Adrienne Clement

Budapest University of Technology and Economics · Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering

Effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) contribute to surface water pollution, especially when large plants discharge into rivers with smaller flow values. Recognizing this, the EU has launched the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD), aiming at protecting valuable freshwater resources. After achieving much success, but n...

Purpose According to standard procedure recommended by the Water Framework Directive (WFD), dissolved concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in river water are determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in filtered (0.45 µm) and acidified (pH 2) samples. Properly prepared and stored composite samples can enhanc...

Trace substances represent one of the central challenges for water management in the Danube River Basin. This article presents the concept and an overview of the results of the project Danube Hazard m3c, which was carried out within the framework of the Interreg Danube Transnational Programme of the EU from 2020 to 2023. In the course of the projec...

There is a growing awareness of the fact that chemicals of everyday usage usually end up in the environment resulting in degraded functioning of the ecosystems. In a one-year sampling campaign conducted in four medium sized catchments of the Carpathian Basin: Wulka, Austria (389 km²), Koppány, Hungary (660 km²), Zagyva, Hungary (1200 km²) and Somes...

Szerves és szervetlen anyagok sok évtizede kerülnek a környezetbe; sorsuk és viselkedésük iránt azonban főleg az utóbbi években nőtt meg az érdeklődés, miután fény derült rá, hogy-a környezetbe kikerülve sokuk perzisztens, bioakkumulációra hajlamos és már egész kis koncentrációban is toxikus. Környezeti mintákból való kimutatásuk-részben az alacson...

Organic and inorganic substances have been emitted into the environment for many decades; however, the interest in their fate and behavior has grown mainly in recent years. Due partly to the meager amount they are present in environmental compartments such as rainwater, river water, or waste waters, substantial resources are needed to detect their...

Aim: This chapter provides an insight into the diversity of constructed wetlands across large geographic range and their functional role in treating both point and non-point sources of pollutants while simultaneously providing other services such as habitats for biodiversity. Main concepts covered: The four case studies included in this chapter hig...

This chapter gives an overview of the types of (semi-) constructed wetlands, and how these can be applied for the management and, specifically, the retention of agricultural diffuse loads so that they do not reach inland surface waters. To achieve an effective wetland design, a multi-faceted approach is required, which accounts for the location of...

In a 1.5-year monitoring program, the rainfall-induced urban runoff was sampled in 8 pilot catchments located in various Hungarian cities. Nutrient (N, P) and heavy metal (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb, Zn) contamination of the samples was characterized by the mean concentration/load value of each runoff event. In this study, we relate (i) event mean...

The objective of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) is to achieve good ecological status in surface waters by 2027. To make a proper evaluation of the ecological status of watercourses, it is necessary to harmonize class boundaries for chemical and biological quality elements (BQEs). This paper aims to explore the linkages between physicochemical...

Implementation of an extensive urban runoff monitoring program, targeting the quantification of heavy metal and organic micropollutant loads, necessitated the development of an autonomous water sampler. The design requirements for the device were to fulfill flow-proportional continuous composite sampling of urban runoff events in a widely customiza...

With the introduction of the Water Framework Directive, the relative importance of smaller waterways increased. This statement is particularly true for Hungary, where water-quality monitoring of most smaller rivers only began 12 years ago. Due to their large number, and the lack of historical data concerning their state, systematic monitoring is a...

The over-enrichment of shallow lakes in nutrients has emerged as one of the main causes of water quality deterioration, and is today a major focus of water quality studies worldwide. In the present work, changes in trophic conditions over three decades (1985-2017) in the largest shallow freshwater lake in Central Europe, Lake Balaton, are assessed...

The contamination of waters with nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus originating from various diffuse and point sources, has become a worldwide issue in recent decades. Due to the complexity of the processes involved, watershed models are gaining an increasing role in their analysis. The goal set by the EU Water Framework Directive (to re...

Watershed area and a bunch of relief, land use, and wastewater characteristics for 32 upland and 33 lowland small river courses are generated. Based on these characteristics, logistic binary regression models are trained to predict if the river achieves the good physico-chemical status, and discriminant analysis models are trained to predict the ph...

Environmental management decisions should be made based on solid scientific evidence that relies on monitoring and modeling. In practice, changing economic, societal, and political boundary conditions often interfere with management during large, long, and complex projects. The result may be a sub-optimal development path that may finally diverge f...

Hazai domb-és síkvidéki kisvízfolyások vízminősége, és a vízfolyás vízgyűjtőterületének területhasználata közötti összefüggést vizsgáltuk többváltozós adatelemzési módszerekkel. Első lépésben a Víz Keretirányelv előírásainak megfelelően ötosztályú skálán (kiváló … rossz) értékeltük a vizsgálatba bevont kisvízfolyások vízminőségét. Második lépésben...

According to the Water Framework Directive (WFD) evaluation and classification of each water body is required once in every 6-year period. Basis for the classification should be monitoring data – or, in the absence of these expert judgement. Hungary’s water body network consists of ~1000 water bodies of which ~700 haven’t been monitored for surface...

This paper presents the results of a field campaign that was aimed to assess the total amount and the spatial variation in the cross-sectional surface loads of four selected heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Pb and Sb) at three different locations of a downtown street at Budapest, Hungary. The distribution of surface loads were found to be determined by their...

Lakes are sensitive to changes in their environmental boundary conditions that can be indicated in the periodic behavior of water quality variables. The present work aims to assess the degree to which common annual periodic behavior is present (1994–2010) in the meteorological parameters (global radiation, air temperature, cloud cover), streamflow;...

Az Európai Unió 2000/60/EK irányelve, azaz a Víz Keretirányelv (VKI) a felszíni vizek jó ökológiai és kémiai állapotának elérését és annak megőrzését tűzi ki célként. Ennek biztosításához ökológiai alapokon nyugvó, a vízi ökoszisztémák védelmét és funkciójának megőrzését előtérbe helyező állapotértékelési rendszert vezetett be. A felszíni vizek áll...

Lakes are sensitive to environmental changes and anthropogenic effects, and Lake Balaton, the largest shallow lake in Central Europe, is no exception. To protect it against elevated nutrient loads, the Kis-Balaton Water Protection System (KBWPS) was constructed as a mitigation wetland at the mouth of the largest tributary of the lake. This work aim...

Lakes are sensitive to environmental changes and anthropogenic effects; and Lake Balaton, the largest shallow freshwater lake in Central Europe, is no exception. To protect the lake (primarily Keszthely Bay) against elevated nutrient loads, the Kis–Balaton Water Protection System (KBWPS) was constructed as a mitigation wetland at the mouth of the R...

An enhanced transport-based management approach is presented, which is able to support cost-effective water quality management with respect to diffuse phosphorus pollution. Suspended solids and particulate phosphorus emissions and their transport were modeled in two hilly agricultural watersheds (Wulka River in Austria and Zala River in Hungary) wi...

Conventional methods of road runoff sampling come with various difficulties. Hence, a novel experimental method was tested in and around Budapest, using a passenger car to collect wheel splash samples. Total concentrations of selected heavy metals were compared to the results of an earlier conventional runoff sampling program for verification. Desp...

This paper estimates the traffic-related heavy metal emissions and rainfall–runoff loads in Hungary for 2008 using the results of two rainfall–runoff sampling programs. Based on the metal concentrations found in runoff samples, distinct Cu/Zn ratios are identified for urban and motorway traffic. The former being higher than the latter reflects the...

A diffuse emission modeling tool has been developed, which is appropriate to support decision-making in watershed management. The PhosFate (Phosphorus Fate) tool allows planning best management practices (BMPs) in catchments and simulating their possible impacts on the phosphorus (P) loads. PhosFate is a simple fate model to calculate diffuse P emi...

The paper outlines a multi-component assessment of the impacts of the climate change on runoff and total phosphorus loads to the large shallow Lake Balaton in Hungary. Present hydrological cycle of the lake catchment has been examined using the rainfall-runoff model WetSpa. Particular phosphorus concentration in runoff was estimated on the basis of...

The paper outlines a multi-component assessment of climate change impacts on runoff and total phosphorus loads to the Lake Balaton in Hungary, the greatest shallow lake in the Central European region. Hydrological cycle of the lake watershed was simulated by the rainfall-runoff model WetSpa. The model was extended for water quality simulation there...

One and a half year long field sampling was established in order to evaluate the contamination of storm water runoff. The event means (EMC) total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) concentration of the runoff was a function of the actual traffic intensity and the rainfall depth. It was concluded that this TPH, of which dominant component is the engine-oi...

The paper presents a complex environmental engineering tool, which is appropriate to support decision making in watershed management. The PhosFate tool allows planning best management practices (BMPs) in catchments and simulating their possible impacts on immissions. The method has two parts: (a) a simple phosphorus (P) fate model to calculate diff...

The paper presents an overview about recovery of shallow Lake Balaton from eutrophication by assessing quantitative and qualitative changes in phytoplankton, zooplankton, and chironomids as a function of load reduction. The aim was to update the present water quality targets. The proposed targeting scheme supplements the existing one with a range o...

About a quarter of the total nutrient loading of Lake Balaton (Hungary) originates from urban diffuse sources, mostly from direct shoreline watersheds. This load cannot be measured directly. Sampling of urban runoff can help improving load estimations. The dynamic processes characterizing the accumulation and washoff of contaminants suggest that ra...

In this paper, results from rivers of different sizes in Romania, Hungary and Austria are presented. The paper shows the dynamics of extreme events and their contribution to the total P and suspended solids transported in these rivers. Special attention is paid to the influence of the size of the catchment and the event probability on the relative...

Nutrient loads to large, shallow Lake Balaton have been reduced by 45-50% since mid-1980s. While a delayed, but still surprisingly fast recovery was observed in the hypertrophic western areas of the lake, eutrophication followed sewage diversion from the mesotrophic northern basins. We assessed factors that could lead to this unusual response. The...

Annual nutrient loads have been estimated for Lake Balaton over three decades. Tributaries may transport about half of the loads into the lake. The contribution of diffuse sources may reach two thirds of the total load. Biweekly/monthly water quality monitoring on small inflows (0.01 m3/s-0.3 m3/s range) results in a high uncertainty of load estima...

Presently the objective of urban water management is to deal jointly with water and material budgets, preferably in such a way as to establish closed cycles. The strategic analysis was made for two time horizons: For the period until Hungary joins the EU and for a longer period after that. This study analyses the strategic questions of drinking wat...

In the frame of an EU/Phare project nutrient balances of the Danube countries were studied. As an element of the procedure, N and P emissions to surface waters were estimated on various scales. The “immission” loads computed from water quality and flow data were used to refine these estimates. The evaluation indicated the significant role of uncert...

The Hungarian watershed of the Sajó River (a shared river basin with Slovakia), representing about 5% of the country's population and territory was used as a case study to analyze issues of EU accession with special regard to drinking water supply and urban wastewater management. In the past the Sajó was one of the most contaminated Hungarian river...

The Hungarian watershed of the Sajó River (a shared river basin with Slovakia), representing about 5% of the country's population and territory was used as a case study to analyze issues of EU accession with special regard to drinking water supply and urban wastewater management. In the past the Sajó was one of the most contaminated Hungarian river...

In the frame of an EU/Phare project nutrient balances of the Danube countries were studied. As an element of the procedure, N and P emissions to surface waters were estimated on various scales. The “immission” loads computed from water quality and flow data were used to refine these estimates. The evaluation indicated the significant role of uncert...

The Kis-Balaton reservoir system, consisting of the upper and lower reservoirs, is located near to the mouth of the Zala River. It was established for the protection of Lake Balaton against high nutrient loads. In accordance with the original plan prepared at the end of 70s the aim was that before entering the lake, nutrients - primarily phosphorus...

The Kis-Balaton reservoir system, consisting of the upper and lower reservoirs, is located near to the mouth of the Zala River. It was established for the protection of Lake Balaton against high nutrient loads. In accordance with the original plan prepared at the end of 70s the aim was that before entering the lake, nutrients - primarily phosphorus...

The Kis-Balaton reservoir system, consisting of the upper and lower elements was established for the protection of Lake Balaton against high nutrient loads. In accordance with the original plan the aim was that before entering the lake, nutrients - primarily phosphorus (P) - will be removed by macrophytes. Contrary to plans, the Upper Reservoir bec...

Climate change predicted for the northern hemisphere and its regional version will modify the environment and, as a consequence, the conditions of a wide range of human activities. Among others, the energy demand and production is also affected. This paper, by a case study analysis of an electric power plant supplied with freshwater cooling system...

In the majority of CEE countries there is a great utility gap: service level of drinking water supply is significantly higher than that of the sewerage. The main objective of this paper is to present a method used to refine emission estimations from settlements without sanitary sewers. Villages with less than 2000 p.e. were selected for survey, whe...