Causes, Assessment, and Treatment of Nutrient (N and P) Pollution in Rivers, Estuaries, and Coastal Waters

As a consequence of industrialization, urbanization, and population growth in the past decades, high nutrient concentrations from point and non-point sources in aquatic systems have caused major problems to the water quality in rivers, estuaries, and coastal waters. Although the nutrient pollution due to land use change cannot be ignored, the combined sewer overflows and discharging sites have been important point sources of nutrient pollution. Integrated hydrodynamic, chemical, and biological models developed in recent years, which simulate the nutrient transportation from both point and non-point sources, are useful tools to assist in identifying the transport and fate of nutrients from both point and non-point sources. In this paper, water quality data from published literature were reviewed and analyzed to evaluate nutrient (N and P) pollution in aquatic systems. An integrated monitoring and management plan should be continuously developed in the future to monitor and regulate nutrient discharges from point and non-point sources.