IMAS Metadata Catalogue
Effluent and seawater sampling data from wastewater treatment plant outfalls (NESP MaC 2.4)
This project determined the ecological effect of coastal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) outfalls in two different coastal settings. Treated effluent, seawater, and marine sediments were collected from two WWTP outfalls located in South Australia (Glenelg & St Kilda). This is a shallow and retentive receiving environment and may accumulate effluent contaminants. Additionally, sediments were collected from another WWTP outfall in New South Wales (Malabar). This deep-water outfall discharges into a highly dispersive environment and offers a point of comparison for contaminant retention with the outfalls located in South Australia.
Work focused on five contaminants that water quality managers had identified in previous NESP MaC work (Project 1.16) as being highly important: nutrients and metals (traditional effluent pollutants); and antibiotics, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and microplastics (contaminants of emerging concern).
This record describes the results from the wastewater (effluent) and sea water sampling component of this study. Results from the sediment sampling are described separately by the record 'Sediment sampling data from wastewater treatment plant outfalls' ( https://metadata.imas.utas.edu.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/7130f946-c629-416e-99be-66ab53e885d7).
Data is currently under embargo, to be released in January 2026.
Simple
Identification info
- Date (Publication)
- 2025-07-09T00:00:00
Identifier
- Title
- Information and documentation - Digital object identifier system
- Citation identifier
- ISO 26324:2012
- Code
- 10.25959/648J-HR45
- Codespace
- doi.org
- Description
- Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Principal investigator
- Credit
- National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub
- Credit
- Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), Australian Government
- Credit
- In addition to NESP (DCCEEW) funding, this project is matched by an equivalent amount of in-kind support and co-investment from project partners and collaborators.
- Status
- Completed
Point of contact
Point of contact
Extent
))
))
Temporal extent
- Time period
- 2023-01-01 2023-12-31
- Maintenance and update frequency
- Not planned
- Keywords (Theme)
-
- PFAS
- Antimicrobials
- Microplastics
- Global Change Master Directory Earth Science Keywords, Version 8.5
Resource constraints
- Other constraints
- This dataset is hosted by the University of Tasmania, on behalf of the University of Technology Sydney and NESP Marine and Coastal Hub Project 2.4.
Resource constraints
- Use limitation
- Data was sourced from the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub – the Marine and Coastal Hub is supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program (NESP), administered by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Resource constraints
- Linkage
-
https://licensebuttons.net/l/by-nc/4.0/88x31.png
License Graphic
- Title
- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
- Alternate title
- CC-BY-NC
- Edition
- 4.0
- Website
-
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
License Text
- Other constraints
- Cite data as: Doblin, M., Nguyen, T. M. H., & Seymour, J. (2025). Effluent and seawater sampling data from wastewater treatment plant outfalls [Data set]. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. https://doi.org/10.25959/648J-HR45
Associated resource
- Association Type
- Dependency
- Initiative Type
- Project
- Title
- Project RAiD
Identifier
- Code
- 10.71676/94b5cc7b
- Codespace
- raid.org
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Content Information
- Content type
- Physical measurement
Distribution Information
- Description
- Microsoft Excel (.xlsx)
- OnLine resource
- DATA ACCESS - effluent & water sample data [.xlsx]
Resource lineage
- Statement
- ---Wastewater (effluent) samples--- 24-hour composite effluent samples were collected from the Glenelg and Bolivar (St Kilda) WWTPs. Effluent was stored at -20 °C and thawed immediately prior to contaminant analysis. ---Seawater samples--- Seawater samples were collected from around the Glenelg and St Kilda outfalls along transects running in four directions from the outfall (the ‘origin’), identified using locations listed in the National Outfalls Database. Transects were run in the direction of local currents (NNW-SSE for Glenelg, NE-SW for St Kilda), and in a perpendicular west-east direction. Along each transect, samples were taken at 0 m, 20 m, 100 m, and 1,000 m from the outfall source. The '0 m' samples were taken as close as possible to the pollution source, with some constraints about boat maneuverability in shallow water and against the force of outflow discharges. Samples were collected using a 5 L Niskin bottle deployed to 1 m from the sea floor. Three Niskin bottles were taken at each site (n = 3), with additional Niskin bottles (n = 3) collected for PFAS analysis. Samples were immediately transferred into polyethylene bottles and stored on ice for transport to the lab. --Analysis--- Effluent and seawater were analysed for physicochemical and water quality properties, chlorophyll a, abundance of waterborne microbial assemblages, nutrients, metals, PFAS and microplastics. Antimicrobials were additionally measured in effluent samples. Full analysis methodology is contained within the Project 2.4 final report.
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
Metadata
- Metadata identifier
- urn:uuid/00c3e9a2-5d2f-44de-9c30-00f4af385b6a
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
- Parent metadata
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Dataset
- Metadata linkage
-
https://metadata.imas.utas.edu.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/00c3e9a2-5d2f-44de-9c30-00f4af385b6a
Point of truth URL of this metadata record
- Date info (Creation)
- 2025-02-07T00:00:00
- Date info (Revision)
- 2025-09-22T12:12:07
Metadata standard
- Title
- ISO 19115-3:2018
Overviews
Spatial extent
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