Modeling Streamflow and Water Quality Sensitivity to Climate Change and Urban Development in 20 U.S. Watersheds

Watershed modeling in 20 large, United States (U.S.) watersheds addresses gaps in our knowledge of streamflow, nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus), and sediment loading sensitivity to mid‐21st Century climate change and urban/residential development scenarios. Use of a consistent methodology facilitates regional scale comparisons across the study watersheds. Simulations use the Soil and Water Assessment Tool. Climate change scenarios are from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program dynamically downscaled climate model output. Urban and residential development scenarios are from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Integrated Climate and Land Use Scenarios project. Simulations provide a plausible set of streamflow and water quality responses to mid‐21st Century climate change across the U.S. Simulated changes show a general pattern of decreasing streamflow volume in the central Rockies and Southwest, and increases on the East Coast and Northern Plains. Changes in pollutant loads follow a similar pattern but with increased variability. Ensemble mean results suggest that by the mid‐21st Century, statistically significant changes in streamflow and total suspended solids loads (relative to baseline conditions) are possible in roughly 30‐40% of study watersheds. These proportions increase to around 60% for total phosphorus and total nitrogen loads. Projected urban/residential development, and watershed responses to development, are small at the large spatial scale of modeling in this study.     

Effects of water regime,crop residues,and application rates on control of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense

Biological soil disinfestation is an effective method to control soil-borne disease by flooding and incorporating with organic amendments, but field conditions and resources sometimes limited its practical application. A laboratory experiment was conducted to develop practice guidelines on controlling Fusarium wilt, a widespread banana disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (FOC). FOC infested soil incorporated with rice or maize straw at rates of 1.5 tons/ha and 3.0 tons/ha was incubated under flooded or water-saturated (100% water holding capacity) conditions at 30°C for 30 days. Results showed that FOC populations in the soils incorporated with either rice or maize straw rapidly reduced more than 90% in the first 15 days and then fluctuated till the end of incubation, while flooding alone without organic amendment reduced FOC populations slightly. The rapid and dramatic decrease of redox potential (down to − 350 mV) in straw-amended treatments implied that both anaerobic condition and strongly reductive soil condition would contribute to pathogen inactivation. Water-saturation combined with straw amendments had the comparable effects on reduction of FOC, indicating that flooding was not indispensable for inactivating FOC. There was no significant difference in the reduction of FOC observed in the straw amendments at between 1.5 and 3 tons/ha. Therefore, incorporating soil with straw (rice or maize straw) at a rate of 3.0 tons/ha under 100% water holding capacity or 1.5 tons/ha under flooding, would effectively alleviate banana Fusarium wilt caused by FOC after 15-day treating under 30°C.     

Risk assessment of Giardia from a full scale MBR sewage treatment plant caused by membrane integrity failure

Membrane bioreactors (MBR) are highly efficient at intercepting particles and microbes and have become an important technology for wastewater reclamation. However, many pathogens can accumulate in activated sludge due to the long residence time usually adopted in MBR, and thus may pose health risks when membrane integrity problems occur. This study presents data from a survey on the occurrence of water-borne Giardia pathogens in reclaimed water from a full-scale wastewater treatment plant with MBR experiencing membrane integrity failure, and assessed the associated risk for green space irrigation. Due to membrane integrity failure, the MBR effluent turbidity varied between 0.23 and 1.90 NTU over a period of eight months. Though this turbidity level still met reclaimed water quality standards (≤5 NTU), Giardia were detected at concentrations of 0.3 to 95 cysts/10 L, with a close correlation between effluent turbidity and Giardia concentration. All β-giardin gene sequences of Giardia in the WWTP influents were genotyped as Assemblages A and B, both of which are known to infect humans. An exponential dose-response model was applied to assess the risk of infection by Giardia. The risk in the MBR effluent with chlorination was 9.83 × 10^-3, higher than the acceptable annual risk of 1.0 × 10^-4. This study suggested that membrane integrity is very important for keeping a low pathogen level, and multiple barriers are needed to ensure the biological safety of MBR effluent.     

Water chemistry controlled aggregation and photo-transformation of silver nanoparticles in environmental waters

The inevitable release of engineered silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) into aquatic environments has drawn great concerns about its environmental toxicity and safety. Although aggregation and transformation play crucial roles in the transport and toxicity of AgNPs, how the water chemistry of environmental waters influences the aggregation and transformation of engineered AgNPs is still not well understood. In this study, the aggregation of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) coated AgNPs was investigated in eight typical environmental water samples (with different ionic strengths, hardness, and dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentrations) by using UV–visible spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering. Raman spectroscopy was applied to probe the interaction of DOM with the surface of AgNPs. Further, the photo-transformation and morphology changes of AgNPs in environmental waters were studied by UV–visible spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and transmission electron microscopy. The results suggested that both electrolytes (especially Ca^2 + and Mg^2 +) and DOM in the surface waters are key parameters for AgNP aggregation, and sunlight could accelerate the morphology change, aggregation, and further sedimentation of AgNPs. This water chemistry controlled aggregation and photo-transformation should have significant environmental impacts on the transport and toxicity of AgNPs in the aquatic environments.     

Determination of 27 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in water: The benefit of isotope dilution

• Isotope dilution method was developed for the determination of 27 PPCPs in water. • The established method was successfully applied to different types of water samples. • The correction effect of corresponding 27 ILSs over 70 d was investigated. • Benefit of isotopic dilution method was illustrated for three examples. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are a unique group of emerging and non-persistent contaminants. In this study, 27 PPCPs in various water samples were extracted by solid phase extraction (SPE), and determined by isotope dilution method using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem triple quadruple mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS). A total of 27 isotopically labeled standards (ILSs) were applied to correct the concentration of PPCPs in spiked ultrapure water, drinking water, river, effluent and influent sewage. The corrected recoveries were 73%–122% with the relative standard deviation (RSD)<16%, except for acetaminophen. The matrix effect for all kinds of water samples was<22% and the method quantitation limits (MQLs) were 0.45–8.6 ng/L. The developed method was successfully applied on environmental water samples. The SPE extracts of spiked ultrapure water, drinking water, river and wastewater effluent were stored for 70 days, and the ILSs-corrected recoveries of 27 PPCPs were obtained to evaluate the correction ability of ILSs in the presence of variety interferences. The recoveries of 27 PPCPs over 70 days were within the scope of 72%–140% with the recovery variation<37% in all cases. The isotope dilution method seems to be of benefit when the extract has to be stored for long time before the instrument analysis.     

宁波月湖的水质改善与生态修复

随着浙江"五水共治"工作的深化,宁波作为浙江"五水共治"的中坚力量,始终把"五水共治"作为全市工作的首要任务和突破重点。自1999年进行清淤后,月湖水质得到短期改善,然而治标不治本的治理措施,并没有让月湖水质得到根本改善。因此,对月湖进行科学有效的生态修复,针对性地处理水污染问题,使之重新焕发活力具有十分重要的意义。     

响应面法优化预氧化强化混凝处理铁锰地下水

以KMnO_4为氧化剂,Al_2(SO_4)_3·18H_2O为混凝剂,含铁锰离子地下水为模拟用水,考察预氧化强化混凝法的效果。利用响应面设计试验,分析氧化剂投加量、混凝剂投加量和pH值对铁锰去除的交互作用。模型优化结果显示,在氧化剂投加量4.16 mg/L,混凝剂投加量263.68 mg/L,pH值为7.54的最佳工艺参数下,铁锰去除率分别可达98.22%和97.49%。     

探究城市污水处理项目的环境影响评价

水作为人类赖以生存的主要能源物质,随着社会综合水平的提高,各行业对水资源的需求越是急切。而现阶段城市中大量污水给环境带来很多不利影响,环保公司针对城市污水处理不断在技术上进行突破、完善,将智能化节能技术运用到城市污水处理中,使设备、资源得到充分利用,为人们用水条件带来更加充沛、丰富的保障与支持。为有效处理城市污水,争取在城市污水处理发挥更大作用,带动城市环境可持续发展。     

便携式GC-MS仪快速测定水中硝基苯及其在应急监测中的应用

采用便携式GC-MS仪快速测定水中硝基苯,通过优化水中离子强度和顶空加热时间,使方法在0μg/L^300μg/L范围内线性良好,方法检出限为2.5μg/L。标准溶液6次测定结果的RSD为7.8%~10.9%,实际水样的加标回收率为80.7%~103%。同步测定试验表明,硝基苯与7种苯系物分离良好。与国标方法对比,该方法单个样品测定时间由2 h缩短为15 min。将该方法用于应急监测工作中,及时有效的数据可为污水处理及事故调查提供分析和研判依据。