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Water quality in Lis river, Portugal

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Abstract

In the past 30 years, the Lis river basin has been subjected to constant ecological disasters mainly due to piggery untreated wastewater discharges. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of existing domestic, agricultural, and industrial activities on the water quality, and to propose a watershed plan to protect and manage surface water resources within the Lis river basin. For this purpose, 16 monitoring stations have been strategically selected along the Lis river stretch and its main tributaries to evaluate the water quality in six different sampling periods (2003–2006). All samples were characterized in terms of organic material, nutrients, chlorophyll, and pathogenic bacteria. Generally, the Lis river presents poor water quality, according to environmental quality standards for surface water, principally in terms of dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, and fecal coliform, which can be associated mainly with the contamination source from pig-breeding farms.

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Abbreviations

TOC:

Total organic carbon

BOD5 :

Biochemical oxygen demand

COD:

Chemical oxygen demand

TSS:

Total suspended solids

FC:

Fecal coliform

TC:

Total coliform

FS:

Fecal streptococcus

Cl-a:

Chlorophyll a

ORP:

Oxidation–reduction potential

MAV:

Maximum accepted value

MRV:

Maximum recommended value

ELV:

Emission limit values

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Acknowledgments

This work is partially supported by project PEst-C/EQB/LA0020/2011, financed by FEDER through COMPETE - Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade and by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. Judite Vieira acknowledges financial support from PRODEP program (2003/2006). André R. Fonseca acknowledges his doctoral fellowship (SFRH/BD/69654/2010) by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LSRE—Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering - Associate Laboratory LSRE/LCM, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal

    Judite Vieira, André Fonseca, Vítor J. P. Vilar, Rui A. R. Boaventura & Cidália M. S. Botelho

  2. School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Campus 2, Morro do Lena-Alto do Vieiro, Apartado 4163, 2411-901, Leiria, Portugal

    Judite Vieira

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  1. Judite Vieira
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  2. André Fonseca
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  3. Vítor J. P. Vilar
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  4. Rui A. R. Boaventura
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  5. Cidália M. S. Botelho
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Correspondence to Cidália M. S. Botelho.

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Vieira, J., Fonseca, A., Vilar, V.J.P. et al. Water quality in Lis river, Portugal. Environ Monit Assess 184, 7125–7140 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2485-9

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