Influencing factors and improvement paths of green water use efficiency in the Yellow River Basin: a new perspective based on ecogeographical divisions

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Exploring the influencing factors and improvement paths of green water use efficiency (GWUE) based on different regions is very important for the...     

Tracking Cryptosporidium in urban wastewater treatment plants in a cold region: Occurrence,species and infectivity

• Cryptosporidium in WWTPs in a cold region was investigated in different seasons. • The overall removal efficiency of Cryptosporidium in WWTPs was over 84%. • The infectivity rate declined below 53% in effluents mainly due to disinfection. • The infectivity of Cryptosporidium increased with a seasonal drop in temperature. • Low temperature promotes binding protein retention and virulence genes expression. This study investigated the occurrence, species, infectivity and removal efficiency of Cryptosporidium spp. across typical wastewater treatment train. Samples from different process units were collected seasonally and synchronously from four wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Northeastern China. Live Cryptosporidium oocysts were identified in most samples from both influent (97.50%) and effluent (90.00%) wastewaters of the four WWTPs, at an average density of 26.34 and 4.15 oocysts/L, respectively. The overall removal efficiency was 84.25%, and oocysts were mainly removed (62.01%) by the modified secondary sedimentation process. Ten Cryptosporidium species were identified in the effluent samples. C. andersoni, C. bovis, and C. ryanae were the three most prevalent species. Oocyst viability assays indicated no reduction of excystation rate during the primary and secondary wastewater treatments (varied in the range of 63.08%–68.50%), but the excystation rate declined to 52.21% in the effluent after disinfection. Notably, the Cryptosporidium oocysts showed higher infection intensity in the cold season (winter and spring) than that in summer and autumn. The influences of environmental temperature on virulence factors of Cryptosporidium were further examined. It was observed that more extracellular secretory proteins were bound on the oocyst surface and several virulence genes were expressed relatively strongly at low temperatures, both of which could facilitate oocyst adhesion, invasion, and host immune evasion. This research is of considerable interest since it serves as an important step towards more accurate panoramic recognition of Cryptosporidium risk reduction in WWTPs, and especially highlights the potential health risk associated with Cryptosporidium in cold regions/seasons.     

Combined effects of hypoxia and ammonia to Daphnia similis estimated with life-history traits

The degradation of cyanobacterial blooms often causes hypoxia and elevated concentrations of ammonia, which can aggravate the adverse effects of blooms on aquatic organisms. However, it is not clear how one stressor would work in the presence of other coexistent stressors. We studied the toxic effects of elevated ammonia under hypoxia using a common yet important cladoceran species Daphnia similis isolated from heavily eutrophicated Lake Taihu. A 3?×?2 factorial experimental design was conducted with animals exposed to three un-ionized ammonia levels under two dissolved oxygen levels. Experiments lasted for 14 days and we recorded the life-history traits such as survival, molt, maturation, and fecundity. Results showed that hypoxia significantly decreased survival time and the number of molts of D. similis, whereas ammonia had no effect on them. Elevated ammonia significantly delayed development to maturity in tested animals and decreased their body sizes at maturity. Both ammonia and hypoxia were significantly detrimental to the number of broods, the number of offspring per female, and the number of total offspring per female, and significantly synergistic interactions were detected. Our data clearly demonstrate that elevated ammonia and hypoxia derived from cyanobacterial blooms synergistically affect the cladoceran D. similis.     

城市污水厂污泥倾倒对海洋生物的毒性研究

以广州市和佛山市的5个城市污水处理厂的污泥为实验对象,选取费氏弧菌、蒙古裸腹溞、卤虫、裸项栉鰕虎鱼仔鱼4种不同营养级的海洋生物为受试对象,结合化学分析方法,研究广州区域周边污水污泥浸出液的生物毒性效应。结果显示各污水污泥浸出液的毒性均较大,且浸出液的Cu污染浓度较高;广州市污水污泥对4种受试生物的毒性效应要高于佛山市。从污泥毒性对受试生物的选择性方面分析,发现卤虫筛分能力强且灵敏度高,而费氏弧菌则相关性好且方法简捷。研究结果为反映城市污泥的生物毒性强度和选择合适毒性评价受试生物提供基础数据。     

Mn/GO复合催化剂催化氧化NO

针对尾气中NO浓度高且传统方法脱除NO代价高的问题,研究了锰固载氧化石墨诱导单过硫酸氢钾(PMS)催化氧化并吸收NO方法。通过浸渍法在氧化石墨上负载了Mn3O4制得Mn/GO催化剂,以此为催化剂催化PMS氧化NO。研究了p H、PMS投加量、催化剂投加量以及温度等因素对NO氧化率的影响。结果表明,该系列Mn/GO催化剂可以有效地诱导PMS氧化NO,热处理时间为7 h时催化效果最佳。同时,对Mn/GO(7 h)的FT-IR、XRD、SEM、EDS以及XPS表征可知,Mn3O4是主要的锰氧化物,并成功负载在GO表面。     

高氨废水短程硝化特性简

采用SBR装置,针对高氨废水的特点,在高氨条件下,以高氨低氧为转化手段,实现高氨废水短程硝化过程中亚硝化菌的驯化与积累。控制温度为28~31℃,曝气量为15~60 L/h,pH控制在7.8~8.2的条件下连续运行78 d。实验结果表明,运行11 d后实现了短程硝化,从11 d至78 d属于系统氨氮负荷提高期。在运行过程中,氨氮污泥负荷从开始的0.023 kg/（kg·d）逐步上升为0.3 kg/（kg·d）,最高时达到0.34 kg/（kg·d）,此时氨氮去除率仍维持90%以上。为观察驯化后短程硝化菌的形态,取驯化好的污泥进行电镜扫描,结果表明,污泥中的细菌形态主要以球状菌为主。     

Green growth and environmental sustainability in China: the role of environmental taxes

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study aims to investigate the impact of environmental-related taxes on green growth and CO2 emissions in China covering the time 1996–2019....     

Enhanced carbon tetrachloride degradation by hydroxylamine in ferrous ion activated calcium peroxide in the presence of formic acid

• Complete CT degradation was achieved by employing HA to CP/Fe(II)/FA process. • Quantitative detection of Fe(II) regeneration and HO• production was investigated. • Benzoic acid outcompeted FA for the reaction with HO•. • CO₂•⁻ was the dominant reductive radical for CT removal. • Effects of solution matrix on CT removal were conducted. Hydroxyl radicals (HO•) show low reactivity with perchlorinated hydrocarbons, such as carbon tetrachloride (CT), in conventional Fenton reactions, therefore, the generation of reductive radicals has attracted increasing attention. This study investigated the enhancement of CT degradation by the synergistic effects of hydroxylamine (HA) and formic acid (FA) (initial [CT] = 0.13 mmol/L) in a Fe(II) activated calcium peroxide (CP) Fenton process. CT degradation increased from 56.6% to 99.9% with the addition of 0.78 mmol/L HA to the CP/Fe(II)/FA/CT process in a molar ratio of 12/6/12/1. The results also showed that the presence of HA enhanced the regeneration of Fe(II) from Fe(III), and the production of HO• increased one-fold when employing benzoic acid as the HO• probe. Additionally, FA slightly improves the production of HO•. A study of the mechanism confirmed that the carbon dioxide radical (CO₂•⁻), a strong reductant generated by the reaction between FA and HO•, was the dominant radical responsible for CT degradation. Almost complete CT dechlorination was achieved in the process. The presence of humic acid and chloride ion slightly decreased CT removal, while high doses of bicarbonate and high pH inhibited CT degradation. This study helps us to better understand the synergistic roles of FA and HA for HO• and CO₂•⁻ generation and the removal of perchlorinated hydrocarbons in modified Fenton systems.     

Comment: Closing phosphorus cycle from natural waters: re-capturing phosphorus through an integrated water-energy-food strategy

正Phosphorus(P)reserve,largely derived from phosphate rock,is essential for crop growth to support the growing world population.However,a significant proportion of phosphorus used as a fertilizer runs into natural waters,causing eutrophication and ecological damage.Moreover,most P in the food is eventually discharged as waste after being digested by human and animals.Thus,industrial activities have created a     

Origin and assessment of groundwater pollution and associated health risk: a case study in an industrial park,northwest China

Groundwater quality which relates closely to human health has become as important as its quantity due to the demand for safe water. In the present study, an entropy-weighted fuzzy water quality index (WQI) has been proposed for performing groundwater quality assessment in and around an industrial park, northwest China, where domestic water requirements are solely met by groundwater. The human health risk was assessed with the model recommended by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. In addition, the sources of major ions and main contaminants were also analyzed. The study shows that groundwater in the study area has been contaminated conjunctively by natural processes and industrial and agricultural activities. Nitrate, manganese (Mn), fluoride, total dissolved solids, total hardness and sulfate are major contaminants influencing groundwater quality. Nitrate and heavy metals such as Mn are mainly affected by human agricultural activities and industrial production, while other contaminants are mainly originated from mineral weathering and water–rock interactions. The results of water quality assessment suggest that half of the groundwater samples collected are of medium quality thus require pretreatment before human consumption. The mean health risk caused by the consumption of contaminated groundwater in the area is 8.42 × 10^?5 per year which surpasses the maximum acceptable level (5 × 10^?5 per year) recommended by the International Commission on Radiologic Protection. The entropy-weighted fuzzy WQI proposed in this study can not only assign proper weights to parameters but also treat uncertainties associated with water quality classification. This study will be of interest to international environmentalists and hydrogeologists. It will also be useful in regional groundwater management and protection.