Growth, yield and elements content of wheat (Triticum aestivum) grown in composted municipal solid wastes amended soil

A commercial formulation of composted municipal solid wastes (MSW) was used for amending soil at 0, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 kg ha⁻¹ in which wheat had been grown (field experiments) and element residues of amended soil and plant parts were enumerated. MSW amendment caused a significant improvement in soil quality. Growth (shoot length, leaf number, leaf area, tiller number, plant dry weight and chlorophyll contents of leaves) and yield (length of panicle, number of panicles per plant and grain yield per plant) of wheat increased gradually up to the MSW-amendment level of 200 kg ha⁻¹. Elements, Ni, Zn, Cu, Cd, Cr, and Pb accumulated in plants from MSW amended soil, but the degree of metal accumulation was the least in seeds in comparison to other plant parts (root, stem and leaf). Moreover, Ni, Zn, Cd and Pb, were in high concentration in all plant parts. It is recorded that the level of 200 kg ha⁻¹ MSW amendment caused better growth and yield of wheat, but progressive levels of metal accumulation in plant parts were recorded due to increase in amendment levels. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Treatment of wastewater by electrocoagulation: a review

The electrocoagulation (EC) process is an electrochemical means of introducing coagulants and removing suspended solids, colloidal material, and metals, as well as other dissolved solids from water and wastewaters. The EC process has been successfully employed in removing pollutants, pesticides, and radionuclides. This process also removes harmful microorganisms. More often during EC operation, direct current is applied and electrode plates are sacrificed (dissolved into solution). The dissolution causes an increased metal concentration in the solution that finally precipitates as oxide precipitates. Due to improved process design and material of construction, the EC process is being widely accepted over other physicochemical processes. Presently, this process has gained attention due to its ability to treat large volume and for its low cost. The aim of this study is to review the mechanism, affecting factors, process, and application of the electrocoagulation process.     

Globalisation and its effect on pollution in Malaysia: the role of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of the globalisation (Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement in particular) on air...     

Impact of climate change on agricultural production of Odisha (India): a Ricardian analysis

Regional Environmental Change - The present study examines the climate sensitivity of the agricultural production of Odisha, a state at the east coast of India. The two climatic variables which...     

Environmental implications of Biological spectrum vis-à-vis tree species diversity in two protected forests (PFs) of Gandhamardan hill ranges, Eastern Ghats, India

Environmental implications of Biological spectrum vis-à-vis tree species diversity in two protected forests of Gandhamardan hill ranges of Eastern Ghats, India, are of great ecological significance in the perspective of climatic change. Biological spectrum includes phanerophytes (38.4?%), nanophanerophytes (11.4?%), chamaephytes (5.5?%), hemicryptophytes (2.4?%), geophytes (4.1?%), hydrophytes (0.7?%), therophytes (27.3?%), and lianas (10?%). The comparison with Raunkiaer??s normal spectrum depicts ??Phanero-Therophytic Phytoclimate??. The present study enlisted of a total of 10,775 trees belonging to 90 tree species within a 17.6?ha sampled area (441 plots). The Shannon?CWeiner index (H??) is 3.92 (Site-I) and 3.31 (Site-II) with Simpson??s value 1.0. This value indicates that the tropical moist deciduous forests are also species diverse systems. Mean stand density was 671?ha^?1 in Site-I and 565?ha^?1 in Site-II. Ascertaining the phytoclimate of Gandhamardan hill ranges vis-à-vis tree species diversity and comparing the area on a geographical scale would be helpful for conservation and management of the study area.     

Exchange of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons across the air-water interface at the creek adjoining Mumbai harbour, India

Concentration levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been determined in air and water in order to estimate the magnitude and direction of gas flux across the air-water interface at the creek adjoining the Mumbai harbour, India. The range of total PAHs was found to be 4.1-30.4 ng/m3 in air and 84.3-377.5 ng/l in seawater, respectively. The lower molecular weight PAHs revealed positive values of the fluxes indicating the tendency for transfer of these contaminants from water to air. In contrast, fluxes of less volatile compounds like benzo(k)fluoranthene and benzo(a)pyrene were always from the atmosphere into the surface water of the creek at all locations and sampling periods. While the fugacity ratio ranged from 0.12 to 6.97, it was found greater than 1 for the lower molecular weight PAHs and less than 1 for higher molecular weight PAHs. The present study suggests the active transfer of lower molecular weight dissolved PAHs into the atmosphere due to volatilization and deposition of higher molecular weight gas-phase PAHs into the surface water.     

Groundwater potential zoning of a peri-urban wetland of south Bengal Basin, India

Demand for groundwater for drinking, agricultural, and industrial purposes has increased due to rapid increase in population. Therefore, it is imperative to assess the groundwater potential of different areas, especially in a fragile wetland ecosystem to select appropriate sites for developing well fields to minimize adverse environmental impacts of groundwater development. This study considers East Calcutta Wetlands (ECW)??a freshwater peri-urban inland wetland ecosystem located at the lower part of the deltaic alluvial plain of South Bengal Basin and east of Kolkata city. This wetland is well known over the world for its resource recovery systems developed by local people through ages, using wastewater of the city. The subsurface geology is completely blanketed by the Quaternary sediments comprising a succession of silty clay, sand of various grades, and sand mixed with occasional gravels and thin intercalations of silty clay. Groundwater occurs mostly under confined condition except in those places where the top aquitard has been obliterated due to scouring action of past channels. The groundwater in the study area is being over-extracted at the rate of 65 × 10³ m³/day. Overlay analysis in Geographic Information System platform using multiple criteria such as water quality index, hydraulic conductivity, groundwater velocity, and depth to piezometric surface reveals that in and around ECW, there are five groundwater potential zones. About 74% of the aquifer of this area shows very poor to medium groundwater potential. Management options such as minimization of groundwater abstraction by introducing the treated surface water supply system and the implementation of rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge in high-rise buildings and industries are suggested for different potential zones.     

Spatio-temporal variation in physicochemical properties of coastal waters off Kalpakkam, southeast coast of India, during summer, pre-monsoon and post-monsoon period

Seasonal observations on water-quality parameters and chlorophyll-a in the coastal waters off Kalpakkam, southeast coast of India, was carried out covering an area of about 30 km(2) to find out the variations in physicochemical properties during a monsoonal cycle of the year. Most of the parameters exhibited a significant spatial and seasonal variation. It revealed that the coastal water was significantly influenced by freshwater input from the nearby backwaters during North-east monsoon and post-monsoon periods. A marginal increase in pH from coast towards offshore was noticed during the observation. Relatively low salinity values were observed during pre and post monsoon when compared to summer. Bottom water was found to be highly turbid during summer and pre-monsoon conditions when compared to surface. This could be attributed to the strong northerly wind and northward current prior to the onset of southwest monsoon. N, P and Si based nutrients are relatively high in their concentration in the bottom water. Nitrate was significantly high during post-monsoon and contributed greatly towards total nitrogen as evident from the statistical correlation. Ammonia concentration was relatively high in the bottom samples during all the seasons except on a few occasions during post-monsoon. In general, phosphate and total phosphorous values remained low and particularly so in the surface water. Higher silicate concentration was observed in the bottom water, and there was a reducing trend towards offshore. High chlorophyll-a values were observed during summer and surface water was found to have higher pigment concentrations as compared to the bottom. Results show that phosphate acts as the limiting factor for phytoplankton production particularly during post-monsoon period whereas; none of the nutrients were found to be limiting the phytoplankton growth during other seasons.     

Autotrophic Biological Denitrification for Complete Removal of Nitrogen from Septic System Wastewater

The overall objective of this research was to develop a reliable, robust, and maintenance-free passive system for biological denitrification in on-site wastewater treatment systems. The process relies on sulfur oxidizing denitrifying bacteria in upflow packed bioreactors. Since this process consumes alkalinity, it is necessary to add a solid-phase buffer that can scavenge the H⁺ as it is generated by the biologically-mediated reaction and arrest the drop in the pH value. This study investigated the use of limestone, marble chips and crushed oyster shell as solid-phase buffers that provide alkalinity. Two bench-scale upflow column reactors and two field-scale bioreactors were constructed and packed with sulfur pellets and an alkalinity source. The pilot scale bioreactors (∼200 L each) were installed at the Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Test Center (MASSTC) in Sandwich, MA. The pilot-scale bioreactors performed better when oyster shell was used as the solid-phase buffer vis-à-vis marble chips. In both (pilot-scale and laboratory-scale) systems, denitrification rates were high with the effluent NO₃ ⁻ —N concentration consistently below 8 mg/L.