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Treating municipal wastewater through a vegetation filter with a short-rotation poplar species
No full textThe performance of a vegetation filter using a short-rotation coppice of poplars was evaluated over a 3-year period in terms of pollutant removal capacity. The vegetation filter was designed for scattered and small populations with no storage facilities and a wastewater application constrained by the own production of effluent. Wastewater effluent was pre-treated in an Imhoff tank and applied to the vegetation filter. The chemical compositions of drainage water and groundwater were regularly monitored. Surface soil samples at the beginning and the end of the study were also collected. The monitored chemical species in drainage water and groundwater were DOC, COD, NT, NO3–N, NH4–N, PT, PO4-P, and other major ions. Electrical Conductivity, organic matter content (%), NO3–N, available P, cation exchange capacity and major cations were analysed for soil. The vegetation filter presented efficient
removal of wastewater-originated pollutants. DOC and COD removal reached values of 85%. A correlated increase in soil organic matter content was detected (from 1.0% to almost 2.8%). A similar removal capacity was observed for PT which is interpreted as due to plant uptake mechanisms and PO43� precipitation in the presence of soil Ca2+. Around 73% of NT was removed. However, due to the high applied NT load, the average NT concentration in drainage water was about 41.9 mg/L, higher than the admissible concentration limit. When considering NT mass, about 10% of the cumulative applied NT leached through the vadose zone. Groundwater quality was not affected by the vegetation
filter operation
Self-sustained electro-spun polysulfone nano-fibrous membranes and their surface modification by interfacial polymerization for micro- and ultra-filtration
No full text
Fate of para-toluenesulfonamide (p-TSA) in groundwater under anoxic conditions: modelling results from a field site in Berlin (Germany)
No full textThis article reports on a field modelling study to investigate the processes controlling the plume evolution of para-toluenesulfonamide (p-TSA) in anoxic groundwater in Berlin, Germany. The organic contaminant p-TSA originates from the industrial production process of plasticisers, pesticides, antiseptics and drugs and is of general environmental concern for urban water management. Previous laboratory studies revealed that p-TSA is degradable under oxic conditions, whereas it appears to behave conservatively in the absence of oxygen (O2). p-TSA is ubiquitous in the aquatic environment of Berlin and present in high concentrations (up to 38 μg L−1) in an anoxic aquifer downgradient of a former sewage farm, where groundwater is partly used for drinking water production. To obtain refined knowledge of p-TSA transport and degradation in an aquifer at field scale, measurements of p-TSA were carried out at 11 locations (at different depths) between 2005 and 2010. Comparison of chloride (Cl−) and p-TSA field data showed that p-TSA has been retarded in the same manner as Cl−. To verify the transport behaviour under field conditions, a two-dimensional transport model was setup, applying the dual-domain mass transfer approach in the model sector corresponding to an area of high aquifer heterogeneity. The distribution of Cl− and p-TSA concentrations from the site was reproduced well, confirming that both compounds behave conservatively and are subjected to retardation due to back diffusion from water stagnant zones. Predictive simulations showed that without any remediation measures, the groundwater quality near the drinking water well galleries will be affected by high p-TSA loads for about a hundred years
Emerging organic contaminants in surface water and groundwater: A first overview of the situation in Italy
No full textThis paper provides the first review of the occurrence of 161 emerging organic compounds (EOCs) in Italian surface water and groundwater. The reported EOCs belong to the groups of industrials, pharmaceuticals, estrogens and illicit drugs. Occurrence of 137 pesticides was also reported. The reviewed research works have been published between 1997 and 2013. The majority of the studies have been carried out in Northern Italy (n. 30) and to a lower extent in Central Italy (n. 13). Only a limited number of research studies report EOC concentrations in water resources of Southern Italy. The EOCs that have been more frequently studied are in the following descending order, pesticides (16), pharmaceuticals (15), industrials (13), estrogens (7) and illicit drugs (2). Research activities investigating the EOC occurrence in surface water are more numerous than those in groundwater. This is consistent with the higher complexity involved in groundwater sampling and EOC detection. Among the reported EOCs, industrials and pesticides are those occurring in both surface water and groundwater with the highest concentrations (up to 15 × 106 and 4.78 × 05 ng L− 1, respectively). Concentrations of pharmaceuticals in surface water reach a maximum of 3.59 × 103 ng L− 1, whereas only the antimicrobial agent josamycin has been encountered in groundwater with a concentration higher than 100 ng L− 1. Both estrogens and illicit drugs appeared in surface water with concentrations lower than 50 ng L− 1. Groundwater concentrations for estrogens were measured to be below the detection limits, whereas illicit drugs have so far not been studied in groundwater. The present review reveals the serious contamination status of Italian surface water and groundwater especially by pesticides, industrials and to a lower extent by pharmaceuticals and the necessity to foster the research on EOC occurrence in Italian water resources, in particular in Southern Italy where a limited number of investigations currently exist
Microbial-electrochemical bioremediation and detoxification of dibenzothiophene-polluted soil
No full textBioremediation is a relatively efficient and cost-effective technology for treating polluted soils. However, the availability of suitable electron acceptors to sustain microbial respiration can reduce the microbial activity. This work aims to evaluate the impact of burying electrically conductive electron acceptors in soil for enhancing the removal of dibenzothiophene (DBT) by native electrogenic microbes. Although this novel approach is based on the use of a microbial electrochemical technology as microbial fuel cells, our goal is not to harvest energy but to maximize bioremediation, so we concluded to name the device as Microbial Electroremediating Cell (MERC). Our results proved that stimulating the microbial electrogenic metabolism, DBT removal was enhanced by more than 3-fold compared to the natural attenuation. On top of that, ecotoxicological test using green algae confirms a decrease of 50% in the toxicity of the treated soil during incubation in MERC, in contrast to the unaltered values detected under natural conditions
