SECTION 4 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF BIOLOGICAL ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NORMS OF 

 CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES AND EVALUATION OF THE LEVEL OF POLLUTION 



IN WATER-BODIES 



V.I. Lukyanenko 



Among the most important of the present problems is the question of 

 "clean water", i.e., the protection of waters from chemical pollution in 

 order to preserve the biological processes associated with a high quality 

 of water. This problem is extremely acute, complex, and enormous by its 

 scale. In this regard, it is sufficient to recall that from 450 to 700 knr 

 of waste water is discharged annually, the greater fraction of which under- 

 goes either no or only partial treatment. Reliance is placed jointly upon 

 the dilution of the waste waters with clean river waters and the process 

 of self-purification. However, to neutralize even 450 km 3 of waste water, 

 provided at least a half of it undergoes treatment, a total of 6,000 km 3 , 

 or almost 40% of the so-called stable river discharge of the globe will be 

 required. For this reason, the prediction of the Institute of Geography 

 of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR seem to be quite real. This 

 Institute suggests that by the year 2000, all the water of rivers will 

 have to be used for neutralization of waste waters, even if the sewage be 

 treated by more perfect methods. 



It is necessary to account for the fact that the pollution of waters 

 accelerates, but their self-purification capacity declines. Therefore, 

 one can not plan to increase the "toxicologic load" on rivers. On the con- 

 trary, the general way to solve the problem of "clean water" is to reduce 

 this load by building sewage treatment plants and raising their efficiency. 

 This will enable a decrease in the amount of clean water required for dilu- 

 tion of wastes, and provide for optimum functioning of the ecosystems re- 

 sponsible for "self-purification" of waters. Thus, exhaustion of water 

 resources in the nearest future can be avoided. 



The urgency of this task of improving treatment of industrial wastes 

 and increasing the efficiency of sewage treatment plants is determined not 

 only by the high toxicity of many hundreds of chemical substances contained 

 in waste waters. The fact is that the volume of discharge from arable 

 lands containing various pesticides has greatly increased for the last two 

 decades. This discharge enters the same waters which receive domestic and 

 industrial wastes. Consequently, the "toxic" load on natural waters be- 

 comes greatly increased. The principal way of preventing pollution of 

 waters by toxic industrial wastes is the treatment of the sewage and limit- 



28 



