Stream Ecology and Self-Purification

Book excerpt: From the Preface This text is designed to provide a fundamental knowledge of the phenomenon known as self-purification in streams. Sufficient background information and references on stream ecology and self-purification are presented to provide readers with an understanding of the various concepts under discussion. Moreover, along with the stream self-purification process and biological indication of stream health, water quality and source sampling are discussed in depth. Wastewater and water treatment personnel, students, specialists, water resource managers, ecologists, regulators, and water pollution control personnel concerned with activities and preventive measures to prevent stream pollution will find this consolidated information important. Other professional wastewater- and water-related staff from governmental agencies, municipal water supply and wastewater systems, public health departments, and environmental health agencies will also find the information valuable. This text, however, is also intended for readers and groups interested in and concerned with stream pollution and stream contamination control. This text can be used as a basic or supplemental text in undergraduate and technical school courses in aquatic ecology or stream quality enhancement and protection. It can also be consulted as an environmental reference text by school, municipal, and water resource professionals.