Eutrophication
o An aging process in the life cycle of a lake, pond or
slow-moving stream. It is caused by the gradual
accumulation in the water of the nutrients needed to
sustain aquatic plants and animals, accompanied by
an increase in the number of organisms in the water.
o It is characterized by excessive plant and
algal growth due to the increased availability of one
or more limiting growth factors needed for
photosynthesis such as sunlight, carbon dioxide, and
nutrient fertilizers.
o Eutrophication occurs when a water body
receives abnormal levels of nitrogen (part of every
protein in plant, required from growing new leaves to
defending pests) and phosphorus compounds (involved
in metabolic processes responsible for transferring energy
from one to another; critical in root development)
Eutrophication Process
CAUSES
o agricultural fertilizer leaching
o sewage run off
o use of detergents containing phosphorus
o pesticides
o untreated sewage are dumped into water.
Effects:
o tainted drinking water supplies, degradation of
recreational opportunities, and hypoxia
o most conspicuous effect of cultural eutrophication is
the creation of dense blooms of noxious, foul-
smelling phytoplankton that reduce water clarity and
harm water quality
o Algal blooms limit light penetration, reducing growth
and causing die-offs of plants in littoral zones while
also lowering the success of predators that need light
to pursue and catch prey
Creates hypoxic or anoxic dead zone due to lack of
oxygen
Often found in many freshwater lakes including
laurentian great lakes. nutrient-rich rivers (e.g.,
Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico;
Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay) and
have been shown to affect more than 245,000 square
kilometers in over 400 near-shore systems (Diaz &
Rosenberg 2008).
Hypoxia and anoxia as a result of eutrophication
continue to threaten lucrative commercial and
recreational fisheries worldwide.
Harmful Algal bloom- threat because they produce
noxious toxins (e.g., microcystin and anatoxin-a;
Chorus and Bartram 1999).
(1) degradation of water quality (Francis 1878),
(2) destruction of economically important fisheries
(Burkholder et al. 1992), and
(3) public health risks (Morris 1999).
Case: MANILA BAY
Substantial increments in organic loads entering the
bay through excessive urban emissions of nutrients
(nitrogen and phosphorus) and heavy metals, increase
incidences of hypoxia (decreased) and anoxia
(completely lack), frequent blooms of harmful
microalgae and persistent red tides caused by
dinoflagelalate
 Manila Bay is thought to be highly eutrophicated
with high nitrogen concentration particularly
ammonium.
Among phytoplankton, the centric
diatom, Stephanopyxis spp.
weredominant, and they occupied
44% of total phytoplankton
biomass.
PHILIPPINE LAWS
RA 9275: The Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004
What are the agencies involved?
-Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR)
-principal supervisor/regulator. utilizes
Integrated Water Quality Management Framework (IWQMF)
to assess P&Ps, mgmt strategies, financial strategies and
performance of agencies and LGU under it.
-Department of Agriculture (DA)
-irrigation and fertilizer usage regulation
-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
(BFAR) - concerns itself with conservation of fish & other
marine resources.
-Department of Science and Technology (DOST)
-research and investigative body
- verification, evaluation, public
dissemination
-Department of Health (DOH)
-research and investigative body of water
pollution effects on human population
-Local Government Units (LGU)
- primary P&P-making body, task to
coordinate and cooperate with govt bodies, citizens and
agencies concerned.
Objective
To ensure water quality management across all
bodies of water through prevention of and/or control of
pollution of bodies of water due to pollution from land-based
sources.
National Water Quality Management Fund
-fund containment/clean-up operations
-
RA 9003 (Ecological Waste)
shall provide legal sanctions for establishing
institutions, incentives, prohibitions, penalties and
other creation of legal acts that shall ensure proper
management of agricultural, domestic and industrial
wastes in the Philippines
RA 6969 (Toxic and Hazardous Nuclear Waste)
regulates, restricts or prohibits the importation,
manufacture, processing, sale, distribution, use and
disposal of chemical substances and mixtures that
present unreasonable risk and/or injury to health or
the environment; prohibit disposal of other countrys
toxic and nuclear waste within territory for whatever
purpose, and facilitate research studies concerning
toxic chemicals.
Sources:
http://www.pemsea.org/eascongress/international-
conference/abstract_t5-1_sandiego-mcglone.pdf
Interdisciplinary Studies on Environmental Chemistry
Environmental Research in Asia, Eds., Y. Obayashi,
T. Isobe, A. Subramanian, S. Suzuki and S. Tanabe, pp.
261267.
http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/28078/201609
03/black-sea-becoming-inhabitable-more-one-third-
devoid-oxygen-over.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LAT1gLMPu4
Grolier Encyclopedia, 2010