POTENTIALS FOR REUSE OF WASTEWATER IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS1

ABSTRACT There are several possible ways in which wastewater from municipalities may be reclaimed and reused so as to minimize the need for imported water in North Central Texas. The rationale for reuse is enhanced by the fact that new water quality requirements in the Trinity River system will necessitate a very high degree of treatment at municipal sewage plants, just for discharge to surface streams. The largest potential market for municipal effluent is the steam-electric power industry. Within the next decade the generating capacity for electric power in North Central Texas will have to be more than doubled to meet increasing demand. Adequate supplies of condenser cooling water for such expansion will be difficult to obtain and assure. New large power stations might advantageously be located adjacent to municipal wastewater treatment plants, to utilize effluent as make-up water for cooling towers. Experience elsewhere has shown that well-treated wastewater can be used for cooling tower make-up with a minimum of trouble, with a considerable saving in overall cost, and with conservation of pristine water for other uses.     

DESIGN OF DESALTING PLANTS FOR CONJUNCTIVE OPERATION1

ABSTRACT The selection of an evaporator design must reflect the balancing of captial cost (primarily in heat exchanger surface and vessels) against operating cost (primarily steam cost) to achieve minimum cost. In a conjunctive plant the tendency is to select a low-capital cost, high-operating cost plant. In addition, it is advantageous to use a high-capacity plant which needs to be operated much less of the time than a plant which is sized just at the needed rate. For example, in the study of a possible system to satisfy a future increase of 450 MGD in water supply to New York Qty, a plant of 750 MGD capacity was selected as optimum. This plant, of the advanced VTE-MSF process type, would have a performance ratio of 9 lb product/1000 Btu as compared to 10-13 normally used for base-loaded plants. Steam would be supplied by a multi-unit dual-purpose nuclear power plant. The most economical type of energy supply would be “interruptible”; the steam would be used by a low pressure turbine to generate electricity during periods of peak electrical demand but would be available to the desalting plant at other times. The low pressure turbine would be available as spinning reserve during desalting plant operation. It is estimated that the desalting plant would have a load factor of 27 per cent over its life.     

Current and Future Strategies for Water and Wastewater Management of Istanbul City

Istanbul has experienced rapid increases in population to more than 12 million people, which has created infrastructure problems of water supply and wastewater treatment and disposal. In this article, the achievements and approaches of the Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (ISKI) to solve the water shortage problem and to improve services are summarized. Istanbul had a very severe water shortage problem in 1994 because of ignorance of the implementation of the needed projects. After reviewing the reasons and causes of the problem, new priority criteria adopted after 1994 are given. Following the implementation of the projects determined according to the aforementioned criteria, water supplied has exceeded the water demand. The added capacity is equal to one to three times of the capacity built up to 1994 for water treatment, service reservoirs, pumping stations, transmission lines, and the water distribution network; water quality has been improved the meet local and international potable water standards. Unaccounted for water has been reduced from 60% to 27%. The percentage of treated wastewater has been increased from 10% to 90% in 8 years, resulting in drastic improvements and rehabilitation of the Golden Horn and coastal water quality. Through improved customer services, complaints were reduced from 33% in 1994 to 0.3%. Some of the main criteria and the approaches behind this success are summarized. Published online     

A Quantitative Safety Assessment Model For Transgenic Protein Products Produced In Agricultural Crops

Transgenic plants are now being used to develop pharmaceutical and industrial products in addition to their use in crop improvement. Using confinement requirements, these transgenic plants are grown and processed under conditions that prevent intermixing with commodity crops. Regulatory agencies in the United States have provided guidance of zero tolerance of these new industrial crops with commodity crops. While this is a worthy goal, it is theoretically unattainable. In spite of the best containment practices, there is a potential risk using any system of production due to unforeseen incidences including natural disasters or exposure to workers. The precautionary principle has been used for numerous regulated articles in addressing the potential risks of new products and technology based on a risk assessment in similar situations. We present here a risk assessment model that could be used as a start to develop an accepted model for the industry. The model is based on current risk models used for other regulated articles, but adapted for these types of products. This could be used to determine action levels in the event of an unintended exposure or to ensure that detection or confinement methods are adequate to avoid risks. As an example, aprotinin, a therapeutic protein now being produced in maize, was evaluated for potential risk to humans using this model.     

THERMAL GRADIENTS IN RIVERS AND RESERVOIRS DUE TO HEATED PLANT EFFLUENTS1

ABSTRACT The direction of heated effluents from large thermal power plants into streams and lakes has been a matter of public concern for some time, and the collection of prototype data related to the hydraulic aspects has taken on massive proportions. Unfortunately, most of the data are proprietary and not available for public analysis. The authors have endeavored to collect such data as are available to them for the initiation of steps toward generalization and the discussion of some of the more evident hydraulic considerations. The study is primarily concerned with rivers, including estuaries, with some interest in cooling ponds.     

影响富营养化水体沉水植物修复的生态因子探讨

日益严重的水体富营养化现象，不仅降低了它的使用功能，也使水生态系统日趋退化，从而制约了当地社会经济的可持续发展。利用组建或重建沉水植物技术净化水质或进行水体生态修复是一种有效的生态工程措施。本文综述了光照、pH、营养盐、重金属、悬浮颗粒物及着生藻类等生态因子对沉水植物修复的影响和修复时应注意的问题。     

春夏两季四种植物净化生活污水的静态试验研究

在春夏两季，分别开展为期30天的静态试验，以研究芦苇、黄菖蒲、美人蕉、香蒲四种湿地植物对富营养化生活污水的净化效果。试验结果表明：通过纵向比较，夏季时植物对TN、TP的净化效果优于春季。通过横向比较，春季时黄菖蒲和香蒲的净化能力较强；夏季时美人蕉的净化能力较强。在时间上，可将喜温植物与耐寒植物结合，以保证湿地系统的长年运行；在空间上，可将挺水植物与沉水植物结合，以保证湿地系统的处理效果。     

小议火电厂总量减排核查要点

从资料核查、在线监测设备核查、集控系统核查及现场核查4个环节详细介绍了火电厂总量减排现场核查的要点。对核查中出现的问题进行总结及分析,为同类环境管理工作提供参考。     

植物对潜流人工湿地净化微污染水效果的影响研究

以4种湿地植物为实验对象,在野外构建中试潜流人工湿地,研究了不同植物及植物连根收割对湿地运行效果的影响。结果显示,植物明显提升了湿地的去污效果;其中美人蕉湿地的TP和NH4+-N去除率最高,达到55.6%和78%;空心菜湿地的TN去除率最高,达到80.5%;芦竹湿地的COD去除率最高,为26.6%;植物连根收割后,湿地运行效果下降;其中TN去除率降至空白水平之下,而其他污染指标下降至略高于空白的水平。     

Comparative Evaluation of Biomonitoring Techniques of Tropospheric Ozone

During a survey of tropospheric ozone pollution carried out using tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum L.) cv. Bel-W3, ozone- supersensitive, and cv. Bel-B, ozone-resistant, as bioindicators, the effectiveness of the traditional biomonitoring method, based on the use of adult plants, was compared with an innovative miniaturized kit of seedlings. The ratio of foliar and cotyledonar necrosis, respectively, was estimated as ozone injury rate. The miniaturized kit proved to be advantageous, since seedlings need only easy growth procedures and a large number of individuals can be placed in a small space, supplying good data amounts for statistical elaboration. Moreover, correlation studies among cotyledonar and foliar injury index and ozone levels monitored through physico-chemical measurements and results of analysis of variance tests highlighted the high sensitivity of the innovative methodology.