Transport of pollution from the megacity Jakarta into the ocean: Insights from organic pollutant mass fluxes along the Ciliwung River. (31st December 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dsikowitzky, L.; van der Wulp, S.A.; Dwiyitno, ; Ariyani, F.; Hesse, K.J.; Damar, A.; Schwarzbauer, J.
• Is Part Of: Estuarine, coastal and shelf science. Volume 215(2018)
• Page Start: 219
• Page End: 228
• Publication Date: 2018-12-31
• Subjects: GC-MS non-target screening -- River flow modelling -- Water pollution -- Fluvial transport -- Urbanisation -- Tropical environment; Estuarine oceanography -- Periodicals; Coasts -- Periodicals; Estuarine biology -- Periodicals; Seashore biology -- Periodicals; Coasts; Estuarine biology; Estuarine oceanography; Seashore biology; Periodicals; 551.461805
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2018.10.017
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0272-7714

Abstract

Abstract: As with other emerging economies, the rapid economic development of Indonesia has led to a migration towards the cities. The coastal megacity Jakarta is one of the largest urban agglomerations worldwide. The uncontrolled increase in urban population results in increased pressure on public infrastructure such as sewage treatment facilities leading to severe pollution of surface waters. In this study, a mass flux approach was used to assess the transport of organic pollutants by the largest city bound river of Jakarta, the Ciliwung, into the adjacent coastal ecosystem. Mass flux approaches are useful to track the origin and transport of wastewater-borne pollution, but are mostly neglected in favor of solely concentration-based evaluations. Constituents of municipal sewage made up around 70–80% of the fluxes of the 32 quantified water pollutants. Personal care product ingredients, especially the insect repellent N, N-diethyl- m -toluamide (DEET), exhibited the highest fluxes. Our first assessment revealed that the Ciliwung River transports around 5–17 tons year −1 of the quantified pollutants into the Java Sea. Such huge pollutant fluxes from municipal sources -a problem that is also relevant in other coastal megacities-might severely affect vulnerable coastal habitats. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: Study on riverine pollutant fluxes from a tropical coastal megacity into the ocean. A wide spectrum of organic pollutants including emerging contaminants was analyzed. Personal care product ingredients made up the highest proportion of the fluxes. Estimated total pollutant fluxes into the ocean were in the order of tons per year. Mass flux approaches deliver information for a global view on coastal pollution.