TITLE:
Diffuse Source Pollution Studies in a Physical Model of the Severn Estuary, UK
AUTHORS:
A. Osei-Twumasi, R. A. Falconer
KEYWORDS:
Diffuse Source, Physical Model, Pollution, Severn Estuary, Tides
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Water Resource and Protection,
Vol.6 No.15,
November
19,
2014
ABSTRACT: In recent years, there has been growing concern about the impact of
diffuse source pollution on water bodies, particularly due to associated health
risks. Coastal waters can receive considerable inputs of pollutants from
catchments since they serve as sinks for many diffuse pollutants. Furthermore,
bathing waters have in the recent past often failed to comply with the various
standards set by different bathing water directives. The Severn estuary has
recently attracted a lot of attention in terms of bathing water compliance due to
its potential to generate a considerable amount of renewable energy for the UK.
It is against this background that a physical model of the estuary has been set
up in the Hydraulics Laboratory at Cardiff University, for studies to be undertaken
to mimic the conditions of the prototype. A sandbox filled with non-cohesive
sediments within the laboratory has been set up to investigate the behaviour of
pollutants in propagating from the idealised groundwater environment into the
estuarine waters. It has been demonstrated that for a semi-diurnal tidal
estuary like the Severn, tides have a lesser effect on the transport of solutes
than flows from the catchments. Thus the impact of pollution from diffuse
sources to marine environments from catchments could be higher in less tidally
dominated coastal waters than a tidal one.