Evaluation of the toxic effects of selected municipal wastewater effluents on aquatic invertebrates

Abstract
A series of acute and chronic bioassays using Daphnia magna and Ceriodaphnia dubia was conducted on whole effluents from 31 municipal wastewater treatment plants near Houston to determine the toxicity of the effluents. The majority of plants were small (0.75 MGD) facilities created by rapid suburban development. Seventeen (55%) of the plants produced effluents that do not meet the toxicity limits currently required for some industrial plants. Effluent toxicities varied temporally for some plants and could not be predicted by conventionally measured water quality parameters. Several effluents that showed no acute effects on survival significantly reduced Ceriodaphnia survival and reproduction during chronic (7 day) exposures.

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