Water Quality or Carrying Capacity Loading (legacy N + new N – environmental denitrification) Residence Time Carrying Capacity
Carrying Capacity – the maximum number of individuals that an area of land or water can support without detrimental effects.
Annual Mass Loadings: Bay Park STP
Annual daily averaged discharge at Bay Park and Cedar Creek WPCP
Residence Times for Groundwater relatively short Coastal Waters generally long
Residence Time for Selected Water Bodies West Bay10 days Forge River (Summer)Week to month Smithtown Bay2-3 days Great South Bay (after Sandy) Weeks to months
Residence times of particles in West and Middle Bays. Color bar is time in hours.
Comparison between Ulva growth and surface nitrate concentrations.
Cross Section of DO Concentrations Along Wills Creek and Across Forge River
Source: CT DEP
Summertime Residual Currents in Central Long Island Sound Level 6 10 cm/s
Develop and Embrace New Technologies and Systems
New sewage treatment capacity and technology can significantly reduce impacts of nitrogen pollution - not eliminate it
Controlling Mass Loadings (not just concentrations) and Planning for Residence Times are Essential
Long Island’s carrying capacity dictates that there are “limits to growth”