Search results for "water pollutant"
showing 10 items of 566 documents
Calcium effect on enhanced biological phosphorus removal.
2006
The role of calcium (Ca) in enhanced biological phosphorus removal and its possible implications on the metabolic pathway have been studied. The experience has been carried out in an SBR under anaerobic–aerobic conditions for biological phosphorus removal during 8 months. The variations of influent Ca concentration showed a clear influence on the EBPR process, detecting significant changes in YPO4. These YPO4 variations were not due to influent P/COD ratio, pH, denitrification and calcium phosphate formation. The YPO4 has been found to be highly dependent on the Ca concentration, increasing as Ca concentration decreases. The results suggest that high Ca concentrations produce “inert” granul…
Copper Isotope Fractionation during Complexation with Insolubilized Humic Acid
2010
The bioavailability, mobility, and toxicity of Cu depend on Cu speciation in solution. In natural systems like soils, sediments, lakes, and river waters, organo-Cu complexes are the dominating species. Organo-complexation of Cu may cause a fractionation of stable Cu isotopes. The knowledge of Cu isotope fractionation during sorption on humic acid may help to better understand Cu isotope fractionation in natural environments and thus facilitate the use of Cu stable isotope ratios (delta(65)Cu) as tracer of the fate of Cu in the environment. We therefore studied Cu isotope fractionation during complexation with insolubilized humic acid (IHA) as a surrogate of humic acid in soil organic matter…
Distribution of volatile organic compounds in Sicilian groundwaters analysed by head space-solid phase micro extraction coupled with gas chromatograp…
2008
This work presents the results of an assessment of the existence and concentration of 13 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in groundwaters from 14 hydrological basins in Sicily (25,710km (2)). On the basis of hydrological, hydrogeochemical and geological studies, 324 sampling points were selected. All groundwater sampled were collected twice, from October to December 2004 and from February to May 2005, and were analysed to determine the concentration and spatial distribution of the VOCs in the aquifers. The need to analyze a large number of samples in a short space of time so as to obtain quantitative analyses in trace concentration levels spurred us to create a new analytical method, both …
Ecological risk assessment of pesticides in the Mijares River (eastern Spain) impacted by citrus production using wide-scope screening and target qua…
2021
The widespread use of pesticides, especially in agricultural areas, makes necessary to control their presence in surrounding surface waters. The current study was designed to investigate the occurrence and ecological risks of pesticides and their transformation products in a Mediterranean river basin impacted by citrus agricultural production. Nineteen sites were monitored in three campaigns distributed over three different seasons. After a qualitative screening, 24 compounds was selected for subsequent quantitative analysis. As expected, the lower section of the river was most contaminated, with total concentration >5 µg/L in two sites near to the discharge area of wastewater treatment pla…
Co-treatment of landfill leachate in laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactors: analysis of system performance and biomass activity by means of resp…
2014
Aged or mature leachate, produced by old landfills, can be very refractory; for this reason mature leachate is difficult to treat alone, but it can be co-treated with sewage or domestic wastewater. The aim of the study was to investigate the feasibility of leachate co-treatment with synthetic wastewater, in terms of process performance and biomass activity, by means of respirometric techniques. Two sequencing batch reactors (SBRs), named SBR1 and SBR2, were fed with synthetic wastewater and two different percentages of landfill leachate (respectively 10% and 50% v v−1 in SBR1 and SBR2). The results showed good chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency for both reactors, with average C…
Removal of bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate from reject water in a nitrogen-removing sequencing batch reactor.
2003
Reject water from sewage sludge processing may contain high concentrations of nutrients and organic pollutants and cause internal pollution load at a sewage treatment plant (STP) if circulated to the headworks of an STP. In the present study removal of nitrogen and bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) from reject water was studied in two sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) with different aerobic/anoxic periods during a 6-h total cycle period. Ammonia-nitrogen (NH(4)-N) was almost totally removed in both reactors, apparently by nitrification throughout the run, while denitrification declined with decreasing SCOD in the influent resulting in an increase in the effluent nitrate-nitrogen (NO(3)-N) …
Removal of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate at a sewage treatment plant
2003
Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) concentrations were measured at different stages in a full-scale sewage treatment plant (STP) and mass balances were calculated. The DEHP load to treatment process coming from the sewer system and the internal load comprising returned supernatants and filtrate from sludge treatment and excess secondary sludge were at the same level. The DEHP removal efficiency from the water phase at the STP was on average 94% of sewage DEHP, the main removal process being sorption to primary and secondary sludges. On average 29% of DEHP was calculated to be removed in the biological nitrifying-denitrifying activated sludge process, which was much less than expected from l…
Ammonium adsorption, desorption and recovery by acid and alkaline treated zeolite
2021
In this study, the suitability of zeolite as a possible medium for ammonium adsorption, desorption and recovery from wastewater was investigated. Specifically, batch adsorption and desorption studies with solutions enriched in NH$_4^+$ were conducted employing zeolite to evaluate how the chemical treatment and contact time affect adsorption and desorption. Several experimental tests were carried out considering both untreated and treated zeolite. Untreated and HCl-Na treated zeolite adsorbed up to 11.8 mg NH$_4^+$ g$^{-1}$ and showed the highest efficiency in recovering NH$_4^+$ from aqueous solution. Regardless of pre-treatment, treatments with NaCl resulted in higher and faster adsorption…
The impact of a disused mine on uranium transport in the River Fal, South West England.
2004
Unfiltered and filtered (0.45 and 0.2 microm) water samples and sediment samples (sieved to180 microm and 180-1000 microm) were collected along an approximately 15 km transect of the River Fal, Cornwall, UK, to examine the impact of the disused South Terras uranium mine on the uranium concentrations of the river water and underlying sediments. The uranium concentration of the water samples fluctuated along the river, with the 0.45 microm filtered water showing the largest, seven-fold, difference between minimum (0.19 microg L(-1)) and maximum (1.34 microg L(-1)) concentrations. The historical uranium mine and spoil heaps were not a significant source of uranium to the river water, as water …
Nitrous oxide emissions in a membrane bioreactor treating saline wastewater contaminated by hydrocarbons
2016
The joint effect of wastewater salinity and hydrocarbons on nitrous oxide emission was investigated. The membrane bioreactor pilot plant was operated with two phases: i. biomass acclimation by increasing salinity from 10 gNaCl L−1 to 20 gNaCl L−1 (Phase I); ii. hydrocarbons dosing at 20 mg L−1 with a constant salt concentration of 20 gNaCl L−1 (Phase II). The Phase I revealed a relationship between nitrous oxide emissions and salinity. During the end of the Phase I, the activity of nitrifiers started to recover, indicating a partial acclimatization. During the Phase II, the hydrocarbon shock induced a temporary inhibition of the biomass with the suppression of nitrous oxide emissions. The r…