Bioremediation of Tannery Effluents Using a Consortium of Blue–Green Algal Species

Trivalent chromium in the form of basic chromium sulfate (BCS) is used for tanning hides/skins and is a strong pollutant of the soil and water bodies. Significant quantities of unutilized chemicals, such as sulfates, chlorides, are also discharged, contributing to high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), etc. Though many treatment techniques are being practiced, biotechnological methods are gaining importance. Biosorption is recognized as a cost‐effective technology worldwide; one potential sorbent being blue–green algae (BGA), for treating metal‐bearing effluents. This work studies the feasibility of using a species each of Spirulina, Oscillatoria, and Synechocystis, individually and as a consortium, as sorbents to remove Cr³⁺ from a segregated stream, viz. exhaust chrome liquor (ECL) and synthetic BCS solution. The species studied were found to be effective in removing Cr³⁺ considerably at varying concentrations, besides reducing sulfates, BOD, COD, etc. The results of ECL experiments were more encouraging than those for BCS solution. The kinetic data on Cr³⁺ sorption onto algal biomass fit well into the pseudo‐second order model. The equilibrium data were analyzed using the classic Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, yielding good fits. The results of the experiments indicate that algal consortia could be good alternatives to the conventional treatment methods for leather and other industrial wastewaters containing chromium.     

Impacts of meteorological variations on urban lake water quality: a sensitivity analysis for 12 urban lakes with different trophic states

Response of 12 urban lakes with different trophic states in Beijing to variations of meteorological factors was studied in this research. Monthly water quality parameters, including total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), chlorophyll a, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), dissolved oxygen, and water temperature, were analyzed from 2009 to 2011. Results indicated that TN in the urban lakes did not exhibit significant response to meteorological variations owing to relatively lower TN concentration in the urban soil. For the highly eutrophic lakes, TP, chlorophyll a, COD, and BOD were positively correlated with precipitation, and negatively correlated with wind speed (p < 0.05). Chlorophyll a showed significant positive correlation with TP and temperature. Moreover, the abrupt increase of TP occurred in spring, which was associated with higher temperature induced internal phosphorus loading. On average, temperature/precipitation and wind speed/sunshine duration contributed to 10.7–43.8 and 8.3–19.2 % of the variations in water quality. In contrast, lakes with mesotrophication/light eutrophication did not show significant sensitivity to meteorological variations owing to their better buffer capacity and regulation effect of algae growth. Beijing is undergoing increased temperature and heavy rainfall frequency as well as decreased wind speed during the past five decades; the above results infer that water quality of most urban lakes of Beijing is becoming worse under this climate change trend. This study suggested that urban lakes with different trophic states will respond differently to global climate change, and highly eutrophic lakes might face big challenges of water quality deterioration and algae bloom.     

Optimization of the Coagulation–Flocculation Process for Slaughterhouse Wastewater Using Response Surface Methodology

Slaughterhouse wastewater is one of the main sources of environmental pollutants, containing a high amount of organic matter (chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)), total nitrogen (TN), total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP), grease, and oil. The main aim of the present research is optimizing the coagulation–flocculation process and examining the effects of experimental factors with each other, for example, pH, the concentration of two different coagulants (FeCl₃ and alum), rapid mixing rate, and settling time. Therefore, it is aimed to treat slaughterhouse wastewater using the coagulation–flocculation process with the optimization of the response surface methodology (RSM). COD, turbidity, and suspended solids (SS) of the treated wastewater are chosen as the response variables. Furthermore, the optimal conditions for three responses are acquired by employing the desirability function approach. When the experimental results of two coagulants are compared, it is observed that the alum coagulant gave better results for the three responses. The alum coagulant utilized in the present research is able to increase COD, SS, and turbidity removal efficiency by 75.25%, 90.16%, and 91.18%, respectively. It is possible to optimize coagulation–flocculation by utilizing the RSM analysis, which proves that coagulation can pre‐treat slaughterhouse wastewater.     

Monitoring and modeling dissolved oxygen dynamics through continuous longitudinal sampling: a case study in Wen‐Rui Tang River,Wenzhou, China

Synoptic water sampling at a fixed site monitoring station provides only limited ‘snap‐shots’ of the complex water quality dynamics within a surface water system. However, water quality often changes rapidly in both spatial and temporal dimensions, especially in highly polluted urban rivers. In this study, we designed and applied a continuous longitudinal sampling technique to monitor the fine‐scale spatial changes of water quality conditions, assess water pollutant sources, and determine the assimilative capacity for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in an urban segment of the hypoxic Wen‐Rui Tang River in eastern China. The continuous longitudinal sampling was capable of collecting dissolved oxygen (DO) data every 5 s yielding a ~11 m sampling interval with a precision of ±0.1 mg L^?1. The Streeter and Phelps BOD‐DO model was used to calculate: (1) the oxygen consumption coefficient (K₁) required for calibration of water quality models, (2) BOD assimilative capacity, and (3) BOD source and load identification. In the 2014 m river segment sampled, the oxygen consumption coefficient (K₁) was 0.428 d^?1 (20°C), the total BOD discharge was 916 kg d^?1, and the BOD assimilative capacity was 382 kg d^?1 when the minimum DO level was set to 2 mg L^?1. In addition, the longitudinal analysis identified eight major drainage outlets (BOD point sources), which were verified by field observations. This new approach provides a simple, cost‐effective method of evaluating BOD‐DO dynamics over large spatial areas with rapidly changing water quality conditions, such as urban environments. It represents a major breakthrough in the development and application of water quality sampling techniques to obtain spatially distributed DO and BOD in real time. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Monitoring of impact of anthropogenic inputs on water quality of mangrove ecosystem of Uran,Navi Mumbai,west coast of India

Surface water samples were collected from substations along Sheva creek and Dharamtar creek mangrove ecosystems of Uran (Raigad), Navi Mumbai, west coast of India. Water samples were collected fortnightly from April 2009 to March 2011 during spring low and high tides and were analyzed for pH, Temperature, Turbidity, Total solids (TS), Total dissolved solids (TDS), Total suspended solids (TSS), Dissolved oxygen (DO), Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), Carbon dioxide (CO₂), Chemical oxygen demand (COD), Salinity, Orthophosphate (O-PO₄), Nitrite–nitrogen (NO₂–N), Nitrate–nitrogen (NO₃–N), and Silicates. Variables like pH, turbidity, TDS, salinity, DO, and BOD show seasonal variations. Higher content of O-PO₄, NO₃–N, and silicates is recorded due to discharge of domestic wastes and sewage, effluents from industries, oil tanking depots and also from maritime activities of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), hectic activities of Container Freight Stations (CFS), and other port wastes. This study reveals that water quality from mangrove ecosystems of Uran is deteriorating due to industrial pollution and that mangrove from Uran is facing the threat due to anthropogenic stress.     

Full‐scale Applications of Membrane Filtration in Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants

The performance of one pilot‐scale and two full‐scale membrane bioreactors (MBR) were evaluated based on the control of main operational parameters, composition of microbial community and pathogens concentration in the treated outlet. Plants were designed for 0.75 m³/day (A), 60 m³/day (B) and 30 m³/day (C). Inlet and outlet samples were monitored for chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand, total suspended solids, ammonia nitrogen concentration (NH₄–N), nitrate nitrogen concentration, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, total phosphorus and phosphate phosphorus concentration concentrations. Plants showed good COD removal: 91.9% for Plant A, 97.8% for Plant B and 94.2% for Plant C. The targeted nitrogenous ion was NH₄–N due to the requirements for outlet limits. NH₄–N removal was moderate for Plant A (73.3%) and Plant B (86.1%) and excellent for Plant C (>99%). Excellent phosphorus removal was achieved by Plant A (average outlet concentration was 0.7 mg/L, efficiency 84.7%). Unsatisfactory results for phosphorus removal were achieved at the full‐scale plants due to operational problems. The dependency between the extracellular polymeric substances increase and decreasing mixed liquor volatile suspended solids for both lab and full‐scale plants was confirmed. Soluble microbial product concentrations were reduced by 65–68% after coagulant dosage for Plant A. Outlets from the MBR plants were monitored for the presence of pathogens (thermotolerant coliforms, Escherichia coli, intestinal Enterococci and culturable microorganisms at 22 and 37°C). The treated effluent from Plant A, B and C met Czech national legislation regarding reuse criteria (standards) for environment, irrigation and swimming purposes. Plants B and C were not able to achieve requirements for potable water and personal hygiene quality standards.     

Utilization of Banana Stem Juice as a Feedstock Material for Bioethanol Production

Bananas are widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical countries and about 220 tons of biomass waste is produced per hectare of banana plantation. Banana pseudostem contains nearly 90% of moisture and about 4–5 m³ sap is generated from one ton of dried stem with high chemical oxygen demand(COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD). The feasibility of using banana sap as a feedstock to produce ethanol is evaluated in this study. Banana sap is obtained by crushing the pseudostems and concentrated ten times and supplementing with other industrial byproducts such as corn steep liquor(CSL), spent wash (SW), and yeast extract (YE) for ethanol production. Acid and alkali hydrolyzes are performed to enhance the sugar levels of the sap before fermentation. Two different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (MTCC170 and MTCC180) are used for fermentation. In general, supplementation of banana sap with industrial byproducts significantly enhanced the ethanol production. The maximum ethanol production (2.5 g ^?1) is observed with concentrated banana sap supplemented with 25% SW (v/v) with MTCC170, which is 16‐fold higher than banana sap alone. Theethanol content is also higher in alkali‐hydrolyzed banana sap supplemented with 25% SW compared to control. These results suggest that banana sap can be used as a renewable source to produce ethanol by supplementing with other industrial byproducts.     

Protein‐like fluorescence intensity as a possible tool for determining river water quality

The results of a comparison between chemical water quality determinants and river water fluorescence on the River Tyne, NE England, demonstrate that tryptophan‐like fluorescence intensity shows statistically significant relationships between nitrate, phosphate, ammonia, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and dissolved oxygen. Tryptophan‐like fluorescence intensity at the 280 nm excitation/350 nm emission wavelength fluorescence centre correlates with both phosphate (r = 0·80) and nitrate (r = 0·87), whereas tryptophan‐like fluorescence intensity at the 220 nm excitation/350 nm emission wavelength centre correlates with BOD (r = 0·85), ammonia (r = 0·70) and dissolved oxygen (r = ?0·65). The strongest correlations are between tryptophan‐like fluorescence intensity and nitrate and phosphate, which in the Tyne catchment derive predominantly from point and diffuse source sewage inputs. The correlation between BOD and the tryptophan‐like fluorescence intensity suggests that this fluorescence centre is related to the bioavailable or labile dissolved organic matter pool. The weakest correlations are observed between tryptophan‐like fluorescence intensity and ammonia concentration and dissolved oxygen. The weaker correlation with ammonia is due to removal of the ammonia signal by wastewater treatment, and that with dissolved oxygen due to the natural aeration of the river such that this is not a good indicator of water quality. The observed correlations only hold true when treated sewage, sewerage overflows or cross connections, or agricultural organic pollutants dominate the water quality—this is not true for two sites where airport deicer (propylene glycol, which is non‐fluorescent) or landfill leachate (which contains high concentrations of humic and fulvic‐like fluorescent DOM) dominate the dissolved organic matter in the river. Mean annual tryptophan‐like fluorescence intensity agrees well with the General Water Quality Assessment as determined by the England and Wales environmental regulators, the Environment Agency. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance Evaluation of a Full‐Scale Extended Aeration System in Al‐Bireh City,Palestine

Major challenges attributed to dysfunctional wastewater treatment facilities in developing countries include lack of commitment and poor informed decision making by the higher municipal administration. This paper presents how process monitoring and control during full scale operation ensures sustainability of civic infrastructures like Al‐Bireh wastewater treatment plant (AWWTP). It is written from the perspective of practical process selection to evaluate the performance of AWWTP, a single‐sludge nitrification–denitrification process with aerobic sludge stabilization. Process monitoring data (July 2000–April 2007) from available monthly operating reports were analyzed and evaluated. Additional data on microbiological analysis and information about facility unit operations were gathered through review of published local literature and interviews with AWWTP personnel. Influent and effluent data evaluated were the chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP). Despite annual and seasonal variations in AWWTP influent for COD, BOD, TN, and TP, the Palestinian wastewater reuse requirements for restricted irrigation were met. Process design and proper facility operation have direct impacts on effluent quality. The study concludes that regardless of the design capacity and process type, adequate administrative and operational management dictate the sustainability of AWWTP and reuse schemes.     

太湖有色可溶性有机物(CDOM)对COD及BOD5的指示意义

化学需氧量(COD)、五日生化需氧量(BOD_5)及溶解性有机碳(DOC)是指示湖泊水质的重要指标,然而上述指标测定通常耗费大量时间、试剂及人力物力且排放大量有害废液.有色可溶性有机物(CDOM)是溶解性有机物(DOM)中可以强烈吸收光谱中的紫外光和可见光的部分,数据测定耗时短、方便快捷,且样品处理过程环境友好,能在很大程度上反映湖泊水质.本研究基于2016年2、5和8月在太湖均匀布设的32个采样点进行样品采集,运用光谱吸收与三维荧光-平行因子分析(EEMs-PARAFAC)探究太湖CDOM的光谱吸收和荧光组分,探讨CDOM光谱指标对湖泊BOD_5、COD及DOC浓度等湖泊环境质量指标的可替代性.结果表明:(1)运用EEMs-PARAFAC方法解析出3种荧光组分:类腐殖酸C1、类酪氨酸C2和类色氨酸C3.(2) COD和BOD_5和DOC在空间上呈现出相似的分布趋势,不同水期的最高值均出现在竺山湾和梅梁湾,由西北湖区至中部敞水区、东南湖湾递减.(3)在不同水期,COD、BOD_5、DOC浓度和C1组分均表现为丰水期极显著大于枯水期和平水期,a_(254)在丰、平、枯水期间无显著性差异,最大值出现在丰水期;C2与C3组分均在枯水期和平水期极显著大于丰水期.(4)在不同水文时期,COD、BOD_5和DOC浓度均与a_(254)、类腐殖酸C1呈显著正相关,丰水期太湖COD、BOD_5和DOC浓度与CDOM光谱指标的线性相关性要优于枯水期和平水期.(5) CDOM光谱指标在不同水文时期均能很好地替代COD、BOD_5和DOC等作为反映太湖水体中有机物污染程度及湖泊水质的指标.     

无机阴离子及溶解性有机质对程海化学需氧量测定值的影响

自2005年以来,程海水体的化学需氧量(COD)持续升高,而生化需氧量(BOD)却维持不变,高锰酸盐指数(COD_(Mn))升高也较缓慢.为研究程海COD持续升高的原因,选取程海水体中具有代表性的无机阴离子(Cl~-、F~-、S~(2-)、HCO_3~-)和溶解性有机质(DOM)中不同浓度的胡敏酸(HA)、富里酸(FA)和商品化腐殖酸(SHA),研究其对COD和COD_(Mn)测定的影响,探讨Cl~-和DOM共同存在下对COD测定的影响.结果表明:程海水体中Cl~-浓度对COD存在显著影响,产生的COD值为5.42 mg/L,S~(2-)、F~-和HCO_3~-对COD影响较小;各离子对COD_(Mn)的影响很小;不同浓度梯度的HA、FA和SHA与COD测定结果呈显著线性相关,氧化1 mg C HA、FA和SHA所产生的COD值分别为2.164、1.964和2.362 mg;氧化1 mg C HA和FA所产生的COD_(Mn)值分别为0.646和0.344 mg;DOM对COD测定值的影响显著大于对COD_(Mn)测定值的影响;且一定浓度Cl~-的存在增强了FA与HA对COD测定的影响.该研究为进一步阐明程海COD逐步升高,COD_(Mn)值缓慢升高的内在原因奠定了基础.     

沙基和浮床培养方式种植水芹对人工湿地冬季水质净化能力的对比

针对人工湿地冬季净化能力不足以及不同湿地植物种植方式可能影响其净化效果的湿地构建问题,通过小试实验,研究了沙基法和浮床法种植水芹(Oenanthe javanica(Bl.)DC.)对冬季人工湿地净化富营养水体效果的影响.在整个冬季,4个实验周期中,处理期间总磷(TP)和总氮(TN)去除率表现出显著差异:对照组(CK)、沙基种植组和浮床种植组4个周期对TP的去除率平均值为20.17%±19.23%、59.60%±7.54%和45.44%±29.22%;对TN的去除率平均值依次为:29.83%±19.65%、64.89%±23.01%和60.50%±25.86%.与CK组相比,冬季种植水芹可显著提高湿地对TP和TN的去除率;与浮床种植方式相比,沙基种植方式的TP和TN去除率略有提高.而对于COD的去除率,沙基种植组周期间波动较大(-27.5%~52.92%),浮床种植组组周期间更为平稳(10.83%~40.42%),浮床种植组在全部4个周期的平均去除率(23.13%±14.41%)略高于沙基种植组(19.38%±35.38%).2种种植方式下,水芹均可安全适应冬季温带气候;与沙基种植法相比,浮床种植方式更有利于植物总生物量的增加,特别是根系生物量的增加;相对于浮床种植,传统的沙基种植法能使水芹根系在温带冬季大部分时间内保持较高的活力和泌氧能力.因此,考虑到建设成本,在浅水区域可优选传统的沙基(或底泥)种植方式;在深水区域,使用浮床种植的方式,也能保证耐寒水生植物安全度过冬季和保持较高的净化能力.     

PUBLICATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HYDROLOGICAL SCIENCES

Abstract

Most commonly used biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and dissolved oxygen (DO) models have been tested for their applicability in the River Kali, which is one of the most polluted rivers in India. A total of 732 field data sets were generated during field survey from March 1999 to February 2000. The modelling of BOD and DO in the River Kali involves derivation and solution of the governing equations that describe concentration change with time and space brought on by advective, decay, settling and loading functions. However, due to continuous discharges (e.g. from wastewater treatment plants) and steady-state flow conditions in the River Kali, the dispersion effects are found to be insignificant. In the analysis, the model parameters used in BOD-DO models were optimized using the Newton-Raphson technique and the performance of different models was evaluated using correlation statistics (r ²) and error estimation, viz. standard error (SE) and mean multiplicative error (MME). The results indicate that the BOD-DO models developed after Camp (1963) yielded the best agreement with the observed values as compared with several other approaches.     

Removal of Organic Pollutants from Wastewater Using Wood Fly Ash as a Low‐Cost Sorbent

In this study, untreated and treated wood fly ash (WA) was used as a low‐cost sorbent in batch sorption tests to investigate the removal of organic pollutants from a real wastewater generated by cleaning/washing of machinery in a wood‐laminate floor industry in Sweden. The experiments focused on the effect of the WA dosage and particle size on the removal efficiency for organic compounds. With a WA dosage of 160 g L^?1 and a particle size less than 1 mm, the reductions of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biologic oxygen demand, and total organic carbon were 37 ± 0.4, 24 ± 0.4, and 30 ± 0.3%, respectively. Pre‐treatment of WA with hot water improved the COD removal efficiency by absorption from 37 ± 0.4 to 42 ± 1.6% when the same dosage (160 g L^?1) was applied. Sorption isotherm and sorption kinetics for COD using untreated WA can be explained by Freundlich isotherm and pseudo‐second‐order kinetic models. Intra‐particle diffusion model indicates that pore diffusion is not the rate‐limiting step for COD removal. Based on the experimental data, WA could be used as an alternative low‐cost sorption media/filter for removal of organic compounds from real industrial wastewater.     

Degradation and Detoxification of Chlorophenols in Continuous‐Flow Fixed‐Bed Aerobic Reactors

An indigenous bacterial strain of Delftia sp. capable of degrading 2,4‐dicholorophenol and an indigenous bacterial community that degrades 2,4,6‐trichlorophenol (TCP) were employed to inoculate continuous down‐flow fixed‐bed reactors. Continuous‐reactors were constructed from PVC employing hollow PVC cylinders as support material. Synthetic wastewater was prepared by dissolving the corresponding chlorophenol in non‐sterile groundwater. Biodegradation was evaluated by spectrophotometry, chloride release, GC, and microbial growth. Detoxification was evaluated by using Daphnia magna as test organism. Delftia sp. was able to remove an average of 95.6% of DCP. Efficiency in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was of 88.9%. The indigenous bacterial community that degrades TCP reached an average efficiency of 96.5 and 91.6% in terms of compound and COD removal, respectively. In both cases stoichiometric removal of chloride and detoxification was achieved. When synthetic wastewater feed was cut off for 7 days, both reactors showed a fast recovery after inflow restarting, reaching average outlet concentration values within 36 h. The promising behavior of the microorganisms and the low cost of the reactors tested allow us to suggest their possible application to remediation processes.     

种植不同植物的人工湿地深度处理城镇污水处理厂尾水的中试研究

利用种植不同植物的人工湿地对污水厂尾水进行深度处理以达到更严格的排放标准.利用5块尺寸一致的中试规模人工湿地,以潮汐流作为运行方式,研究不同植物对尾水的处理效果.经过一年的实验,结果表明：5块人工湿地出水各指标均能达到提升标准的排放要求.在不同植物的去污效果对比实验中,种植芦苇（Phragmites communis）的人工湿地对化学需氧量（COD）、氨氮和总氮（TN）的平均去除率均为最高,分别为24.01%、68.15%和92.70%;种植风车草（Cyperus alternifolius）的人工湿地对TP的平均去除率最高,为71.68%.在不同季节的去污效果对比实验中,春季芦苇湿地对COD、氨氮和TN的去除效果最好,平均去除率分别为52.51%、76.06%和92.04%,美人蕉（Canna indica）湿地对TP去除效果最好,平均去除率为66.72%;夏季对COD、氨氮、TP和TN处理效果最好的分别是种植丝带草（Phalaris arundinacea）、菖蒲（Acorus calamus）、风车草和芦苇的人工湿地,平均去除率分别为15.83%、78.11%、67.30%和91.73%;秋季对COD、氨氮、TP、TN处理效果最好的分别是种植芦苇、丝带草、风车草、美人蕉的人工湿地,平均去除率分别为12.19%、58.82%、83.16%和94.01%;冬季对COD去除效果最好的是种植丝带草的人工湿地,平均去除率为33.39%,对氨氮、TP处理效果最好的是种植美人蕉的人工湿地,平均去除率分别为76.33%和79.43%,对TN处理效果最好的是种植芦苇的人工湿地,平均去除率为94.97%.在以后的实际工程中,可以考虑用种植不同季节、不同指标对应的最佳去污植物为主,并且搭配种植其他植物的人工湿地进行污水厂尾水的深度处理.     

Treatment of Domestic Sewage in an Anaerobic–Aerobic Fixed‐bed Reactor with Recirculation of the Liquid Phase

This study reports the performance of a combined anaerobic–aerobic packed‐bed reactor that can be used to treat domestic sewage. Initially, a bench‐scale reactor was operated in three experimental phases. In the first phase, the anaerobic reactor was operated with an average organic matter removal efficiency of 77% for a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 10 h. In the second phase, the reactor was operated with an anaerobic stage followed by an aerobic zone, resulting in a mean value of 91% efficiency. In the third and final phase, the anaerobic–aerobic reactor was operated with recirculation of the effluent of the reactor through the anaerobic zone. The system yielded mean total nitrogen removal percentages of 65 and 75% for recycle ratios (r) of 0.5 and 1.5, respectively, and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies were higher than 90%. When the pilot‐scale reactor was operated with an HRT of 12 h and r values of 1.5 and 3.0, its performance was similar to that observed in the bench‐scale unit (92% COD removal for r = 3.0). However, the nitrogen removal was lower (55% N removal for r = 3.0) due to problems with the hydrodynamics in the aerobic zone. The anaerobic–aerobic fixed‐bed reactor with recirculation of the liquid phase allows for concomitant carbon and nitrogen removal without adding an exogenous source of electron donors and without requiring any additional alkalinity supplementation.     

Impact of urbanization on suspended sediment and organic matter fluxes from small catchments in Tahiti

This study provides an initial characterization of pollution associated with storm runoff in Tahiti. A thousand floodwater samples were collected from three representative catchments and subsequently analysed. The main pollution parameters chosen were total suspended sediment (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), total nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP). First, organic pollution appeared to be related closely to sediment, thus TSS could be used as a global indicator. Next, regression models between an event's TSS load and its hydrological characteristics were used to obtain annual load estimates. Great interannual variability was found to be strongly influenced by the few major floods that occur during the rainy season. Our results also emphasize the importance of the impact of urbanization on solid catchment exportation: from 60 TSS t/km²/year in a natural forested catchment, fluxes reached more than 700 TSS t/km²/year during preparatory urbanization earthworks before stabilizing at 140 TSS t/km²/year in a consolidated urbanized area. Clearly, runoff effects need to be taken into consideration for effective urban planning and for the preservation of the coastal environment in Tahiti. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of Different Carbon Sources on Denitrification Efficiency Associated with Culture Adaptation and C/N Ratio

Stringent effluent limitations for nitrogen necessitate an accurate interpretation of the design and operation conditions of biological nitrogen removal systems. In this study, the effects of the nature of the organic substrate on biomass adaptation and response to different C/N ratios in terms of denitrification efficiency were investigated. A relatively high chemical oxygen demand (COD)_utilized/NO_x–N_reduced ratio of 8.1 was obtained when an excess amount of readily biodegradable carbon was supplied, which is suggested as the conversion of substrate surplus into storage polymers. An anoxic yield of 0.64 g cell COD/g COD for a four‐compound substrate mixture (acetate, propionate, ethanol and glucose), 0.63 g cell COD/g COD for a two‐compound substrate mixture (acetate and propionate), and 0.5 g cell COD/g COD for methanol were calculated. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis showed that the β‐subclass of proteobacteria was dominant in the seed and in cultures adapted to both the four‐compound and the two‐compound substrate mixture, whereas in the methanol‐adapted culture significant amounts of β‐proteobacteria were detected. The biocommunity composition, the type of organic compound and the COD/NO₃–N ratio strongly influence the nitrate reduction and carbon utilization profiles. Methanol has been shown to select for a denitrifying population consisting of Paracoccus and Hyphomicrobium vulgare genera, when used as only external carbon source.