Marine Water Quality Standards

PCD (Pollution Control Department), 2006. Marine Water Quality Standard. Water Quality Management Bureau, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Bangkok, p. 7. 

Compilation of Water Quality Standards for Marine Waters 910992029 Consensus Method for Determining Groundwaters under the Direct Influence of Surface Water Using Microscopic Particulate Analysis (MPA)... 

Water quality standards for recreation are focused on prevention of waterborne infections. The standards in use are directly derived from drinking water standards. However, the levels of contamination are considerably less strict. In 1986 the USEPA recommended that Escherichia coli and enterococci be substituted for fecal coliform and fecal streptococci counts as measures of biological water quality for contact recreation such as swimming and water skiing. Current recormnendations are that the steady-state geometric mean of freshwater samples not exceed 126 per 100mLfor sc/ mc/ /aco//andnotexceed33per 100 mL for enterococci. Marine samples, such as are taken in the smf, should not exceed 35 enterococci per 100 mL. 

Studies suggest that E. coli is a more reliable indicator of fecal pollution and the occurrence of pathogens in water than fecal coliforms as a whole. A linear relationship has been reported between E. coli and enterococci coimts in the marine environment and swimming-related gastroenteritis [18]. In fact, USEPA [136] recommended that E. coli or enterococci replace fecal coliform bacteria in state water quality standards based on the study by Dufour [38] that showed statistically significant relationship between E. coli and enterococci concentrations in freshwater and rates of swimming-related illness. 

ISO (1999) Water quality - Determination of acute lethal toxicity to marine copepods (Copepoda, Crustacea). International Organization for Standardization, TC 147/SC 5. 

The Office of Water is responsible for the Agency s water quality activities including development of national programs, technical policies, and regulations relating to drinking water, water quality, groundwater, pollution source standards, and the protection of wetlands, marine, and estuarine areas. 

ISO, 1995. Water Quality Marine algal growth inhibition tests with Skeletonema costatum and phaeodactylum tricornutum, ISO 10,253, International Standardization Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. 

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) (1995b) Water Quality - Marine Algal Growth Inhibition Test with Skeletonema costatum and Phaeodactylum tricornutum, ISO 10253. ISO, Paris. 

ISO (1992a) Water Quality - Sampling - Part 9 Guidance on Sampling from Marine Waters, ISO 5667-9. International Organization for Standardization, Paris. 

Guidance on sampling can be found in the ISO Standard on Water Quality -Sampling 5667 (http //www.iso.org), and for the marine environment in the guidelines for the Joint Assessment and Monitoring Programme (JAMP) of OSPAR (http //www. ospar.org) or in the HELCOM COMBINE Manual (http //www.helcom.fi). 

International Standards Organisation (1992) Water quality - sampling, part 9 guidance on sampling from marine waters, ISO 5667-9 1992. 

In the 1970s, high levels of mercury were found in fish taken from Lake St. Clair, which lies between the United States and Canada. Chlorine plants that dumped depleted brine into the waterways were among the contributors. Before these incidents, many assumed that the very low solubility of mercury meant that it would have great difficulty entering the food chain. However, it can be assimilated by certain water-borne bacteria and converted into methyl mercury and its compounds. Eventually, mercury appears in the fatty tissue of fish, concentrated more than 1,000 times. It continues to concentrate as it works its way through the food chain. In a recent development, the EPA adopted a new criterion for water quality based on the level found in fish. The level of 0.3 ppm is equivalent to 7ngL in the water, a 7-fold reduction from the previous standard. This is said to be the first standard based on accumulation of a substance in marine life rather than on its concentration in the water [23]. 

Reish, D. j., j. M. Martin, F. M. Peltz, and J. Q. Word The effect of heavy metals on laboratory populations of two polychaetes with comparisons to the water quality conditions and standards in Southern Cahfomia marine waters. Water Res. 10, 299 (1976). 

This is becoming truer since the cheapest way of removing many low-boiling solvents from waste water has been by air stripping or evaporation from effluent ponds or interceptor surfaces. Such avoidable contributions to VOC will become increasingly unacceptable as standards for air quality are raised. This also applies to marine dumping since volatile solvents are mostly evaporated before degradation takes place. 

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