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.     

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。     

基于响应曲面法优化烧结烟气脱硫灰改性工艺

采用BOX-Behnken的中心组合实验设计及响应面分析方法对半干法烧结烟气脱硫灰进行改性研究,得到脱硫灰转化率的预测模型。结果表明:通过该预测模型可以很好地描述脱硫灰的转化率与反应温度、反应时间和气固比等重要操作参数之间的关系,R2=0.9903。因素分析表明,反应温度对脱硫灰的转化率影响最大,同时反应温度和气固比的交互作用与反应温度和时间的交互作用对脱硫灰的转化率的影响作用相同。利用得到的改进预测模型可以计算脱硫灰的转化率。     

Estimation of economic costs of particulate air pollution from road transport in China

Valuation of health effects of air pollution is becoming a critical component of the performance of cost–benefit analysis of pollution control measures, which provides a basis for setting priorities for action. Beijing has focused on control of transport emission as vehicular emissions have recently become an important source of air pollution, particularly during Olympic games and Post-games. In this paper, we conducted an estimation of health effects and economic cost caused by road transport-related air pollution using an integrated assessment approach which utilizes air quality model, engineering, epidemiology, and economics. The results show that the total economic cost of health impacts due to air pollution contributed from transport in Beijing during 2004–2008 was 272, 297, 310, 323, 298 million US$ (mean value), respectively. The economic costs of road transport accounted for 0.52, 0.57, 0.60, 0.62, and 0.58% of annual Beijing GDP from 2004 to 2008. Average cost per vehicle and per ton of PM₁₀ emission from road transport can also be estimated as 106 US $/number and 3584 US $ t^?1, respectively. These findings illustrate that the impact of road transport contributed particulate air pollution on human health could be substantial in Beijing, whether in physical and economic terms. Therefore, some control measures to reduce transport emissions could lead to considerable economic benefit.     

两阶段曝气生物滤池的硝化性能

曝气生物滤池(BAF)是近年来受到广泛关注的一种新型污水处理技术,具有占地面积少、投资费用低、处理效率高、出水水质好等优点。现已被应用于许多污水处理厂的二级处理、深度处理以及污水的回用。实验以陶粒为填料,自行设计了升流式两阶段BAFs(UBAFs)处理模拟生活污水,考察了反应器运行条件对COD与氨氮去除影响,并探讨了UBAFs反应器内氮流失及同步硝化反硝化情况。结果表明,UBAFs对生活污水处理具有良好的净化效果。在进水COD和氨氮浓度分别为200~363 mg/L和16.8~31.3 mg/L条件下,UBAFs处理出水水质均达到《城市污水再生利用城市杂用水水质》(GB/T 18920-2002)标准,能够满足回用要求。通过采用氮平衡分析方法和借助电子扫描电镜技术,初步认为UBAFs反应器脱氮方式是由于在UBAFs第一阶段局部厌氧环境中以传统方式进行硝化反硝化脱氮,第二阶段是在好氧条件下,异养好氧硝化菌的同步硝化反硝化脱氮。     

PVA降解菌的复配组合及其紫外诱变处理的研究

对已筛选出的4株PVA降解菌进行不同的组合后测定PVA降解率,发现Z5与Z8菌株混合后在1周内对PVA的去除率达到了所有组合中的最高值52.07%,比单菌株提高了约22%。采用紫外照射的方法对混合菌进行诱变并利用正交实验研究其特性,结果表明,诱变后的混合菌在1周内降解了91.46%的PVA,并且碳源浓度对酶活的影响最为显著。当pH为7,碳源、氮源含量分别为1.5 g/L、0.6 g/L,NaC l浓度为1.5 g/L时,诱变菌株处于最佳生长状态。     

微生物燃料电池法测BOD影响因素研究

以双室无介体微生物燃料电池构建了BOD检测系统,研究了阴极流量、有机物浓度(BOD)及阳极流量的变化对系统响应信号(电池电压)的影响,并考察了系统响应信号与BOD浓度的对应关系。结果表明:阴极流量在1.5～5mL/min时,阴极流量变化对响应信号具有显著的影响,且响应信号随阴极流量增大而增大;当阴极流量由5 mL/min增加到10 mL/min时,阴极流量变化对响应信号影响不显著。BOD浓度在10～150 mg/L时,响应信号随底物浓度增加而升高,而BOD浓度大于150 mg/L时,BOD浓度变化对响应信号没有显著影响。当BOD浓度较高时,阳极流量变化对响应信号影响不大,但当BOD浓度较低时,阳极流量变化对响应信号有显著影响,且响应信号随阳极流量增大而增加。电池稳态电压与BOD浓度在10～150 mg/L范围内成指数衰减关系,而电池电压的初始变化速率与BOD浓度在50～200 mg/L范围有线性响应。     

污泥水解蛋白液对食用菌生长的影响研究

将污泥(食品工厂污泥)经过酸碱水解制备水解蛋白液(肽类和氨基酸复合物,属于微生物蛋白)、并与豆粕(植物蛋白)、屠宰厂动物羽毛(动物蛋白)水解蛋白液、以及常规食用菌氮源麸皮、大米制糖厂米渣作为平菇栽培氮源或营养添加剂,测试对平菇的菌丝生长、产量和生物转化率的影响。结果表明,几种水解蛋白液对平菇的菌丝生长、产量、生物转化率影响明显,污泥水解蛋白液对菌丝的生长效果最好,其余2种水解蛋白液也有促进作用。添加污泥水解蛋白液最高产量可达806 g/袋,添加豆粕水解蛋白液的最高产量为532 g/袋,添加屠宰厂动物羽毛水解蛋白液的产最高量为525 g/袋;对照为480 g/袋(常规棉籽壳)。生物转化率分别为161.2%、106.4%和105.0%,而对照生物转化率为96%;增产率分别为67.92%、10.83%和9.38%。因此,污泥、豆粕、屠宰厂动物羽毛蛋白水解液可提高平菇产量,该研究也为污泥资源化利用建立了基础。