Could wastewater analysis be a useful tool for China? — A review

Analysingwastewater samples is an innovative approach that overcomesmany limitations of traditional surveys to identify and measure a range of chemicals that were consumed by or exposed to people living in a sewer catchment area. First conceptualised in 2001, much progress has been made to make wastewater analysis (WWA) a reliable and robust tool for measuring chemical consumption and/or exposure. At the moment, the most popular application of WWA, sometimes referred as sewage epidemiology, is to monitor the consumption of illicit drugs in communities around the globe, including China. The approach has been largely adopted by lawenforcement agencies as a device tomonitor the temporal and geographical patterns of drug consumption. In the future, themethodology can be extended to other chemicals including biomarkers of population health (e.g. environmental or oxidative stress biomarkers, lifestyle indicators or medications that are taken by different demographic groups) and pollutants that people are exposed to (e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, perfluorinated chemicals, and toxic pesticides). The extension of WWA to a huge range of chemicals may give rise to a field called sewage chemical-information mining (SCIM) with unexplored potentials. China has many densely populated cities with thousands of sewage treatment plants which are favourable for applying WWA/SCIM in order to help relevant authorities gather information about illicit drug consumption and population health status. However, there are some prerequisites and uncertainties of the methodology that should be addressed for SCIM to reach its full potential in China.     

Mercury adsorption characteristics of HBr-modified fly ash in an entrained-flow reactor

In this study, the mercury adsorption characteristics of HBr-modified fly ash in an entrained-flow reactor were investigated through thermal decomposition methods. The results show that the mercury adsorption performance of the HBr-modified fly ash was enhanced significantly. The mercury species adsorbed by unmodified fly ash were HgCl₂, HgS and HgO. The mercury adsorbed by HBr-modified fly ash, in the entrained-flow reactor, existed in two forms, HgBr₂ and HgO, and the HBr was the dominant factor promoting oxidation of elemental mercury in the entrained-flow reactor. In the current study, the concentration of HgBr₂ and HgO in ash from the fine ash vessel was 4.6 times greater than for ash from the coarse ash vessel. The fine ash had better mercury adsorption performance than coarse ash, which is most likely due to the higher specific surface area and longer residence time.     

Water chemistry controlled aggregation and photo-transformation of silver nanoparticles in environmental waters

The inevitable release of engineered silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) into aquatic environments has drawn great concerns about its environmental toxicity and safety. Although aggregation and transformation play crucial roles in the transport and toxicity of AgNPs, how the water chemistry of environmental waters influences the aggregation and transformation of engineered AgNPs is still not well understood. In this study, the aggregation of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) coated AgNPs was investigated in eight typical environmental water samples (with different ionic strengths, hardness, and dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentrations) by using UV–visible spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering. Raman spectroscopy was applied to probe the interaction of DOM with the surface of AgNPs. Further, the photo-transformation and morphology changes of AgNPs in environmental waters were studied by UV–visible spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and transmission electron microscopy. The results suggested that both electrolytes (especially Ca^2 + and Mg^2 +) and DOM in the surface waters are key parameters for AgNP aggregation, and sunlight could accelerate the morphology change, aggregation, and further sedimentation of AgNPs. This water chemistry controlled aggregation and photo-transformation should have significant environmental impacts on the transport and toxicity of AgNPs in the aquatic environments.     

2种四环素类抗生素在凹凸棒石黏土中的吸附研究

通过静态吸附实验,探究凹凸棒石黏土对四环素和土霉素的吸附动力学;采用准一级动力学、准二级动力学和颗粒内扩散模型拟合实验数据,分析吸附过程。测定凹凸棒石黏土对四环素和土霉素的动态吸附曲线和吸附容量,研究凹凸棒石黏土对水溶液中四环素和土霉素的动态吸附性能。探讨初始质量浓度对穿透曲线的影响,采用Thomas模型对动态试验数据拟合,获得相关参数。结果表明,凹凸棒石黏土能够有效去除水中的四环素和土霉素,且四环素的吸附容量高于土霉素,在初始浓度为400mg/L时,对四环素的饱和吸附量达74.5mg/g,对土霉素的饱和吸附量达69.2mg/g。穿透曲线呈S型,且随着初始浓度的增大,穿透点向左移,穿透时间缩短,平衡吸附量增加。     

蒸发-固化法处理垃圾渗滤液反渗透浓缩液的研究

采用蒸发-固化工艺处理垃圾渗滤液反渗透浓缩液。蒸发工艺可将反渗透浓缩液减量化,固化工艺可将蒸发残留液中的污染物稳定化。研究表明,蒸发残留液宜采用水泥和石灰混合料进行固化,混合料最佳水泥与石灰质量比约为1︰2,每100 mL蒸发残留液(质量约为120 g)最佳投加量为50 g。固化体含水率低于40%,抗压强度高于1.0 MPa,适合填埋处置,其浸出液污染物含量较低。采用硅酸钠和硫酸钙作为添加剂可加快固化速度,提高固化体的抗压强度。利用蒸发-固化工艺处理反渗透浓缩液可取得良好的经济和社会效益。     

水库渗漏水流溶解氧与水温沿程恢复的试验研究

水库底层低温低氧水从坝体下泄或渗漏,可能对下游生态产生不利影响。通过对湖北温峡水库下游温峡河225 km河段的野外试验,测量溶解氧、水温等指标的日变化和沿程变化,开展复氧试验研究阶梯深潭结构和沙洲对溶解氧的影响,并取样分析大型底栖无脊椎动物的沿程分布。结果表明,流速对水温与溶解氧日变化规律无明显影响。试验河段水温和溶解氧恢复很快,经过17 km的河段,水温从123℃升高至300℃,且溶解氧饱和度基本达到饱和。河宽对水温恢复起重要作用,对溶解氧影响较小,对复氧速度基本无影响。流量通过改变淹没程度影响阶梯深潭的复氧能力。溶解氧在沙洲下游存在横向分布,滞水区溶解氧高于左右汊道。溶解氧是水库下游水生态的控制因素,物种多样性随溶解氧的升高而增加     

富油煤热解产物在粉砂介质中的吸附行为研究

富油煤原位热解产生的油、气等有机物会通过岩层的压裂缝进入含水层,产生一系列环境行为效应.为探究富油煤热解产物对地下水的影响,以陕北榆神府矿区富油煤与含水介质粉砂为研究对象,采用批量平衡试验,开展了粉砂对煤焦油不同组分的吸附动力学与吸附热力学研究.结果表明：粉砂对煤焦油中酚油、萘油、洗油、蒽油、沥青的动力学吸附均符合准二级动力学方程,等温吸附模型符合Freundlich方程,说明粉砂对5种组分的吸附为单分子层化学吸附;受富油煤热解焦油组分含量差异影响,粉砂对5种组分的吸附量表现为酚油<萘油<洗油<蒽油<沥青,其最大吸附量分别为0.4520、0.7926、1.9015、3.6336、11.8001 mg·g^-1,吸附量总和占煤焦油含量的68%~85%;随着温度的升高,粉砂对5种组分的吸附能力均有所减弱,表明升高温度不利于吸附行为的进行,且反应的ΔG⁰<0表明粉砂对5种组分的吸附过程主要以化学吸附为主且属于放热反应.     

富春江库区高温热浪变化特征及对藻类水华潜在影响研究

随着全球气候变暖,夏季高温热浪出现频次、强度和持续时间明显增加. 为探明气候变暖引起的夏季高温热浪对藻类水华及淡水生态系统的影响, 基于长期气象观测、高频浮标水温监测、藻华过程浮游植物生物量连续监测以及卫星遥感反演,分析了富春江库区夏季高温热浪长期变化特征以及2016年高温热浪对富春江水库藻类水华的影响过程. 结果表明:①1972—2020年近50年富春江水库呈现明显的区域增温,平均气温增速为0.35 ℃/(10 a),2016年达最高值(18.13 ℃);与此同时,高温热浪频次和天数也显著增加,且起始时间显著提前,结束时间显著推迟,2016年经历了近50年来较严重的高温热浪事件. ②野外实测和卫星遥感反演表明,2016年7—8月富春江水库暴发严重的藻类水华,库区叶绿素a浓度在8月19日达最高值〔(65.3±21.3) μg/L〕. ③因果分析显示,高温热浪引起的气温和水温增加、降水和风速减少以及热力分层强化等直接或者间接诱发和促进了浮游植物生物量累积及蓝藻水华形成. 研究显示,夏季高温热浪加剧了富春江水库藻类水华暴发,未来全球变暖背景下高温热浪频次和强度将继续增加,需开展高频同步监测和受控试验,深入揭示高温热浪对藻类水华形成的驱动机制.      

Dosing low-level ferrous iron in coagulation enhances the removal of micropollutants, chlorite and chlorate during advanced water treatment

Drinking water utilities are interested in upgrading their treatment facilities to enhance micropollutant removal and byproduct control. Pre-oxidation by chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) followed by coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) is one of the promising solutions. However, the chlorite (ClO₂^–) formed from the ClO₂ pre-oxidation stage cannot be removed by the conventional coagulation process using aluminum sulfate. ClO₂^– negatively affects the post-UV/chlorine process due to its strong radical scavenging effect, and it also enhances the formation of chlorate (ClO₃^–). In this study, dosing micromolar-level ferrous iron (Fe(II)) into aluminum-based coagulants was proposed to eliminate the ClO₂^– generated from ClO₂ pre-oxidation and benefit the post-UV/chlorine process in radical production and ClO₃^– reduction. Results showed that the addition of 52.1-µmol/L FeSO₄ effectively eliminated the ClO₂^– generated from the pre-oxidation using 1.0 mg/L (14.8 µmol/L) of ClO₂. Reduction of ClO₂^– increased the degradation rate constant of a model micropollutant (carbamazepine) by 55.0% in the post-UV/chlorine process. The enhanced degradation was verified to be attributed to the increased steady-state concentrations of HO^· and ClO^· by Fe(II) addition. Moreover, Fe(II) addition also decreased the ClO₃^– formation by 53.8% in the UV/chlorine process and its impact on the formation of chloro-organic byproducts was rather minor. The findings demonstrated a promising strategy to improve the drinking water quality and safety by adding low-level Fe(II) in coagulation in an advanced drinking water treatment train.     

Evidence on the causes of the rising levels of CODMn along the middle route of the South-to-North Diversion Project in China: The role of algal dissolved organic matter

As the biggest inter-basin water transfer scheme in the world,the South-to-North Water Diversion Project（SNWD） was designed to alleviate the water crisis in North China.The main channel of the middle route of the SNWD is of great concern in terms of the drinking water quality.In this study,we tested the hypothesis that the dissolved organic matter（DOM） derived from the planktonic algae causes the rising levels of COD_Mn along the middle route by monitoring data on water quality（2015-20...