Water quality index for agricultural systems in Northwest Uruguay

Agricultural systems have experienced rapid expansion and intensification in the last several decades. In Uruguay, since the beginning of 2000, the most common cropping systems have included soybeans. Currently, this crop is expanding towards lowlands traditionally occupied by rice in rotation with pastures. However, the environmental effects of agricultural intensification and diversification are not well known. Thus, some indices have been proposed to quantify the changes in agricultural production systems and assess water quality. The main goal of this study was to develop a water quality index (WQI) to assess the impacts of the diversification of rice production systems in northwest Uruguay. The study was carried out in an agricultural basin where other summer crops have been incorporated in the rice-pasture sequence. Agriculture intensification and crop diversification indices were calculated using information provided by farmers. Water samples were collected downstream of the production area before crop sowing and after crop harvest (2008–2009 to 2010–2011 and 2016–2017 to 2017–2018). Biochemical oxygen demand, nitrates, total phosphorus, fecal coliforms, and total suspended solids were the variables that mainly explained the effects of the agricultural activities on water quality. The proposed water quality index included these unweighted variables, which allowed for the pre-sowing and post-harvest to be differentiated, as well as the degree of diversification. Therefore, the proposed WQI constitutes a tool that can be used to evaluate the water quality in an agricultural basin. Likewise, it can be used to select agricultural sequences that generate the least possible impacts on the associated water resources.     

Bioremediation of tannery effluent by Cr- and salt-tolerant bacterial strains

Microorganisms have great potential to control environmental pollution, particularly industrial sources of water pollution. Currently, leather industry is regarded as the most polluting and suffering from negative impacts due to the pollution it adds to the environment. Chromium, one of the hazardous pollutants discharged from tanneries, is highly toxic and carcinogenic in nature. Effective treatment of tannery effluent is a dire need of the era as a part of environmental management. Among all the wastewater treatment technologies, bioremediation is the most effective and environment-friendly tool to manage the water pollution. The present study evaluated the potential of 11 previously isolated bacterial strains, tolerant to high concentrations of salts and Cr for the bioremediation of tannery effluent. Among all the tested strains, Enterobacter sp. HU38, Microbacterium arborescens HU33, and Pantoea stewartii ASI11 were found most effective in reducing biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), and chromium (Cr) 70, 63, 57, 87, and 54%, respectively, of tannery effluent and proliferated well under highly toxic conditions, at 9 days of incubation. The pollutant removal efficacy of these bacterial strains can be improved by extending the incubation period or by increasing the amount of inoculum.     

Use of water quality index and multivariate statistical techniques for the assessment of spatial variations in water quality of a small river

Rapid urban development has led to a critical negative impact on water bodies flowing in and around urban areas. In the present study, 25 physiochemical and biological parameters have been studied on water samples collected from the entire section of a small river originating and ending within an urban area. This study envisaged to assess the water quality status of river body and explore probable sources of pollution in the river. Weighted arithmetic water quality index (WQI) was employed to evaluate the water quality status of the river. Multivariate statistical techniques namely cluster analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were applied to differentiate the sources of variation in water quality and to determine the cause of pollution in the river. WQI values indicated high pollution levels in the studied water body, rendering it unsuitable for any practical purpose. Cluster analysis results showed that the river samples can be divided into four groups. Use of PCA identified four important factors describing the types of pollution in the river, namely (1) mineral and nutrient pollution, (2) heavy metal pollution, (3) organic pollution, and (4) fecal contamination. The deteriorating water quality of the river was demonstrated to originate from wide sources of anthropogenic activities, especially municipal sewage discharge from unplanned housing areas, wastewater discharge from small industrial units, livestock activities, and indiscriminate dumping of solid wastes in the river. Thus, the present study effectively demonstrates the use of WQI and multivariate statistical techniques for gaining simpler and meaningful information about the water quality of a lotic water body as well as to identify of the pollution sources.     

HRT对固定床厌氧反应器运行效果的影响

为了考察水力停留时间(HRT)对炭纤维载体固定床厌氧反应器运行效果的影响,在进水COD分别为20 000~25 000 mg/L和40 000~45 000 mg/L2个浓度范围下,研究了不同HRT对反应器运行效果的影响。结果表明,通过HRT的调整,在达到相同有机负荷(OLR)下,进水COD为20 000~25 000 mg/L的COD去除率和产气量,明显比进水COD为40 000~45 000 mg/L的运行效果好;进水COD为20 000~25 000 mg/L,HRT为14 h,相应的OLR为41.09 kgCOD/(m3.d)时,COD去除率仍然维持在68%以上,沼气容积产气率达到14.55 m3/(m3.d)。炭纤维载体固定床厌氧反应器具有较高的COD去除率、产气效率以及抵抗低pH、高负荷冲击的能力,运行过程中没有发生反应器堵塞的现象。     

厌氧氨氧化ASBR中亚硝氮和氨氮降解规律研究

采用生物膜ASBR反应器,研究了厌氧氨氧化反应过程中亚硝氮与氨氮降解速度的变化规律。结果表明,降解过程主要分为2个阶段:速度上升期(0~30 min)和速度下降期(30~150 min)。一阶指数衰减模型的模拟结果表明,20 min以后亚硝氮、氨氮降解速度逐渐减少,亚硝氮降解速度始终高于氨氮降解速度,但是两者差值随时间逐渐减少。     

可用于水体污染控制的氨氮转化菌筛选及部分降解特性的实验研究

从南京禄口水产养殖基地淡水鱼塘取淤泥作为分离菌株的土源,采用选择性富集培养法,从中分离到能以硫酸铵为氮源的菌株7株,对7个菌株进行氨氮降解实验,它们氨氮转化率分别为14.8%、19.7%、53.4%、94.2%、29.1%、63.5%和41.7%,其中AN-4菌株的转化率最高且生长良好。通过AN-4菌株16S rRNA基因序列分析以及生理生化方法,鉴定此菌株为克雷伯氏菌属(Klebsiellasp.)。对菌株AN-4转化氨氮的特性及温度、pH值、氨氮初始浓度和菌株接种量对其氨氮转化率的影响研究,结果表明,菌株AN-4降解氨氮的最适条件为:温度为30℃和pH值为8.0;当氨氮初始浓度为30mg/L时,AN-4菌株在24 h内的氨氮降解率可达85%以上,且能耐受高达200 mg/L的氨氮浓度;AN-4活化菌液浓度为108cfu/mL,当接种量为3×106cfu/mL时,AN-4菌株在24 h内的氨氮降解率为87.75%。综合上述结果,符合淡水养殖水环境条件,说明AN-4菌株适合在水产养殖中应用,为将菌株AN-4应用于水产养殖环境修复提供了理论依据。     

以红薯浸泡液为碳源的生物反硝化

为选择低碳氮比污水生物脱氮中合适的碳源,以搅拌罐浸泡淀粉类物质释放碳源,在确定利用红薯浸泡液为碳源后,以浸没式生物滤池为反应器进行生物反硝化实验。实验结果表明:20 g红薯置于2 L自来水中,采用250 r/m in的搅拌速度,搅拌频率为每搅拌3 h停1 h,2 d后得到的浸泡液COD浓度平均为5 921 mg/L,最高可超过7 000 mg/L;将此红薯浸泡液和污水以1∶50的流量比例,采用分别投加的方式进入反应器,污水中总氮、硝酸盐氮、亚硝酸盐氮及氨氮的平均去除率分别为88.6%、91.6%、88.2%和54.8%,出水COD平均在30 mg/L以下;在红薯浸泡液COD浓度为5 700 mg/L左右时,进水中亚硝酸盐氮浓度与硝酸盐氮浓度比为3∶2时总氮去除率为95.3%,当该比例为2∶3时总氮去除率为88.2%。研究表明,红薯浸泡液是一种经济合适的碳源,采用红薯浸泡液作为低碳氮比污水生物处理中反硝化的碳源是可行的。     

氧化镁烟气脱硫反应特性研究

利用实验室规模的鼓泡式反应装置,对比了碳酸钙、氧化镁和氧化镁/硫酸镁脱硫剂的反应活性,证实脱硫液中高浓度硫酸镁的存在是保证镁法脱硫效率高于钙法的重要因素,并考察了硫酸镁浓度、脱硫剂(氧化镁)浓度、烟气量、SO2浓度和吸收液温度等因素对脱硫效率的影响。结果表明,脱硫反应可以根据pH分为2个不同阶段;反应过程中脱硫效率随着硫酸镁浓度的增加而显著升高;烟气量增加将会导致脱硫效率有所下降;入口SO2浓度升高,脱硫效率下降;氧化镁浓度、温度对脱硫效率影响不显著。结合实验现象进行推断,氧化镁脱硫的反应过程受SO2在气液两相界面的传质扩散和其水解产物在液相的扩散控制。     

树脂固载纳米铁对偶氮染料直接湖蓝5B的脱色性能研究

以FeSO4和NaBH4水溶液为前驱溶剂,以聚苯乙烯型阳离子交换树脂为载体,制备了树脂固载的纳米铁,室温下用于对偶氮染料直接湖蓝5B水溶液进行脱色研究。研究结果发现,脱色反应遵循准一级反应动力学,在初始pH为3~10的范围内,反应进行14 m in时,50 mg/L的染料溶液脱色率均能达到83%以上。固载的纳米铁材料可多次重复利用,溶液中释放的铁离子浓度不超过0.1 mg/L。     

SBR处理生活污水好氧颗粒污泥的培养研究

采用SBR,以生活污水为进水,在常温条件下,接种苏州某污水厂活性污泥,对好氧颗粒污泥进行培养,并对反应器的运行效能进行了研究。研究表明,经100多天的运行,培养出粒径在4~8 mm间,结构松散,外观灰白色的好氧颗粒污泥;用城市生活污水培养的颗粒污泥对污染物的去除效果不好,无明显的脱氮除磷能力。