In the article, “Effects of Centralized and Onsite Wastewater Treatment on the Occurrence of Traditional and Emerging Contaminants in Streams” by G.M. Ferrell and B.H. Grimes they discuss a study that took a survey of small streams, seven sites in total, in the Neuse River Basin in North Carolina to assess the effects of centralized and onsite wastewater treatment on the occurrence of selected traditional and emerging contaminants. Also included in the survey was undeveloped site to assess effects of residential land use activities on stream quality. Overall they found that concentrations were higher, of nutrients and ions, in the residential site. In these areas there was little difference between the types of wastewater treatment. Although they stated that two sites showed effects of wastewater, one was from an area near a suspected sewage line leak with centralized wastewater treatment, and the second one used onsite wastewater treatment. In these two particular sites organic wastewater compounds were more common than the other sites.

This study’s research topic was essentially the effects of emerging contaminants (versus traditional contaminants) from centralized or onsite wastewater treatment systems on streams and they asked the question; what are the effects of centralized and onsite wastewater treatment on the occurrence of selected traditional and emerging contaminants in small streams in the upper Neuse River basin, North Carolina?

The type of data they used was aggregate, interval data. They collected water samples at seven different sites and then processed them and shipped them to various laboratories across the country to analyze the data. The samples were collected in accordance with the guidelines of the U.S. Geological Survey and were collected between December 2004 and June 2005. The labs tested each sample for traditional contamination such as, nutrients and pathogens, as well as emerging contaminants like pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Each sample was ranked by its collection period and then tested by ranked values.

This research did a good job making sure there was a valid sample and also the article reported the data that got messed up or wasn’t as accurate. It also provided some reasoning for the data results they came up with. In the conclusion they stated that more data would be needed in order to receive a complete and accurate idea of wastewater contamination in streams. They also provided a link to the actual data collected if the reader wanted to see the data themselves. Graphs and tables were also provided within the article to better show how the data was analyzed.

Ferrell G.M.; Grimes B.H. Effects of Centralized and Onsite Wastewater Treatment on the Occurrence of Traditional and Emerging Contaminants in Streams. Journal of Environmental Health. 2014, 76, 18-28.