Sources and Pathways of Nutrients in the Semi-arid Region of Beijing-Tianjin, China

Semiarid regions worldwide are particularly prone to eutrophication, which causes immense ecological and economic problems. One region that is in transition and requires systematic research for effective intervention is the dry landscape of Beijing-Tianjin (P. R. China). We investigated the sources and spatiotemporal loads of nitrogen and phosphorus species over a one-year period in the Haihe catchment that drains the megacity of Beijing. Although wastewater treatment was improved in recent years, the rivers were heavily contaminated by 0.3-5.3 mg P L(-1) and 3.0-49 mg N L(-1), with toxic levels of nitrite (≥1 mg NO(2)-N L(-1)) and ammonia (≥0.6 mg NH(3)-N L(-1)). The average NH(4)(+) (16.9 mg N L(-1)) increased by 160% compared to 1996-levels. Mass fluxes and δ(15)N-signatures revealed that nutrients originated almost exclusively from sewage. Furthermore, the water balance demonstrated that >90% of the polluted river water was diverted for irrigation, thereby threatening food safety and groundwater quality. Per capita loads of 1.42 kg N/yr and 115 g P/yr were comparable to the peak discharges typical of Europe and the United States in 1970-1990, but concentrations were 2-3 times higher in the Beijing-Tianjin region. Our research identified sewage as the predominant nutrient source in this semiarid region, which suggests that state-of-the-art wastewater treatment would drastically mitigate eutrophication and even more rapidly than was previously observed in Europe.