Scientists and industry professionals from round the world came together in August to share their latest findings on the causes, origins, mitigation and management of off-flavours in drinking water, wastewater, and related aquatic environments such as lakes, rivers, and estuaries (9th International Water Association (IWA) Symposium on Off-Flavours in the Aquatic Environment, Aberdeen, Scotland).

As part of the IWA Specialty Group, Dr. Sue Watson acted as a session chair and presented Algal polyunsaturated fatty acids: sources of taste-odour, teratogens and toxins? Management implications for fish and drinking water industries on behalf of collaborators Dr. G. Caldwell and H. Dunstan from the University of Newcastle on Tyne, U.K. This study focused on compounds produced largely by golden algae, and showed that they can have significant and sometimes insidious socioeconomic and ecological impacts at several foodweb levels, and potentially affect recruitment success of commercially important fish species such as salmon. The implications of these findings for both drinking water and aquaculture industries are significant, given the rising demand for potable water, and increase in the proportion of farmed fish marketed worldwide.

Contact: Dr. Sue Watson, 905-336-4759, Sue.Watson@ec.gc.ca, Aquatic Ecosystem Management Research