Journal
ESTUARIES AND COASTS
Volume 34, Issue 2, Pages 269-280Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s12237-010-9314-1
Keywords
Effluent; Organic nitrogen; Wastewater treatment plants; Chesapeake Bay
Funding
- National Science Foundation [CBET-0756475]
- Directorate For Engineering
- Div Of Chem, Bioeng, Env, & Transp Sys [0840350] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Div Of Chem, Bioeng, Env, & Transp Sys
- Directorate For Engineering [0755826] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Total maximum daily loads for nitrogen (N) are currently being established for the Chesapeake Bay watershed. While we know inorganic N is bioavailable in the environment and therefore its input contributes to cultural eutrophication, the bioavailability of organic N is unclear. Using bioassay experiments, we examined the impact of effluent-derived organic nitrogen (EON) from wastewater treatment plants on natural water samples collected along an estuarine/salinity gradient within the lower Chesapeake Bay watershed. All of the inorganic N and between 31% and 96% of the EON was removed during biotic bioassays within the first 2 days. Further, there was substantial abiotic reactivity of effluent N when it was added to natural water samples. Results demonstrate that organic and inorganic N in effluent is removed to support the growth of microbial communities. These are the first results aimed at assessing the reactivity of EON in natural waters along an estuarine/salinity gradient.
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