Sediment samples from three Australian coastal wastewater treatment plant outfalls were analyzed for five contaminant groups. The project compared contaminant retention between shallow, retentive environments in South Australia and a deep, dispersive outfall in New South Wales. This record is part of a larger study by the Australian Ocean Data Network, with results described separately for effluent and seawater.
Use Cases
- Compare contaminant retention between shallow/retentive and deep/dispersive coastal environments based on the described sampling locations.
- Analyze concentrations of traditional pollutants like nutrients and metals in marine sediments near wastewater outfalls.
- Study the presence of contaminants of emerging concern, such as PFAS and microplastics, in coastal sediments.
- Assess the ecological effects of wastewater treatment plant discharges on different coastal settings as described in the project scope.
Strengths
- Focuses on five specific contaminant groups identified as highly important by water quality managers.
- Provides a comparative study between two distinct coastal receiving environments (shallow/retentive vs. deep/dispersive).
- Data is part of a structured project (NESP MaC 2.4) with related datasets for effluent and seawater.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing on specific Australian sites.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Sediment sampling and laboratory analysis from wastewater treatment plant outfalls.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-06-23 01:15:59.941412; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Coastal South Australia (Glenelg & St Kilda) and New South Wales (Malabar), Australia.