TY - JOUR T1 - Household Wastewater Discharges Into The Rural Alabama & Impact on Watershed Water Quality AU - Aytekin, Erdoğan AU - Ellıott, Mark PY - 2019 DA - January DO - 10.31807/tjwsm.420448 JF - Turkish Journal of Water Science and Management JO - Turkish J. Water Sci. Manag. PB - Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı Su Yönetimi Genel Müdürlüğü WT - DergiPark SN - 2536-474X SP - 22 EP - 43 VL - 3 IS - 1 LA - en AB - In rural areas, untreated wastewater discharged from homes (commonlycalled “straight pipes”) can cause harmful effects on the region’s rivers,streams and lead to negative impacts on water quality and potentiallyecological and human health. Determining and addressing the water quality andhealth of these aquatic ecosystems requires identification of the source ofcontamination. Surface water quality in Hale County was evaluated at least oncea month at twenty sites in wet and dry seasons. Samples were analyzed forphysical (turbidity), chemical (pH, conductivity, chloride, sulfate, calcium,iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium, ammonium, ortho-phosphorus, nitrite,nitrate, dissolved organic carbon, optical indices), and microbiological (E. coli) water quality parameters.Excitation-emission matrixes (EEMs) Parallel Factor Analysis (PARAFAC) was usedto identify and classify fluorescence emitting organic substances based onfluorescence peak location. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used toidentify analyte signatures associated with sewage contamination. In order todetect straight pipe wastewater impacts on water quality, three main sites weresampled upstream, midstream and downstream of the town of Newbern, Alabama overthe three months of the drought period (i.e., from September to November 28th,2016). Over 20 water quality parameters were analyzed and compared with theWHO, EPA, and ADEM standards. 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