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Wastewater treatment upgrades result in major reduction of intersex fish
https://uwaterloo.ca/news/news/wastewater-treatment-upgrades-result-major-reduction[font face=Serif][font size=5]Wastewater treatment upgrades result in major reduction of intersex fish[/font]
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
[font size=3]Upgrades to a wastewater treatment plant along Ontario’s Grand River, led to a 70 per cent drop in fish that have both male and female characteristics within one year and a full recovery of the fish population within three years, according to researchers at the University of Waterloo.
The 10-year study, published in Environmental Science and Technology found that the microorganisms used to remove ammonia in the wastewater treatment process also reduced the levels of endocrine disrupters in the water, which caused the intersex occurrences in fish to dramatically decline.
“Having long-term data of the fish population, before and after the wastewater treatment upgrades makes this a truly unique study,” said Mark Servos, Canada Research Chair in Water Quality Protection in Waterloo’s Department of Biology. “The changes to Kitchener’s wastewater treatment system have had a much larger positive impact then we had anticipated.”
In 2007, Servos started tracking the number of intersex male rainbow darter fish in the Grand River. Intersex fish are a result of exposure to natural and synthetic hormones in the water, which cause male fish to grow eggs in their testes. At one point Servos noted the rate of intersex changes in the Grand River was one of the highest in the world.
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Tuesday, January 10, 2017
[font size=3]Upgrades to a wastewater treatment plant along Ontario’s Grand River, led to a 70 per cent drop in fish that have both male and female characteristics within one year and a full recovery of the fish population within three years, according to researchers at the University of Waterloo.
The 10-year study, published in Environmental Science and Technology found that the microorganisms used to remove ammonia in the wastewater treatment process also reduced the levels of endocrine disrupters in the water, which caused the intersex occurrences in fish to dramatically decline.
“Having long-term data of the fish population, before and after the wastewater treatment upgrades makes this a truly unique study,” said Mark Servos, Canada Research Chair in Water Quality Protection in Waterloo’s Department of Biology. “The changes to Kitchener’s wastewater treatment system have had a much larger positive impact then we had anticipated.”
In 2007, Servos started tracking the number of intersex male rainbow darter fish in the Grand River. Intersex fish are a result of exposure to natural and synthetic hormones in the water, which cause male fish to grow eggs in their testes. At one point Servos noted the rate of intersex changes in the Grand River was one of the highest in the world.
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