DEVELOPMENT OF A CHEMICAL FINGERPRINT FOR DETECTING UNTREATED HUMAN SEWAGE POLLUTION IN SURFACE WATER

Abstract

Untreated human sewage pollution in surface water is of concern because it contributes to the degradation of aquatic ecosystems and it could be a potential hazard to human health. Also, any pollution of surface water, which ultimately supplies drinking water, may affect the drinking water quality. Improper operation and maintenance of separate storm sewer systems are prominent contributors of untreated sewage to source waters, resulting from illicit connections, leakage of sewers, or cross-connections. This thesis studied anthropogenic markers to track untreated sewage in an urban watershed with separate storm sewer system, under dry weather conditions. The main feature of these chemical markers is their degradation behavior at municipal wastewater treatment plants: some markers are completely removed (labile markers), whereas others show only partial or no removal at all (conservative markers). A set of ubiquitous chemical markers with practical analytical detection limits was selected to exploit the labile vs conservative distinction, and determine if untreated human sewage was discharged from stormwater outfalls. The presence of labile markers alone was not enough to confirm the occurrence of untreated sewage in stormwater outfalls. The concentration ratios between labile and conservative markers from several chemical groups (pharmaceuticals and personal care products, over-the-counter medications, artificial sweeteners, and human metabolites) created a chemical fingerprint of untreated sewage, and it was statistically demonstrated to track untreated human sewage in local stormwater outfalls.