The question of nitrification in the Passaic River, New Jersey: Analysis of historical data and experimental investigation

doi:10.1016/0043-1354(79)90048-4

Water Research

Volume 13, Issue 6, 1979, Pages 525-537

https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1354(79)90048-4 Get rights and content

Abstract

Historical NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻ data from six stations on the Passaic River, New Jersey, were analyzed. The data for five of the stations span 1963 to 1976, and for the sixth station 1947 to 1976. Some of the conclusions reached are as follows:

1.
(1) The concentration of NH₄⁺ fluctuated widely, but the trend was towards an increase with time.
2.
(2) The concentration of NH₄⁺ was elevated during a period of extreme drought (1963 to 1966).
3.
(3) The concentration of NO₃⁻ tended to increase smoothly with time.
4.
(4) The concentration of NH₄⁺ increases longitudinally (with downstream travel).
5.
(5) The loads (concentration × stream-flow) of both nitrogen species tended to increase with time.
6.
(6) Substantial NO₃⁻ enters the stream from non-point sources.
7.
(7) The potential for instream nitrification is not fully realized, as represented by elevated levels of NH₄⁺.

Item (7) was puzzling because conditions in the Passaic, especially in the summer, appear to be favorable for nitrification. The point was clarified, in part through an experimental investigation.

River water samples, with and without added NH₄Cl, were incubated, and the course of the first step of nitrification was followed through the appearance of NO₂⁻. (The second step of nitrification was inactive during the experimental period.) The added NH₄Cl enhanced nitrification in samples from the uppermost stations (native NH₄⁺-N approximately 0.1 mg l⁻¹, but had little or no effect in samples from the middle and lower reaches (native NH₄⁺-N > 0.5 mg l⁻¹). Consequently, it was inferred that over most of the river's mainstem the growth of NH₄⁺-oxidizing bacteria was not substrate limited. There was also no indication of other nutrient limitations or of the presence of any inhibitors. This led to a projection of a 60-fold increase in the population density of planktonic NH₄⁺-oxidizers over a certain stretch of the river. However, no increase in the most-probable-number (MPN) of NH₄⁺-oxidizing bacteria was observed, which is consistent with item (7). In fact, at the end of a quiescent segment of the river the MPN's were anomalously low. This is attributed to the removal of cells from the water column through settling. This reasoning is extended to suggest that, throughout the river, settling may be the mechanism preventing a response of planktonic nitrifiers to the enrichment with NH₄⁺ from pollution sources. In turn, this could prevent a full expression of the potential for nitrification.

The analyses are discussed from a regulatory perspective. It is concluded that the nitrification component of the Passaic's self-purification capacity is overburdened, and first became so in 1953.

References (23)

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Significance of nitrification in stream analysis-effects on the oxygen balance

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The question of nitrification in the Passaic River, New Jersey: Analysis of historical data and experimental investigation

Abstract

Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater

Characteristics of water quality and streamflow, Passaic River Basin above Little Falls, New Jersey

Report upon preliminary waste load allocations for the Upper Passaic River Basin

Section 303(e), water quality management basin plan, freshwater Passaic River Basin

Analysis of the stratification of the Pompton and Passaic Rivers at the Passaic Valley Water Commission's Little Falls Intake

Nitrate reduction to nitrite, a possible source of nitrite for growth of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria

Appl. Environ. Microbiol.

Transfer of NH4-N from benthal deposits and NO3-N losses of overlying waters of the Upper Passaic River

Significance of nitrification in stream analysis-effects on the oxygen balance

J. Wat. Pollut. Control Fed.

Nitrification potential of river environments

J. Wat. Pollut. Control Fed.

Significance of nitrification in stream analysis-effects on the oxygen balance

J. Wat. Pollut. Control Fed.

Transfer of NH₄-N from benthal deposits and NO₃-N losses of overlying waters of the Upper Passaic River