PCN BASED METAL PARTITIONING IN URBAN SNOWMELT,RAINFALL/RUNOFF,AND RIVER FLOW SYSTEMS1

ABSTRACT: Drawing an analogy between the popular Soil Conservation Service curve number (SCS‐CN) method based infiltration and metal sorption processes, a new partitioning curve number (PCN) approach is suggested for partitioning of heavy metals into dissolved and particulate bound forms in urban snowmelt, rainfall/runoff, and river flow environments. The parameters, the potential maximum desorption, ψ, and the PCN analogous to the SCS‐CN parameters S and CN, respectively, are introduced. Under the condition of snowmelt, PCN (or ψ) is found to generally rely on temperature, relative humidity, pH, and chloride content; during a rainstorm, ψ is found to depend on the alkalinity and the pH of the rainwater; and in the river flow situation, PCN is found to generally depend on the temperature, pH, and chloride content. The advantage of using PCN instead of the widely used partitioning parameter, K_d, is found to lie in the PCN's efficacy to distinguish the adsorption (or sorption) behavior of metals in the above snowmelt, rainfall/runoff, and river flow situations, analogous to the hydrological behavior of watersheds.     

Influence of cadmium on carbon and nitrogen mineralization in sewage sludge amended soils

The effect of cadmium on C and N mineralization in sewage sludge amended and unamended sandy loam, loam and clay loam soils was studied during 2 months incubation at 30+/-1 degrees C. The sludge amendment caused 15-39% increase in microbial respiration, with the maximum C mineralization in sandy loam and the minimum in loam soil. The addition of 10 microg Cd g(-1) soil had no remarkable effect on C and N mineralization and microbial biomass; whereas significant decreases in the above parameters were observed at 25 and 50 microg Cd g(-1) soil, irrespective of the sludge addition. Less NO3(-)-N accumulated at higher Cd concentration. Cd recovery was high in sandy loam and low in clay loam soil. DTPA extractable Cd exhibited a significant negative correlation with microbial biomass (r=-0.58* to -0.86*; p < 0.05).     

Comparison of a Subjective and a Physical Approach for Identification of Priority Areas for Soil and Water Management in a Watershed – A Case Study of Nagwan Watershed in Hazaribagh District of Jharkhand, India

The present investigation was an attempt to compare the within-watershed prioritization capabilities of a physical model based SDSS with the SYI and RPI model based subjective-SDSS, conventionally devised for between-watershed prioritizations, by All India Soil Survey and Land Use Planning Division of Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. Application of these two approaches on a test watershed situated in Damodar-Barakar catchment in India, the second most seriously eroded area in the world, demonstrated that the proposed physical model based SDSS was capable of realistically and logically mimicking the sub-watershed-scaled water and soil losses thereby suggesting its immense application potential for priority area identification within the test watershed. In contrast to the proposed physical method, the subjective approaches, which assigned totally reverse priorities to about 67–93% of the test-sub-watersheds, were observed to be incapable of realistically assessing the impact of topography and varied land use and soil types in the test watershed on their sub-watershed scaled run-off and soil loss generating potential. Besides, the physical approach could be used for assessing the annual dynamics of the total water and sediment yields, under prevailing resource management systems in the test watershed with good to moderately good correlation coefficients of 0.83 and 0.65; model efficiency coefficients of 0.54 and 0.70; mean relative errors of –4.28% and –17.97% and root mean square prediction errors of 71.8 mm and 9.63 t/ha, respectively.     

Effect of bioflocculants on the coagulation activity of alum for removal of trihalomethane precursors from low turbid water

Reactivity of chlorine towards hydrophobic groups present in natural organic matter(NOM)provokes the formation of carcinogenic disinfection byproducts such as trihalomethanes in chlorinated water. The present study aimed to investigate the variations in coagulant activity of alum using two different bioflocculants(coagulant aid) namely, Moringa oleifera and Cyamopsis tetragonoloba for the removal of hydrophobic fractions of NOM and subsequent chlorine consumption by treated water. Effect of dual coagulants on trihalomethane surrogate parameters such as total organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, UV absorbing materials and prominent hydrophobic species such as phenolic groups along with aromatic chromophores, polyhydroxy aromatic moiety have also been studied. The concept of differential spectroscopy and absorbance slope index has been employed to understand the combined effects of alum-bioflocculants on the reactivity of NOM with chlorine. Our result shows that the combination of alum and C. tetragonoloba is more efficient for reducing trihalomethane surrogates from chlorinated water as compared to M. oleifera. C. tetragonoloba elicited synchronized effects of sweep coagulation and particle bridging-adsorption which eventually facilitated efficient removal of hydrophobic fractions of NOM. The variation in the mechanistic approach of bioflocculants was due to the presence of cationic charge on M. oleifera and adhesive property of C. tetragonoloba.     

Effectiveness of a cooling jacket with reference to physiological responses in iron foundry workers

Personal cooling garments (PCGs) have gained increased attention in recent years due to heat stress and strain in the working environment. The present study was conducted in hot environments of an iron foundry to evaluate the efficacy of a battery-operated PCG. Twenty-four workers were exposed to climatic conditions of 35.89?±?1.25?°C, 35% relative humidity during 90-min work with PCG and habitual clothing (HC). Mean weighted skin temperature was significantly lower by 4.84?±?1.05?°C compared with HC 0.38?±?1.02?°C (p?p?相似文献   

A laboratory scale study on arsenic（Ⅴ） removal from aqueous medium using calcined bauxite ore

The present work deals with the As（Ⅴ） removal from an aqueous medium by calcined refractory grade bauxite （CRB） as a function of solution pH, time, As（Ⅴ） concentration and temperature. The residual As（Ⅴ） was lowered from 2 mg/L to below 0.01 mg/L in the optimum pH range 4.0-7.0 using a 5 g/L CRB within 3 h contact time. The adsorption data fits well with Langmuir isotherm and yielded Langmuir monolayer capacity of 1.78 mg As（Ⅴ）/g of CRB at pH 7.0. Presence of anions such as silicate and phosphate decreased As（Ⅴ） adsorption efficiency. An increase temperature resulted a decrease in the amount of As（Ⅴ） adsorbed by 6%. The continuous fixed bed column study showed that at the adsorbent bed depth of 30 cm and residence time of 168 min, the CRB was capable of treating 340 bed volumes of As（V） spiked water （C0 = 2 mg/L） before breakthrough （Ce = 0.01 mg/L）. This solid adsorbent, although not reusable, can be considered for design of adsorption columns as an efficiency arsenic adsorption media.     

Deltamethrin-induced alterations in serum calcium and prolactin cells of a freshwater teleost,Heteropneustes fossilis

Deltamethrin, a pyrethroid insecticide widely used in many countries, causes significant adverse effects in aquatic ecosystems. The concentration of deltamethrin in water reservoirs and the run off from agricultural areas (in water) in many countries range up to 24.0?µg?L^?1 which is higher than the recommendation of the European Union standard. Hence, in this study the effects of deltamethrin were investigated, i.e. its toxic impacts on the freshwater catfish Heteropneustes fossilis in terms of serum calcium and prolactin cells (located in the rostral pars distalis region of the pituitary). The fish were subjected to deltamethrin for a short-term experiment (96?h; 1.5?µg?L^?1 e.0.8 of 96?h LC₅₀) and a long-term experiment (28 days; 0.37?µg?L^?1 e.0.2 of 96?h LC₅₀). After short-term deltamethrin exposure, serum calcium levels decrease. No histological change in prolactin cells is noticed throughout the short-term experiment. Fish exposed to deltamethrin for 7 days also exhibit a decrease in serum calcium level. This decrease persisted until the end of the experiment (28 days). Prolactin cells of fish treated for 14 days with deltamethrin exhibit increased nuclear volume and degranulation, increasing progressively from the 21st day onwards. After 28 days, a few degenerated cells are discerned. The results of this study show that deltamethrin is moderately toxic for the freshwater fish H. fossilis by producing adverse effects on serum calcium and prolactin cells. Hence, it should be used with caution in areas near fish-inhabited waters.