Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Using Synchronous Fluorescence Technique as a Water Quality Monitoring Tool for an Urban River

  • Published:
Water, Air, and Soil Pollution Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The development of a monitoring tool for predicting water quality and tracing pollution sources are important for the management of sustainable aquatic ecosystems in urban areas. In this study, synchronous fluorescence technique was applied to 18 sampling sites of a typical urban watershed in Korea, some of which are directly affected by the effluent from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), to investigate the capability of the technique for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) prediction and source discrimination. Sampling was conducted three times at the same sites during the low flow period between October and November, 2005. Protein-like fluorescence intensities of the samples showed a positive linear relationship with the BOD values (Spearman’s rho = 0.90, p < 0.0001). The BOD prediction capability was superior to other monitoring tools such as UV absorption and conductivity measurements particularly for the upstream sites from the WWTP, which ranged from 0.0 to 5.0 mg/l as BOD. The protein-like fluorescence and a ratio of protein-like/fulvic-like fluorescence were suggested as good fluorescence signatures to discriminate different sources of dissolved organic matter (DOM). The samples collected from four different DOM source regions including upstream sites from the WWTP, downstream sites, discharge from a reservoir, and headwater were distinguished from one another by varying ranges of the two selected fluorescence signatures. Our results suggest that the synchronous fluorescence technique has the potential to be developed into a real-time water quality management tool for the comprehensive monitoring of urban rivers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alberts, J. J., & Takács, M. (2004). Total luminescence spectra of IHSS standard and reference fulvic acids, humic acids and natural organic matter: Comparison of aquatic and terrestrial source terms. Organic Geochemistry, 35, 243–256.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • American Public Health Association (APHA) (2005). Standard methods for the examination of water & wastewater (21st ed.). Baltimore: American Water Works Association and American Environment Federation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, A. (2001). Fluorescence excitation–emission matrix characterization of some sewage-impacted rivers. Environmental Science & Technology, 35, 948–953.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, A., & Inverarity, R. (2004). Protein-like fluorescence intensity as a possible tool for determining river water quality. Hydrological Processes, 18, 2927–2945.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, H., & Carlson, T. N. (2005). Water quality during winter storm events in Spring Creek, Pennsylvania USA. Hydrobiologia, 544, 321–332.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, W., Westerhoff, P., Leenheer, J. A., & Booksh, K. (2003). Fluorescence excitation–emission matrix regional integration to quantify spectra for dissolved organic matter. Environmental Science & Technology, 37, 5701–5710.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, J. B., & Revitt, D. M. (2002). Sewer losses and interations with groundwater quality. Water Science and Technology, 45, 195–202.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Esparaza-Soto, M., & Westerhoff, P. K. (2001). Fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular weight distribution of extracellular polymers from full-scale activated biomass. Water Science and Technology, 43, 87–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galapate, R. P., Baes, A. U., Ito, K., Mukai, T., Shoto, E., & Okada, M. (1998). Detection of domestic wastes in Kurose river using synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy. Water Research, 32, 2232–2239.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gauthier, T. D., Shane, E. C., Guerin, W. F., Seitz, W. R., & Grant, C. L. (1986). Fluorescence quenching method for determining equilibrium constants for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to dissolved humic materials. Environmental Science & Technology, 20, 1162–1166.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Holzer, P., & Krebs, P. (1998). Modelling the total ammonia impact of CSO and WWTP effluent on the receiving water. Water Science and Technology, 38, 31–39.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hood, E., Williams, M. W., & McKnight, D. M. (2005). Sources of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in a Rocky Mountain stream using chemical fractionation and stable isotopes. Biogeochemistry, 74, 231–255.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hur, J., Jung, N.-C., & Shin, J.-K. (2007). Spectroscopic distribution of dissolved organic matter in a dam reservoir impacted by turbid storm runoff. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 133, 53–67.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hur, J., Williams, M. A., & Schlautman, M. A. (2006). Evaluating spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques to resolve dissolved organic matter via end member mixing analysis. Chemosphere, 63, 387–402.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jaffé, R., Boyer, J. N., Lu, X., Maie, N., Yang, C., & Scully, N. M. (2004). Source characterization of dissolved organic matter in a subtropical mangrove-dominated estuary by fluorescence analysis. Marine Chemistry, 84, 195–210.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, K., Lee, J. S., Oh, C.-W., Hwang, G.-S., Kim, J., Yeo, S., et al. (2002). Inorganic chemicals in an effluent-dominated stream as indicators for chemical reactions and streamflows. Journal of Hydrology, 264, 147–156.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kini, Y. Y., Lee, K. K., & Sung, I. H. (2001). Urbanization and the groundwater budget, metropolitan Seoul area, Korea. Hydrogeology Journal, 9, 401–412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S., & Ahn, K.-H. (2004). Monitoring of COD as an organic indicator in wastewater and treated effluent by fluorescence excitation–emission (FEEM) matrix characterization. Water Science and Technology, 50, 57–63.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McKnight, D. M., Boyer, E. W., Westerhoff, P. K., Doran, P. T., Kulbe, T., & Andersen, D. T. (2001). Spectrofluorometric characterization of dissolved organic matter for indication of precursor organic material and aromaticity. Limnology and Oceanography, 46, 38–48.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muzio, F. M., Budman, H. M., Robinson, C. W., & Graff, S. (2001). BOD5 estimation for pulp and paper mill effluent using UV absorbance. Water Research, 35, 1842–1850.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nataraja, M., Qin, Y., & Seagren, E. A. (2006). Ultraviolet spectrophotometry as an index parameter for estimating the biochemical oxygen demand of domestic wastewater. Environmental Technology, 27, 789–800.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, D. M. (2003). Rapid and direct determination of tryptophan in water using synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy. Water Research, 37, 3055–3060.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, D. M., & Ahmad, S. R. (1997). Rapid and direct determination of wastewater BOD values using a fluorescence technique. Water Research, 31, 2012–2018.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shen, G.-P., & Yu, H.-Q. (2006). Characterization of extracellular polymeric substances of aerobic and anaerobic sludge using three-dimensional excitation and emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy. Water Research, 40, 1233–1239.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sierra, M. M. D., Giovanela, M., Parlanti, E., & Soriano-Sierra, E. J. (2005). Fluorescence fingerprint of fulvic and humic acids from varied origins as viewed by single-scan and excitation/emission matrix techniques. Chemoshere, 58, 715–733.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, J. D. (1997). The role of dissolved organic matter, particularly free amino acids and humic substances, in freshwater ecosystems. Freshwater Biology, 38, 1–36.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Westerhoff, P., Chen, W., & Esparza, M. (2001). Fluorescence analysis of a standard fulvic acid and tertiary treated wastewater. Journal of Environmental Quality, 30, 2037–2046.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wetzel, R. G. (2001). Limnology: Lake and river ecosystems (3rd ed.). New York: Elsevier Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Korea Research foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOEHRD; KRF-2006-331-D00288). Funding for the work was also partially provided by Korea Water Resources Corporations (KIWE-ERC-05–05).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Sejong University, Seoul, 143-747, South Korea

    Jin Hur

  2. Department of Environmental Science, Konkuk University, Seoul, 143-701, South Korea

    Soon-Jin Hwang

  3. Korea Institute of Water and Environment, Korea Water Resources Corporation, Daejeon, 305-730, South Korea

    Jae-Ki Shin

Authors
  1. Jin Hur
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Soon-Jin Hwang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jae-Ki Shin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jin Hur.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hur, J., Hwang, SJ. & Shin, JK. Using Synchronous Fluorescence Technique as a Water Quality Monitoring Tool for an Urban River. Water Air Soil Pollut 191, 231–243 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-008-9620-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-008-9620-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation