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KZN DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, ENVIRONMENTAL

AFFAIRS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Report

2012

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Definitions and Abbreviations

air quality standard values that define targets for air quality management and establish the permissible amount

or concentration of a particular substance in or property of discharges to air based on what a

particular receiving environment can tolerate without significant deterioration

ambient air outdoor air in the troposphere, excluding air regulated by the Occupational Health and

Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993) , where air quality is determined in accordance with

this standard

assessment method used to measure, calculate, predict or estimate the level of a pollutant in the ambient

air

averaging period period over which average value is determined

level concentration of a pollutant in ambient air or the mass deposition thereof on surfaces over a

given time

limit value level fixed on the basis of scientific knowledge, with the aim of reducing harmful effects on

human health, well-being or the environment, to be attained within a given compliance

period and not exceed the number of permissible exceedences once attained

particulate matter (PM10) particulate matter which passes through a size-selective inlet

with a 50 % efficiency cut-off at 10 μm aerodynamic diameter

pollutant substance introduced directly or indirectly by man into the ambient air and likely to have

harmful effects on human health, well-being or the environment

NOMENCLATURE

Symbol Definition

SO2 Sulphur Dioxide NO2 Nitrogen Dioxide NO Nitrogen Oxide NOx Oxides of Nitrogen O3 Ozone PM10 Particulate Matter of less than 10 microns ppb Parts per Billion ppm Parts per Million μg/m3 micro grams per cubic meter m/s millisecond DAEA&RD Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... …………………………..4 2. OBJECTIVES OF MONITORING....................................................................................... 7 3. RESULTS OF MONITORING

3.1 Particulate Matter…………………………………………………………………………………………………8

3.2 Nitrogen Dioxide…………………………………………………………………………………………………..10

3.3 Sulphur Dioxide…………………………………………………………………………………………………….12

3.4 Ozone…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..14

3.5 VOC …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………14

4. Wind Rose

4.1 Newcastle…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….16

4.2 Mandeni……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….16

4.3 Port Shepstone…………………………………………………………………………………………………….17

4.4 Pietermaritzburg………………………………………………………………………………………………….17

5. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….18

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1. Introduction

The KwaZulu Natal Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs currently owns six

continuous and four mobile Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations located in Newcastle,

Estcourt, Pietermaritzburg, Port Shepstone, Mandeni, Empangeni and Richards Bay

The Monitoring Stations continue to measure the criteria pollutants as contained in the

National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The Monitoring Stations measure the criteria

pollutants as contained in the National Ambient Air Quality Standards i.e. Sulphur Dioxide

(SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Ozone (O3), Particulate Matter (PM10) and Meteorological

instruments measuring Wind Direction, Wind Speed, Temperature and Rain fall.

The monitoring network data has assisted consultants devising environmental management

frameworks at districts, it identified elevated emission levels which called for management

intervention at certain districts and the ambient exposures being recorded on the Richards

Bay mobile network is greatly assisting the Health Study currently being conducted.

Data from the monitoring station network is sent via wireless technology to the Departments

Head office located at Cedara, here the data is backed up on the server. The Department is

using Ecostat and Enviroload as the data acquisition software, the software assists in

performing quality checks on the data and producing graphs for the various criteria pollutants

comparable to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

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Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs Ambient Air Quality

Monitoring Network

DAEA Reference Air Quality Monitoring Stations in KZN

DAEA Mobile Air Quality Monitoring Stations in Richards Bay

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Mobile and Reference Stations

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2. OBJECTIVES OF THE MONITORING STATIONS PER SITE

Newcastle Monitoring Station ( reference Monitoring Station )

The Newcastle station is situated at Amcor Dam (Municipal Caravan Park) at the North East

side of Newcastle. The primary objective of the station is to quantify the quality of air in

Newcastle and measure compliance with the Nation Ambient Air Quality standards. The

monitoring station is placed in direct line of sight of industries. (Instrumentation used:

Thermo Scientific and RM Young wind sensors)

Estcourt Monitoring Station ( reference Monitoring Station )

The Station is situated at Drakensburg Secondary School. The main source of pollutants in

Estcourt would be generated by vehicles and industries and during the winter months, veld

and bush fires can reduce air quality considerably.

(Instrumentation used: Thermo Scientific and RM Young wind sensors)

Pietermartizburg Monitoring Station ( reference Monitoring Station )

The Monitoring Station is sited at the Northdale Hospital in Pietermaritzburg and measures a

range of criteria pollutants and meteorological parameters. The objectives of monitoring at

this station are urban industrial monitoring, as well as traffic monitoring. The station is

strategically located to detect impacts from the industries to the north, east and south-east

and from traffic on Greytown Road to the west. (Instrumentation used: Environnement SA

and RM Young wind sensors)

Port Shepstone ( reference Monitoring Station )

The monitoring station is situated at Marburg Secondary School. The monitoring station is

situated within the major industrial area that incorporates light and heavy industries.

(Instrumentation used: Thermo Scientific and RM Young wind sensors)

Mandeni Monitoring Station ( reference Monitoring Station )

The air monitoring stations is situated at Sundumbili Primary School. Mandeni is an

important site due to the close proximity of major industrial facilities to the community.

There is a major industrial complex located to the north east of the station and a paper mill

to the north west of the monitoring station. The site is also close to the main road network

and vehicle emissions also have an influence to the air quality. (Instrumentation used:

Thermo Scientific and RM Young wind sensors)

Empangeni Monitoring Station ( reference Monitoring Station )

The Station is located in Ngweleazane at the Department of Agriculture offices. The site is

representative of domestic, vehicle and industrial emissions. The major industry in

Empangeni is 5km to the North of the monitoring station and at Richards Bay, 18km to the

east. (Instrumentation used: Thermo Scientific and RM Young wind sensors)

Richards Bay (Four mobile monitoring Station)

The four mobile stations have been placed in Arboretum, Brackerham, Mandlazini and

Meer-en-See residential areas within Richards Bay. The monitors are being utilized as part of

the assessment for the Health Study in Richards Bay, this is due to the close proximity of the

community to the industries, vehicle and veld fire emissions. The study areas for placing

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four air pollution monitors have been identified by a passive badge campaign.

(Instrumentation used: Aeroqual mobile monitors)

3. RESULTS FROM THE MONITORING NETWORK

3.1 Particulate Matter (PM10)

The data presented below is for the period September 2011 to September 2012

A significant diurnal signature was recorded at all sites from September 2011 to September 2012. All of the sites showed an increase in concentrations in the mornings and in the late afternoon to evenings.

Daily Average PM10 (Sep 2011- Sep 2012)

PM10 Diurnal Average (Sep 2011- Sep 2012)

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Daily Average PM10 (Sep 2011- Dec 2012) Mobile Network

Daily Average PM10 (Jan 2012- Sep 2012) Mobile Network

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Diurnal Average PM10 (Jan 2012- Sep 2012) Mobile Network

3.2 Nitrogen Dioxide

The data presented below is for the period September 2011 to September 2012

The NO2 concentrations were high at certain sites during the, some sites exceeded the Hourly NO2

Standard on numerous occasions from September to December 2011. A diurnal signature was

recorded in the early morning (02:00 – 07:00) and evening (18:00 – 23:00), Indicative of high

volumes of traffic and domestic fuel burning in the area.

Hourly Average NO2 (Sep 2011-Sep2012)

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Hourly Average NO2 (Sep 2011- Dec 2011) Mobile Network

Hourly Average NO2 (March 2012- Sep 2012) Mobile Network

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Diurnal Average NO2 (Sep 2012- Dec 2012) Mobile Network

3.3 Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)

The hourly and daily SO2 concentrations were high on the mobile stations from September to

December 2011. Hourly and Daily SO2 Standards were exceeded on numerous occasions throughout

the monitoring period at Brackenham, Mandlazini and Meer-en-see. Different diurnal signatures

were recorded at the stations from September to December 2011. Higher concentrations were

recorded during the day (08:00 – 18:00) at Meer-en-See and Mandlazini which is indicative of

industrial activities in the area. Brackenham showed higher concentrations during the night and

early morning (00:00 – 08:00) and in the evening (18:00 – 23:00) which might be indicative of

domestic fuel burning.

Daily Average SO2 (Sep 2011-Sep 2012)

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Daily Average SO2 (Sep 2011-Dec 2011)

Diurnal Average SO2 (Sep 2011-Dec 2011)

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3.5 Ozone Concentrations

The South African ambient air quality standard for O3 is an 8-hour running average of 61 ppb and a

guideline hourly average of 103 ppb. There were few exceedances of the one hour guideline.

3.6 VOC Concentrations

The daily VOC concentrations, Brackenham VOC concentrations are much higher than the rest, recording a maximum average of above 50ppm. VOC concentrations levels remained quite low throughout the monitoring period for Meer-en-see. Arboretum recorded high concentrations throughout the monitoring period and Mandlazini also showed high concentrations occasionally. All stations recorded a significant diurnal signature with early morning (04:00 – 10:00) and evening peaks. These peaks are indicative of transport emissions. Brackenham showed a daytime peak which might be indicative of industrial activities.

Hourly Average VOC (Sep2011-Dec2011) (Mobile Network)

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Diurnal Average VOC (Sep2011-Dec2011) (Mobile Network)

4. WIND ROSES

Wind roses- summarize the occurrence of winds at a location, representing their strength,

direction and frequency. Calm conditions are winds that have a speed of less than 1 m/s

which is represented as a percentage of the total winds in the centre of the circle. Each

directional branch is divided into segments of different colours; these represent the different

wind speeds. Each circle represents the frequency of the winds at intervals of 5% frequency

of occurrence.

4.1 Newcastle: The wind rose below displays the average wind direction and speed for

the period January 2012 to December 2012. The predominant winds are westerly and south

westerly with a calm frequency of wind in the 1.0-2.0 m/s and 2.0-4.0m/s. Wind speed in

excess of 6 m/s was moderate.

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4.2 Mandeni: The wind rose below displays the average wind direction and speed for the

period January 2012 to December 2012. The wind rose displays a predominant west-north-

westerly and Easterly with moderate to high wind speeds.

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4.3 Port Shepstone: The wind rose below displays the average wind direction and

speed for the period January 2012 to December 2012. The wind rose displays a predominant

North wind with a high frequency wind speed between 4.0 and 6.0m/s.

4.4 Pietermaritzburg: The wind rose below displays the average wind direction and

speed for the period January 2012 to December 2012. The wind rose displays a predominant

South Easterly wind with a moderate wind speed between 2.0 and 4.0m/s.

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5. Conclusion

The network has displayed a few exceedances of the parameters measured especially on the mobile

network in Richards Bay. A few of the instruments were removed for repairs and servicing, there had

been delays in sourcing spares and service kits and this affected data capture for certain parameters.

The network has recently completed a multipoint calibration and a full meteorological calibration.

New permeation tubes have been installed for Zero / Span calibrations. Reference gas with a

regulator is going to be ordered for monthly one point calibrations.

The Department is hosting a training session with municipalities and its district offices to broaden

technical knowledge on the operations of the monitoring network and to improve on Quality

Assurance and Control when considering how far spread the stations are placed. A theory and

practical training is planned for the third quarter.

Particulate Matter (PM 2.5) is now a South African Standard, the Department is considering

purchasing new reference method instruments for measuring both PM 10 and PM 2.5.