(29) The Effects of Sewanee's Wastewater Treatment Facility on Stream Ecology

Increasing urbanization presents many challenges for freshwater ecosystems. In urban areas, discharge of treated wastewater has shown to impact stream communities by additions of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Although... [ view full abstract ]

Increasing urbanization presents many challenges for freshwater ecosystems. In urban areas, discharge of treated wastewater has shown to impact stream communities by additions of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Although ratios of N and P are necessary for stimulating primary production, excess levels of either can be damaging. Important processes such as nutrient cycling and energy transfer have been shown to change in response to nutrient overloading. To combat these effects, wastewater treatment facilities have implemented tertiary treatments, with the goal of removing excess N and P before discharge. In this study I conducted a comparative analysis utilizing a naturally set up experiment at the Sewanee Utility District. To determine whether a tertiary system is effective at minimizing impacts of wastewater discharge, I compared the abundance and diversity of two key stream biota: macroinvertebrates and salamanders. The macroinvertebrate data did not determine difference between control and treated sites, however the salamander data suggests that there are detectable differences between sites. Conclusively, the data suggested that the SUD’s tertiary method is effective at minimizing the impacts of N and P additions, however, future studies should include site specific measurements of both N and P to further clarify this assumption.