COPYRIGHT AND CITATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR THIS THESIS/ DISSERTATION o Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. o NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. o ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. How to cite this thesis Surname, Initial(s). (2012). Title of the thesis or dissertation (Doctoral Thesis / Master’s Dissertation). Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/102000/0002 (Accessed: 22 August 2017). ASSESSMENT OF WATER AND SEDIMENT QUALITY IN THE KAALSPRUIT RIVER (SOUTH AFRICA) USING PHYSICO-CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL MONITORING TECHNIQUES. Submitted By MALEBO SALOME MOROLE Minor Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree MAGISTER SCIENTAE in ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT in the FACULTY OF SCIENCE at the UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG Supervisor: Dr. L. S. Modley Co-Supervisor: Prof. I. T. Rampedi Co-Supervisor: Prof. S. A. Bufo TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of contents i List of Figures iv List of Tables vi List of abbreviations viii List of appendices ix Acknowledgements x Abstract xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background to the study 1 1.2. Problem statement and justification for the study 2 1.3. Aims and objectives of the study 4 1.4. Structure of the report 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. Introduction 5 2.2. Water quality 6 2.2.1. Water pollution 6 a) Point sources 7 b) Non-point sources 7 2.2.2. Water quality status in South Africa 7 2.2.3. Water resources governance in South Africa 9 2.2.4. Water quality management plan 12 2.2.5. National water quality monitoring programmes 15 2.3. Water quality monitoring 16 2.3.1. The rationale for monitoring water resources 18 2.3.2. Water quality monitoring parameters 19 a) In-situ physico-chemical water quality parameters 20 b) Nutrients and biological components 23 c) Organic compounds 26 2.3.3. Biological monitoring 28 2.4. Water quality management 32 2.4.1. Integrated Water Resource Management 33 2.4.2. Community Based Water Resource Management (CBWRM) in IWRM 34 i CHAPTER 3: STUDY AREA AND METHODOLOGY 3.1. Description of the study area 38 3.1.1. Climate 39 3.1.2. Geology and topography 40 3.1.3. Vegetation and land use 40 3.1.4. Population and settlement pattern 41 3.2. Methodology 42 3.2.1. Field survey and site location 42 3.2.2. Water quality analysis 43 3.2.3. Sediment assessment 46 3.2.4. Macroinvertebrate assessment 48 3.2.5. Habitat assessment 50 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 4.1. River site description 51 4.2. Water quality results 57 4.2.1. Physico-chemical analyses of water 57 4.2.2. Nutrients and microbial analysis 59 4.2.3. Metal analysis 61 4.2.4. Organic compounds analysis 63 4.3. Sediment characteristics 64 4.3.1. Moisture and organic content 64 4.3.2. Grain sizes 66 4.3.3. Metals in sediment 68 4.3.4. Organic compounds in sediment 72 4.4. Aquatic macroinvertebrate assessment 77 4.5. Habitat assessment 82 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 5.1. Water quality 84 5.1.1. In-situ physico-chemical water parameters 84 5.1.2. Nutrients and biological aspects 87 5.1.3. Metals in water 90 5.1.4. Organic compounds in water 92 5.2. Sediment characteristics 94 5.2.1. Physical characteristics of sediment 94 5.2.2. Metals in sediment 95 ii 5.2.3. Organic compounds in sediment 97 5.3. Aquatic macroinvertebrates 100 5.4. Habitat assessment 102 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 6.1. Conclusion 105 6.2. Recommendations for a management plan 107 6.3. Recommendations for further studies in the Kaalspruit. 113 References 114 Appendices 128 iii LIST OF FIGURES Pg. no Figure 2.1: Water Management Areas of South Africa. 11 Figure 2.2: Community-based water resource management framework. 14 Figure 2.3: The 12 Themes (outer circles) are integrated to inform the 4 Strategic 15 Goals of the Water Plan. Figure 2.4: Water monitoring cycle. 17 Figure 2.5: Three pillars concept for Integrated Water Resources Management by 34 Global Water Partnership. Figure 3.1: Locality map of the Kaalspruit and the surrounding townships/suburbs. 38 Figure 3.2: Map showing the location of the Kaalspruit and Olifantspruit and the 39 surrounding land cover within the study area. Figure 3.3: Map showing the study area and selected sampling points, and the 43 location of the study area in the context of Gauteng Province in South Africa. Figure 3.4: Biological bands for SASS classification in the Upper Highlands. 49 Figure 4.1: Stream conditions at sampling site 1 of the Kaalspruit (Tembisa). 51 Figure 4.2: Stream conditions at sampling site 2 of the Kaalspruit (Ivory Park, 52 Freedom Drive). Figure 4.3: Stream conditions and activities at sampling site 3 of the Kaalspruit 53 (Ivory Park, Riverside Street). Figure 4.4: Stream conditions and riverbank activities at sampling site 4 of the 54 Kaalspruit (Clayville). Figure 4.5: Stream conditions and riverbank activities at sampling site 5 of the 55 Olifantspruit (Olifantsfontein). Figure 4.6: Grain size distribution of the Kaalspruit sediment during wet season 67 sampling (September 2018). Figure 4.7: Grain size distribution of the Kaalspruit sediment during dry season 68 sampling (June 2019). Figure 4.8: ASPT as a function of SASS score plotted within biological bands for 79 Kaalspruit (which falls within the Upper Highveld ecological zone) during wet season sampling (September 2018). iv Figure 4.9: ASPT as a function of SASS score plotted within biological bands for 81 Kaalspruit (which falls within the Upper Highveld ecological zone) during dry season sampling (June 2019). v LIST OF TABLES Pg. no Table 2.1: Monitoring programmes in South Africa. 16 Table 3.1: Coordinates of the selected sampling points and the respective locations. 42 Table 3.2: In-situ water quality parameters measure in the field for all sampling sites. 44 Table 3.3: Water quality parameters measured in the lab for the respective sampling 44 sites. Table 3.4: Classification of trophic status for aquatic ecosystems. 45 Table 3.5: Target Water Quality Guideline (TWQG) values with chronic (CEV) and 45 acute effect values (AEV). Table 3.6: Reference criteria for Ideal, Tolerable, and Intolerable values for major 46 ions. Table 3.7: Organic compounds measured in sediment samples for respective 47 sampling sites. Table 3.8: Grain size categories (Cyrus et al., 2000). 47 Table 3.9: Reference criteria showing category ranges for chemical constituents in 48 sediment according to the Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines for sediment. Table 3.10: Ecological categories for SASS5 classification. 49 Table 3.11: IHAS classes as indicated by scores and description. 50 Table 4.1: Sampling sites description as assessed on the Kaalspruit. 56 Table 4.2: In-situ water quality parameters measured for the Kaalspruit during the 58 wet season (September 2018). Table 4.3: In-situ water quality parameters measured for the Kaalspruit during the dry 58 season (June 2019). Table 4.4: Nutrients and microbial organisms measured for the Kaalspruit during the 60 wet season sampling (September 2018). Table 4.5: Nutrients and microbial organisms measured for the Kaalspruit during the 60 dry season sampling (June 2019). Table 4.6: Metals measured in the Kaalspruit water during wet season sampling 62 (September 2018). Table 4.7: Metals measured in the Kaalspruit water during dry season sampling 63 (June 2019). vi Table 4.8: Percentage moisture content for the Kaalspruit sediment during wet 65 season sampling (September 2018) and dry season sampling (June 2019). Table 4.9: Categories of sediment organic content (USEPA, 1991). 65 Table 4.10: Percentage organic content for the Kaalspruit during wet season 66 sampling (September 2018) and dry season sampling (June 2019). Table 4.11: Chemical variables determined in sediment for the Kaalspruit during wet 70 season sampling (September 2018). Table 4.12: Chemical variables determined in sediment for the Kaalspruit during dry 71 season sampling (June 2019). Table 4.13: Organochlorine pesticides determined in sediment for the Kaalspruit 73 during wet season sampling (September 2018). Table 4.14: Organochlorine pesticides determined in sediment for the Kaalspruit 73 during dry season sampling (June 2019). Table 4.15: Semi-volatile organic compounds determined in sediment for the 74 Kaalspruit during wet season sampling (September 2018). Table 4.16: Semi-volatile organic compounds determined in sediment for the 75 Kaalspruit during dry season sampling (June 2019). Table 4.17: Phenolic compounds determined in sediment for the Kaalspruit during 76 wet season sampling (September 2018). Table 4.18: SASS5 results for the Kaalspruit during wet season sampling 78 (September 2018). Table 4.19: SASS5 results for the Kaalspruit during dry season sampling (June 80 2019). Table 4.20: Integrated Habitat Assessment System (IHAS) results for the Kaalspruit 82 during wet season sampling (September 2018). Table 4.21: Integrated Habitat Assessment System (IHAS) results for the Kaalspruit 83 during dry season sampling (June 2019). vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AEV: Acute Effect Value ASPT: Average Score Per Taxa CBWRM: Community-based Water Resource Management CEV: Chronic Effect Value CMA: Catchment Management Agency CMS: Catchment Management Strategy DDT: Dichlorodiphenyl Trichloroethane DO: Dissolved Oxygen EC: