Pollution profile of damodar river sediment in Raniganj-Durgapur industrial belt,West Bengal,India

This paper reports on the pollution profile of Damodar river sediment as obtained from analysis of the river sediment at suitable selected sites in the Raniganj-Durgapur industrial belt, West Bengal, India. The parameters measured include (a) silica, mixed oxide, calcium, magnesium, total water-soluble exchangeable cation and anion, chemical oxygen demand, and (b) some toxic and other elements, such as sodium, potassium, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, mercury, manganese, lead, zinc, cobalt, copper, iron nickel, phosphorus, sulphur, and vanadium. The parameters listed under (a) led to the characterization of the sediment, and those under (b) gave an index of metal pollution of the sediment. The elements were estimated by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry.     

SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS IN WATER RESOURCES PLANNING1

Historically, the main objective of water resources development has been economic efficiency, and the technique for its evaluation has been benefit-cost analysis. Gradually other objectives have emerged, and these in order of their emergence are regional income redistribution, environmental quality and social well-being. These multi-objectives have given rise to multifarious problems, and have made the planning process much more complex than ever before. The different objectives are not mutually exclusive, and, hence, contributions to one can only be made at the expense of others. Trade-off studies between different objectives are difficult to make. It is suggested that one way to overcome this difficulty could be to design a system to perform optimally in terms of one objective, subject to a specified level of performance of the other, which in effect becomes a constraint. The paper also discusses the pros and cons of the desirability of public participation in our decision-making processes, and the necessity of developing social sciences models to aid water planning and management.     

A new efficient azo dye-decolorizing bacterium Paenibacillus dendritiformis GGJ7 and its decolorization process北大核心CSCD

This paper aimed to find an efficient bacterium for decolorizing azo dyes. A strain which could decolorize Congo Red efficiently was isolated from Congo Red. The strain was identified as Paenibacillus dendritiformis GGJ7 (GGJ7, in short) by 16S rRNA gene sequence (NCBI accession No. KY655213). Strain GGJ7 was applied to the decolorization of azo dyes in this research, and influencing factors of decolorization were investigated, including diverse nutritional conditions, culture conditions (pH, temperature, oxygen conditions), and various dyes. The results demonstrated that the decolorization rate of Congo Red by strain GGJ7 was much higher than that of the other eight strains (e.g., YRJ1, YRJ2 etc.) in our previous work. The optimal conditions for Congo Red decolorization were 25 g/L LB broth as nutrient source, 30 °C, pH 7, and an anaerobic environment. The mechanism of decolorization was mainly biodegradation, and the decolorization process of strain GGJ7 was conformed to the first-class kinetics model: -ln (At /A0) = 0.6058t - 0.1082. For different azo dyes, the decolorization rate was up to 95%. Strain GGJ7 only needed 1 h to decolorize 50 mg/L Methyl Orange, 25 mg/L Croceine Scarlet, and 25 mg/L Methyl Red, needed 3 h to decolorize 50 mg/L Orange G and 50 mg/L Orange G6, and needed 4 h to decolorize 50 mg/L Congo Red. In summary, strain GGJ7 is an efficient azo dye-decolorizing bacterium, and it has a potential application in treating printing and dyeing wastewater. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.