Thesis (M.S.)--Central Connecticut State University, 1998. / Thesis advisor: Dr. Clayton Penniman. " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Biology." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-63).

Water contaminations are currently threatening ecosystems and human health on a world-wide scale. Monitoring the water quality is one of the most essential steps to provide better understanding and mitigation of water contamination. Among the water quality monitoring techniques, optofluidic technologies have created a burgeoning number of novel devices designed to test water quality in an efficient and portable format. However, current optofluidic devices have yet to be successfully translated to onsite monitoring applications due to their high cost, high maintenance and dependence on delicate laboratory instruments or bulky instruments. In this work, we developed two optofluidic platforms for onsite water quality monitoring: a fluorescence-based optofluidic platform for chemical analysis and an imaging-based optofluidic platform for microbe detection. Several technologies associated to optical sensing modules were developed to overcome the above challenges, making the optofluidic platforms compatible with onsite monitoring applications. First, excitation coupling mechanism and frequency domain time-resolved fluorescence (TRF) were developed on the fluorescence-based optofluidic platform to improve sensing sensitivity and stability, while reducing dependence on costly instruments. Their effectiveness was demonstrated by dissolved oxygen (DO) measurements and ray-tracing simulation. Second, a low-cost and portable imaging system with dual modalities were developed on the imaging-based optofluidic platform. Thus, both morphological features and fluorescent features can be observed for microbe detection without using bulky microscope setups. The effectiveness of dual-modality imaging was demonstrated by experimental results of phytoplankton analysis. Third, a fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) approach was developed under a low-cost (Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor) CMOS format. This approach enables integrating FLIM module in portable optofluidic platforms for onsite monitoring. These advances bring optofluidic platforms closer to realizing the requirements of onsite water quality monitoring and provide a clear picture for future improvements and research directions. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Time-consuming and expensive benthic surveys are currently the most common means of determining impacts on invertebrates and fish habitat in lotic systems. We propose using the rate of chitobiase production by benthic invertebrates as a complement for determining impacts on freshwater systems. We successfully modified the existing assay to a microplate approach for high throughput analysis of chitobiase activity. Next we conducted two case studies in: 1) the Dead Horse Creek, Manitoba, to determine if changes in chitobiase could detect impacts on the benthic community from wastewater effluent and; 2) in Snake and Kinch Creeks, Manitoba to see if chitobiase could be used to assess fish habitat quality. In both cases, we observed no strong relationships between chitobiase and traditional metrics (e.g., abundance, biomass, diversity). We recommend further studies concerning the timing of chitobiase release in lotic systems and assessments of its use in mesocosm and microcosm toxicity studies / May 2016

A manutenção da qualidade ambiental está diretamente relacionada ao conhecimento e controle das variáveis que interferem no problema, sejam elas resultantes das ações do homem sobre o ambiente ou de suas transformações naturais. Este conhecimento sobre o meio ambiente pode ser obtido através de monitoramento e, no caso dos corpos d’água, a eficácia do monitoramento depende em especial de um projeto e operação adequados do sistema de informações, que é constituído pela aquisição, manipulação, análise e utilização da informação obtida. No que se refere à aquisição da informação, ainda existem grandes lacunas a serem preenchidas na decisão sobre onde, quando e o que monitorar. Neste trabalho são enfocadas as atividades básicas do projeto da rede de monitoramento, ou seja, a localização das estações, a seleção das variáveis, a freqüência e a duração da amostragem, procurando-se buscar um conjunto de diretrizes de aplicação que seja exeqüível e eficaz para o projeto e manutenção de redes de monitoramento, uma vez que não se dispõe atualmente na literatura, de procedimento geral que vise solucionar este problema. A localização das estações de monitoramento na bacia hidrográfica, denominada de macrolocalização, a determinação de freqüências amostrais e a definição das variáveis a serem monitoradas, são tarefas que fazem parte do projeto da rede de monitoramento da qualidade da água. A rede de monitoramento, por sua vez, é parte do sistema de informações sobre qualidade da água, cujo objetivo é a descrição dos fenômenos físicos, químicos e biológicos relacionados à qualidade do corpo d’água. A eficiência da metodologia discutida neste trabalho é demonstrada e discutida através de estudos de casos. Dentre as contribuições deste trabalho podem-se destacar: (i) a ampliação do trabalho de POMEROY e ORLOB, para a localização de estações de monitoramento baseando-se na área e características de drenagem da bacia hidrográfica; (ii) a adaptação do procedimento de otimização no processo de macrolocalização de SHARP; (iii) a dedução da equação da entropia para análise de múltiplas variáveis; (iv) o desenvolvimento de um aplicativo computacional para a análise e avaliação de desempenho de estações de monitoramento baseado no conceito de entropia; e (v) a proposição de uma metodologia geral de dimensionamento e redimensionamento de redes de monitoramento de qualidade da água . Neste trabalho são descritas, discutidas e aplicadas as metodologias disponíveis para a macrolocalização e as recentemente propostas para o redimensionamento de redes de monitoramento, baseadas no conceito de entropia, objetivando a produção de diretrizes de projeto de redes de monitoramento, especialmente para países em desenvolvimento. Assim sendo, neste trabalho não se faz somente uma análise de métodos disponíveis para o projeto de redes de monitoramento mas também é proposta uma metodologia de dimensionamento e redimensionamento de redes de monitoramento para bacias com poucos dados e para bacias com dados de qualidade da água. Desta forma espera-se contribuir com países em processo de início e organização de seus sistemas de informação ambiental, e também para aqueles com suas redes já em operação, facilitando-se a decisão quanto à destinação de recursos para a adequação da realidade financeira aos objetivos de operação e manutenção destes sistemas. / The maintenance of the environmental quality is directly related to the knowledge and control of the variables affected by the problem, either as a result of the human action on the environment, or due to natural transformations. Knowledge on the environment can be obtained through monitoring. The effectiveness of the monitoring especially depends on the project of the information system and its operation. Data acquisition, manipulation, analysis, as well as the use of the generated information, are all activities that must be prepared by the project. As far as the acquisition of information is concerned, there are research gaps about the decision on where, when and what to monitor. This study will focus on the basic activities of the monitoring network project, that is, the location of the stations, the variable selection and the sampling frequency. The objective is to find out a group of application guidelines that has a practical use and is effective both to the project and maintenance of monitoring networks, since a general procedure to solve this problem is not available in the literature. Water quality monitoring networks are part of the water resources information system, with the objective of describing the physical, chemical and biological phenomena related to the quality of the water body. The efficiency of the methodology discussed in this study is demonstrated and discussed through case studies. The most important contributions of this study are: (i) the expansion of the POMEROY and ORLOB studies to locate monitoring stations based on the watershed area and channel network; (ii) the extended use of the optimization procedure proposed by SHARP to improve the macrolocation process; (iii) the deduction of the entropy equation to analyze the multiple variables; (iv) the software to analyze and to propose a new design for monitoring networks, based on the entropy concept; and (v) the proposal of a general methodology to the water quality monitoring network design and redesign. The processes and methodologies proposed in this study were developed to be applied in developing countries. Usually such countries are in the process of initialization and organization of their environmental information systems, and we hope that this study will be able to bring satisfactory benefits, taking into account that optimization is necessary to bring the costs down and to make the monitoring effort sustainable.

A manutenção da qualidade ambiental está diretamente relacionada ao conhecimento e controle das variáveis que interferem no problema, sejam elas resultantes das ações do homem sobre o ambiente ou de suas transformações naturais. Este conhecimento sobre o meio ambiente pode ser obtido através de monitoramento e, no caso dos corpos d’água, a eficácia do monitoramento depende em especial de um projeto e operação adequados do sistema de informações, que é constituído pela aquisição, manipulação, análise e utilização da informação obtida. No que se refere à aquisição da informação, ainda existem grandes lacunas a serem preenchidas na decisão sobre onde, quando e o que monitorar. Neste trabalho são enfocadas as atividades básicas do projeto da rede de monitoramento, ou seja, a localização das estações, a seleção das variáveis, a freqüência e a duração da amostragem, procurando-se buscar um conjunto de diretrizes de aplicação que seja exeqüível e eficaz para o projeto e manutenção de redes de monitoramento, uma vez que não se dispõe atualmente na literatura, de procedimento geral que vise solucionar este problema. A localização das estações de monitoramento na bacia hidrográfica, denominada de macrolocalização, a determinação de freqüências amostrais e a definição das variáveis a serem monitoradas, são tarefas que fazem parte do projeto da rede de monitoramento da qualidade da água. A rede de monitoramento, por sua vez, é parte do sistema de informações sobre qualidade da água, cujo objetivo é a descrição dos fenômenos físicos, químicos e biológicos relacionados à qualidade do corpo d’água. A eficiência da metodologia discutida neste trabalho é demonstrada e discutida através de estudos de casos. Dentre as contribuições deste trabalho podem-se destacar: (i) a ampliação do trabalho de POMEROY e ORLOB, para a localização de estações de monitoramento baseando-se na área e características de drenagem da bacia hidrográfica; (ii) a adaptação do procedimento de otimização no processo de macrolocalização de SHARP; (iii) a dedução da equação da entropia para análise de múltiplas variáveis; (iv) o desenvolvimento de um aplicativo computacional para a análise e avaliação de desempenho de estações de monitoramento baseado no conceito de entropia; e (v) a proposição de uma metodologia geral de dimensionamento e redimensionamento de redes de monitoramento de qualidade da água . Neste trabalho são descritas, discutidas e aplicadas as metodologias disponíveis para a macrolocalização e as recentemente propostas para o redimensionamento de redes de monitoramento, baseadas no conceito de entropia, objetivando a produção de diretrizes de projeto de redes de monitoramento, especialmente para países em desenvolvimento. Assim sendo, neste trabalho não se faz somente uma análise de métodos disponíveis para o projeto de redes de monitoramento mas também é proposta uma metodologia de dimensionamento e redimensionamento de redes de monitoramento para bacias com poucos dados e para bacias com dados de qualidade da água. Desta forma espera-se contribuir com países em processo de início e organização de seus sistemas de informação ambiental, e também para aqueles com suas redes já em operação, facilitando-se a decisão quanto à destinação de recursos para a adequação da realidade financeira aos objetivos de operação e manutenção destes sistemas. / The maintenance of the environmental quality is directly related to the knowledge and control of the variables affected by the problem, either as a result of the human action on the environment, or due to natural transformations. Knowledge on the environment can be obtained through monitoring. The effectiveness of the monitoring especially depends on the project of the information system and its operation. Data acquisition, manipulation, analysis, as well as the use of the generated information, are all activities that must be prepared by the project. As far as the acquisition of information is concerned, there are research gaps about the decision on where, when and what to monitor. This study will focus on the basic activities of the monitoring network project, that is, the location of the stations, the variable selection and the sampling frequency. The objective is to find out a group of application guidelines that has a practical use and is effective both to the project and maintenance of monitoring networks, since a general procedure to solve this problem is not available in the literature. Water quality monitoring networks are part of the water resources information system, with the objective of describing the physical, chemical and biological phenomena related to the quality of the water body. The efficiency of the methodology discussed in this study is demonstrated and discussed through case studies. The most important contributions of this study are: (i) the expansion of the POMEROY and ORLOB studies to locate monitoring stations based on the watershed area and channel network; (ii) the extended use of the optimization procedure proposed by SHARP to improve the macrolocation process; (iii) the deduction of the entropy equation to analyze the multiple variables; (iv) the software to analyze and to propose a new design for monitoring networks, based on the entropy concept; and (v) the proposal of a general methodology to the water quality monitoring network design and redesign. The processes and methodologies proposed in this study were developed to be applied in developing countries. Usually such countries are in the process of initialization and organization of their environmental information systems, and we hope that this study will be able to bring satisfactory benefits, taking into account that optimization is necessary to bring the costs down and to make the monitoring effort sustainable.

Student Number : 0107471X - MSc research report - School of Civil and Environmental Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / Water plays a global role in an enormous variety of ways. More importantely it also plays a fundamental role on a regional and local scales where it has a profound effect on the environment and socio economic development. It is a prerequisite for many of the mans activities and as such it must be managed and protected accordingly. In this water quality plays a fundamental role and water quality monitoring is a foundation stone of any serious efforts to manage water resources on any scale. The research conducted focused on water quality monitoring in the SADC region. It looked at the current practice and the gaps present with respect to the real needs and international best practice. SADC region is characterized by trans-boundary water systems where pollution of water resources is often not understood properly nor has been seriously studied. A regional Water Quality Monitoring Program is advocated to address these issues and is seen as one of the prerequisites for effective water resources management in the SADC region. Existing Water Quality Monitoring in individual countries of the SADC region has been studied on the basis of existing (limited) information and gaps with respect to international best practice have been identified. Recommendations have been made regarding the establishment of the SADC Water Quality Monitoring program. A set of principles on which this should be based have been formulated. It has been concluded that SADC countries do not have an appropriate water quality monitoring in place and that what does exist is not in line with the best practice recommendations. It is suggested that without an appropriate regional water quality monitoring program water quality could become one of the limiting factors of the future economic development in the region.

Appropriately constructed pollutant export models can help set management priorities for catchments, identify critical pollutant source areas, and are important tools for developing and evaluating economically viable ways of minimising surface water pollution.¶ This thesis presents a comparison, an evaluation and an integration of models for predicting the export of environmental pollutants, in particular sediment, through river systems. A review of the capabilities and limitations of current water quality modelling approaches is made. Several water quality and quantity modelling approaches are applied and evaluated in the catchment of the upper Murrumbidgee River.¶ The IHACRES rainfall-runoff model and a simple hydrologic routing model are applied with the aim of developing a capacity to predict streamflow at various catchment scales and to enable integration with other pollutant load estimation techniques. Methods for calculating pollutant loads from observed pollutant concentration and modelled streamflow data are also investigated. Sediment export is estimated using these methods over a 10-year period for two case study subcatchments. Approaches for water quality sampling are discussed and a novel monitoring program using rising stage siphon samplers is presented. Results from a refinement of the Sediment River Network model in the upper Murrumbidgee catchment (SedNet-UM) are presented. The model provides a capacity to quantify sediment source, transport and to simulate the effects of management change in the catchment. The investigation of the model includes rigorous examination of the behaviour of the model through sensitivity assessment and comparison with other sediment modelling studies. The major conclusion reached through sensitivity assessment was that the outputs of the model are most sensitive to perturbation of the hydrologic parameters of the model.¶ The SedNet-UM application demonstrates that it is possible to construct stream pollutant models that assist in prioritising management across catchment scales. It can be concluded that SedNet and similar variants have much potential to address common resource management issues requiring the identification of the source, propagation and fate of environmental pollutants. In addition, incorporating the strengths of a conceptual rainfall-runoff model and the semi-distributed SedNet model has been identified as very useful for the future prediction of environmental pollutant export.

This research identified and evaluated possible uses of environmental monitoring data collected and reported by industrial facilities under the Clean Water Act requirements and determined whether the current regulatory system supported any of those uses. Federal policies and state-level policies in the United States, Florida, and California were evaluated in order to determine whether the current regulatory system supported any of the identified uses. Monitoring programs and currently available monitoring data were evaluated from Hillsborough County, Florida, and Los Angeles County, California, from the perspective of 1) the current implementation of the monitoring program, and 2) perfect implementation under full compliance with the monitoring program. Four possible uses for monitoring data were identified by this research: (1) identification of high polluting facilities within a given jurisdiction, (2) assessment of pollutant load to receiving waterbodies, (3) documentat ion of improvement over time in the amount of pollutants discharged from a given industrial facility, (4) self-evaluation purposes, such as identifying on-site pollutant sources, adapting pollution prevention efforts, and evaluating the monitoring protocol. The research conducted a telephone survey and evaluated industrial facilities' reported analytical monitoring data. Telephone questionnaires were administered to 63 industrial facilities, and analytical monitoring data were obtained from industrial facilities in Hillsborough County, Florida and Los Angeles County California. The representativeness, sampling frequency and variation in the industrial facilities' analytical monitoring data do not assist in the identification of high polluting facilities within a given jurisdiction nor provide for documentation of facilities' improvements. Pollutant loads to receiving watebodies can not be assessed through the use of industrial facilities' analytical monitoring data because of the sampl e measurement, variation, and sample frequency of the data. Therefore, these uses can not be supported under current implementation/current data submitted or under perfect compliance. However, the telephone survey revealed facility operators are attempting to use the results from monitoring for self evaluation purposes.

American Water Resources Association Symposium Proceedings / Reprinted from Establishment of Water Quality Monitoring Programs / Edited By: Lorne G. Everett and Kenneth D. Schmidt / June 12-14, 1978 / San Francisco, California / Traditional techniques for monitoring the mass flux of pollutants in the vadose zone involve obtaining point samples of solute, either by core sampling of solids, followed by laboratory extraction, or by installation of suction probes. An alternative sampling technique, discussed in this paper, is to sample perched ground water within the vadose zone. Large amounts of water may be pumped for sampling purposes from wells drilled into productive, perched ground -water bodies. Alternatively, cascading water from perched regions may be sampled in wells with perforations above the water table. Analytical results of samples from such wells are more representative of regional conditions than small point samples. Case studies are presented on sampling from perched ground water underlying a point source (an oxidation pond), a line source (an ephemeral stream), and a diffuse source (irrigation return flow).

In a semi-arid country like South Africa, the availability and quality of water has always played an important part in determining not only where people can live, but also their quality of life. The supply of water is also becoming a restriction to the socio-economic development of the country, in terms of both the quality and quantity of what is available. Thus different monitoring techniques should be put in place to help inform the process of conserving this precious commodity and to improve the quality of what is already available. Water quality monitoring has traditionally been by the means of physico-chemical analysis; this has more recently been augmented with the use of biomonitoring techniques. However, since the biota commonly used to indicate aquatic conditions are not always present in wetlands; this study tested the use of diatoms as bio-indicators in wetlands. Diatom samples were collected from thirteen wetlands in the Western Cape Province, and cells from these communities were enumerated and diatom ?based indices were calculated using version 3.1 of OMNIDIA. These indices were useful for indicating water quality conditions when compared to the measured physico-chemical parameters. In addition, most diatom species found were common to those found in riverine environments, making the transfer of ecological optima possible. The objective of the study was to provide a preliminary diatom-based index for wetlands, however, given the relatively small study area and the strong bias towards coastal wetlands it was deemed inadvisable to construct such an index, instead several indices are recommended for interim use until further research that more comprehensively covers wetlands in South Africa has been conducted. It is thus the recommendation of this study that more data is collected for comparison to other wetlands and that in the interim, indices such as SPI be applied for routine biomonitoring of these environments. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Botany))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.