Online Methods for Evaluating the Safety of Reclaimed Water

Abstract

The Santa Ana River (SAR) is the primary source of groundwater recharge for the Orange County Groundwater Basin. Approximately 85% of the baseflow in the SAR comes from wastewater treatment facilities operated by three dischargers. Treated effluent or surface water impacted by wastewater discharge contains a range of chemicals. Suitable toxicological information exists for only a small percentage of these chemicals, and toxicological data for individual compounds are not adequate for predicting risk posed by a mixture of compounds (most of which are unknown). The National Research Council recommended that biomonitoring systems be specifically developed for application to water problems employing on-line, flow-through bioassays as a means of more easily judging public health impacts. To implement such a system, fish were employed in an investigative mode to evaluate the water quality of shallow ground water originating from the SAR and allow a better evaluation of risk due to the consumption of recycled water. This title belongs to WERF Research Report Series ISBN: 9781843397632 (Print) ISBN: 9781780403878 (eBook)