PMI2 Connect - The Prime Ministers Initiative for International Education 2

Investigations into the water quality in rivers affected by caged fish farms and rice field effluents.

As part of the Strategic Alliances and Partnerships strand of the Prime Minister’s Initiative for International Education 2 (PMI2), the University of Warwick has been awarded a Research Co-operation grant.

The project is a cooperation between the warwickWater research group and Srinakharinwirot University (Thailand).

Background:

Rivers and irrigation channels in Thailand are increasingly being used for farming fish in cages, which releases pollutants such as nutrients and organic matter. The main input in most intensive fish culture systems is fish feed, which is partly being transformed into fish biomass and partly released into the water as suspended organic solids or dissolved matters directly or via faeces and excretions.

The combined release of the pollutants from agriculture and aquaculture has caused regularly the death of fish in these aquaeous systems. While it can be assumed that the main cause of the fish death is associated with sag of oxygen level in river water, there exist no data on concentration and durations of pollutants being released. In addition the cage fish farms will alter the flow patterns in the rivers, causing additional dead zones of flow and stagnant zones in the water.

The project has the aims to:

• Perform experiments for identificatio of key aspects of transport and fate processes of the specific pollutants associated with rice fields and aquaculture.
• Develop theory to quantify transport and fate processes of the specific pollutants in a riverine environment.
• Model the observed processes and develop a numerical model to support the management of water quality.
• Support the research activities of both country partners and to transfer knowledge on water quality and flow modelling between the partners.

Contact: Ian Guymer