Seseke river

On August, 22, 1999 the effluent of a sewage treatment plant (STP) in Hamm and the effluent of a pharmaceutical plant in Bergkamen were sampled. Tributaries like the Alme river (see Figure 1) and the Quabbe Brook were sampled on August, 29, 2000. Water samples from the Seseke river (see Figure 1) were taken on March, 8, 2001. 

In order to get an idea about the input pathways of the detected compounds into the Lippe river, some tributaries and potential sources of organic contaminants were sampled. Random samples were taken from the Alme river and the Quabbe Brook which are located at the less densely populated upper reaches of the Lippe river. Additionally, the Seseke river was investigated, a dirty water course which is heavily polluted with sewage effluents. Analyses of effluents from the municipial sewage treatment plant (STP) in the city of Hamm and a pharmaceutical plant were also carried out. The compound spectra which was identified in the Lippe river (see Table 1) was used as a basis for investigating the source samples. The results are summarised in Table 3. 

Many of the organic contaminants which were found in Lippe river water were also present in the source samples (see Table 3). The sewage effluent sample and the Seseke river showed the best accordance with the compound spectrum of the Lippe river. However, also in the two tributaries from the rural upper reaches of the river, numerous specific contaminants like 9-methylacridine (No. 8), alkyl phosphates (Nos. 31, 32) and chlorinated alkyl phosphates (Nos. 34, 36) appeared. In the effluent of a pharmaceutical plant, only a few Lippe river contaminants like n-alkanes (No. 1), naphthalene (No. 3), TXIB (No. 21) and caffeine (No. 67) were detected (see Table 3). Therein, mainly structural relatives of androstanone like 3p-hydroxy-5p-androstan-17-one, 3a-hydroxy-5p-androstan-17-one and androstan-50-3,17-dione were present. These compounds are probably by-products of the synthesis of hormone preparations. Some polycyclic aromatic compounds, halogenated compounds and terpenoids were not detected in the source samples (see the underlined compounds in Table 3) and probably have another origin. Representative sampling of various input sources have to be carried out to prove the origin of these compounds. Hexachlorobutadiene (No. 38) and bis(chloropropyl)ethers (No. 44) appear exclusively at the lower reaches of the Lippe river (see Table 1), downstream the chemical plants in Marl. They are attributed to inputs of the chlorochemical industry (see section 3.1). Hence, this suggests their input by an industrial point source. 

Triphenylphosphinoxide occurred sporadically at the upper reaches (loads < 20 g/d, Fig. 15). Downstream the Seseke river mouth, loads of up to 132 g/d were determined whereas downstream site 5 the highest loads of up to 2302 g/d were observed. Similar to hexachlorobutadiene, a sudden increase of loads below sampling site 5 suggests its input from a point source. Triphenylphosphinoxide is a product of industrial synthesis and likely originates from the same industrial source as hexachlorobutadiene. It was not detected in effluent of the sewage treatment plant in Hamm (see Part I), hence its presence at the upper reaches of the river is probably due to additional industrial point sources. Triphenylphosphinoxide has not been noticed as a contaminant so far and its behaviour in the environment is unknown. 

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