)

Source: Bodenseewasserversorgung, Sipplingen 40

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 Lake Constance
Lake Constance: Measures of Maintenance
General
 information management
 use of phosphorus-free detergents
 Control of industries
Waste Water Treatment
 mechanical, biological and chemical (nitrification, denitrification, removal of
phosphorus by flocculation and filtration) waste water treatment
 advanced stormwater treatment

Agriculture
 prohibitions concerning the use of fertilisers within the flood zone and pesticides within
bank strips
 prohibition to change grassland into farmland
 advanced agricultural management (e.g. to avoid soil erosion; advisory service –
cooperation between farmes and waterworks-)
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Chapter 2: Limnology UNIVERSITÄT

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 Lake Constance
Lake Constance: Measures of Maintenance

Traffic
 one coastal main road was diversed into the interior

Shoreline Protection
 rehabilitation of shorelines; shorelines are consigned to nature conservation schemes
(162 km out of 263 km shoreline enjoy this protection)

Remaining measures of maintenance

 Reducing microbial loads of flowing waters
 microbial loads from combined sewage overflows have caused prohibitions of bathing in
Lake Constance
 advanced efforts in stormwater treatment will be necessary
 Impacts from agriculture
 Reducing the diffuse loads of nitrogen
 good agricultural practise (intensive agriculture – especially apples)
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Lake Constance – annual average of phytoplancton

Reference: www.umwelt.sg.ch
no data
available
taken from www.suedkurier.de, EBK

Algae
bloom in
1973

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Lake Constance – „lake cow“ for algae harvesting

(1980ies)

Attempt to manage the massive

growth of algae
 Significant reduction of
taken from www.bsb.de

oxygen content

taken from www.tagblatt.ch

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Lake Constance – annual average phosphorous
concentration

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 Lake - Constance

Development of water quality

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 Load of Lake Erie with Phosphorus 1800 - 1970

20 Detergents
Human Waste
Load in 1000 t / a P

Upstream Lake
P-containing
Chapra, St.: J.Env.Eng.Div.Am.Soc.Civ.Eng. (1977)

Land Runoff
15 detergents
Atmosphere

Urbanization,
Sewerage
10
Agricultural
use

0
1800 1850 1900 1950 48

Chapter 2: Limnology UNIVERSITÄT

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 Lakes and running water
Running water
 long linear ecosystems
 horizontal structure
 intensive relations to bordering
terrestrial ecosystems; sometimes
overlapping different geografic
regions
 vectored flow as a dominant
characteristic
 retention time low (only till 10 d)
 transport systems
 mostly insolation till depth
 turbulence with influence on
substance balance
 flowing time very important for
substance balance
Lakes
 high water volume compared with
bank
 vertical structure; sometimes with
destinctive bedding
 less intense integration into
environment
 long retention times
 process sequences easier
comprehensible
 sinking of substances important
for substance balance

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 Copyright

These slides contain figures or pictures which might not be

sufficiently cited and/or for which I have the allowance to use them
only for teaching.
Thus they can be used only for personal and private use as
learning aids.
Generally there is a copyright on the whole content of the lecture
as well as on single slides.
Before further publication even of parts of the lecture the
allowance of the author has to be secured.

Prof. Dr.- Ing. Heidrun Steinmetz

Dipl.-Ing. Ralf Minke
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