Relative Effects on Stream Biota of Chlorine and Ammonia Occurring in Secondary Sewage

摘要

Illinois pollution standards prohibit sewage treatment plants from discharging effluents which elevate ammonia levels in streams above specified limits, but evidence suggests that chlorine added to effluent for disinfection actually causes much of the environmental damage attributed to ammonia toxicity. This report examines what happened to fish and invertebrates in three streams near Champaign-Urbana when chlorine -- but not ammonia -- was eliminated from sewage treatment effluents entering the streams.