TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessment of anthropogenic influences on surface water quality in urban estuary, northern New Jersey
T2 - Multivariate approach
AU - Shin, Jin Y.
AU - Artigas, Francisco
AU - Hobble, Christine
AU - Lee, Yung Seop
PY - 2013/3
Y1 - 2013/3
N2 - Concentrations of selected heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni, Fe, and Zn), nutrients (NO 3 - and NH3), fecal coliform colonies, and other multiple physical-chemical parameters were measured seasonally from 12 locations in an urban New Jersey estuary between 1994 and 2008. Stepwise regression, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis were used to group water quality results and sampling locations, as well as to assess these data's relationship to sewage treatment effluents and the distance to the mouth of the river. The BOD5, NH3, NO 3 - and fecal coliform counts clustered as one group and positively correlated to the distances from treated effluent and the measures of magnitude at the discharge points. Dissolved solids and most metal species scored high along a single principal component axes and were significantly correlated with the proximity to the industrialized area. From these data, one can conclude that the effluent discharge has been a main source of anthropogenic input to the Hackensack River over the past 15 years. Therefore, the greatest improvement to water quality would come from eliminating the few remaining combined sewer overflows and improving the removal of nutrients from treated effluents before they are discharged into the creeks and river.
AB - Concentrations of selected heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni, Fe, and Zn), nutrients (NO 3 - and NH3), fecal coliform colonies, and other multiple physical-chemical parameters were measured seasonally from 12 locations in an urban New Jersey estuary between 1994 and 2008. Stepwise regression, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis were used to group water quality results and sampling locations, as well as to assess these data's relationship to sewage treatment effluents and the distance to the mouth of the river. The BOD5, NH3, NO 3 - and fecal coliform counts clustered as one group and positively correlated to the distances from treated effluent and the measures of magnitude at the discharge points. Dissolved solids and most metal species scored high along a single principal component axes and were significantly correlated with the proximity to the industrialized area. From these data, one can conclude that the effluent discharge has been a main source of anthropogenic input to the Hackensack River over the past 15 years. Therefore, the greatest improvement to water quality would come from eliminating the few remaining combined sewer overflows and improving the removal of nutrients from treated effluents before they are discharged into the creeks and river.
KW - Anthropogenic effect
KW - Combined sewer overflows
KW - Hackensack River
KW - Multivariate analysis
KW - Stepwise regression
KW - Urban estuary
KW - Water quality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84874975141&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10661-012-2748-0
DO - 10.1007/s10661-012-2748-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 22773080
AN - SCOPUS:84874975141
SN - 0167-6369
VL - 185
SP - 2777
EP - 2794
JO - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
JF - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
IS - 3
ER -