Water related environmental problems at Sinop peninsula in the
Black Sea, Turkey
1. Study area: overview of waste water and sea pollution situation along the
Turkish Black Sea Coast and Sinop peninsula
The Black Sea is the world’s largest inland sea and widely perceived to be polluted.
Almost one-third of the entire land area of continental Europe drains into it and the Black Sea
environment has suffered degradation from waste from approximately 17 countries (Fig. 1).
The Black Sea is located between the latitudes 40055’ and 46042’ N and the longitudes
27027’ and 41042’ E. The Black Sea has been historically one of the most biologically and
ecologically productive marine ecosystem in the world.
Fig. 1. The Black Sea and its discharge points (Bat et al., 2009)
Environmental problems faced in Black Sea basin may be both local and cross border
based. The Black Sea being polluted by air pollution borne from Middle Europe, Russia, and
Balkan countries by air masses and regional scale air pollution resulting from this and acid
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rains put the local community under threat (Anonymous, 2004a). Considering the fact that the
Black Sea is the basin used for the international waste transportation, we can once more
underline the importance of cross border pollution of the Turkish coast of the Black Sea.
Fig. 2. Black Sea coastal towns and major rivers location points (Bat et al., 2009)
In addition to crossborder problems of the Black Sea basin, numerous vital local and
regional problems are encountered. These problems can be categorised as follows:
Problems resulting from the solid waste management,
Urban and industrial air pollution,
Marine pollution,
Noise,
Surface and underwater pollution,
Land misuse and land pollution,
Dangerous waste problems (Anonymous, 2004a).
Pollution burden of the Black Sea basin is high for both natural reasons and wastes the
rivers in various countries bring. Heavy metal values flowing into the Black Sea from Turkey
are shown in Table 3. The most prominent problem of the provinces located along the Black
Sea coast is the uncontrolled discharge into the coastal areas of waste waters and solid wastes.
In addition to the local pollution of various resources of the Turkish Black Sea coast, local
pollution has a crucial importance in views of coastal use for recreation purpose, because
local pollution influences the health of the people swimming in the sea in the summertime.
Urban waste waters of all settlement areas along the coastline is discharged into the sea
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untreated. The most notable example of this was observed in Samsun, Ordu, Giresun and
Sinop until recently.
Domestic discharge is the greatest source of organic substances discharged into coastal
zone. In Turkey, in many towns and cities situated on the coast, however, sewage is
discharged untreated. Organic substance is an important nutrient, as it is a source of food for
many benthic invertebrates in the marine ecosystem (Bat et al., 2009).
For example, Sinop is the smallest city and located on the Southern coast of the Black
Sea. Gökkurt (Gökkurt, 2007) showed that some pollutant loads from Sinop city domestic
discharge point to the Black Sea coast and Table 2 shows participation of pollutants load from
Turkish coast of the Black Sea and especially in Samsun, total load of pollution higher than
other cities of Turkish coast of Black Sea (Table 1; Table 2). The calculations were done
according to the flow of the discharge 52 litres per second (Anonymous, 2004b). Some of the
parameters are exceeded the Turkish Environmental Regulations’ criteria. In the last decade,
the local population in Sinop is about 30.000; however, the population increases up to 80.000
in summer. Thus, untreated domestic wastes and human activity along the coastal zone
increase in summer and probably give rise to high pollution.
Table 1. Participation of land based sources pollutants load from Turkish Coast of the Black
Sea (Sarıkaya et al., 1999)
No
Stations
Cumulative load (t.yr-1)
Total load (t.yr-1) %
1
Samsun
9249.66
20.6
2
Trabzon
17508.10
39.1
3
Giresun
25112.00
56.0
4
Zonguldak
30644.51
68.4
5
Ordu
34154.31
76.2
6
Bafay
36644.31
81.8
vegetable
liquid
oil
plant.
(Samsun)
7
Rize
38598.79
86.1
8
Bul-Co fish plant (Giresun)
40020.79
89.3
9
Sinop
40907.97
91.3
10
Bartın
41611.75
92.9
11
SEKA paper plant (Giresun)
42125.05
94.0
12
Slaughterhouse
42619.41
95.1
of
meat
and
fish
3
Association (Sakarya)
13
Artvin
43008.79
96.0
14
Kastamonu
43360.69
96.8
15
Bolu
43606.05
97.3
16
Dogan Biscuit and Chocolate (Sakarya)
43838.75
97.8
17
SEKA Paper Plant (Zonguldak)
43949.02
98.1
18
Caroglu Slaughterhouse (Sakarya)
44043.19
98.3
19
Koy-Tur Chicken Plant (Sakarya)
44043.19
98.5
20
Mankap Vegetable Liquid Oil Plant
44201.64
98.7
(Zonguldak)
21
Karsu fish bait Plant (Trabzon)
44253.44
98.8
22
Bekar Textile Plant (Samsun)
44302.21
98.9
23
Akova Flour Plant (Sakarya)
44347.98
99.0
24
Dokap Flour Plant (Zonguldak)
44389.59
99.1
25
Sinop Textile Plant
44426.91
99.2
26
Acid Industry. – Ethyl Alcohol Plant
44464.01
99.2
(Sakarya)
27
İpek Flour Plant (Zonguldak)
44500.75
99.3
28
Elif Flour Plant (Trabzon)
44536.89
99.4
29
Cargill Flour Plant (Sakarya)
44570.25
99.5
30
Ketas Food Make with Milk Plant
44602.16
99.5
(Trabzon)
31
Ak A. Textile Plant (Zonguldak)
44633.16
99.6
32
Ahenk Turkish Delight and Sugaring
44663.76
99.7
44688.19
99.7
Plant (Samsun)
33
Kebir Food Make with Milk Plant
(Trabzon)
35
Ansan Beverages Plant (Trabzon)
44711.08
99.3
34
Camadan Flour Plant (Samsun)
44725.78
99.3
36
Ünsan Flour Plant (Ordu)
44739.93
99.9
37
Entas Chicken Plant (Sakarya)
44753.31
99.9
38
Terme Metal Industry Plant (Samsun)
44765.99
99.9
39
Yıldız Resine Plant (Samsun)
44775.99
99.9
4
40
Özkasapoglu Feed Plant (Zonguldak)
44805.67
100.0
41
Bizon Lumber Plant (Sakarya)
44805.68
100.0
44805.68
100.0
Total
Table 2. Pollutants discharged through domestic waste waters into the Black Sea (Bakan and
Büyükgüngör, 2000)
Discharge
TSS
BOI
KOI
o-P
Total P
NH3-N
NO3-N
NO2-N
TKN
(km3/yıl)
(t/yr)
(t/yr)
(t/yr)
(t/yr)
(t/yr)
(t/yr)
(t/yr)
(t/yr)
(t/yr) (t/yr)
Sinop
0.004
596
827
1635
32.7
37.3
85.9
7.3
0.13
114.6
4.7
Samsun
0.008
1600
2054
3037
46.9
62.4
25.6
12.3
1.04
132.0
48.1
Ordu
0.010
886
1946
820
54.9
68.1
19.3
17.1
0.14
44.8
51.8
Giresun
0.004
473
2063
2249
27.9
50.8
16.5
9.5
0.13
128.5
36.2
Trabzon
0.010
1489
2099
2221
69.3
49.8
9.6
30.2
0.13
208.5
118.5
Rize
0.009
276
1477
1282
32.7
43.9
41.8
14.2
0.15
285.5
30.5
City
Kızılırmak and Yesilirmak, the two most important rivers of Black Sea Region, and a lot
of big and little industries (food, cement, fertilizer, pesticides, resin, plastic, textile, cigarette
manufacturing) exist in the Middle Black Sea Region of Turkey. Most of these factories have
no treatment plant and they have a considerable potential to create local pollution problem
(Altas et al, 2001). On the other hand, the eastern part of the Black Sea Region has no
important industrial factories, but only hazelnut facilities, floor manufacturing and fish-oil
factories. Besides, small industrial activities, pulp and paper factory present in this region is
one of the important industries. Heavy metals in marine environment are caused by discharge
of especially industrial pollutants (Table 3).
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Detergent
Table 3. Annual load of heavy metals in rivers and streams along the Black Sea Coast of
Turkey (Altaş ve Büyükgüngör, 2006)
Pollutants (t.yr-1)
Discharge (km3.yr-1) Total Chrome Cadmium
Lead
Sakarya River
6.02
128.595
781.144
-
Cark Stream
0.31
4.086
12.867
-
Melen Stream
1.57
95.96
28.726
-
Alapli Stream
0.27
-
11.520
13.927
Gülüc Stream
1.19
-
20.378
-
Catalagzi Stream
0.13
2.627
3.115
-
Kozlu Stream
0.02
-
0.053
-
Zonguldak Stream
0.13
0.791
0.885
-
Filyos Stream
3.22
-
262.824
-
Bartin Stream
0.36
16.230
0.773
18.196
Kizilirmak River
7.39
427.101
1234.239
722.303
Kurtun Stream
0.16
22.588
2.084
1.239
Mert River
1.06
19.214
98.761
-
Yesilirmak River
10.26
2549.228
1505.295
-
Milic Stream
0.43
-
3.067
0.459
Civil Stream
0.6
3.140
0.117
-
Melet River
0.83
128.298
124.780
5.045
Aksu Stream
0.97
3.608
8.326
-
Fol Stream
0.20
-
-
-
Sögütlüdere Stream
0.12
-
2.633
-
Stream of Degirmen
0.87
-
-
-
6
In coastal zone of Sinop suspended solid matter concentrations are very high in respect
to “Turkish Environmental Regulation, 2004 table 3: General Quality Criteria of Marine”
(Anonymous, 2004c). The reasons of this situation are untreated domestic discharges and
erosion problem in coastal zone of Sinop peninsula (Bat et al, 2009).
Present Industrial Pollution in the Region
There is little industry located in the locality. The wastes of these plants flow into the
Black Sea untreated through the rivers directly or indirectly. Besides, breakwaters and ports
built in Black Sea without the proper estimation of currents and tides cause in vital
destruction to marine environment (Anonymous, 2003).
Land Misuse and Land Pollution
There are limited number of fields appropriate for agriculture and settlement because
of the location of the mountain ranges horizontal to the sea in the Blak Sea region. Wrong
practices carried out in these limited number of fields (both agricultural fields and industrial
purpose areas) cause these areas to be destructed (Anonymous, 2003).
2. Problem definition
Sinop is a pretty city located right at the middle of the Turkish Black Sea coast and on
the northernmost tip of Turkey. Sinop is located on a geographical area on Boztepe Peninsula
of 6 km length, which extends northward and is surrounded by the sea on three sides. The
most most important factor leading to marine pollution in the city is uncontrolled discharges
into the sea of the domestic waste waters.
Marine pollution upsets the balance of the nature and negatively influences any kind
of life, and the main reasons of the marine pollution in Sinop are as follows:
-
Domestic waste waters
-
Pollution by the sea vessels
-
Domestic solid wastes
-
Pollution caused by the fisheries activity ( Anonymous, 2004b)
Our research was aimed at revealing in what way waste waters discharged into the sea
untreated influence the physico-chemical properties of the sea waters, particulary used for
recreational purpose and having an economic value for the city (Gökkurt et al., 2007).
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Figure 3. Sampling stations regarding the research conducted on Sinop coasts (Gökkurt,
2007)
As a result of discharge of the domestic waste waters into the sea untreated, decrease,
migration, and even death in marine lives can be noticed. Organic substances are
predominantly present among the domestic waste waters. Oxygen consumption of these
substances in the receiving sea environments has a great importance in views of water quality.
Organic substances present dissolved in the sea water are composed of natural origins, mainly
animal and herbal, and unnatural compounds accompanying untreated urban and industrial
waste waters. According to our results of an ongoing study, the data obtained from the
organic substances have been found above the maximum tolerable amount. This situation is
due to the deep structure of the stations high in organic substances and the uncontrolled
discharge of the domestic waste waters (Bat ve Gökkurt, 2008).
Nitrite and nitrate nitrogen known to result from the domestic waste waters generally
in Sinop coastal zone may have various effects in views of marine pollution. Oxygen value in
the environment being affected and the threat to the life in case of an extreme increase.
Nitrogen intake into the sea in natural ways may be possible with the dissolving from the
atmosphere and rain waters. In addition, drainage directed to the sea environment untreated
increases the nitrite and nitrate nitrogen amount.
The result of our research is that this value has been exceeded in the coastal areas in
general, in the points in particular where a fecal pollutant discharge is conducted, in the areas
where landslides, which can be regarded as one of the most important problems of Sinop, take
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place, in the areas close to the agricultural fields, and thus water quality suffers. Pollution load
values belonging to some parameters are shown in Table 4 (Bat and Gökkurt, 2008).
Particularly the waste waters merging into the sea environment with the human and
animal excrements should be properly disinfected prior to the discharge into the receiving
environment in the zones like inner port having a low potential of dissolving. The most
important one of the measures to be taken in order to prevent marine pollution in the city will
be to treat / refine the waste waters with the most appropriate method. Long term plans
necessary for the conservation of our marine resources can be effectively prepared and
implemented only when the exact amount of the pollutants have been determined.
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Table 4 Pollution load values of some parameters (Gökkurt et al., 2007)
Station No (in Fig. 3)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
BOI5 (ton/yr)
3,95
12,44
4,42
3,36
4,40
6,89
6,15
3,76
NO2-N (ton/yr)
0,153
0,25
0,166
0,161
0,16
0159
0,151
0,158
NO3-N (ton/yr)
17,24
39,58
17,384
18,54
17,71
16,91
9,62
16,73
Organic matter (ton/yr)
39,27
54,43
40
33,99
32,85
33,76
28
38,36
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Lack of infrastructure and absence of waste water treatment system in the city have
caused problems.
Figure 4. Discharge into the coastal zone of surface waters through a closed channel (Gökkurt
Baki, 2011).
All surface waters in the city are ultimately discharged into the sea in the city (Figure
4). Waste water collection system of Sinop was designed by the Bank of Provinces. However,
due to the system still not in operation, the waste waters of Sinop are discharged into the sea
at three points without taken into any treatment facility (Gökkurt Baki, 2011; Figure 5; Figure
6; Figure 7). Work is done in order to put the wastewater treatment system into practice as
soon as possible.
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Figure 5. Discharge of the wastewater into the sea from the main collector Çukurbağ district
(Original, March, 2010; Gökkurt Baki, 2011).
Figure 6. Discharge of the wastewater into the sea (Original, March, 2010; Gökkurt Baki,
2011)
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Figure 7. Discharge of the wastewater into the sea (Original, Eylül, 2006; Gökkurt Baki,
2011)
3. Need for drainage and treatment systems
In order to prevent the local marine pollution in the other coastal cities where the
drainage system is inadequate, drainage and treatment/discharge systems are built. (Gökkurt
Baki, 2011).
Depending on the determined infrastructure problems, the existing slope in the city
causes the flood waters and waste waters to be directed to coastal zone and sea. This
constitutes a non-point polluting source for the city coasts.
It will be possible to prevent the pollution in these areas by operating the waste water
treatment facility in order to decrease the coastal/marine pollution in Sinop. However, the
problems resulting from various material restrictions, demanding official procedures and lack
of infrastructure remain unsolved.
We found out that it negatively affects both the water quality of the coastal areas and
in the long run the sediment quality and bentic and pelagic life cycles, and also noticed that
the discharge of the waste waters can negatively affect the city tourism. (Table 4).
From the visuals and findings of the coastal areas taken at various points and times, it
can be noticed that all surface waters in the city coasts are discharged into coastal zone for
now. This situation is the most important factor affecting the coastal zone of the city and city
tourism, but work for bringing into operation the treatment plant considered as a solution to
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this problem continues. Waste water management is one of the priority issues for the city.
Domestic waste waters discharged into the coastal zone of the outer port can be said to be
stuck on the coastal zone of Akliman and even Hamsilos Bay owing to the currents in the
outer port. The effects of the wastewaters discharged into the coastal zone of the city at three
points can be seen at any part of the coastal zone because of the currents (Gökkurt Baki,
2011).
It is necessary to determine scientifically the environmental problems of the city, to
build environmental protection infrastructure, to ensure the management of surface and
underground water resources in the planning field, most important of all to promote and
valorise the infrastructure unity among the local authorities, to facilitate the waste water and
solid waste management, a part of the integrated coastal zone management, by the relevant
authorities.
4. Public Participation
We didn’t determined the inclusion public participation because of the undeveloped
industrial activities or any activities about public participation at the province of Sinop.
5. Conclusions
Sustainable development of the Black Sea requires continued international
cooperation. Solutions to the Black Sea environmental problems demand that uniform strict
rules be adopted by each country. It means that the regulations should also cover those
countries which influence the Black Sea environment through the rivers, mainly Danube,
Dnieper and Dniester and another land based pollution sources.
Different types of pollutants in domestic and/or industrial discharges have different
effects on human health and ecosystems at the point of discharge and in the surrounding
environment. This surrounding environment may be very large and may extend beyond
international borders. The risks increase proportionally with the quantity of the wastewater
and concentration of the pollutant. Turkey is developing countries where industrial and urban
developments mostly occur in coastal areas through increased input of wastes impose a
further stress on the Turkish coasts of Black Sea.
The application of the agreements requires that each country which has a coast to the
Black Sea, concerned creates an environmental policy. Harmonization of legislation and
14
standards, preparation of effluent discharge inventories and mapping of major pollution
sources and establishment of water monitoring programmers. These components are stated in
the activities of the Black Sea Environmental Programme but the legislative frame for their
realization still does not exist in all countries in the region (Bat et al., 2009).
The most important point regarding the marine pollution is the determination of the
present state of pollution and regular monitoring of pollution by measuring the parameters
concerned. Utilisation of the sea in Turkey, surrounded by the sea on three sides, and its
protection from pollution have a crucial importance in views of thhe sustainability of the
ecosystem, human health, and country economy (Anonymous, 2004b; Gökkurt et al., 2007).
Pollution resulting from land based pollutants on Sinop coastal zone started locally,
and long term solutions should be determined as soon as possible. Determining the present
state in the area is one of the most important steps in order to commit to a rearch for
sustainable solution. Therefore, the present study is considered to shed light on future research
and possible solutions.
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