Determination of the sources of nitrate and the microbiological sources of pollution in the Sava River Basin

Janja Vrzel; Branka Vuković-Gačić; Stoimir Kolarević; Zoran Gačić; Margareta Kračun-Kolarević; Jovana Kostić; Mustafa Aborgiba; Andreas Farnleitner; Georg Reischer; Rita Linke; Momir Paunović; Nives Ogrinc

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.213

Determination of the sources of nitrate and the microbiological sources of pollution in the Sava River Basin

Sci Total Environ. 2016 Dec 15:573:1460-1471. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.213. Epub 2016 Aug 10.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geography, University of Munich, Luisenstraße 37, 80333 Munich, Germany; Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Jamova ulica 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Electronic address: j.vrzel@iggf.geo.uni-muenchen.de.
² University of Belgrade, Faculty of Biology, Chair of Microbiology, Center for Genotoxicology and Ecogenotoxicology, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: brankavg@bio.bg.ac.rs.
³ University of Belgrade, Faculty of Biology, Chair of Microbiology, Center for Genotoxicology and Ecogenotoxicology, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: stoimirk@bio.bg.ac.rs.
⁴ University of Belgrade, Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, Kneza Višeslava 1, 11030 Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: zorga@imsi.rs.
⁵ University of Belgrade, Institute for Biological Research ¨Siniša Stanković¨, Bulevar despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: margareta.kracun@ibiss.bg.ac.rs.
⁶ University of Belgrade, Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, Kneza Višeslava 1, 11030 Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: kosticjovana@hotmail.com.
⁷ University of Belgrade, Faculty of Biology, Chair of Microbiology, Center for Genotoxicology and Ecogenotoxicology, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: mustafab@bio.bg.ac.rs.
⁸ Vienna University of Technology, Institute for Chemical Engineering, Research Group Environmental Microbiology and Molecular Ecology, The Interuniversity Cooperation Centre Water & Health, Gumpendorfer Straße 1a, 1060 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: andreas.farnleitner@wavenet.at.
⁹ Vienna University of Technology, Institute for Chemical Engineering, Research Group Environmental Microbiology and Molecular Ecology, The Interuniversity Cooperation Centre Water & Health, Gumpendorfer Straße 1a, 1060 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: georg.reischer@tuwien.ac.at.
¹⁰ Vienna University of Technology, Institute for Chemical Engineering, Research Group Environmental Microbiology and Molecular Ecology, The Interuniversity Cooperation Centre Water & Health, Gumpendorfer Straße 1a, 1060 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: rita.linke@tuwien.ac.at.
¹¹ University of Belgrade, Institute for Biological Research ¨Siniša Stanković¨, Bulevar despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: mpaunovi@ibiss.bg.ac.rs.
¹² Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Jamova ulica 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova ulica 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Electronic address: nives.ogrinc@ijs.si.

PMID: 27522292
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.213

Abstract

Coupled measurements of nitrate (NO₃^-), nitrogen (N), and oxygen (O) isotopic composition (δ¹⁵N_NO3 and δ¹⁸O_NO3) were used to investigate the sources and processes of N cycling, while the microbial source tracking (MST) method was used to identify microbiological pollution in the surface water of the Sava River Basin (SRB) in autumn in 2014 and 2015 during high and low water discharge. Atmospheric nitrate deposition or nitrate-containing fertilizers were found not to be significant sources of riverine nitrate in the SRB. The ranges of isotope values suggest that NO₃^- in the SRB derives from soil nitrification, sewage, and/or manure, which were further supported by MST analysis. Microbiological indicators show the existence of hotspots of fecal pollution in the SRB, which are human associated. Long-term observations indicate persistent fecal contamination at selected locations caused by continuous discharge of untreated wastewaters into the SRB.

Keywords: Fecal indicators; Microbial source tracking; Nutrients; Sava River Basin; Stable isotopes.

MeSH terms

Balkan Peninsula
Environmental Monitoring
Nitrates / analysis*
Nitrogen Isotopes / analysis
Oxygen Isotopes / analysis
Rivers / chemistry*
Rivers / microbiology*
Water Movements
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

Nitrates
Nitrogen Isotopes
Oxygen Isotopes
Water Pollutants, Chemical