Ten Ministries Jointly Issued the ''Ten Measures for Water Pollution Prevention and Control,'' With Total Nitrogen in Nearshore Waters Becoming a Key Focus

Recently, ten ministries and commissions, including the General Offices of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Agriculture, the State Forestry Administration, and the State Oceanic Administration, jointly issued the "Nearshore Marine Pollution Prevention and Control Plan." This plan was formulated to implement the "Ten Measures for Water Pollution Prevention and Control" and improve the environmental quality of nearshore marine areas.

The "Ten Measures for Water Pollution Prevention and Control" clearly stipulates strengthening the protection of nearshore marine environments. The plan focuses on addressing pollution in the Yellow River Estuary, Yangtze River Estuary, Minjiang River Estuary, Pearl River Estuary, Liaodong Bay, Bohai Bay, Jiaozhou Bay, Hangzhou Bay, and Beibu Gulf. Total nitrogen emission control will be implemented in coastal prefecture-level cities and above. A total pollution discharge control system for key marine areas will be studied and established. The setting of sewage outlets into the sea will be standardized, and all illegal or improperly located sewage outlets into the sea will be completely cleaned up by the end of 2017.

To achieve this goal, this "Plan" formulates a number of measures, many of which involve water quality monitoring, especially the detection of total nitrogen.

In the task of gradually reducing land-based pollution emissions, coastal provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) are required to conduct a comprehensive survey and registration of rivers flowing into the sea (including seasonal rivers) within their administrative regions, carry out water quality monitoring at the river sections flowing into the sea, and determine water quality targets based on water environment function requirements. In addition, a comprehensive survey of sewage outlets into the sea is required by the end of June 2017 to ascertain the concentration and total amount of major pollutants discharged, and whether automatic monitoring instruments are installed at the outlets.

In strengthening pollutant emission control in coastal prefecture-level and above cities, these cities are required to include total nitrogen in routine surface water quality monitoring; environmental protection departments must include total nitrogen as a mandatory indicator in supervisory monitoring to ensure effective understanding of total nitrogen emissions from stationary pollution sources. Relevant polluting entities must conduct self-monitoring in accordance with the provisions of their discharge permits, ensuring the legality and validity of the data and timely public disclosure. Key polluting entities must install automatic online monitoring devices for total nitrogen and total phosphorus; other polluting entities are encouraged to install online monitoring equipment for total nitrogen and total phosphorus and connect it to the environmental protection department's network. Coastal provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) will include total nitrogen in their river water quality target assessments and make this information public.

In the task of preventing environmental risks in nearshore waters, a focus will be placed on the Bohai Sea, conducting risk assessments of nearshore waters polluted by marine oil spills and hazardous chemical leaks to prevent such pollution accidents. Environmental monitoring of the impacts of marine oil spills and hazardous chemical leaks on nearshore waters will be strengthened.

Currently, the determination of total nitrogen in my country is mainly based on spectrophotometry. The existing valid standards include: HJ/T 199-2005 Water Quality - Determination of Total Nitrogen - Gas Phase Molecular Absorption Spectrometry; HJ 636-2012 Water Quality - Determination of Total Nitrogen - Alkaline Potassium Persulfate Digestion Ultraviolet Spectrophotometry; HJ 667-2013 Water Quality - Determination of Total Nitrogen - Continuous Flow-Naphthylethylenediamine Hydrochloride Spectrophotometric Method; HJ 668-2013 Water Quality - Determination of Total Nitrogen - Flow Injection-Naphthylethylenediamine Hydrochloride Spectrophotometric Method; and HJ/T 102-2003 Technical Requirements for Automatic Total Nitrogen Water Quality Analyzers. The main instruments involved include water baths, autoclaves, gas phase molecular absorption spectrometers, ultraviolet spectrophotometers, continuous flow analyzers, pH meters, and automatic total nitrogen water quality analyzers.