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Early Warning Strategies and Practices Along the River Rhine

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The Rhine

Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC5,volume 5L))

Abstract

In 1986, the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) installed a Warning and Alarm Plan (WAP) in order to avert the dangers and to detect and investigate the causes of incidental pollution (spills, industrial or shipping accidents). Since then, the number of reported incidents has decreased considerably. The WAP approach is both emission- and immission-based. Within the former, incidents are directly reported by the discharger; within the latter, early warning monitoring systems provide (semi-)continuous measurements of water quality from which unreported spills can be deduced and traced. Both the water authorities and drinking water companies operate such systems, in which various chemical screening techniques are used in combination with biological early warning systems. This two-way strategy, using sensitive equipment, is considered to be best for a river such as the Rhine, as it has a large flow and there is an endless spectrum of chemicals potentially being used and produced within its catchment area. Future improvements in the WAP will focus on information exchange and the use of internationally available “expert” knowledge, the embedding of biological alarms, and a new system of guidance values. The future challenges for early warning monitoring systems include a broadening of analytical and effect windows, and standardization with a better understanding of relations between substance and effect. In a good early warning system, a balance should be sought between effectiveness for the specific river situations, manageability of the WAP-type system, robustness, and cost. Along the Rhine this message is well understood.

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Abbreviations

BEWS:

Biological early warning systems

BTEX:

Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene

CAS:

Chemical Abstracts Service

EOA:

Emission-oriented approach

FID:

Flame ionization detector

GC:

Gas chromatography

HPLC:

High-performance liquid chromatography

ICPR:

International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine

IMBL:

International Monitoring Station Bimmen-Lobith

IMWC:

International Main Warning Center

IOA:

Immission-oriented approach

LC-DAD-UV:

Liquid chromatography with diode-array detector and UV detector

MS:

Mass spectrometry

NRW:

North Rhine-Westphalia

PAH:

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon

PCB:

Polychlorinated biphenyl

SPE:

Solid-phase extraction

UV:

Ultraviolet extinction/detector

WAP:

Warning and Alarm Plan Rhine

WFD:

Water Framework Directive

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Anke Lauer (Worms), Dr. Jan Mazacek (Basel), and Harald Teicher (Düsseldorf) for contributions to the manuscript. Special thanks to Heather Prescott (Mercersburg Academy, Pennsylvania) for correcting the language.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rhine Water Control Station Worms, State Environment Agency Rhineland-Palatinate, Am Rhein 1, 67547, Worms, Germany

    Peter Diehl

  2. State Environment Agency North Rhine-Westphalia, P.O.B. 102363, 45023, Essen, Germany

    Thomas Gerke, Jaqueline Lowis & Hans-Günter Willemsen

  3. Institute for Inland Water Management and Waste Water Treatment (RIZA), P.O.B. 17, 8200 AA, Lelystad, The Netherlands

    Ad Jeuken & Jaap van Steenwijk

  4. Het Waterlaboratorium, P.O.B. 734, 2003 RS, Haarlem, The Netherlands

    Ruud Steen

  5. Association of Rhine Water Works RIWA, P.O.B. 402, 3430 AK, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands

    Peter Stoks

Authors
  1. Peter Diehl
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  2. Thomas Gerke
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  3. Ad Jeuken
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  4. Jaqueline Lowis
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  5. Ruud Steen
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  6. Jaap van Steenwijk
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  7. Peter Stoks
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  8. Hans-Günter Willemsen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Diehl .

Editor information

Thomas P. Knepper

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Diehl, P. et al. Early Warning Strategies and Practices Along the River Rhine. In: Knepper, T.P. (eds) The Rhine. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 5L. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_5_015

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