Growth characteristics of algae during early stages of phytoplankton bloom in Lake Taihu,China

Three treatments, sediment plus lake water （S＋W）, sterilized sediment plus lake water （SS＋W）, and sediment plus filtered lake water （S＋FW）, were recruited to investigate the growth characteristics of algae during pre-bloom and the importance of algal inocula in the water column and sediment. The results showed that in the water column, biomass of all algae increased in all treatments when recruitment was initiated, whereas this tendency differed among treatments with further increment of temperature. The process of algal growth consisted of two stages： Stage I, the onset of recruitment and Stage II, the subsequent growth of algae. Compared with S＋W, in Stage I, SS＋W significantly increased the biomass of cyanophytes by 178.70%, and decreased the biomass of non-cyanophytes by 43.40%; In Stage II, SS＋W notably stimulated the growth of all algae, thus incurring the occurrence of phytoplankton bloom. Further analyses revealed that both metabolic activity and photochemical activity of algae were enhanced in SS＋W, which resulted from the releasing of nutrients from sediment. These results suggest that algal growth in Stage II and algal inocula in the water column can be important factors for the formation of phytoplankton bloom. In addition, possible mechanisms promoting algal recruitment and subsequent growth of algae were explored.

Factors influencing water quality indices in a typical urban river originated with reclaimed water

The water quality in a typical urban river segment originated with reclaimed water in Beijing was monitored for two years to investigate the evolution of water quality along the rivcr, and statistical analysis was applied to determine factors influencing water quality of such river recharged by reclaimed water. It was found that no significant change in pollutant concentrations （including COD, NH4＋-N, TN and TP） was observed during this time, and their average values were close to those of the original reclaimed water. However, turbidity and algal contents fluctuated temporally in the direction of river flow. Statistical analysis showed that turbidity was strongly positively correlated with algal contents for flow rate 〈 0.1 m.s-1. whereas it was strongly positively correlated with both algalcontents and TOC for flow rate 〉 0. 1m. s-1. It was observed that diatom was the absolute predominant phyla with Melosira as the major species. In terms of algal bloom control, the specific growth rate of algae was strongly correlated to temperature, and was influenced by flow rate as well. Compared with two other rivers originated with reclaimed water and one originated with natural water, the Shannon Wiener index in the objective river was the lowest, with values between 0.7 and 1.6, indicating a high risk for algal bloom. Statistics showed that Shannon Wiener index was strongly negatively correlated to nutrient salts and cations.

Investigation on the eco-toxicity of lake sediments with the addition of drinking water treatment residuals

Drinking water treatment residuals（WTRs） have a potential to realize eutrophication control objectives by reducing the internal phosphorus（P） load of lake sediments. Information regarding the ecological risk of dewatered WTR reuse in aquatic environments is generally lacking, however. In this study, we analyzed the eco-toxicity of leachates from sediments with or without dewatered WTRs toward algae Chlorella vulgaris via algal growth inhibition testing with algal cell density, chlorophyll content, malondialdehyde content, antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase activity, and subcellular structure indices. The results suggested that leachates from sediments unanimously inhibited algal growth, with or without the addition of different WTR doses（10% or 50% of the sediment in dry weight） at different p H values（8–9）, as well as from sediments treated for different durations（10 or 180 days）. The inhibition was primarily the result of P deficiency in the leachates owing to WTR P adsorption, however, our results suggest that the dewatered WTRs were considered as a favorable potential material for internal P loading control in lake restoration projects, as it shows acceptably low risk toward aquatic plants.