Urban wastewater impacts on the spatial distribution of solutes and microbial constituents in the Musi River, India Presented at American Geophysical Union Spring Meeting, Baltimore, 23 May 2006

Urban wastewater impacts on the spatial distribution of solutes and microbial constituents in the Musi River, India Jeroen H.J. Ensink - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, International Water Management Inst. (IWMI) Christopher A. Scott - IWMI, NOAA, Univ. Arizona Sandy Cairncross - LSTHM

Pollution a Global Threat to Health and the Environment Source: UNEP Global Environment Monitoring System (GEMS) Water Programme

Wastewater Discharge & Irrigation Reuse

Wastewater Biogeochemistry Microbial attenuation  Coliform die-off  Nematode (hookworm) egg deposition Heavy metals attenuation  Deposition, re-suspension Nutrient attenuation – plant uptake Dissolved solids concentration  Irrigation diversion, evaporation, return flow

Musi River Study Sampling Transects III – rural (25 – 40 km) II – periurban (10 – 25 km) I – urban (0 – 10 km)

River Discharge

Irrigation Diversions

Coliforms – longitudinal data Dec. 03 – Jan. 05 (red squares = mean value)

Nematode Eggs in Wastewater

Nematode Prevalence in Farmers

Heavy Metals Loading – Cadmium (note – these data within urban area only) Western edge of Hyderabad Near Nagole bridge, downstream of Amberpet Source: Kumar, V.V.R.; Reddy, U.V.B.; and Sudarshan, V. (2000) “Geochemistry of Soils and Evaluation of Pollution, Patancheru-Bolaram Industrial Area of Medak District, Andhra Pradesh, India,” Environmental Geochemistry, Vol. 3, No. 1 and 2, pp

Heavy Metals Concentration in Sediment - I AmberpetNagole High Court PirzadigudaMutialgudaKoremallaPillaipalli Source: Gerwe, Caroline. An Assessment of Heavy Metals Contamination in the Wastewater-Irrigated Area of the Musi River

Heavy Metals Concentration in Sediment - II Source: Gerwe, Caroline. An Assessment of Heavy Metals Contamination in the Wastewater-Irrigated Area of the Musi River

Dissolved Nitrogen

Dissolved Oxygen

Total Dissolved Solids

TDS Conceptual Model

TDS Seasonal Variation

Conclusions Spatial processes critical to understand microbial and dissolved constituent behavior Hydraulic infrastructure (weirs) and irrigation operations have a critical impact on spatial and temporal contaminant distribution  Loading  Dilution  Uptake  Retention  Return flow  Concentration

 Loading  Dilution  Uptake  Retention  Return flow  Concentration

Thank you

Corroborating Results - Mexico Guanajuato River, Total Phosphorus with Distance from City Guanajuato River, Conductivity with Distance from City

Millennium Development Goals Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water But… sobering demographics  880 million additional global population by 2015, virtually all in developing countries  After 2015, all worldwide growth in population will take place in developing country cities Inadequate resources (financial or water)

The Costs of WW Treatment 73% of urban wastewater in India is untreated, requiring Rs. 2,92,500 crore (US$ 65 billion) or ten times greater than what the government proposes to invest (Infrastructure Development Finance Corp., 2003). Technology only part of the cost; land may prove to be the ultimate sticker shock

Mexico City WW Sources/Fate

Field vs Market (E.coli) in Pakistan