A Screening Procedure for Heavy Metals in Soil Extracts by Alcohol Dehydrogenase and Urease Inhibition Eine Screening-Methode für Schwermetalle in Extrakten aus Bodenproben,basierend auf der Inhibierung der Enzyme Alkoholdehydrogenase und Urease

A screening method for heavy metals in aqueous extracts of soil is presented which is based on inhibition of the enzymes urease and alcohol dehydrogenase. The method is suitable to detect cupric and mercury ions in concentrations below 0.01 mg/L and several other heavy metal ions in 1000 fold higher concentration. It is shown that the test may be used for screening of mercury ion concentrations exceeding 0.03 mg/L in aqueous solution when copper chelators are added to the test system. The usefulness of the presented tests to detect heavy metals eluted from soil was verified with samples from ore mining waste. The concentration of copper, lead, and zinc eluted from these samples to different amount was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry and was in good agreement with the enzyme inhibition data obtained with these samples.     

Isotopic fractionation induced by a surface effect influences the estimation of the hydrological process of topsoil

Isotopic heterogeneity in soil water has hindered the application of isotope compositions (δ¹⁸O and δ²H) in soil water dynamics. This heterogeneity has been suggested to be caused by soil properties such as organic matter (OM) and clay content. However, this is yet to be verified in field soil. We sampled the organic layer (O-horizon soil) with highly decomposed organic material and the A-horizon soil in western Sichuan, China, and equilibrated these samples with vapour created by unconfined labelling water. The relationship between soil properties and isotopic fractionation (ε_T/U) between unconfined water and the total soil water was used to determine the line-conditioned excess (lc-excess) and source rain of A-horizon field soil by removing the influence of confined water. Equilibration experiments demonstrated a significant isotopic difference between the ε_T/U levels in the A-horizon and O-horizon soils, indicating that OM plays an important role in isotopic fractionation. In field samples, the lc-excess of the unconfined A-horizon water was, on an average, 2.5‰ higher than that of bulk soil water. The average offsets between the annual rain and the estimated source rain of soil water decreased by 5.0 and 0.5‰ for hydrogen and oxygen after removing the influence of confined water. Isotopic heterogeneity should not be ignored while examining the evaporation of soil water, soil source rain, and hence the recent ‘two water worlds’ hypothesis, which is especially true for cases in which the soils contain high levels of OM.     

Toxicity-directed Fractionation of Tannery Wastewater Using Solid-phase Extraction and Luminescence Inhibition in Microtiter Plates

A four-step solid-phase extraction (SPE) method is presented for toxicity-directed fractionation of industrial wastewater. This fractionation procedure serves as a key step for identifying unknown organic toxicants in complex samples. Toxicity was determined as luminescence inhibition of Vibrio fischeri using microtiter plates. This method was compared to standard tests in glass cuvettes using both 37 standard chemicals and 24 wastewater fractions with EC₅₀ values covering five orders of magnitude. Results of both methods correlated well. 22 tannery wastewater samples were sequentially extracted using C₁₈e and polystyrene-divinylbenzene phases in combination with pH-changes. Final solid-phase filtrates showed low inhibition, so toxicity of inorganics could be neglected. Using 1/EC₅₀ values, the SPE eluates showed clearly different toxicity patterns. Even in eluates of the fourth extraction step, high toxic effects could be observed. In several cases, luminescence inhibition was increasing at the anaerobic treatment step compared to the corresponding untreated samples. After aerobic treatment, toxicity of most wastewater fractions was greatly diminished. HPLC/DAD analyses of the wastewater fractions showed a fair separation concerning compound polarity. However, the samples were still too complex to identify single compounds responsible for the detected toxicity. Therefore, a further clean-up step accompanied with toxicity testing is needed.     

Geochemical characteristics of deposits from the 2011 Tohoku‐oki tsunami at Hasunuma,Kujukuri coastal plain,Japan

We examined the geochemical characteristics and temporal changes of deposits associated with the 2011 Tohoku‐oki tsunami. Stable carbon isotope ratios, biomarkers, and water‐leachable ions were measured in a sandy tsunami deposit and associated soils sampled at Hasunuma, Kujukuri coastal plain, Japan, in 2011 and 2014. At this site, the 2011 tsunami formed a 10–30 cm ‐thick layer of very fine to medium sand. The tsunami deposit was organic‐poor, and no samples contained any detectable biomarkers of either terrigenous or marine origin. In the underlying soil, we identified hydrocarbons and sterols derived from terrestrial plants, but detected no biomarkers of marine origin. In the samples collected in 2011, concentrations of tsunami‐derived water‐leachable ions were highest in the soil immediately beneath the tsunami deposit and then decreased gradually with depth. Because of its finer texture and higher organic content, the soil has a higher water‐holding capacity than the sandy tsunami deposit. This distribution suggests that ions derived from the tsunami quickly penetrated the sand layer and became concentrated in the underlying soil. In the samples collected in 2014, concentrations of water‐leachable ions were very low in both soil and sand. We attribute the decrease in ion concentrations to post‐tsunami rainfall, seepage, and seasonal changes in groundwater level. Although water‐leachable ions derived from seawater were concentrated in the soil beneath the tsunami deposit following the tsunami inundation, they were not retained for more than a few years. To elucidate the behavior of geochemical characteristics associated with tsunamis, further research on organic‐rich muddy deposits (muddy tsunami deposits and soils beneath sandy tsunami deposits) as well as sandy tsunami deposits is required.     

Influence of Decarbonisation and Phosphate Dosage on Copper Corrosion in Drinking Water Systems

The effect of softening/decarbonisation and dosage of orthophosphate on copper corrosion was studied in pipe rigs according to the German standard DIN 50931, part 1. A literature study with regard to the effects of phosphate dosing on copper corrosion has shown that on the one hand and in most of the cases a dosage of phosphate led to lower copper concentrations. On the other hand phosphate aggravated the copper corrosion in some cases. The mechanisms are not yet clear and the influence of phosphate on the corrosion of copper remains a question to be answered. Using standardised on‐site corrosion tests (DIN 50931‐1) with virgin copper pipes softening/decarbonisation has decreased the copper concentration. Two effects of phosphate on copper corrosion were noticed: Phosphate dosing decreased the copper oxidation and resulted in lower copper concentration in water. Likewise phosphate hindered the precipitation of cupric ions, which prolonged the existence of copper in water and resulted in a higher copper concentration. As a consequence, dosing phosphate can decrease or increase the copper corrosion, this depends on which effect is dominating.     

Potability and hydrogeochemisty of the Sarma Stream water,Duzce, Turkey

The Sarma Stream is located in Turkey, southwest of the town of Akcakoca in the Duzce Province. It was decided that the Sariyayla reservoir should be built on the Sarma Stream in order to address the water needs of Akcakoca. This research was conducted in the Sarma Stream basin to determine the effects of environmental and hydrological processes. Samples of rocks, soil, stream water, rain, snowmelt and bed and suspended sediment were collected in the Sarma Stream basin. Geochemical and water chemistry analyses of the samples were performed at the ALS Global laboratories in Canada. The sandstone, which is easily weathering and rich by clay minerals, and soil samples cause the Sarma Stream to flow muddy in rainy season. The kaolinite, illite, montmorillonite and clay minerals that type of chlorite is found in the bed and suspended sediments of the Sarma Stream. The water of the Sarma Stream is rich in calcium and bicarbonate, the water type is Ca–HCO₃. Acid rain affects the dissolution of geological units and the abundance of principal ions. Some heavy metal and elements in the Sarma Stream basin waters exceed the drinking water limit values (e.g. Al, Fe, Mn, NH₄ and NO₃). Hence, water in the Sariyayla Reservoir should be treated.     

Einflußfaktoren auf die Freisetzung von DOC und AOX unter ehemaligen Abwasserversickerungsflächen

Factors Influencing the Release of DOC and AOX out of Former Wastewater Infiltration Soils The influence of soil and of infiltration water quality on the release of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and adsorbable organic halogens (AOX) from two former wastewater infiltration sites was investigated in laboratory column studies. Desorption was the most important factor influencing release processes. It depends on the amount of sorbent and sorbate and the strength of binding. Therefore, for constant irrigation rates a higher soil organic carbon content coincided with higher DOC-contents of the column effluent, while the irrigation water quality was of minor importance. Within one system the dependencies of AOX release and DOC mobilization were found to be similar. Transferring these dependencies on other systems has its limitations because of a different binding quality between sorbent and sorbate.     

Gewässergütebewertung und Bewertung von Abwasserfahnen in Rhein und Main auf der Basis mikrobieller Enzymaktivitäten

Quality Mapping of Surface Water and Assessment of Treated and Untreated Waste-water Inputs into the Rhine and Main River Based on Microbial Enzyme Activities Microbial enzyme activities are used for an extension of the traditional quality mapping of surface water. In the following study, the enzymatic parameters were proved and validated on samples from various creeks and rivers in Baden-Württemberg and on samples gathered from the Rhine and Main Rivers (Germany). The test parameters should also be used for the control and the preservation of the capacity of the biological self-purification, which is the only natural and essential process in drinking-water conditioning of surface water. Main subject of the surveys was the development of criteria for an assessment of the measured enzymatical inhibition effects. Therefore, classes of inhibition and indices of inhibition are defined.     

Development of a SPME-GC Method for the Determination of Organic Compounds in Wastewater

A manual SPME method is presented for the analysis of organic compounds in industrial wastewater. 24 compounds commonly found in the wastewater of a chemical plant in northern Germany have been selected as reference compounds. Precision, linearity, and detection limits have been determined. Moreover, the effect of methanol content, pH value, salt content, and an excess of compounds on the extraction process have been studied. Several compounds have been investigated for their applicability as internal standards to quantify the compounds of interest. Since the method will later be transferred to a fully automated SPME-GC system, which will be operated directly on-site at an industrial wastewater purification plant, special attention has been paid to the analysis of real wastewater samples. In this context, the fibre stability has been studied by performing 53 extraction/desorption cycles from one wastewater sample. Neither a decrease in fibre performance nor in precision has been observed indicating that the proposed method is suitable for the analysis of real wastewater.     

Water flow path interactions with soil hydraulic properties in till soil at Gårdsjön, Sweden

In 1989, in a hydrological research programme within a deacidification project in the Gårdsjön area in southwest Sweden, flow paths and residence times of soil water and groundwater in microcatchments were examined to support the interpretation of the hydrochemical changes. Saturated hydraulic conductivity and soil water retention were analysed on more than 100 cylinder samples. The catchments have shallow sandy-silty till soil with a mean depth in the main catchment of 43 cm. Porosity of the mineral soil in the main catchment was high and ranged from 38 to 85%. The samples from the B-horizon had generally higher porosity. Porosity and the content of organic matter were correlated. The soil water retention was relatively high at all tensions, likely owing to the high content of organic matter. Dissolved organic substances were most probably transported from the shallow soil on the steep sides of the catchment down to the valley where it precipitated. The high porosities could be a consequence of long-term weathering, provided that the organic substances present have increased the leaching of the weathering products. Measured values of saturated hydraulic conductivity were close to log-normally distributed with a mean for all samples of 3 × 10⁻⁵ m s⁻¹. There was a significant increase in conductivity toward the ground surface with the mean conductivity of the samples in the uppermost 10 cm of the mineral soil of 4 × 10⁻⁵ m s⁻¹, which was about 13 times higher than the conductivity of 3 × 10⁻⁶ m s⁻¹ at 1 m depth. From the relationship between runoff at the catchment outlet and groundwater levels, the conductivity was estimated to be 15–200 times higher in the upper soil layer than in the deeper ones. In one profile, 44–64% of the yearly lateral flow was estimated to occur above 30 cm depth. The conductivity was correlated with the content of drainable water, which indicated the importance of the largest pores for the saturated hydraulic conductivity.     

Improving Soil Enzyme Activities and Related Quality Properties of Reclaimed Soil by Applying Weathered Coal in Opencast‐Mining Areas of the Chinese Loess Plateau

There are many problems for the reclaimed soil in opencast‐mining areas of the Loess Plateau of China such as poor soil structure and extreme poverty in soil nutrients and so on. For the sake of finding a better way to improve soil quality, the current study was to apply the weathered coal for repairing soil media and investigate the physicochemical properties of the reclaimed soil and the changes in enzyme activities after planting Robinia pseucdoacacia. The results showed that the application of the weathered coal significantly improved the quality of soil aggregates, increased the content of water stable aggregates, and the organic matter, humus, and the cation exchange capacity of topsoil were significantly improved, but it did not have a significant effect on soil pH. Planting R. pseucdoacacia significantly enhanced the activities of soil catalase, urease, and invertase, but the application of the weathered coal inhibited the activity of catalase. Although the application of appropriate weathered coal was able to significantly increase urease activity, the activities of catalase, urease, or invertase had a close link with the soil profile levels and time. This study suggests that applying weathered coals could improve the physicochemical properties and soil enzyme activities of the reclaimed soil in opencast‐mining areas of the Loess Plateau of China and the optimum applied amount of the weathered coal for reclaimed soil remediation is about 27 000 kg hm^?2.     

A practical soil management to improve soil quality by applying mineral organic fertilizer

Heavy use of chemical fertilizer causes increasing soil and environmental crisis, and the use of organic fertilizer increases obvious in recent years. In this study,mineral organic fertilizer(MOF) and compound fertilizer(CF) were applied in amaranth culture to explore the effects of these two kinds of fertilizers on soil quality and the potential function for CO_2 fixation. Some soil parameters were tested, e.g. p H value, organic carbon content, microbial biomass, urease activity, and available potassium content. In addition, some parameters of soil infiltration water were also determined, such as p H and HCO_3~- concentration. Experimental results showed that MOF improved soil quality and amaranth biomass and increased possible soil carbon sink.On the contrary, the utilization of CF worsened soil quality and made the soil acidize. These results suggested that MOF can partially replace CF to improve plant growth, soil quality and possible CO_2 sink.     

Soil frost effects on soil water and runoff dynamics along a boreal forest transect: 1. Field investigations

To determine how soil frost changes flowpaths of runoff water along a hillslope, a transect consisting of four soil profiles directed towards a small stream in a mature forest stand was investigated at Svartberget, near Vindeln in northern Sweden. Soil temperature, unfrozen water content, groundwater level and snow depth were investigated along the transect, which started at the riparian peat, and extended 30 m upslope into mineral soils. The two, more organic‐rich profiles closest to the stream had higher water retention and wetter autumn conditions than the sandy mineral soils further upslope. The organic content of the soil influenced the variation in frost along the transect. The first winter (1995–96) had abnormally low snow precipitation, which gave a deep frost down to 40–80 cm, whereas the two following winters had frost depths of 5–20 cm. During winter 1995–96, the two organic profiles close to the stream had a shallower frost depth than the mineral soil profile higher upslope, but a considerably larger amount of frozen water. The fraction of water that did not freeze despite several minus degrees in the soil was 5–7 vol.% in the mineral soil and 10–15 vol.% in the organic soil. From the measurements there were no signs of perched water tables during any of the three snowmelt periods, which would have been strong evidence for changed water flowpaths due to soil frost. When shallow soil layers became saturated during snowmelt, especially in 1997 and 1998, it was because of rising groundwater levels. Several rain on frozen ground events during spring 1996 resulted in little runoff, since most of the rain either froze in the soil or filled up the soil water storage. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Physico‐Chemical and Bacterial Characteristics of Water Quality in Three Villages West of Lake Nasser,Egypt

The present study aims to investigate physico‐chemical and bacterial characteristics of Nasser Lake water and houses drinking water, as well as fish cultures and its wastewater, in three villages west of Lake Nasser, Egypt. Fifteen representative water samples (Nasser Lake, different drinking water, fish cultures, and wastewater sources) were collected from three villages (Garf Hussein, Bashaier, and Kalabsha) in the west of Lake Nasser. Physico‐chemical, total viable counts, and bacterial qualification of water were achieved. The obtained results indicated that the produced water, supposed to be for domestic use in the three villages, contained all the tested organisms. The investigated water samples of the lake and drinking water in the selected three villages are supposed to be chemically safe according to World Health Organization and to Egyptian standards for drinking water. Water pollution index (WPI) was used in this study and the result concluded that for irrigation canals from the lake to the agriculture site, fish cultures (both concrete and earth pond systems), and drainage canal of fish ponds need to be treated before it is discharged to the lake. It is better to reuse it after treatment for agricultural purposes or recycled it to the fish cultures.     

Investigations on the Biodegradability of Chlorinated Fulvic Acids Untersuchungen zur mikrobiellen Verwertbarkeit gechlorter Fulvinsäuren

Microbial biodegradation of organic substances takes place during drinking water treatment, but also in the distribution net, if the drinking water still contains biodegradable organic substances. This phenomenon is called regrowth. The regrowth potential of a drinking water is high, when for instance ozonation is used as the last step of treatment. It was proved before, that ozonation increases the biodegradability of humic substances, which are the main fraction of organic carbon in drinking water. In this work the objective was to check, if chlorination has a similar effect on humic substances. Using the method developed by Werner of measuring the regrowth potential of a water it could be shown by dilution series with chlorinated and unchlorinated humic substances that the substrate quality of these organics is increased by chlorination. The better substrate quality is seen in the chlorinated solutions, which might contain also low molecular weight organic compounds, but also in the fulvic acid fraction after XAD-enrichment, which removes most of the low molecular weight organic compounds. The chlorination creates in the fulvic acid solutions a shift of molecular size to smaller molecules and higher polar substances, which might be the reasons for the better biodegradability. From these results it can be concluded, that chlorination produces substances, which are more easily biodegradable. But this will not produce regrowth problems as long as there is free chlorine present as a disinfectant. In contrast, when the chlorine demand is very high and no free chlorine is left, this might produce high colony counts in the distribution net.     

Subsurface Transport of Inorganic and Organic Solutes from Experimental Road Spreading of Oil-Field Brine

A study designed to evaluate ground water quality changes resulting from spreading oil-field brine on roads for ice and dust control was conducted using a gravel roadbed that received weekly applications of brine eight times during the winter phase and 11 times during the summer phase of the study. A network of 11 monitoring wells and five pressure-vacuum lysimeters was installed to obtain ground water and soil water samples. Thirteen sets of water- quality samples were collected and analyzed for major ions, trace metals, and volatile organic compounds. Two sets of samples were taken prior to brine spreading, four sets during winter-phase spreading, five sets during summer- phase spreading, and two sets during the interim between the winter and summer phases. A brine plume delineated by elevated specific-conductance values and elevated chloride concentrations developed downgradient of the roadbed during both the winter and summer phases. The brine plume caused chloride concentrations in ground water samples to exceed U.S. EPA public drinking-water standards by two-fold during the winter phase and five-fold during the summer phase. No other major ions, trace metals, or volatile organic compounds exceeded the standards during the winter or summer phases. More than 99 percent dilution of the solutes in the brine occurred between the roadbed surface and the local ground water flow system. Further attenuation of calcium, sodium, potassium, and strontium resulted from adsorption, whereas further attenuation of benzene resulted from volatilization and adsorption.     

Identifizierung von Stickstoffverbindungen niederer molarer Masse in Abläufen einer kommunalen Kläranlage mit biologischer Reinigungsstufe

Identification of Nitrogen-containing Compounds of Low Molecular Weight in Effluents of Biologically Treated Municipal Wastewater Enriching methods based on reversed phases were developed for the investigation of low-molecular compounds containing nitrogen in municipal wastewater effluent. The enriched mixtures were treated gas chromatographically without derivatization under different conditions. By application of the PBM-algorithm to the GC/MS spectra of the enriched samples (concentration factor 1000...20000), 133 nitrogen-containing compounds could be identified with a probability of occurence of at least 30% put out. Seventeen of these compounds were identified with > 90% probability and another ten with 80...90% probability. 9-Methylacridine was found in nine of ten processed samples investigated. The nitrogen content of the 133 identified compounds was estimated at about 20% of the low-molecular fraction of DON (dissolved organic nitrogen).     

Belastung von Krankenhausabwasser mit gefährlichen Stoffen im Sinne § 7a WHG

Contamination of Hospital Wastewater with Hazardous Compounds as Defined by § 7a WHG In total, 45 samples of hospital wastewater obtained from different origins (total wastewater, nursing, and laboratories) were investigated using chemical analyses as well as biological testing methods. In parallel, the consumption of several product groups relevant to the wastewater has been calculated. The water consumption strongly influenced the quality of the corresponding wastewater. Most of the values of the chemical parameters determined were found within a range as would have been expected for municipal wastewater. The AOX concentrations were distinctly elevated (0.41 mg/L in total wastewater and 0.95 mg/L in nursing wastewater). As could be shown by the calculated consumption of different compounds, the iodoferous X-ray contrast media represented a predominant proportion of the total AOX load of the clinical wastewaters tested. The values of some of the total wastewater samples and the laboratory wastewater samples showed a high toxicity as determined using the daphnia and luminescent bacteria tests. Using Ames and hamster cell tests, 5 out of 23 samples in the clinical area and 7 out of 9 samples from the laboratories turned out to be mutagenic. The origin of this mutagenic potential could not be determined though.     

Organic Contamination of Ground Water at Gas Works Park, Seattle, Washington

Gas Works Park, in Seattle, Washington, is located on the site of a coal and oil gasification plant that ceased operation in 1956. During operation, many types of wastes, including coal, tar, and oil, accumulated on-site. The park soil is currently (1986) contaminated with compounds such as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, trace metals, and cyanide. Analyses of water samples from a network of observation wells in the park indicate that these compounds are also present in the ground water.
Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds were identified in ground water samples in concentrations as large as 200 mg/L. Concentrations of organic compounds were largest where ground water was in contact with a non-aqueous phase liquid in the soil. Where no non-aqueous phase liquid was present, concentrations were much smaller, even if the ground water was in contact with contaminated soils. This condition is attributed to weathering processes in which soluble, low-molecular-weight organic compounds are preferentially dissolved from the non-aqueous phase liquid into the ground water. Where no non-aqueous phase liquid is present, only stained soils containing relatively insoluble, high-molecular-weight compounds remain. Concentrations of organic contaminants in the soils may still remain large.     

Simulation of Vapor Transport Through the Unsaturated Zone — Interpretation of Soil-Gas Surveys

Soil-gas surveys are becoming more widely accepted as a tool for the preliminary determination of the extent of soil and ground water contamination by volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The interpretation of the results of published soil-gas surveys has been necessarily limited and qualitative due to a lack of adequate models. There has been considerable effort in the recent past to characterize the transport and fate of pesticides in soil. However, the behavior of pesticides generally differ substantially from those of VOCs.
This paper presents a computer model developed to simulate the diffusive transport of VOC vapor through unsaturated soils using a two-dimensional, finite-difference, solution to Fick's second law of diffusion. An effective diffusion coefficient that incorporates the effects of tortuosity, moisture content, and soil organic carbon content is computed. Although the model has not been validated due to the unavailability of adequate field or laboratory data, nevertheless, sensitivity analyses demonstrate the importance of soil moisture and, secondarily, organic matter content in controlling the migration of VOC vapor through the unsaturated zone. The interpretation of soil-gas surveys can be complicated by unknown spatial heterogeneities in soil moisture and organic carbon content, temporal variations in moisture content, extent of contaminant migration as a non-aqueous phase liquid and by the unknown extent of VOC liquid and contaminated ground water.