Comparing Contaminant Removal Costs for Aquifer Recharge with Wastewater with Water Supply Benefits

The use of waters of impaired quality has been suggested as a means to expand available water resources supply for water‐limited communities. An ongoing concern is the safety of supplies that use wastewater because of the potential for introduction of emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals into drinking water supplies. Prior research into contaminants of emerging concerns (CECs) have included a variety of methods, but the only consistent removal is with reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, ultraviolet light (UV), and advanced oxidation processes (AOP). However, few of these prior studies have measurable quantities of these contaminants in the influent wastewater, so determining actual removal percentages is difficult. This project was designed to evaluate the removal of CECs to verify that a 3‐log removal of common constituents was realized. Spike testing was used to compare to prior research and to evaluate whether the project costs were competitive with other forms of reuse or other water supplies. The combination of RO/UV/AOP was effective at obtaining a 3‐log removal of CECs, but the RO and UV/AOP processes alone were not capable of removing all substances. However, despite the extensive treatment, the proposed process was both competitive cost‐wise and met the water quality goals.     

Pesticide removal from cotton farm tailwater by a pilot-scale ponded wetland

A pilot-scale, ponded wetland consisting of an open pond and a vegetated pond in series was constructed on a cotton farm in northern New South Wales, Australia, and assessed for its potential to remove pesticides from irrigation tailwater. Ten incubation periods ranging from 7 to 13 days each were conducted over two cotton growing seasons to monitor removal of residues of four pesticides applied to the crop. Residue reductions ranging 22–53% and 32–90% were observed in the first and second seasons respectively. Average half-lives during this first season were calculated as 21.3 days for diuron, 25.4 days for fluometuron and 26.4 days for aldicarb over the entire wetland. During the second season of monitoring, pesticide half-lives were significantly reduced, with fluometuron exhibiting a half-life of 13.8 days, aldicarb 6.2 days and endosulfan 7.5 days in the open pond. Further significant reductions were observed in the vegetated pond and also following an algal bloom in the open pond, as a result of which aldicarb and endosulfan were no longer quantifiable. Partitioning onto sediment was found to be a considerable sink for the insecticide endosulfan. These results demonstrate that macrophytes and algae can reduce the persistence of pesticides in on-farm water and provide some data for modelling.     

Optimal recycle price game theory model for second-hand mobile phone recycling

Human societies develop rapidly through the advancement of technology; however, with these advancements, many problems are emerging. The topic chosen for this study surrounds the e-waste, which has become a major problem around the world. Second-hand and unused mobile phones are a big part of globally generated e-waste. If these devices are properly recycled, they can generate substantial economic and resource value. Yet if they are indiscriminately discarded, they cause a profound environmental impact. Given the current low recovery rate of mobile phones, an increase in recovery rates becomes critical in lessening economic and environmental impacts. Based on the status quo of second-hand mobile phone recycling processes in China, this article analyzes the behavior of individuals and recyclers through a comprehensive static information game theory and finds ways to increase the recycling rate of second-hand mobile phones. The study helps the customers, to clearly identify the recycle price. In case of market, the government policy can be introduced with a reward and punishment mechanism. Furthermore, under the ideological guidance of game theory, this paper also establishes a corresponding price model of second-hand mobile phone recycling based on best response dynamics like search, variable neighborhood search, and hybrid meta-heuristic method. This model shows that the recovery time differences have a significant impact on the recovery price. Moreover, to an extent, this model can promote the possibility and initiative of customers choosing cell phone recycling.