Ecological Engineering 70 (2014) 337–348

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Ecological Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecoleng

Point sources of nutrient pollution in the lowland river catchment in

the context of the Baltic Sea eutrophication
Edyta Kiedrzyńska a,b,∗ , Marcin Kiedrzyński c , Magdalena Urbaniak a,b ,
Artur Magnuszewski d , Maciej Skłodowski b , Anna Wyrwicka e , Maciej Zalewski a,b
a
European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology under the auspices of UNESCO, Polish Academy of Sciences, 3 Tylna Street, 90-364 Lodz, Poland
b
University of Lodz, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, Department of Applied Ecology, 12/16 Banacha Street, 90-237 Lodz, Poland
c
University of Lodz, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, Department of Geobotany and Plant Ecology, 12/16 Banacha Street, 90-237 Lodz,
Poland
d
Warsaw University, Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, Institute of Physical Geography, Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Warsaw, Poland
e
University of Lodz, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 12/16 Banacha Street, 90-237
Lodz, Poland

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Eutrophication is a major problem in the Baltic Sea caused by the inflow of large loads of nutrients. This is
Received 17 August 2013 largely due to diffuse and point sources of pollution such as wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), which
Received in revised form 25 April 2014 discharge poorly treated wastewater via rivers to the sea. The paper quantifies the problem of point source
Accepted 23 June 2014
pollution in the Pilica River catchment (central Poland), one of the largest, second order subcatchments of
Available online 16 July 2014
the Vistula River. The main objectives of the research were: (i) quantification of nutrients transfer along
the Pilica River continuum from the source to the estuary into the Vistula River, and (ii) evaluation of the
Keywords:
influence of WWTPs on eutrophication of the Pilica River and the Baltic Sea. The study showed that the
Baltic Sea input
Wastewater treatment plants
average total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) load discharged from the Pilica catchment amounted
Phosphorus to 0.057 t TP km−2 and 1.655 t TN km−2 , respectively, and was two and three times higher, respectively,
Nitrogen compared to the annual average loads in the Polish territory and the Baltic States. Moreover, the paper
Pilica River catchment presents possible solutions of sustainable planning and management in river catchments based on the
Ecohydrology ecohydrological concept and ecological engineering.
© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction source, such as a pipe or ditch, e.g. discharges from a wastewater

Export of nutrients to rivers and coastal zones driven by
human-related activities is a major problem in river catchments
and coastal marine ecosystems (Howarth, 2008). The intensified
anthropogenic input of nutrients, especially phosphorus (P) and
nitrogen (N), to the environment and landscape from point and dif-
fuse sources resulted in the spatial variation of the riverine nutrient
export, which has been observed worldwide (Bricker et al., 2007;
Russell et al., 2008; Han et al., 2011; Kiedrzyńska and Zalewski,
2012). Anthropogenic contaminants are divided into two groups
according to their transportation routes: point sources that refer
to contaminants that enter a waterway from a single, identifiable
∗ Corresponding author at: European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology under
the auspices of UNESCO, Polish Academy of Sciences, 3 Tylna Street, 90-364 Lodz,
Poland. Tel.: +48 42 6817007; fax: +48 42 681 30 69.
E-mail address: edytkied@biol.uni.lodz.pl (E. Kiedrzyńska).
treatment plant, a factory, or a municipal storm drain, domestic
wastewater and industrial pollution, and diffuse sources where
water is coming from the agricultural landscape and atmospheric
precipitation. It is important to analyze point sources of nutrient
pollution, such as WWTPs, on the catchment scale to understand
and characterize their contribution in the riverine export along the
river continuum and eutrophication of water bodies. In this paper
we review the impact of nutrient export from WWTPs to a lowland
river in the context of the Baltic eutrophication.
Eutrophication is currently regarded as the most serious eco-
logical problem for the surface waters, and for the whole Baltic Sea
(Ducrotoy and Elliott, 2008; Artioli et al., 2008; Lundberg, 2013).
Nonetheless the conditions in the sea depend both on the natu-
ral processes and human activities. Human activities and nutrient
inputs to the Baltic basin have dramatically increased over the last
century and are considered to be a major cause of the current over-
enrichment (Gren et al., 1997; Yurkovskis, 2004; Wulff et al., 2007;
Elofsson, 2010). High nutrient concentrations stimulate the growth

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2014.06.010
0925-8574/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
338 E. Kiedrzyńska et al. / Ecological Engineering 70 (2014) 337–348
of algae, which leads to impaired water quality, reflected in e.g.
extensive blooms of potentially toxic blue-green algae (cyanobac-
teria) that are not only a nuisance to bathers and others searching
for recreation along the coasts of the Baltic Sea, but also pose threats
to human health and animals (Diaz and Rosenberg, 2008; Vahtera
et al., 2007; Aleksandrov, 2010). The geographical distribution of
cyanobacteria blooms in the Baltic Sea varies between years, but
they usually occur in the central basin of the sea during the sum-
mer months. The decay of algae gradually leads to partial oxygen
deficit (hypoxia) in the deep water and thereby causes damage to
biodiversity reflected in the reduction of specific fish and other ani-
mal populations (Conley et al., 2002). Currently, the Baltic Sea has
the largest dead zone in the world (Diaz and Rosenberg, 2008).
Waterborne inputs to the Baltic Sea amounted to
652,143 tonnes (t) of nitrogen (N) and 29,044 t of phosphorus
(P) in 2008. Poland discharged the largest load of TN (22%,
144,499 t) and TP (28%, 8137 t P) compared to other nine Baltic
countries (HELCOM, 2011). According to HELCOM (2011), about
75% of the TN load and at least 95% of the TP load enter the sea
via rivers or as direct waterborne discharges. About 25% of the
nitrogen load comes as atmospheric deposition (HELCOM, 2011).
Phosphorus from the riverine input has accumulated over time in
the Baltic Sea largely because P has a sedimentation cycle and can
be removed only via export, and the latter is limited because of a
long residence time of approximately 30 years (Hong et al., 2012).
Therefore, it is critical to properly address the problem of riverine
P and N loads to the Baltic Sea.
BSAP (2007) is a milestone for environmental governance in the
Baltic Sea region by setting the environmental targets for sea basins
that require clear goals for nutrient reduction (Backer et al., 2010).
The main goal of BSAP is to achieve a good ecological status of the
sea by 2021, and the main objectives include the prevention of
eutrophication and reduction in the input of nutrients. The reduc-
tions have been allocated to responsible countries, assuming the
knowledge of distribution and retention of nutrient sources across
the Baltic basin (Hong et al., 2012).
Prevention of eutrophication should primarily rely on the
understanding of the migration process and transfers of nutri-
ents, and their quantification in individual catchments, and then
on the sustainable management of water resources, both on the
local, regional and transborder scale, and on the mitigation meas-
ures aiming at the reduction of contamination and eutrophication
spread. The paper quantifies the problem of point source pollution
in the Pilica River catchment – one of the largest subcatchments
of the Vistula River. The Vistula River is the second longest river
(1092 km) draining into the Baltic (after the Neva) and one of the
most polluted rivers in Europe (Buszewski et al., 2005). The Vistula
and Pilica River traverse some of the most industrialized and pol-
luted areas in Europe, especially in Silesia. The main objectives of
the research were as follows: (i) quantification of nutrients transfer
along the Pilica River continuum from the source to the estuary into
the Vistula River, and (ii) evaluation of the role played by WWTPs in
eutrophication of the Pilica River and the Baltic Sea. Moreover, the
paper presents possible solutions of sustainable planning and man-
agement in river catchments based on the ecohydrological concept
and ecological engineering. Therefore, the paper is not only of local
interest, but has a wider, national and international context, due to
its implications for the quality of the Baltic waters.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Characteristics of the study catchment
The research was carried out in the Pilica River catchment,
which is 9258 km2 in area and is located in central Poland (Fig. 1).
The Pilica River (342 km long) is the biggest left-bank tributary of
the Vistula River. The catchment area is predominantly agricultural
as agricultural lands account for more than 60% of its total area, and
forests cover about 31% of the catchment. The remaining area con-
sists of urban areas and other forms of land use. The total supply
of nutrient compounds from point and diffuse sources is a result
of significant eutrophication of the Pilica River water resources
and massive blooms of toxic cyanobacteria in the Sulejów Reser-
voir (Mankiewicz-Boczek et al., 2011; Mankiewicz-Boczek, 2012;
˛
Gagała et al., 2013). The Pilica riverbed has a natural, meandering
character along the entire study length. The river’s banks and the
floodplain, the place of highly efficient flood-water retention and
nutrient sedimentation processes, are covered with macrophytes
and riparian willow communities (Kiedrzyńska et al., 2008a, 2008b;
Skłodowski et al., 2014). On average 59% of the human population
in the Pilica River catchment is connected to wastewater treat-
ment plants (WWTPs) – the range from 51.3 to 70.5% depending
on the region of the catchment. The technology with the increased
nutrients removal is applied in 43.6% of the existing WWTPs (PCSO,
2010).
2.2. Monitoring station for the analysis of river water quality
Monitoring of the hydrological situation and water quality in the
Pilica River was conducted at six stations located along the river
continuum from the upland to the lowland estuary into the Vis-
tula River (R1 – Przedbórz, R2 – Sulejów, R3 – Smardzewice, R4 –
Spała, R5 – Nowe Miasto, R6 – Białobrzegi) (Fig. 1, Table 1). Station
R2 – Sulejów was situated above the Sulejów Reservoir and R3 –
Smardzewice was located on the dam at the outflow from the reser-
voir, which was built on the Pilica River. The reservoir has a total
volume of V = 77.4 million m3 which, compared to the long-term
average river inflow of the Pilica River Q = 24.2 m3 s−1 , gives the
retention time of about 40 days. Analysis of the hydrological situa-
tion in the river at all stations R1–R6 was carried out based on the
daily measurements of water levels which were read from water
gauges belonging to a national network of hydrological gauges and
converted to a daily discharge.
River water samples were taken at approximately 4-day inter-
vals (90 samplings at each station, 540 samplings for all stations)
between 19 May 2010 and 19 May 2011. Water samples were col-
lected using a PIHM bathometer. Each time, two samples of 1 L were
collected from the river and well mixed in order to obtain a rep-
resentative sample. Subsequently, two subsamples of 100 mL were
taken from the latter, one for the analysis of dissolved forms of
nutrients and the second one to analyze the total forms of nutri-
ents. The samples were transported to a laboratory in a car at a
temperature of 4 ◦ C.
Boundaries of the Pilica River catchment and differential sub-
catchments have been extracted from the National Hydrographic
Map of Poland (Fig. 1, Table 1). Discharges of the Pilica River at
particular riverine monitoring stations (R1–R6) from the period of
1951–1990 presented for comparison with the discharges during
the study period come from the Atlas Gauges Stations (1996).
The comparison between the average rainfall of 570 mm year−1
(data from the climate station in Sulejów) for the period of
1981–2010 and the rainfall of 691 mm recorded during the period
from 19 May 2010 to 19 May 2011 reveals that this period was in
the group of wet years.
2.3. Monitoring of point sources of pollution
Wastewater (WW) samples were collected from the outlets
of 17 municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) (Fig. 1)
located in the Pilica River catchment, which were divided into
 E. Kiedrzyńska et al. / Ecological Engineering 70 (2014) 337–348 339

Fig. 1. Location of the Pilica River catchment (Poland) and location of riverine monitoring stations (R1–R6) along the Pilica River continuum and WWTPs monitoring stations
(S1–S17).

Table 1
Characteristics of riverine monitoring stations (R1–R6) and differential subcatchments between particular riverine monitoring stations in the Pilica River continuum.

Station Town name of Km of the river Station type in the Geographic location Differential Area of
a station (from the estuary) river continuum subcatchment subcatchment [km2 ]

N E

R1 Przedbórz 201.2 River 51.088321 19.873345 R1 2545.2

R2 Sulejów 161.3 River (inflow to 51.343568 19.885790 R1–R2 1390.5
Sulejów Reservoir)
R3 Smardzewice 136.3 Sulejów Reservoir 51.474139 20.005846 R2–R3 997.5
(outflow)
R4 Spała 119.4 River 51.537340 20.134163 R3–R4 1034.1
R5 Nowe Miasto 78.8 River 51.609218 20.573166 R4–R5 745.0
R6 Białobrzegi 45.3 River 51.657669 20.950391 R5–R6 1943.7

Table 2
Characteristics of the monitored municipal WWTPs in the Pilica River catchment.

Station WWTPs size class Location of WWTPs Population equivalent of WWTPs Outflow of wastewater [m3 day−1 ]

S1 I Koniecpol 600 100

S2 I Rozprza 500 107
S3 I Spała 350 130
S4 I Wielgomłymy 1000 200
S5 I Gorzkowice 700 224
S6 I Wolbórz 800 241
S7 I Ujazd 1500 300
S8 II Przebórz 2000 373
S9 II Tuszyn 4000 640
S10 II Drzewica 6000 839
S11 II Sulejów 7500 870
S12 II Nowe Miasto nad Pilica˛ 2583 1000
S13 IV Białobrzegi 58,400 1500
S14 IV Opoczno 75,000 5127
S15 IV Warka 99,000 9900
S16 IV Tomaszów Mazowiecki 80,000 10,050
S17 IV Piotrków Trybunalski 80,000 14,541
340 E. Kiedrzyńska et al. / Ecological Engineering 70 (2014) 337–348

Average discharges and concentrations of phosphorus (TP, SRP) and nitrogen compounds (TN, NO3 − , NO2 − , NH4 + ) in particular riverine monitoring stations (R1–R6) in the Pilica River continuum in the period between 19 May
three size categories: class I: 0–1999; class II: 2000–9999, class
IV: 15,000–99,999 of the population equivalent (p.e.) (Table 2). In

0.187(0.27)
0.093(0.35)
0.107(0.09)
0.038(0.03)
0.031(0.04)
0.0280.04)
[mg dm−3 ]
the period between 19 May 2010 and 19 May 2011, the waste-

NH4 +
water samples were collected three times on 19 May 2010 (high
water level, flood), 27 September 2010 (low water level) and 19
May 2011 (medium water level). Samples were collected directly
in the wastewater outflow into the Pilica River or its tributaries.

0.032(0.02)

0.023(0.01)
0.031(0.03)
0.026(0.03)
0.020(0.01)

0.020(0.02)
]
−3
Two samples of 100 mL were taken, one for the analysis of the sol-

[mg dm
NO2 −
uble form (after filtering), and the other one for the analysis of the
total form of nutrients. Based on the detailed data, the daily load
for each WWTP and then the annual load were calculated.

5.64(2.98)
5.49(1.94)

6.46(3.72)
5.50(2.94)
−3

4.83(3.0)

7.04(3.6)
2.4. Analysis of nutrients in the river water and treated

[mg dm
NO3 −
wastewater

Water samples for soluble forms of nutrients, e.g. soluble reac-

tive phosphorus (SRP), NO3 − , NO2 − , NH4 + , were filtered through

5.62(1.99)
4.96(2.96)
5.57(2.95)

6.51(3.74)
5.86(3.02)

7.09(3.63)
−3
[mg dm
Whatman GF/F 0.45 ␮m filters and analyzed with the Ion Chro-
matography System (DIONEX, ICS 1000). Total phosphorus (TP) was

TN
analyzed in unfiltered water samples with the addition of the oxi-
dizing decomposition reagent Oxisolv (Merck) with the Merck MV

]
−3
500 Microwave Digestion System and determined by the ascor-

Average concentration

[␮g dm

26(40)
34(40)
45(30)
50(60)
54(80)
44(50)
bic acid method (Greenberg et al., 1992). Total nitrogen (TN) was

SRP
analyzed using the persulphate digestion method (HACH, 1997).

195(160)
232(120)
177(260)
186(180)
253(240)
218(210)
]
−3
2.5. Statistical analysis

[␮g dm
TP
Statistical analysis was conducted using STATISTICA 10. Dif-
ferences in the mean discharges and phosphorus and nitrogen

]
concentrations between particular riverine monitoring stations

−1
[million m year
(R1–R6) in the Pilica River continuum were tested using the
Mann–Whitney U test (p > 0.05) for independent samples. The data Total outflow

3
points were independent from each other, and their distributions

929.5

1536.8
1629.8
1941.5
1683.0

2216.0
were not normal (tested by Shapiro–Wilk).

2.6. Analysis of wastewater management in the catchment

Average daily outflow

Analysis of the wastewater management in the Pilica River

catchment for 2010 was performed based on the data from five
3
[million m ]

Marshal Offices, which are provincial government units. Data

on the number of WWTPs and the volume of wastewater out-
2.54

4.45
4.60
4.20

5.30
6.05

flow from WWTPs came from permits for treated wastewater

discharge. WWTPs were divided into three groups, i.e. domes-
tic, industrial and municipal depending on the type of purified
Average discharge Q
2010 and 19 May 2011. Data in parentheses – standard deviation (S.D.).

wastewater. Domestic wastewater came from water used in house-

holds for personal hygiene, flush sanitation, food preparation, etc.
Industrial wastewater contained a variety of chemicals, which are
]

by-products of manufacturing processes used in industrial plants.

−1

29.39
53.22

51.54
48.60

61.40
70.08
[m s

Municipal sewage was a mixture of domestic and industrial waste-

3

water and rainwater.

Points showing the location of WWTPs have been georeferenced
Average discharge 1951–1990 year

by WGS-84 geographical coordinates. Data from Marshal Offices

on WWTPs have been verified whether they represented points
located within the Pilica differential subcatchments. Distribution
of WWTPs was plotted as a point layer in the GIS format in the
ArcMap 9.2 software (ESRI Inc. 1999–2008, Redlands, CA, USA).

3. Result
]
−1

3.1. Water quality along the river continuum

[m s

15.9
24.2

33.2
37.7
46.0
3

During the study period, the mean discharges of the Pilica River
Station

were increasing along the river continuum from R1 (201.2 km)

Table 3

to R6 (45.3 km), and ranged from 29.39 m3 s−1 to 70.08 m3 s−1 ,

R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6

respectively (Table 3). The average discharge (48.6 m3 s−1 ) and the
 E. Kiedrzyńska et al. / Ecological Engineering 70 (2014) 337–348 341

outflow (1536.8 million m3 year−1 ) at station R3 was lower in rela-

Differences in the mean annual discharges (Q) and phosphorus (TP, SRP) and nitrogen (TN, NO3 − , NO2 − , NH4 + ) concentrations between particular riverine monitoring stations (R1–R6) in the Pilica River continuum. Mann–Whitney

0.090

0.010
0.000
0.000
0.000

0.000
tion to station R2 (53.22 m3 s−1 and 1683 million m3 year−1 ) due to

p
water retention in the Sulejów Reservoir. The comparison of the
average discharges for the period of 1951–1990 and the discharges
recorded during the observation period reveals that the period from

−0.159
−0.094
0.014
−0.069
−0.007
−0.002
19 May 2010 to 19 May 2011 was in the group of very wet years

NH4
(Table 3).
Average concentrations of TP and SRP significantly (p < 0.05)
increased from station R1 (195 ␮g TP dm−3 and 26 ␮g SRP dm−3 )
to R2 (232 ␮g TP dm−3 and 34 ␮g SRP dm−3 ), respectively (Table 3,

2.461
0.009
0.010
0.001
0.004
0.000
Table 4). Significantly (p = 0.000) lower average TP concentrations

p
were observed in the water outflow from the Sulejów Reservoir
(R3) as compared to R2 by 55 ␮g TP dm−3 , thus indicating the
importance of the reservoir for the water purification (Table 4).

−0.012

−0.011
0.003
0.008
−0.005
−0.005
As a result of the gradual inflow of large loads of pollutants from

NO2
the catchment, concentrations of phosphorus compounds gradu-
ally increased. At the last station R6, average concentrations of TP
and SRP amounted to 218 ␮g dm−3 and 44 ␮g dm−3 , and were sig-
nificantly (p < 0.05) lower by 35 ␮g TP dm−3 and 10 ␮g SRP dm−3 ,

0.434

0.032
0.004
0.000
0.000
0.000
respectively, compared to those for R5 (Table 4).

p
Average concentrations of nitrogen compounds decreased grad-
ually from R1 to R3 (Table 3). The highest significant reduction of
nitrogen concentration, as in the case of TP and SRP, was observed in
the outflow from the reservoir (R3). Concentrations of TN and NO3 −

−0.15
−0.66
0.67
1.53
−0.57
0.83
NO3
decreased there by 0.66 mg TN dm−3 and 0.66 mg NO3 − dm−3 ,
respectively (Table 4). Subsequently, a gradual increase in the
concentrations was observed at 78.8 km of the river (R5) up to
7.09 mg TN dm−3 and 7.04 mg NO3 − dm−3 . As in the case of phos-

0.357

0.175
0.004
0.000
0.000
0.000
phorus concentrations, average concentrations of TN and NO3 −

p
at station R6 were significantly lower compared to those for R5
(Tables 3 and 4).
Statistically significant increase in the concentrations of SRP
(p = 0.000) and NO3 − (p = 0.032) between the first monitoring

−0.24
−0.66
0.61
1.52
−0.58
0.66
TN
station – R1 and the last one – R6 (Table 4) indicates an input of
nutrients from WWTPs located in the catchment area, which is pre-
sented in the next subsection. At the same time, no statistically
significant differences in the concentrations of TP and TN at R1 and
0.043
0.007
0.000
0.000

0.000
0.000
R6 (Table 4) indicate that despite the large load of nutrients from
p

WWTPs, the concentrations did not increase significantly, which

indicates self-purification potential of the river.
The TP load transported by the Pilica River gradually increased
SRP

8
11
5
4
−10
18

with the river outflow from 200.5 t in the upper part (R1) at
201.2 km of the river to 530.4 t in the lower part (R6) near the estu-
ary into the Vistula River (Fig. 2A). The transport of SRP load at
different positions increased towards the estuary, but the values
0.869

0.090
0.000
0.000
0.000

0.000

were much lower than TP load. Additionally, Fig. 2A shows that

p

the Sulejów Reservoir retained 80.4 t of TP load during the study

period, including 16.1 t of SRP. Similarly, an increase in the nitrogen
loads was observed in particular transects towards the Pilica River
37
−55
9
67
−35
23

estuary Fig. 2B. The analysis showed that the Pilica River delivers
TP

15,322 t of TN into the Vistula River.

0.543
0.274
0.000

0.000
0.000
0.000

3.2. Point sources of pollution

p

The results showed that the highest average concentrations

U test (significance at p < 0.05).

of TP 9.24 mg dm−3 (Fig. 3A) and TN 62.06 mg dm−3 (Fig. 3B)

were in the wastewater discharged from the smallest WWTPs
23.83
−4.62
2.94
9.86
8.68
40.68

(class I, <2000 p.e.). Nevertheless, the maximum concentrations

Q

reached 68.31 mg TP dm−3 and 295.42 mg TN dm−3 , indicating the

problem with maintaining the good treatment parameters. Larger
WWTPs have lower mean concentrations of TP and TN in the
R1 vs. R2
R2 vs. R3
R3 vs. R4
R4 vs. R5
R5 vs. R6
R1 vs. R6

wastewater (class II – 4.08 mg TP dm−3 and 33.67 mg TN dm−3 ,

Station
Table 4

and class IV – 1.97 mg TP dm−3 and 45.97 mg TN dm−3 ) (Fig. 3A

and B), which indicates more advanced wastewater treatment
342 E. Kiedrzyńska et al. / Ecological Engineering 70 (2014) 337–348
Fig. 2. Transport of (A) TP and SRP, and (B) TN, NO3 − , NO2 − , NH4 + load along the
Pilica River continuum in the period between 19 May 2010 and 19 May 2011.
technologies. The maximum concentration for treatment class II
was 13.63 mg TP dm−3 and 65.14 mg TN dm−3 , and for class IV –
6.97 mg TP dm−3 and 139.41 mg TN dm−3 .
Analysis of 17 WWTPs in the Pilica River catchment showed
that small and medium-sized WWTPs discharged relatively small
loads of TP (Fig. 4A) and TN (Fig. 4B). The biggest loads of nutrients
discharged from large WWTPs were on average 19.8 kg TP day−1
(Fig. 4A) and 363.53 kg TN day−1 (Fig. 4B). However, the average
outflow of nutrients from the largest WWTP in the catchment (S17
with daily wastewater outflow of 14,541 m3 , Table 2) amounts to
40.32 kg TP day−1 and 989.84 kg TN day−1 .
Based on the detailed data, the daily load for each WWTP and
then the annual load were calculated. During the study year, the
total load outflow from 17 monitored WWTPs located in the Pilica
River catchment amounted to 46.87 t TP and 741.09 t of the TN.
3.3. Wastewater management in the catchment
Wastewater management in the Pilica River catchment, and the
distribution and volume of the treated wastewater discharged from
particular types of WWTPs are presented in Fig. 5 and Table 5. In
the catchment, 88% of the total wastewater outflow is discharged
from 50 municipal WWTPs. Domestic and industrial wastewater
constitutes 4% and 8% of the total wastewater outflow, respectively,
and was discharged from 46 and 47 WWTPs, respectively. The total
outflow of the treated wastewater in the Pilica River catchment
from all 143 WWTPs amounted to 18,341,875 m3 year−1 (Table 5).
4. Discussion
4.1. Transportation of nutrients along the river continuum and
river self-purification
According to the River Continuum Concept, various ecologi-
cal processes and patterns of river ecosystems are continuously
Fig. 3. Average concentrations of (A) TP, SRP; (B) TN, NO3 − , NO2 − , NH4 + in the waste-
water discharged from WWTPs of various size classes in the Pilica River catchment
in the period between 19 May 2010 and 19 May 2011 (range – standard deviation).
changing along a river (Vannote et al., 1980; Bowes et al., 2003).
Biogeochemical processes occurring in the entire catchment and
hydrological pulses affect the water quality along the river contin-
uum, because they trigger off the surface runoff and erosion, and
they influence the sedimentation and nutrient deposition (Junk
et al., 1989; Altinakar et al., 2006; Magnuszewski et al., 2007;
Kiedrzyńska et al., 2008a).
Nitrogen and phosphorous are the two elements that control the
productivity of aquatic ecosystems to the largest extent, and their
load into the river systems depends on a number of factors, includ-
ing (apart from the hydrological factors affecting the transport
dynamics of those elements) point and diffuse land-based sources
and the processes occurring in a river, leading to transformation,
retention and elimination of nutrients during their downstream
travel along the river continuum (Billen et al., 2007; Kiedrzyńska
et al., 2010; Urbaniak et al., 2012). Therefore, concentration of
nitrogen and phosphorus at different parts of a river can vary
significantly in response to short-term changes in discharges and
long-term changes in the land use and human population. These
disturbances can lead to changes in the shifts of nutrient limitation
patterns, leading to fundamental changes in the structure and
function of the ecosystem (Conley et al., 1993). However, only few
studies have investigated these effects on a catchment scale along a
river continuum, because of the resources required for regular sam-
pling across a large geographical area over a period of years (Bowes
et al., 2003; Buszewski et al., 2005). Bowes et al. (2003) suggest a
permanent increase of nutrients along the river continuum, which
 E. Kiedrzyńska et al. / Ecological Engineering 70 (2014) 337–348 343

Table 5
Total wastewater outflow from domestic, industrial and municipal WWTPs in the differential subcatchment located between particular riverine monitoring stations (R1–R6)
along the Pilica River continuum in 2010.

Differential subcatchment Outflow of WW from WWTPs [m3 year−1 ] Total outflow % of wastewater
Domestic Industrial Municipal Total outflow of Pilica [mil- in the river total
in differential lion m3 year−1 ] outflow
subcatchments

R1 121,357 572,910 1,679,042 2,373,309 929.5 0.26

R1–R2 160,562 9524 1,012,988 1,183,074 1683.0 0.07
R2–R3 85,143 115,046 5,691,703 5,891,892 1536.8 0.38
R3–R4 249,577 425,428 3,960,698 4,635,703 1629.8 0.28
R4–R5 14,372 45,051 91,529 150,952 1941.5 0.01
R5–R6 92,557 380,208 2,663,677 3,136,442 2216.0 0.14
E–Estuary to the Vistula 400 7367 962,736 970,503

Total outflow [m3 year−1 ] 723,968 1,555,534 16,062,373 18,341,875

% in the total wastewater outflow [%] 4 8 88 100
Total number of WWTPs 46 47 50 143
Average % of WW in the river outflow [%] 0.19

mineral and organic matter in the reservoir. Another study moni-

Fig. 4. The average daily outflow of (A) TP, SRP and (B) TN, NO3 − , NO2 − , NH4 + load
from WWTPs of various size classes in the Pilica River catchment in the period
between 19 May 2010 and 19 May 2011 (range – standard deviation).
is consistent with the results of these study. The present study
supplements the previous research on the hydrological pattern and
nutrient transport in the Pilica River continuum and the Sulejów
Reservoir. According to the study by Urbaniak et al. (2012) there
was 45% reduction of the suspended particulate matter (SPM),
11% of SRP and 28% of TP concentrations between the inflow and
outflow from the reservoir, which was caused by sedimentation of
tored phosphorus concentrations along the River Swale and shows
considerable changes in the phosphorus dynamics along the river
continuum (Bowes et al., 2003). Phosphorus in the lowland part of
the river was transported predominantly in the particulate form
and the seasonality of phosphorus export increased down the river
continuum. They observed that 85% of the TP exported from the
River Swale was generated within the lowland zone and the lowest
rates of phosphorus export usually occurred in the summer months
(Bowes et al., 2003). In study period, we also observed a large mean
concentration of TP, SRP, TN and NO3 − in inflow to the reservoir and
a smaller mean concentration in outflow, and higher concentration
of NO2 − and NH4 + in the outflow than inflow (Table 3). These
results show the dynamic of the nitrogen cycle in the river contin-
uum and reservoir which appears in a number of oxidation states.
Different nitrogen transformations may permanently occur in
river floodplains and ecotones of the river bed and the littoral zone
of reservoirs, and may involve several microbiological processes.
These results may indicate denitrification, which is a microbially
facilitated process of nitrate (NO3 − ) reduction that may produce
molecular nitrogen (N2 ) through a series of intermediate gaseous
nitrogen oxide products (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2007). The process
is performed primarily by heterotrophic bacteria such as Paracoc-
cus denitrificans and various pseudomonads (Mitsch and Gosselink,
2007). Another possible nitrogen transformation is mineralization
that converts organically bound nitrogen to ammonium nitrogen
as the organic matter is being decomposed and degraded. This
pathway occurs under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions
and is often referred to as ammonification. Once the ammonium
ion (NH4+ ) is formed, it can be absorbed by plants through their
root system in the ecotone zone of the river and littoral zone of
the reservoir. Another possible transformation that occurs in an
aerobic environment is nitrification, where ammonium nitrogen
can be oxidized in two steps by Nitrosomonas sp. and by Nitrobacter
sp. (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2007). Nitrification can also occur in
the oxidized rhizosphere of littoral plants, where adequate oxygen
is often available to convert the ammonium nitrogen to nitrate
nitrogen.
It is necessary to introduce the sustainable basin management
in terms of point sources of pollution in catchment, and also
management of river floodplain wetlands and ecotones (Copper,
1994; Borin et al., 2005; Nairn and Mitsch, 2000), which affects
the quality of water based on the restoration of natural mecha-
nisms determining the ecosystems and functioning of landscapes.
In large lowland rivers, floodplain wetlands and riparian eco-
tones play an important role in the water quality improvement
by affecting the physical filtration of lotic water and biochemical
344 E. Kiedrzyńska et al. / Ecological Engineering 70 (2014) 337–348

Fig. 5. Distribution and volume flow of wastewater from domestic, industrial and municipal WWTPs in the subcatchments located between particular riverine monitoring
stations (R1–R6) along the Pilica River continuum in 2010.

processes of uptake and accumulation of nutrients by vegetation.
They slowdown the water velocity affecting the sedimentation of
SPM (Magnuszewski et al., 2005; Kiedrzyńska et al., 2008a), as well
as the retention and accumulation of phosphorus and nitrogen in
the plant biomass (Kiedrzyńska et al., 2008b; Skłodowski et al.,
2014). Additionally, a naturally meandering channel with extensive
ecotone zones and large floodplain wetlands with autochthonic
macrophyte vegetation and willows play a very important role,
because they create specific habitats for microorganisms respon-
sible for self-purification processes (Beursknes and Stolterder,
1995; Sumorok and Kiedrzynska, 2007) and reduce the concen-
tration of nutrients and micropollutants in the water column and
decrease their transport along the river continuum (Walling et al.,
1996; Skłodowski et al., 2014; Urbaniak et al., 2014a,b). Further-
more, riparian vegetation is crucial for regulating (decreasing) the
stream temperature by evaporative cooling, which is essential for
native aquatic species responsible for the process of water self-
purification (Sinokrot and Stefan, 1993; Correll, 2005). A river
riparian system of the Alluvial Zone National Park in Austria serves
as a major sink for suspended sediments (250 mt ha−1 year−1 ),
fine particulate organic matter (FPOM, 96 mt ha−1 year−1 ), particu-
late organic carbon (POC, 2.9 mt ha−1 year−1 ), and nitrate-nitrogen
(0.96 mt ha−1 year−1 ) (Tockner et al., 1999). Mitsch et al. (1979)
demonstrated that an alluvial river swamp in southern Illinois
retained 3.6 g m−2 year−1 of phosphorus (P) with sediments during
river flooding.
 E. Kiedrzyńska et al. / Ecological Engineering 70 (2014) 337–348
Changes related to river channelization negatively affect the
self-purification processes, so in the case of large wastewater
inflows from point sources, it is important that a riverbed has the
most natural character along the entire river continuum, as well as
ecotone zones and floodplain wetlands.
4.2. The Polish supply of nutrients into the Baltic Sea compared to
other countries
Poland is one of the nine countries situated in the catchment
area of the Baltic Sea, which greatly contributes to the pollution of
the Baltic Sea. The Polish territory is almost entirely located in the
catchment area of the Baltic Sea (99.7%), which includes the Vistula
River (168,700 km2 , 54% of the total Polish territory) and the Oder
River (106,100 km2 , 33.9% of the total Polish territory) and several
small rivers flowing directly into the sea (PCSO, 2010). The highest
pollutant loads to the Baltic Sea come from the Vistula River; they
reach 70% of the total loads and much lower from the Oder River
(Buszewski et al., 2005). A large concentration of industry, espe-
cially in areas which are source sections of the Vistula, the Oder
and the Pilica River, but also along their entire courses generates
a significant amount of the industrial and municipal and domestic
wastewater (Brügmann and Matschullat, 1997).
In 2011, the population of Poland was 38.538 million, including
60.7% in urban areas and 39.3% in rural areas (PCSO, 2011). The
average number of persons per 1 km2 amounts to 123 (ca. 1082 in
cities, and 51 in rural areas), which is the highest rate among the
countries of the Baltic Sea catchment.
In 2012, wastewater treatment plants in Poland serviced only
69% of the population (92% in urban areas and 33% in rural areas,
where about 39% of the population lives). Only 500 towns (908
total) and 643 rural communes (2479 total) were serviced by mod-
ern WWTPs with the increased nutrients removal (PCSO, 2013).
As evidenced by the results for the Pilica River catchment, WW
is treated insufficiently, because the limits concentration of TP
and TN were repeatedly exceeded. For example, the concentra-
tion in the effluent flowing from small municipal WWTPs (<2000
p.e.) averaged 9.24 mg TP dm−3 (max. 68.31 mg TP dm−3 ), while the
Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive norm (91/271/EEC) is up
to 5 TP mg dm−3 , and the average concentration for medium-sized
WWTPs (from 2000 to <10,000 p.e.) was 4.08 mg TP dm−3 (max.
13.63 mg TP dm−3 ) (Fig. 3), while the standard is 2 mg TP dm−3 .
In large WWTPs, the situation is slightly better, because the
mean concentration was 1.97 mg TP dm−3 (max. 6.97 mg TP dm−3 ),
when according to the Directive, the standard wastewater is
2 mg TP dm−3 . Also nitrogen significantly exceeded the limit con-
centrations: two times for class I (average concentration of
62.06 mg TN dm−3 , the TN norm according to the Directive is
30 mg dm−3 ), two times for class II (mean 33.67 mg dm−3 , the TN
norm is 15 mg TN dm−3 ), and three times for class IV (mean con-
centration of 45.97 mg TN dm−3 , the norm is 15 mg TN dm−3 ). Such
high concentrations and cumulative loads of nutrients (Fig. 2) dis-
charged from the Pilica catchment and from the biggest Polish
rivers into the Baltic Sea, place Poland in the 1st place in the rank-
ing of the Baltic countries (Table 6). The TP load of 0.026 t km−2
placed Poland in the 4th place in 2008 (HELCOM, 2011). In the case
of TN loads into the Baltic Sea, the Polish contribution was over 22%
(144,499 t) in 2008 and also classify Poland as the largest supplier
(Table 6).
As a result of extensive modernization of the legislative and
wastewater sector in Poland, the amount of discharged loads
decreased by 35% of TP and 25% of TN compared to the year of 2000.
However, the analysis showed that the average TP and TN load dis-
charged from the Pilica catchment amounted to 0.057 t TP km−2
and 1.655 t TN km−2 (Table 6), respectively, and were significantly
345
higher than the annual average loads for the Polish territory. Such
large loads were due to the occurrence of very large floods and
the wet year with about two times higher average annual outflow
(Table 3), inducing the intensified transport of nutrients, which
were washed out from the catchment area. The climate scenar-
ios presented in the BACC Author Team (2008) show that in the
Baltic basin floods will be more frequent. Climate scenarios warn
that summer runoff may decrease by 50%, whereas in winter it
may increase by up to 70%. This will further increase the transport
of nutrients load to the sea. According to Meier et al. (2012) the
impact of climate change on the Baltic biogeochemistry might be
significant, adding stress to the Baltic ecosystem due to eutrophi-
cation. Therefore, nutrient load reductions to meet current legal
standards will not be sufficient to improve the water quality at the
end of the 21st century.
4.3. Ecohydrology for reversing Baltic Sea eutrophication
In order to achieve a good ecological status of the Baltic Sea
by 2021 (BSAP, 2007), the reduction of nutrient loads from point
sources should be combined with the efforts to reduce loads
from the landscape. According to HELCOM (2011) the wastewater
treatment levels required by Recommendation 28E/5 are 70–80%
reduction for nitrogen and 90% reduction for phosphorus for cities
above 10,000 inhabitants. For cities between 2000 and 10,000
inhabitants, the reduction targets are 80% for phosphorus and 30%
for nitrogen. In the Polish case, this applies to the phosphorus load
reduction to the level of 8760 t TP year−1 and the reduction of nitro-
gen load to 62,400 t TN year−1 (HELCOM, 2011).
Ecohydrology provides scientific understanding of the hydrol-
ogy/biota interplay in the catchment, and a systemic framework
on how to use ecosystem processes to Integrated Water Resources
Management (IWRM), complementary to applied hydrotechni-
cal solutions and ecological engineering (Zalewski, 2000; Mitsch
et al., 2008; Wagner et al., 2009; Zalewski, 2011). Prevention of
eutrophication by reduction of the input of nutrients into the
Baltic Sea will be possible by improving the carrying capacity
of ecosystems (Zalewski, 2009a,b) and integration of sustainable
wastewater management and planning the land use in particular
river catchments and in the direct Baltic catchment area. Pre-
vention of eutrophication should incorporate a few-steps strategy
based on ecohydrological principles. Recommended activities are
as follows:
1) Change of thinking – A change of thinking from technical to
ecohydrological is needed and understanding that the improve-
ment of water quality in eutrophic water ecosystems is a
long-term process. Furthermore, a change in the mode of
action from a narrow to a multi-faceted sector, which uses the
latest knowledge about functioning of the water ecosystems
and changeability of processes, analytical methods and high-
performance digital technology (e.g. Kaczorowski et al., 2006;
Bieniecki and Kiedrzyńska, 2006) for large-scale imaging and
visualization of processes;
2) WWTPs – The development and implementation of a new tech-
nology of sewage treatment and disposal of sewage sludge, as
well as construction of modern WWTPs is needed. It is necessary
to implement a more efficient technology of using the biolog-
ical processes for effective capture of nutrients, heavy metals
and degradation of micropollutants. It is essential to eliminate
illegal point sources of pollution. Furthermore, the wastewa-
ter treatment should focus not only on nutrient removal but
also on nutrient recovery, e.g. phosphorus (P) as struvite. This
is a promising method of P removal from liquid through pre-
cipitation of magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate
346 E. Kiedrzyńska et al. / Ecological Engineering 70 (2014) 337–348

Table 6
TP and TN loads discharged into the Baltic Sea from the Baltic States (HELCOM, 2011), and TP and TN load outflow from the Pilica River catchment in the study period from
19 May 2010 to 19 May 2011.

TP load

t year−1 t year−1 t km−2 t km−2 kg person−1 kg person−1

2000 2008 2000 2008 2000 2008

Poland 12,559 8137 Denmark 0.060 0.070 Latvia 0.96 1.27

Finland 4835 5213 Latvia 0.034 0.045 Estonia 0.74 1.05
Sweden 4946 3641 Estonia 0.021 0.030 Finland 0.91 0.98
Russia 6196 3553 Poland 0.040 0.026 Lithuania 0.57 0.49
Latvia 2207 2928 Lithuania 0.030 0.026 Denmark 0.38 0.45
Denmark 1865 2191 Finland 0.016 0.017 Sweden 0.54 0.40
Lithuania 1950 1678 Germany 0.017 0.012 Russia 0.67 0.39
Estonia 965 1370 Russia 0.020 0.011 Poland 0.33 0.21
Germany 488 333 Sweden 0.011 0.008 Germany 0.16 0.11
Total 36,011 29,044 Average 0.028 0.027 Average 0.59 0.60
Average load outflow from the Pilica River catchment 0.057 t TP km−2

TN load

t year−1 t year−1 t km−2 t km−2 kg person−1 kg person−1

2000 2008 2000 2008 2000 2008

Poland 191,752 144,499 Estonia 0.864 1.486 Russia 31.36 26.44

Sweden 151,069 120,413 Russia 1.116 0.941 Lithuania 38.32 25.27
Finland 101,368 100,566 Lithuania 1.105 0.728 Sweden 28.50 22.72
Latvia 67,493 89,963 Denmark 0.904 0.660 Denmark 17.34 12.65
Russia 72,125 60,802 Germany 0.650 0.483 Finland 11.14 11.05
Estonia 26,874 46,230 Poland 0.615 0.463 Latvia 7.34 9.78
Denmark 58,972 43,002 Sweden 0.501 0.400 Estonia 5.48 9.43
Lithuania 49,818 32,845 Latvia 0.214 0.286 Germany 6.00 4.46
Germany 18,602 13,823 Finland 0.230 0.229 Poland 5.03 3.79
Total 738,073 652,143 Average 0.689 0.631 Average 16.72 13.95
Average load outflow from the Pilica River catchment 1.655 t TN km−2

(MgNH4 − ·PO4 ·6H2 O), commonly known as struvite (Nelson
et al., 2003). Struvite is a valuable slow-release fertilizer, thus
the recovered precipitate can be easily used for the removal of
nutrients from WWTPs and farms. Pilot- and full-scale waste
treatment systems that use struvite precipitation to remove P
from industrial wastewater (Unitika, 1994), municipal waste-
water (Liberti et al., 1986; Ohlinger et al., 2000) are reported to
be in operation.
3) Catchment – Increasing the vegetation mosaic of a catchment
and extension of ecotone buffer zones both in the upper, mid-
dle and lower parts of a catchment, which act as biofiltering
systems that slow down the water runoff from a catchment
to river ecosystems and restrict the transfer of nutrient and
pollutants through phytoremediation processes – phytoaccu-
mulation, phytodegradation, phytostabilisation, rhizofiltration,
rhizodegradation (Singh and Ward, 2004; Bhandari et al., 2007;
Sumorok and Kiedrzyńska, 2007). The creation of ecotone zones
based on native species should be recommended, as diversified
plant communities possess the highest potential for nutrient
assimilation (Kiedrzyńska and Zalewski, 2012; Kiedrzyński et al.,
2014; Skłodowski et al., 2014). Furthermore, it is important to
develop actions and technologies to increase the water perme-
ability in catchments and to reduce the outflow of contaminated
water via rivers;
4) Floodplains – A more proactive approach is needed to act
towards environmental river engineering and towards river
floodplain rehabilitation and restoration, without destroying
their ecological and aesthetic functions. Vegetation of river
valleys and floodplains should be used and managed as to
enhance their potential for nutrient retention and accumulation
(Kiedrzyńska et al., 2008b). For example, according Kiedrzyńska
et al. (2008b) the annual phosphorus accumulation in biomass
on the Pilica River floodplain is over 10 kg ha−1 , which can still
be improved by biomass sequential cropping. A key issue of
floodplain management is the incorporation of novel solutions
included in the Declaration on Sustainable Floodplain Manage-
ment (Zalewski and Kiedrzyńska, 2010).
5) Urban areas – Increasing the water and nutrients retention
capacity of aquatic ecosystems in urban areas by building cas-
cade systems of reservoirs preceded by a sequential biofiltering
systems. These reservoirs can enhance the sedimentation capac-
ity, and the organic fraction of sediments can be used for
bioenergy production (Wagner and Breil, 2013). Similar concept
was also implemented in the Zala River basin (Hungary) where,
by complementing the wastewater treatment plants with a sys-
tem of additional, specially designed reservoirs and periodically
flooded vegetated areas, the inflow of phosphorus into Lake Bal-
aton was reduced by 80% (Zalewski, 2005). Another example
is the use of constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment
has been broadly discussed by Bastian and Hammer (1993) and
Nairn and Mitsch (2000).
The water quality crisis proves that the sustainable manage-
ment of water and wastewater in different catchments should be
changed from a narrow technical approach to a broader approach,
that will take the ecological and ecohydrological processes into
account. These solutions represent greater potential to control pro-
cesses rather than being purely technical solutions and engineering
services, and additionally, they are more environmentally friendly,
and require less financial investment.
The management of the Baltic Sea needs both specification
of instruments, and integration of science, administration and
policy sectors (Pihlajamäki and Tynkkynen, 2011). Sustainable
way of action should be supported by cooperation of all stake-
holder groups and governance levels. The carrying capacity of the
Baltic Sea ecosystem has to be the common priority (Mee et al.,
2008).
 E. Kiedrzyńska et al. / Ecological Engineering 70 (2014) 337–348
5. Conclusions
The environmental threat to the Baltic Sea is one of the most
important environmental problems for nine Baltic countries. Large
loads of nutrients derived mainly from wastewater treatment
plants delivered via rivers to the sea, are responsible for pollu-
tion, eutrophication, and consequently, the development of toxic
cyanobacterial blooms, hypoxia and the extinction of species.
Spatial analysis of nutrients loads in the river catchment is diffi-
cult due to point and diffused nature of their sources. The complex
system of water and nutrients flow can be simplified by splitting the
whole catchment into a cascade of differential subcatchments con-
trolled by monitoring stations, which enables the interpretation of
changes in water properties along the river continuum and helps to
understand the efficiency and mechanism of river self-purification.
This study proved that the Sulejów Reservoir are important
place of self-purification, which improves the water quality in river
downstream but creates the problem of eutrophication in the reser-
voir. Long-term water retention in the reservoir is favourable for
sedimentation and reduction of both TP and TN. The study also
showed the gradual increase in the TP and TN concentration along
the Pilica River continuum, which was caused by the inflow of
nutrients, mainly from municipal WWTPs located along the river
continuum. The analysis indicates that wastewater in WWTPs is
treated insufficiently, because the concentrations of TP and TN
were repeatedly exceeded. It is more difficult to maintain the cor-
rect treatment parameters of small WWTPs than in the case of
large ones, which have more advanced technology to capture the
nutrients. Nonetheless, mainly large WWTPs are responsible for
significant pollution in the Pilica River and large loads of nutrients
discharged from the catchment into the Vistula River, and in conse-
quence they are partly responsible for eutrophication of the Baltic
Sea. The Pilica River and the presence of multiple point sources
of pollution in the catchment is very typical for many Polish rivers,
and therefore the results of this study are expected to be applicable
in many similar catchments.
Sustainable management of point sources of pollution should
be based on more frequent and comprehensive analysis of WWTPs
effectiveness on the catchment scale, as it was attempted in this
article, and not on the scale of administrative division of the region.
Reduction of the nutrient concentrations in wastewater and reduc-
tion of WWTPs failure should be one of the most important goals of
wastewater management. WWTPs employ physical, chemical and
biological methods to improve the wastewater quality, but also a
technology with increased nutrients capture and nutrients recover
in treatment plants in all Baltic drainage catchments is neces-
sary. Combining a new form of wastewater purification technology,
ecological engineering, biotechnological and ecohydrological solu-
tions, and phytoremediation in individual catchments gives hope
of improving the quality of lotic waters and overcoming the over-
fertilization the Baltic Sea.
Acknowledgments
The research was funded by the Polish Ministry of Science
and Higher Education (Project – NN305 365738. ‘Analysis of point
sources pollution of nutrients, dioxins and dioxin-like compounds
in the Pilica River catchment and draw up of reclamation methods’.
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