Effects of a sewage treatment plant outlet pipe extension on the distribution of contaminants in the sediments of the Bay of Vidy, Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Pote-Wembonyama, John; Glass-Haller, Laurence; Loizeau, Jean-Luc; Garcia Bravo, Andrea; Sastre, Vincent; Wildi, Walter

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2007.12.075

Scientific article

English

Effects of a sewage treatment plant outlet pipe extension on the distribution of contaminants in the sediments of the Bay of Vidy, Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Contributors

Pote-Wembonyama, John

; Glass-Haller, Laurence; Loizeau, Jean-Luc

; Garcia Bravo, Andrea; Sastre, Vincent; Wildi, Walter

Published in

Bioresource technology, vol. 99, no. 15, p. 7122-7131

Publication date

2008

Abstract

In 2001, the municipality of Lausanne extended the outlet pipe of the sewage treatment plant into the Bay of Vidy (Lake Geneva, Switzerland) as a measure to reduce bacterial water pollution and sediment contamination close to the lake beaches. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of this measure. Lake bottom sediments were collected and analyzed for grain size, organic matter, organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, heavy metals and hydrophobic organic compounds to evaluate their concentration and spatial distribution. Our results demonstrate that, compared to results obtained before the outlet pipe prolongation, the surface area of highly contaminated sediments was reduced by one third after the pipe extension. However, contaminant concentrations are still high and the accumulation of pollutants may represent a significant source of toxicity for benthic organisms. One concludes that contaminant reduction at the source will be necessary for a further improvement.

Keywords

Heavy metals
Lake Geneva
Micropollutants
Sediments
Sewage treatment plant
Léman

UNIGE affiliation entities

Faculté des sciences / Section des sciences de la Terre et de l'Environnement / Département F.-A. Forel des sciences de l'environnement et de l'eau

UNIGE research groups

Citation (ISO format)

POTE-WEMBONYAMA, John et al. Effects of a sewage treatment plant outlet pipe extension on the distribution of contaminants in the sediments of the Bay of Vidy, Lake Geneva, Switzerland. In: Bioresource technology, 2008, vol. 99, n° 15, p. 7122–7131. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2007.12.075

Article (Published version)

Identifiers

PID : unige:35832
DOI : 10.1016/j.biortech.2007.12.075

Additional URL for this publication

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960852408000138

Journal ISSN

0960-8524

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16/04/2014 17:47:00

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16/04/2014 17:47:00

Update

14/03/2023 21:08:36

Status update

14/03/2023 21:08:35

Last indexation

30/10/2024 16:55:30

Effects of a sewage treatment plant outlet pipe extension on the distribution of contaminants in the sediments of the Bay of Vidy, Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Contributors

Published in

Publication date

Abstract

Keywords

UNIGE affiliation entities

UNIGE research groups

Citation (ISO format)

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Identifiers

Additional URL for this publication

Journal ISSN

Technical informations

Creation

First validation

Update

Status update

Last indexation