---

Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management 5(1) (2017) 35--47 | DOI:10.5890/JEAM.2017.03.004

Marco Casazza$^{1}$, Franca Maraga$^{2}$, Gengyuan Liu$^{3}$,$^{4}$, Massimiliano Lega$^{1}$, Laura Turconi$^{2}$, Sergio Ulgiati$^{1}$,$^{3}$,$^{4}$

$^{1}$ Department of Science and Technology, University of Naples ‘Parthenope’, Naples, 81043, Italy

$^{2}$ National Research Council, Department of Earth and Environment, Research Institute for geo-hydrological protection (CNR-IRPI), Unit of Turin, Italy.

$^{3}$ State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China

$^{4}$ Beijing Engineering Research Center for Watershed Environmental Restoration & Integrated Ecological Regulation, Beijing 100875, China

Download Full Text PDF

 

Abstract

This paper analyses the water quality characteristics of a remote and pristine basin, the Gallina small catchment, located in the Piemonte Region (NW Italy). In particular, the ion content of river water and precipitation are assessed for two distinct periods (October-December of years 1992 and 2011). These time frames are characterized by a change of air quality management rules for the study area which came into force after year 2000. Furthermore, late Autumn months, which are considered in this study, are characterized by a peak of recorded precipitations in the area under study. Moreover, this is a period of the year where atmospheric emission intensity and distribution are greater with respect to Spring and Summer. The chemical nature of the monitored water body was assessed through the use of Piper diagram. Research found evidence of erosional processes, which chemically altered the water compared to the quality of precipitation. The signature of air chemistry was also evident, through a shift to less sulphate, after the change of air quality regulations introduced in year 2000. The presence of marine ions, in case of major weather perturbations, typical of the late Autumn in the monitored area, was recorded. This fact was particularly evident for the month of November 2011, in association to a major flooding event occurred in the Piemonte Region. The presence of a minor ionic component, associated to rainfall waters, depending upon soil particle resuspension and transport was also detected. Finally, the prevailing origin of the measured ions was defined. The results show the importance of improved management actions, which should be taken in order to further reduce the trans-boundary atmospheric pollution, which constitutes a threat to water quality and a further element of indirect water pollution transfer across different areas.

Acknowledgments

This work is written in memory of Franca Maraga (1944 - 2014), former researcher of CNR-IRPI and member of the International Scientific Committee of “Experimental and Representative Basins” (ERB, IHPUNESCO). Franca Maraga was also the responsible for the monitoring of the Gallina small catchment. Sergio Ulgiati acknowledges the contract by the School of Environment, Beijing Normal University within the framework of the National Programme “One Thousand Foreign Experts Plan”. Gengyuan Liu is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2016YFC0503005), the Fund for Innovative Research Group of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51421065), the Projects of Sino-America International Cooperation and Exchanges of NSFC (No. 51661125010); Sergio Ulgiati, Marco Casazza and Gengyuan Liu are also supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41471466, 71673029).

References

1. [1]	Anselmo, V., Caroni, E. and Pelissero, C. (2011), Tendencies in the hydrological budget of a Prealpine small basin, Die Bodenkultur, 62(1-4), 9-15.

2. [2]	Anselmo, V., Maraga, F., Buffa, F. and Villi, V. (1987), Sediment yield and bedload movement in mountain torrents in the Italian Alps. Proc. of IUGG General Assembly, Vancouver (Canada), Aug. 9-22 1987, Abstract V.3, IAHS HW6, 978.

3. [3]	Anderson, L. (1979), Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of nitrite and nitrate by flow injection analysis, Analytica Chimica Acta, 110(1), 123-128.

4. [4]	Biancotti, A. (1981), Morfologia, suoli ed erosione in Valle Marchiazza, Geografia Fisica e Dinammica Quaternaria, 4, 30-38.

5. [5]	Brunetti, M., Maugeri, M., Monti, F., Nanni, T. (2006), Temperature and precipitation variability in Italy in the last two centuries from homogenised instrumental time series, International Journal of Climatology 26(3), 345-381.

6. [6]	Budhavant, K.B., Rao, P.S.P., Safai, P.D. and Ali, K. (2011), Influence of local sources on rainwater chemistry over Pune region, India, Atmospheric Research, 100, 121-131.

7. [7]	Casazza, M., Gilli, G., Piano, A. and Alessio, S. (2013), Thirty-years assessment of size-fractionated particle mass concentrations in a polluted urban area and its implications for the regulatory framework, Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management 1(3), 259-267.

8. [8]	Casazza, M. (2015), Possibility of secondary sub-micron aerosol mass concentrations forecasting: A case study toward the possibility of a future nowcasting approach, Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management, 3(1), 59-67.

9. [9]	Casazza, M., Maurino, V. and Malandrino, M. (2016), Adult chronic exposure to neurotoxic metals associated with atmospheric aerosols: A case study in the urban area of Turin (NW Italy), Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management, 4(1), 85-98.

10. [10]	Casazza, M., Varchetta, G., Pirozzi, N., Teta, R., Ulgiati, S. and Lega, M. (2017), A survey method toward an effective emission monitoring within the urban environment: a case study in the port of Naples (Italy), International Journal of Environmental Impacts, 1(1) in press.

11. [11]	Caroni, E. (1979), Pluviometria del Biellese orientale. Boll. Ass. Min. Sub., XVI(4), 889-9009.

12. [12]	Caroni, E. and Tropeano, D. (1981), Rate of erosion processes on experimental areas in the Marchiazza basin (north-western Italy), Erosion and Sediment Transport Measurement (Proceedings of the Florence Symposium), 457-466.

13. [13]	Chadra, D.K. (1999), A proposed new diagram for geochemical classification of natural waters and interpretation of chemical data, Hydrogeology Journal, 7(5), 431-439.

14. [14]	Chersich, S. (2003), Study of forestall humus and of their roles in the evolution of the soils of forest ecosystem (In Italian). Palermo University, Dept. Agronomia, Coltivazioni Erbacee e Pedologia (ACEP) (Italy), PhD thesis on Soil Science, 258 pp.

15. [15]	Cini, R., Prodi, F., Santachiara, G., Porcù, F., Bellandi, S., Stortini, A.M., Oppo, C., Udisti, R. and Pantani, F. (2002), Chemical characterization of cloud episodes at a ridge site in Tuscan Appennines, Italy, Atmospheric Research 61, 311-334.

16. [16]	Das, R., Das, S.N. and Misra, V.N. (2005), Chemical composition of rainwater and dustfall at Bhubaneswar in the east coast of India, Atmospheric Environment 39, 5908-5916.

17. [17]	Edmunds, W.M. and Smedley, P.L. (2013), Fluoride in natural waters. In: Selinus, O. (ed.), Essentials of medical geology. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. pp. 311-336.

18. [18]	Gilli, G., Traversi, D., Rovere, R., Pignata, C. and Schilirò, T., (2007), Airborne particulate matter: Ionic species role in different Italian sites. Environmental Research 103, 1-8.

19. [19]	Golterman, H.L. (1973), Natural phosphate sources in relation to phosphate budgets: a contribution to understanding of eutrophication, Water Research, 7, 3-17.

20. [20]	Govi, M., Maraga, F. and Moia. (1993), Seismic detectors for continuous bed load monitoring in a gravel stream, Hydrological Sciences Jour., 38(2), 123-132.

21. [21]	Grobler, D.C. and Silberbauer, M.J. (1985), The combined effect of geology, phosphate sources and runoff on phosphate export from drainage basins, Water Research, 19(8), 975-981.

22. [22]	Hall, D.G.M., Reeve, M.J., Thomasson, A.J. and Wright, V.F. (1977), Water retention, porosity and density of field soil, Harpenden: Soil survey of England and Wales.

23. [23]	International Union of Soil Science Working Group WRB (IUSS) (2007), World reference base for soil resources 2006, report 103, Rome: FAO.

24. [24]	Keene, W.C., Pszenny, A.A.P., Galloway, J.N. and Hawley, M.E. (1986), Sea-salt corrections and interpretation of constituent ratios in marine precipitation, Journal of Geophysical Research 91, 6647-6658.

25. [25]	Kulshrestha, U.C., Sarkar, A.K., Srivastava, S.S. and Parashar, D.C., (1996), Investigation into atmospheric deposition through precipitation studies at New Delhi (India), Atmospheric Environment 30, 4149-4154.

26. [26]	Kulshrestha, U.C., Kulshrestha, M.J., Sekar, R., Sastry, G.S.R. and Vairamani, M. (2003), Chemical characteristics of rainwater at an urban site of south-central India, Atmospheric Environment 37, 3019-3026.

27. [27]	Lazzari, S. (1992), Experimental study applied to the definition of the deflux components in a small water basin, Master Degree The sis in Geological Sciences, University of Torino. pp. 232.

28. [28]

    Lega, M., Napoli, R.M.A., Persechino, G. and Kosmatka, J. (2011), New techniques in real-time 3D monitoring: CO, NOX, O3, CO2 and PM measurements with drones and remote airborne sensors. U.S. EPA's AIRNOW 2011 Air Quality Conferences: Air Quality Forecasting, Mapping, and Monitoring Communicating Air Quality, 07-10 March 2011, San Diego, USA. http://www.epa.gov/airnow/2011conference/monitoring/Lega.pptx (accessed: 11.11.16).

29. [29]	Lega, M. and Endreny, T. (2016), Quantifying the environmental impact of pollutant plumes from coastal rivers with remote sensing and river basin modelling, International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning 11(5), 651-662.

30. [30]	Lynch, T.P., Nicholas J. Kernoghan, N.J. and Wilson, J.N. (1984), Speciation of metals in solution by flow injection analysis. Part 1. Sequential spectrophotometric and atomic-absorption detectors, Analyst 109, 839-842.

31. [31]	Malandrino, M., Casazza, M., Abollino, O., Minero, C. and Maurino, V. (2016), Size resolved metal distribution in the PM matter of the city of Turin (Italy), Chemosphere 147, 477-489.

32. [32]	Maraga, F., Di Nunzio, F., Godone, F., Massobrio, R. and Viola, E. (2000), Sixteen years field monitoring of debris supply from an incised stream channel network. In: Proc. Of ERB Conf., Liblice (Czec Republic), 22-24 Sept. 1998, IHP-V Techn. Docum. N. 37, 131-138.

33. [33]	Maraga, F., Arattano, M. and Chersich, S. (2013), Hydrological and sediment trends between 1982 and 2011 in the long term research basin Valle della Gallina, Italy, Die Bodenkultur 64(3-4), 61-66.

34. [34]	Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) (2005a), Ecosystems and human well-being: wetlands and water synthesis. World Resources Institute (WRI): Washington DC.

35. [35]	Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) (2005b), Ecosystems and human well-being: synthesis. Island Press: Washington DC.

36. [36]	Minero, C., Maurino, V., Bono, F., Pelizzetti, E., Marinoni, A., Mailhot, G. Carlotti, M.E. and Vione, D. (2007), Effect of selected organic and inorganic snow and cloud components on the photochemical generation of nitrite by nitrate irradiation, Chemosphere 68(11), 2111-2117.

37. [37]	Piper, A.M. (1944), A graphic procedure in geochemical interpretation of water analyses, Trans Am Geophys Union 25, 914-923.

38. [38]	Quick, J. E., Sinigoi, S., Peressini, G., Demarchi, G., Wooden, J. L. and Sbisà, A. (2009), Magmatic plumbing of a large Permian caldera exposed to a depth of 25 km. Geology 37(7), 603-606.

39. [39]	Romanazzi, V., Casazza, M., Malandrino, M., Maurino, V., Piano, A., Schilirò, T. and Gilli, G. (2014), PM10 size distribution of metals and environmental-sanitary risk analysis in the city of Torino, Chemosphere 112, 210-216.

40. [40]	Schwarzenbach, R. P., Egli, T., Hofstetter, T. B., von Gunten, U. and Wehrli, B. (2010), Global water pollution and human health, Annual Review of Environment and Resources 35, 109-136.

41. [41]	Shi, G.M., Wang, J.N., Zhang, B., Zhang, Z. and Zhang, Y.L. (2016), Pollution control costs of a transboundary river basin: Empirical tests of the fairness and stability of cost allocation mechanisms using game theory, Journal of Environmental Management 177, 145-152.

42. [42]	Sun, S.K., Wang, Y.B., Engel, B.A. and Wu, P. (2016), Effects of virtual water flow on regional water resources stress: A case study of grain in China, Science of the Total Environment 550, 871-879.

43. [43]	Taylor S.R. (1964), Abundance of chemical elements in the continental crust: a new table, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 28, 1273-1285.

44. [44]	UN-Water (2013), Water quality Fact Sheet, http://www.unwater.org/fileadmin/user_upload/unwater_new/docs/water_quality.pdf (accessed: 11.11.16).

45. [45]	US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (1983), Methods for chemical analysis of water and wastes, EPA600/4-79/020. Cincinnati, Ohio: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

46. [46]	Vörösmarty, C. J., McIntyre, P. B., Gessner, M. O., Dudgeon, D., Prusevich, A., Green, P., Glidden, S., Bunn, S.E., Sullivan, C.A., Reidy Liermann, C. and Davies, P.M. (2010), Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity, Nature 467(7315), 555-561.

47. [47]	World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) (2012), The United Nations World Water Development Report 4: Managing Water under Uncertainty and Risk. UNESCO: Paris, pp 94-99.

48. [48]	Wu, B., Zeng, W., Chen, H. and Zhao, Y. (2016), Grey water footprint combined with ecological network analysis for assessing regional water quality metabolism, Journal of Cleaner Production 112, 3138-3151.

49. [49]	Zhang, M., Wang, S., Wu, F., Yuan, X. and Zhang, Y. (2007), Chemical composition of wet precipitation and anthropogenic influence at a developing urban site in Southeastern China, Atmospheric Research 84, 311-322.

50. [50]	Zhao, X., Liu, J., Liu, Q., Tillotson, M.R., Guan, D. and Hubacek, K., (2015), Physical and virtual water transfers for regional water stress alleviation in China, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, 1031-1035.