Is the microbiological quality of the Msunduzi River (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) suitable for domestic, recreational, and agricultural purposes?

As little is known about the potential risks associated with the use of microbiologically contaminated river water for recreation, irrigation, or domestic purposes, the Msunduzi River in Pietermaritzburg (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) was evaluated. In addition to pH, temperature, and chemical oxygen demand, quantitative and qualitative microbiological analyses were performed monthly for 13 months. These included aerobic plate counts, counts of aerobic and anaerobic sporeformers, most probable numbers for total and faecal coliforms and Escherichia coli and the detection of Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, and intestinal enterococci. Presumptive E. coli and S. aureus from river water samples were confirmed using PCR and additionally matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for E. coli. Aerobic plate counts were above the South African Department of Water Affairs recommended guideline level for domestic use of 100 cfu/ml for all 13 months assessed. Faecal coliform (up to 63,000 MPN/100 ml) and E. coli (up to 7,900 MPN/100 ml) levels regularly exceeded stipulated limits for safe irrigation, domestic and recreational use. The presence of Salmonella spp., S. aureus, and intestinal enterococci frequently coincided with faecal coliform and E. coli levels above 1,000 MPN/100 ml. This illustrates the value of using guideline values for faecal coliforms and E. coli as indicators for the presence of potential pathogens. PCR and MALDI-TOF MS confirmation of E. coli were in agreement, thereby demonstrating the potential of MALDI-TOF MS as a suitable alternative. These data demonstrate that potential health risks are associated with using Msunduzi River water for irrigation and recreational or domestic purposes.     

Faecal pollution loads in the wastewater effluents and receiving water bodies: a potential threat to the health of Sedibeng and Soshanguve communities,South Africa

The discharge of untreated or inadequately treated effluents has been identified among the activities responsible for the spread of a wide range of potentially infectious agents. The aim of this study was to determine whether inadequate treatment of wastewater and the faecal pollution load of effluents and receiving water bodies in Sedibeng District and Soshanguve peri-urban area of the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality could be a potential threat to the health of the surrounding communities. Variations in the counts of faecal indicator bacteria and pathogenic microorganisms and compliance of the effluents and receiving water bodies with South African and World Health Organization standards were assessed between August 2011 and May 2012 using culture-based methods and molecular techniques. The overall quality of effluents did not comply with the South African special standard of no risk for unrestricted irrigation (zero?Escherichia coli/100 ml). The quality of the receiving water bodies did not comply with South African regulatory limits set for domestic purposes (zero?E.?coli/100 ml, <30 faecal enterococci/100 ml and <1 somatic coliphages/100 ml), for full contact recreation (<20 somatic coliphages/100 ml) and aquaculture (<10?E.?coli/100 ml) and WHO standards for full and intermediate contact recreational use (<1?E.?coli/100 ml and <40 faecal enterococci/100 ml, respectively). The PCR results revealed the prevalence of pathogenic microorganisms; between 0 and 60 % of samples tested positive for Salmonella Typhimurium and Shigella dysenteriae, and between 20 and 60 % of samples tested positive for Vibrio cholerae. These findings demonstrated that potential health risks might be associated with the use of the target river waters for domestic, recreational and irrigation purposes. This study calls for a prompt intervention to improve wastewater management.     

Antimicrobial activity of metal oxide nanoparticles supported onto natural clinoptilolite

The antimicrobial activity of Cu₂O, ZnO and NiO nanoparticles supported onto natural clinoptilolite was investigated in the secondary effluent under dark conditions. After 24 h of contact the Cu₂O and ZnO nanoparticles reduced the numbers of viable bacterial cells of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in pure culture for four to six orders of magnitude and showed consistent 100% of antibacterial activity against native E. coli after 1 h of contact during 48 exposures. The antibacterial activity of NiO nanoparticles was less efficient. The Cu₂O and NiO nanoparticles showed 100% of antiprotozoan activity against Paramecium caudatum and Euplotes affinis after 1 h of contact, while ZnO nanoparticles were less efficient. The morphology and crystallinity of the nanoparticles were not affected by microorganisms. The metal oxide nanoparticles could find a novel application in the disinfection of secondary effluent and removal of pathogenic microorganisms in the tertiary stage of wastewater treatment.     

Ethylbenzene Removal in a Multiple-Stage Biofilter

ABSTRACT

In practice, biofilters are often conceived as entire, single-unit systems. However, the activity of a biofilter varies greatly over its depth. For a given period, each stage of the biofilter dominates ethylbenzene removal. Ethylbenzene was continuously removed in a mixed-medium biofilter. The overall removal efficiency of the ethylbenzene ranged from 70% to greater than 99%. In the upflow biofilter, the most dominant ethylbenzene degrading stage shifted consecutively from the bottom to the top of the reactor. Average water content throughout the biofilter media was relatively consistent. However, the water content of each stage fluctuated dramatically and was correlated with the ethylbenzene removal rate. Without any water addition, the biofilter was operated for 62 days above the target removal efficiency of 80%. A 9-month slow-release fertilizer, mixed with composting media, was an effective way to eliminate the nutrient deficiency in the biofilter operation.     

Comparison of physical technologies for biomass control in biofilters treating gaseous toluene

Excessive accumulation of biomass within gas-phase biofilters often results in the deterioration of removal performance. Compared with chemical and biological technologies, physical technologies are more effective in removing biomass and inducing less inhibition of the biofilter performance. This study applied different physical technologies, namely, air sparging, mechanical mixing, and washing with water at various temperatures, to remove excess biomass in biofilters treating toluene. Filter pressure drop, removed dry biomass, biofilter performance, and microbial metabolic characteristics were analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the methods. Results showed that air sparging was inefficient for biomass removal (1 kg dry biomass/m³ filter), whereas mechanical mixing significantly inhibited removal efficiencies (<30%). Washing of the packing with fluids was feasible, and hot fluids can remove a large amount of biomass. However, hot fluids reduce microbial activity and inhibit removal performance. Washing of the packing with either 20°C or 50°C water showed efficiency as >3 kg dry biomass/m³ filter can be removed at both temperatures with removal efficiencies at approximately 40% after treatment. Finally, different technologies were compared and summarized to propose an optimized strategy of biomass control for industrial biofilters.

Implications: This study is to apply different physical technologies, namely, air sparging, mechanical mixing, and washing with water of different temperatures, to remove the excess biomass in biofilters treating toluene. The filter pressure drop, removed dry biomass, biofilter performance, and microbial metabolic characteristics were all analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the methods. The results of this study provide useful information regarding biomass control of industrial biofilters.     

中置曝气生物活性炭工艺中的微絮凝

利用新型炭滤-砂滤工艺对南方湿热地区微污染源水进行中试规模的微絮凝实验研究。结果表明,接触絮凝时间为2~5 min时,投加1.0 mg/L的PAC微絮凝效果最好。运行稳定后,砂滤器出水浊度≤0.1 NTU,对COD Mn的去除效果有一定改善,微型水生生物的种类和数量也较炭滤器有大幅度下降,其中双层砂滤的效果优于单层粗砂,但其水头损失增长较快。通过微絮凝,砂滤器对炭滤器反冲洗后初滤水能有较好处理效果,可有效简化运行工艺。同时可保证滤后水中铝含量满足《生活饮用水卫生标准》的要求。     

Total staphylococci as performance surrogate for greywater treatment

Faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) are commonly used as water quality indicators; implying faecal contamination and therefore the potential presence of pathogenic enteric bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. Hence in wastewater treatment, the most commonly used treatment process measures (surrogates) are total coliforms, faecal coliforms, Escherichia coli (E. coli), and enterococci. However, greywater potentially contains skin pathogens unrelated to faecal load, and E. coli and other FIB may grow within greywater unrelated to pathogens. Overall, FIB occurs at fluctuating and relatively low concentrations compared to other endogenous greywater bacteria affecting their ability as surrogates for pathogen reduction. Therefore, unlike municipal sewage, FIB provides a very limited and unreliable log-reduction surrogate measure for on-site greywater treatment systems. Based on our recent metagenomic study of laundry greywater, skin-associated bacteria such as Staphylococcus, Corynebacterium, and Propionibacterium spp. dominate and may result in more consistent treatment surrogates than traditional FIB. Here, we investigated various Staphylococcus spp. as potential surrogates to reliably assay over 4-log₁₀ reduction by the final-stage UV disinfection step commonly used for on-site greywater reuse, and compare them to various FIB/phage surrogates. A collimated UV beam was used to determine the efficacy of UV inactivation (255, 265 and 285 nm) against E. coli, Enterococcus faecalis, E. faecium, E. casseliflavus, Staphylococcus aureus, and S. epidermidis. Staphylococcus spp. was estimated by combining the bi-linear dose-response curves for S. aureus and S. epidermidis and was shown to be less resistant to UV irradiation than the other surrogates examined. Hence, a relative inactivation credit is suggested; whereas, the doses required to achieve a 4 and 5-log₁₀ reduction of Staphylococcus spp. (13.0 and 20.9 mJ cm^?2, respectively) were used to determine the relative inactivation of the other microorganisms investigated. The doses required to achieve a 4 and 5-log₁₀ reduction of Staphylococcus spp. resulted in a log₁₀ reduction of 1.4 and 4.1 for E. coli, 0.8 and 2.8 for E. faecalis, 0.8 and 3.6 for E. casseliflavus and 0.8 and 1.2 for MS2 coliphage, respectively. Given the concentration difference of Staphylococcus spp. and FIB (3 to 5-log₁₀ higher), we propose the use of Staphylococcus spp. as a novel endogenous performance surrogate to demonstrate greywater treatment performance given its relatively high and consistent concentration and therefore ability to demonstrate over 5-log₁₀ reductions.     

Silver-modified clinoptilolite for the removal of Escherichia coli and heavy metals from aqueous solutions

This paper investigates the potential of using the silver antibacterial properties combined with the metal ion exchange characteristics of silver-modified clinoptilolite to produce a treatment system capable of removing both contaminants from aqueous streams. The results have shown that silver-modified clinoptilolite is capable of completely eliminating Escherichia coli after 30-min contact time demonstrating its effectiveness as a disinfectant. Systems containing both E. coli and metals exhibited 100 % E. coli reduction after 15-min contact time and maximum metal adsorption removal efficiencies of 97, 98, and 99 % for Pb²⁺, Cd²⁺, and Zn²⁺ respectively after 60 min; 0.182–0.266 mg/g of metal ions were adsorbed by the zeolites in the single- and mixed-metal-containing solutions. Nonmodified clinoptilolite showed no antibacterial properties. This study demonstrated that silver-modified clinoptilolite exhibited high disinfection and heavy metal removal efficiencies and consequently could provide an effective combined treatment system for the removal of E. coli and metals from contaminated water streams.     

Evaluation of dispersion methods for enumeration of microorganisms from peat and activated carbon biofilters treating volatile organic compounds

To enumerate microorganisms having colonized biofilters treating volatile organic compounds, it is necessary firstly to evaluate dispersion methods. Crushing, shaking and sonication were then tested for the removal of microflora from biofilters packing materials (peat and activated carbon). Continuous or discontinuous procedures, and addition of glass beads had no effect on the number of microorganisms removed from peat particles. The duration of treatment also had no effect for shaking and crushing, but the number of microorganisms after 60 min of treatment with ultrasound was significantly higher than that obtained after 0.5 min. The comparison between these methods showed that crushing was the most efficient for the removal of microorganisms from both peat and activated carbon. The comparison between three chemical dispersion agents showed that 1% Na-pyrophosphate was less efficient, compared with 200 mM phosphate buffer or 1% Na-hexametaphosphate. To optimize the cultivation of microorganisms, three different agar media were compared. Tryptic soy agar tenfold diluted (TSA 1/10) was the most suitable medium for the culture of microflora from a peat biofilter. For the activated carbon biofilter, there was no significant difference between Luria Bertoni, TSA 1/10, and plate count agar. The optimized extraction and enumeration protocols were used to perform a quantitative characterization of microbial populations in an operating laboratory activated carbon biofilter and in two parallel peat biofilters.     

活性炭柱中砂垫层在微污染水源水处理工艺中的应用

以嘉兴市某水厂沉后水为进水进行实验,研究炭砂滤池对污染物的去除性能,以及炭砂滤池取代活性炭＋砂滤池的可能性,探讨了短流程工艺的适用性。结果表明,炭砂滤池能有效去除水中的浊度、氨氮、CODMn和铁、锰等污染物,与活性炭柱相比,炭砂滤池在降低出水浊度和水中颗粒数方面具有一定优势,即砂垫层对控制出水浊度和保障微生物安全能够起到积极作用。在实验条件下,增加活性炭层厚度或者降低滤速,在一定程度上有利于提高对CODMn的去除率。在设计滤速为9～10 m/h,CODMn〈4.5 mg/L时,可直接以炭砂滤池取代活性炭池＋砂滤池,仍然能保证出水CODMn〈3 mg/L。     

Backfitting Electrostatic Precipitators: Gas Velocity and Reliability Considerations

Abstract

The kinetic behavior of the toluene biofiltration process was investigated in this research. Toluene was used as a model compound for less water-soluble gas pollutants. The limiting factor in the overall toluene biofiltration process was determined by analyzing the effectiveness factor of the biofilm along the biofilter. Experiments were conducted in three laboratory-scale biofilters packed with mixtures of chaff/compost, D.E. (diatomaceous earth)/compost and GAC (granular activated carbon)/compost, respectively. A mathematical model previously proposed was verified in this study as being applicable to these biofilters packed with different filter materials. Both the experimental and theoretical results confirmed that the biodegradation rate along the biofilter followed the zero order, fractional order to first order kinetics as toluene concentration decreased. Moreover, at higher toluene concentration, biodegradation rate and mass flux of toluene were lower near the bottom of the biofilter due to substrate inhibition. Analysis of the effectiveness factor indicated that biofiltration of a less soluble compound such as toluene should not be operated at high gas flow rates (low gas residence times) due to the mass transfer limitation of such a system. At an approximate constant inlet toluene concentration of 0.9 g/m³, the toluene removal efficiency in these three biofilters would drop below 90% when the gas residence time decreased to 2.5, 2.5, and 2.0 min, respectively.     

Treatment of hydrophobic VOCs in trickling bed air biofilter: Emphasis on long-term effect of initial alternate use of hydrophilic VOCs and microbial species evolution

The main research objective of this study is to enhance the removal of recalcitrant compounds that are not readily bioavailable due to limiting mass transfer rate between the liquid and gas phases. Four trickle-bed air biofilters (TBABs), loaded with pelletized diatomaceous earth support media, were run at an empty bed residence time (EBRT) of 120 sec. After an acclimation period at constant loading rate (LR) of n-hexane (13.2 g m^?3 hr^?1) and intermittent feeding of methanol, n-hexane influent LR was then increased in step-wise fashion to 47.7 g m^?3 hr^?1 for biofilters receiving acidic nutrients (pH 4), and to 36.3 g m^?3 hr^?1 for biofilters receiving nutrient at pH 7. The results have shown that for TBABs receiving nutrient at pH 4, greater elimination capacities were obtained as compared to TBABs working at pH 7. n-Hexane removal efficiency of more than 84% at LR up to 47.7 g m^?3 hr^?1 was obtained for pH 4 nutrient-fed biofilters, while for biofilters with nutrients fed at pH 7, the removal efficiency did not exceed 64% for n-hexane LR of 36.3 g m^?3 hr^?1. The microbial analysis revealed that no fungal community was detected in TBABs run at neutral pH. The fungi communities that were initially acclimating TBABs run at pH 4, namely, Aspergillus niger and Fusarium solani, were not detected at the end of the experiment, while Gibberella moniliformis (Fusarium verticillioides) genus became the dominant species. Gibberella moniliformis (Fusarium verticillioides) was present along all the biofilter media and sustained very high n-hexane elimination at steady-state condition.

Implications:With growing apprehension about sustainability and environmental protection, with limited resources available, and with the passage of the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act, there is more need for using air pollution control techniques that are sound economically and proven environmentally friendly. Biofiltration systems, namely, trickle-bed air biofilters, were for decades recognized as efficient in treating air pollutants. Thus, the application of this technique over a wide industrial spectrum would certainly contribute to reduction of hazardous gas emissions.     

Hot Filter/Impinger and Dilution Sampling for Fine Particulate Matter Characterization from Ferrous Metal Casting Processes

Abstract

A study using two stack-sampling methodologies for collecting particulate matter (PM) emissions was conducted using a hot filter followed by a cold impinger sampling train and a dilution sampler. Samples were collected from ferrous iron metal casting processes that included pouring molten iron into a sand mold containing an organic binder, metal cooling, removal of the sand from the cooled casting (shakeout), and postshakeout cooling. The shakeout process contributed more to PM emissions than the metal pouring and cooling processes. Particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM_2.5) mass emissions for the entire casting cycle ranged from 3.4 to 4.7 lb/t of metal for the hot filter/impinger method and from 0.8 to 1.8 lb/t of metal for the dilution method. Most of the difference was due to PM captured by the impingers, much of which was probably dissolved gases rather than condensable vapors. Of the PM fraction captured by the impingers, 96–98% was organic in nature. The impinger PM fraction contributed 32–38% to the total suspended particle mass and caused a factor of 2–4 positive bias for PM_2.5 emissions. For the pouring and cooling processes only, the factor increased to over seven times.     

Sulfur Toxicity and Media Capacity for H2S Removal in Biofilters Packed with a Natural or a Commercial Granular Medium

Abstract

Two types of media, a natural medium (wood chips) and a commercially engineered medium, were evaluated for sulfur inhibition and capacity for removal of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S). Sulfate was added artificially (40, 65, and 100 mg of S/g of medium) to test its effect on removal efficiency and the media. A humidified gas stream of 50 ppm by volume H₂S was passed through the media-packed columns, and effluent readings for H₂S at the outlet were measured continuously. The overall H₂S baseline removal efficiencies of the column packed with natural medium remained >95% over a 2-day period even with the accumulated sulfur species. Added sulfate at a concentration high enough to saturate the biofilter moisture phase did not appear to affect the H₂S removal process efficiency. The results of additional experiments with a commercial granular medium also demonstrated that the accumulation of amounts of sulfate sufficient enough to saturate the moisture phase of the medium did not have a significant effect on H₂S removal.

When the pH of the biofilter medium was lowered to 4, H₂S removal efficiency did drop to 36%. This work suggests that sulfate mass transfer through the moisture phase to the biofilm phase does not appear to inhibit H₂S removal rates in biofilters. Thus, performance degradation for odor-removing biofilters or H₂S breakthrough in field applications is probably caused by other consequences of high H₂S loading, such as sulfur precipitation.     

Effect of chlorination and ultraviolet disinfection on tetA-mediated tetracycline resistance of Escherichia coli

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are an emerging threat to public health during drinking water consumption and reclaimed water reuse. Several studies have shown that the proportions of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in waters may increase when exposed to low doses of UV light or chlorine. In this study, inactivation of tetracycline-resistant Escherichia coli and antibiotic-sensitive E. coli by UV disinfection and chlorination was compared to determine the tolerance of tetracycline-resistant E. coli to UV light and chlorine, and tetracycline resistance of a tetracycline-resistant E. coli population was studied under different doses of the disinfectants. Our results showed that relative to antibiotic-sensitive E. coli, tetracycline-resistant E. coli had the same tolerance to UV light and a potentially higher tolerance to chlorination. The mortality frequency distributions of tetracycline-resistant E. coli exposed to tetracycline were shifted by both chlorination and UV disinfection. When compared to the hemi-inhibitory concentrations (IC₅₀) of tetracycline-resistant E. coli with no exposure to UV or chlorination, the IC₅₀ of tetracycline-resistant E. coli treated with tetracycline was 40% lower when inactivation by UV light or chlorination reached 3-log but was 1.18 times greater when inactivation by chlorination reached 4.3-log. Chlorination applied to drinking water or reclaimed water treatment may increase the risk of selection for highly tetracycline-resistant E. coli.     

Disinfection and removal of human pathogenic bacteria in arctic waste stabilization ponds

Wastewater stabilization ponds (WSPs) are commonly used to treat municipal wastewater in Arctic Canada. The biological treatment in the WSPs is strongly influenced by climatic conditions. Currently, there is limited information about the removal of fecal and pathogenic bacteria during the short cool summer treatment season. With relevance to public health, the objectives of this paper were to determine if treatment in arctic WSPs resulted in the disinfection (i.e., removal of fecal indicator bacteria, Escherichia coli) and removal of selected human bacterial pathogens from the treated effluent. The treatment performance, with focus on microbial removal, was assessed for the one-cell WSP in Pond Inlet (Nunavut [NU]) and two-cell WSP in Clyde River (NU) over three consecutive (2012–2014) summer treatment seasons (late June-early September). The WSPs provided a primary disinfection treatment of the wastewater with a 2–3 Log removal of generic indicator E. coli. The bacterial pathogens Salmonella spp., pathogenic E. coli, and Listeria monocytogenes, but not Campylobacter spp. and Helicobacter pylori, were detected in the untreated and treated wastewater, indicating that human pathogens were not reliably removed. Seasonal and annual variations in temperature significantly (p < 0.05) affected the disinfection efficiency. Improved disinfection and pathogen removal was observed for the two-cell system in Clyde River as compared to the one-cell system in Pond Inlet. A quantitative microbial risk assessment should be performed to determine if the release of low levels of human pathogens into the arctic environment poses a human health risk.     

Activated soil filters for removal of biocides from contaminated run-off and waste-waters

Building facades can be equipped with biocides to prevent formation of algal, fungal and bacterial films. Thus run-off waters may contain these highly active compounds. In this study, the removal of several groups of biocides from contaminated waters by means of an activated soil filter was studied.A technical scale activated vertical soil filter (biofilter) with different layers (peat, sand and gravel), was planted with reed (Phragmites australis) and used to study the removal rates and fate of hydrophilic to moderate hydrophobic (log K_ow 1.8-4.4) biocides and biocide metabolites such as: Terbutryn, Cybutryn (Irgarol® 1051), Descyclopropyl-Cybutryn (Cybutryn and Terbutryn metabolite), Isoproturon, Diuron, and its metabolite Diuron-desmonomethyl, Benzo-isothiazolinone, n-Octyl-isothiazolinone, Dichloro-n-octylisothiazolinone and Iodocarbamate (Iodocarb). Three experiments were performed: the first one (36 d) under low flow conditions (61 L m⁻² d⁻¹) reached removal rates between 82% and 100%. The second one was performed to study high flow conditions: During this experiment, water was added as a pulse to the filter system with a hydraulic load of 255 L m⁻² within 5 min (retention time <1 h). During this experiment the removal rates of the compounds decreased drastically. For five compounds (Cybutryn, Descyclopropyl-Cybutryn, Diuron, Isoproturon, and Iodocarb) the removal dropped temporarily below 60%, while it was always above 70% for the others (Terbutryn, Benzo-isothiazolinone, n-Octyl-isothiazolinone, Dichloro-n-octylisothiazolinone). However, this removal is a considerable improvement compared to direct discharge into surface waters or infiltration into soil without appropriate removal. In the last experiment the removal efficiencies of the different layers were studied. Though the peat layer was responsible for most of the removal, the sand and gravel layers also contributed significantly for some compounds. All compounds are rather removed by degradation than by sorption.     

Further studies of oxidation processes on filter surfaces: Evidence for oxidation products and the influence of time in service

The sensory pollutants emitted by loaded ventilation filters are assumed to include products formed via oxidation of organics associated with captured particles. In this study, experiments were performed that used either particle production or ozone removal as probes to further improve our understanding of such processes. The measured ratio of downstream to upstream submicron particle concentrations increased when ozone was added to air passing through samples from loaded particle filters. Such an observation is consistent with low volatility oxidation products desorbing from the filter and subsequently partitioning between the gas phase and the surface of particles that have passed through the filter, including particles that were previously too small (<20 nm) to be detected by the instrument used in these studies. A related set of experiments conducted with unused filters and filters that had been in service from 2 to 16 weeks found that ozone removal efficiencies changed in a manner that indicated at least two different removal mechanisms—reactions with compounds present on the filter media following manufacturing and reactions with compounds associated with captured particles. The contribution from the former varies with the type and manufacturer of the filter, while that of the latter varies with the duration of service and nature of the captured particles. In complimentary experiments, a filter sample protected from ozone during its 9 weeks of service had higher ozone removal efficiencies than an identical filter not protected from ozone during the same 9 weeks of service filtering the same air. This result indicates that a filter's exposure history subsequently influences the quantity of oxidation products generated when ozone-containing air flows through it.     

滤布滤池系统在城市污水深度处理的中试研究

滤布滤池工艺是一种将过滤截留和沉淀集中在同一滤池内同步完成的高效水处理工艺。将该工艺应用于城市污水的深度处理中,通过絮凝剂的加入,具有同步去除TP和浊度的功能。研究了该工艺对城市污水处理厂二级处理出水中的TP、浊度、TN和COD的去除效果及其运行规律。研究表明：采用氯化铁作为絮凝剂,在合适的药剂投加量下,对污水处理厂二级出水的TP的去除率超过53%,浊度去除率超过32%。与传统的砂滤工艺相比,该工艺具有操作简单、结构紧凑、占地面积小和高程损失小等优点,是一种更为经济和简单的处理单元,适用于现有城市污水处理厂进一步提高出水水质的深度处理。     

Nitrate removal under different ecological remediation measures in Taihu Lake: a 15 N mass-balance approach

Ecological remediation is an important measure for the protection of lake water quality in removing nutrients, such as nitrate (NO₃ ^?). In this study, four bioremediation processes (bare sediment, immobilized nitrogen cycling bacteria (INCB) added, Elodea nuttallii added, E. nuttallii-INCB assemblage) were operated at a lab to elucidate the effect of macrophyte appearance and INCB addition on NO₃ ^? removal and achieve the optimal processes for biomediation. ¹⁵?N-NO₃ solution was added to microcosms to identify the key nitrogen transformation processes responsible for NO₃ ^? removal. Results showed that nitrate removal was significantly enhanced after the addition of INCB and E. nuttallii. In the treatments with INCB added, E. nuttallii added, and INCB and E. nuttallii-INCB assemblage, nitrate removal ratio achieved 94.74, 98.76, and 99.15 %, respectively. In contrast, only 23.47 % added nitrate was removed in the control. Plant uptake and denitrification played an important role in nitrogen removal. The water quality was substantially improved by the addition of INCB and macrophyte that can accelerate denitrification and promote nitrogen assimilation of plants. The results indicated that plant uptake and microbial denitrification were key processes for nitrate removal.