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Natural Organic Matter and the Bound-Water Concept in Aquatic Ecosystems

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Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology

Part of the book series: Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology ((RECT,volume 155))

Abstract

Water, in nature, is commonly viewed to exist as a “free” bulk solution in which natural organic matter (NOM) is considered to be “dissolved.” Laser particle counting (LPC) in aquatic systems almost inevitably reveals a total suspended-solids content that may range in diameter from less than detectable (usually 0.4 μm) to as large as 120 μm in diameter. These “solids” are, in reality, particles that can intercede in the laser pathway and so allow a size (single diameter, or two dimensional as the width, height, and outline) to be determined. These particles clearly bear a common density to the water (because they are floating in the medium) and have the ability to sorb or deflect the laser light to allow the presence of the particle to be determined. Such particles, by their nature, may be viewed as colloidal in nature and hold NOM within their structure as binding agents. Some of this bound NOM may incorporate viable (metabolically active) microbial cells, which would endow the structure with some level of biologically induced activity. Such colloids may be viewed as biocolloids be­cause they possess a resident and active biological community, albeit limited to a few cells in each colloidal particle. It may not be certain that the aquatic medium within which the abiotic and biotic colloids are suspended is “free” water uninfluenced by the presence of water activity affecting NOM. This sur­rounding liquid medium may contain NOM-bound water that is not detectable by LPC or other physical techniques but is influencing the physical and chemi­cal characteristics of the water.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, S4S 0A2

    Rolf D. Vinebrooke

  2. Regina Water Research Institute, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, S4S 0A2

    Roy Cullimore

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  1. Rolf D. Vinebrooke
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  2. Roy Cullimore
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George W. Ware

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Vinebrooke, R.D., Cullimore, R. (1998). Natural Organic Matter and the Bound-Water Concept in Aquatic Ecosystems. In: Ware, G.W. (eds) Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, vol 155. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1684-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1684-1_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7244-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-1684-1

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