Effectiveness of Mg–Al-layered double hydroxide for heavy metal removal from mine wastewater and sludge volume reduction

Health hazards from heavy metal pollution in water systems are a global environmental problem. Of similar concern is sludge that results from wastewater treatment due to unsatisfactory sludge management technology. Therefore, the effectiveness of using Mg–Al-layered double hydroxide in the removal of heavy metals from mine wastewater was tested and compared with that of calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)₂], which is a common treatment method for heavy metal removal. Initially, the mine wastewater contained cations of the heavy metals iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb). The Mg–Al-layered double hydroxides were able to remove 371, 7.2, 121, and 0.4 mg/L of these pollutants, respectively, using the co-precipitation method. The removal of these metals is most effective using 0.5 g Mg–Al-layered double hydroxide (Mg/Al molar ratio 4) and 20 min of shaking. Zn was removed by the formation of Zn(NO₃)(OH)·H₂O and Zn₅(NO₃)₂(OH)₈ when LDH, Mg/Al molar ratios of 4 and 2, respectively, were used. Similarly, Fe, Cu, and Pb were removed by the formation of Fe–Al-layered double hydroxide, Cu₂(OH)₃·NO₃ and Pb₄(OH)₄(NO₃)₄, respectively. While Ca(OH)₂ is also capable of reducing the heavy metal concentrations below the Japanese recommended values, this analysis shows that using 0.5 g Mg–Al-layered double hydroxide is a better treatment condition for mine wastewater, because it generates lower sludge volumes than 0.1 g of Ca(OH)₂. The measured sludge volume was 1.5 mL for Mg–Al-layered double hydroxide and 2.5 mL for Ca(OH)₂, a nearly twofold further reduction.     

Experimental study on loss factor for corrugated plates by bandwidth method

The material loss factor for technically orthotropic plates was measured by half-power bandwidth method. Rectangular and trapezoidal corrugated plates of steel were considered. A simple isotropic steel plate was also considered for comparison of the results. The concept of single degree of freedom system was adopted. The tests were undertaken at very low frequency range (0–100) Hz. The plate models were suspended freely with two wires to minimize or prevent excessive extraneous energy dissipation. Out of plane point force, random in nature was applied to the top middle of the plates and the responses were measured from the middle point of the plates by FFT analyzer using miniature small mass accelerometer as sensor. The aim of these tests is to investigate the effects of bending rigidity and mode orders over material loss factor. The values of estimated modal damping loss factors are compared and tabulated for the plates models considered. Natural frequencies of some of the initial modes of the plates are also presented.It is observed that the higher the value of bending rigidity of the plates, the larger the values of loss factor of it. There was a significant increase in value of loss factor in corrugated plates to that of the isotropic plate.     

Site amplification investigation in Dhaka, Bangladesh, using H/V ratio of microtremor

The degree of damage during earthquakes strongly depends on dynamic characteristics of buildings as well as amplification of seismic waves in soils. Among the other approaches, microtremor is, perhaps, the easiest and cheapest way to understand the dynamic characteristics of soil. Non-reference microtremor measurements have been carried out in 45 locations in and around the capital Dhaka city of Bangladesh. Subsoil investigations (Standard Penetration Test and Shear Wave Velocity) have also been executed in those locations. Soil model has been developed for those locations for site response analysis by means of the program SHAKE. Among those 45 locations, predominant frequency of microtremor observation varies from 0.48 to 3.65 Hz. Out of those 45, for 35 locations Transfer function obtained from the program SHAKE have higher frequency compared to microtremor H/V ratio and for one location it has lower predominant frequency. For six locations, frequencies obtained from two methods are identical. For three other locations, there are no similarities between predominant frequency obtained from microtremor and transfer function. The seismic Vulnerability Index (Kg) for 45 sites varies between 0.45 and 31.85. Ten sites have been identified as having moderate vulnerability of soil layers to deform.     

Environmental isotopic and hydrochemical study of water in the karst aquifer and submarine springs of the Syrian coast

The groundwater of major karst systems and submarine springs in the coastal limestone aquifer of Syria has been investigated using chemical and isotopic techniques. The δ¹⁸O values of groundwater range from ?6.8 to ?5.05‰, while those for submarine springs vary from ?6.34 to +1.08‰ (eastern Mediterranean seawater samples have a mean of +1.7‰). Groundwater originates from the direct infiltration of atmospheric water. Stable isotopes show that the elevation of the recharge zones feeding the Banyas area (400–600 m a.s.l.) is higher than that feeding the Amrit area (100–300 m a.s.l.). The ¹⁸O_extracted (¹⁸O content of the seawater contribution) for the major submarine springs suggests a mean recharge area elevation of 600–700 m a.s.l., and lower than 400 m a.s.l. for the spring close to Amrit. Based on the measured velocity and the percentage of fresh water at the submarine springs outlet, the estimated discharge rate is 350 million m³/year. The tritium concentrations in groundwater (1.6–5.9 TU) are low and very close to the current rainfall values (2.9–5.6 TU). Adopting a model with exponential time distribution, the mean turnover time of groundwater in the Al-sen spring was evaluated to be 60 years. A value of about 3.7 billion m³ was obtained for the maximum groundwater reservoir size.     

Considerations for conducting incubations to study the mechanisms of As release in reducing groundwater aquifers

Microbial Fe reduction is widely believed to be the primary mechanism of As release from aquifer sands in Bangladesh, but alternative explanations have been proposed. Long-term incubation studies using natural aquifer material are one way to address such divergent views. This study addresses two issues related to this approach: (1) the need for suitable abiotic controls and (2) the spatial variability of the composition of aquifer sands. Four sterilization techniques were examined using orange-colored Pleistocene sediment from Bangladesh and artificial groundwater over 8 months. Acetate (10 mM) was added to sacrificial vials before sterilization using either (1) 25 kGy of gamma irradiation, (2) three 1-h autoclave cycles, (3) a single addition of an antibiotic mixture at 1× or (4) 10× the typical dose, and (5) a 10 mM addition of azide. The effectiveness of sterilization was evaluated using two indicators of microbial Fe reduction, changes in diffuse spectral reflectance and leachable Fe(II)/Fe ratios, as well as changes in P-extractable As concentrations in the solid phase. A low dose of antibiotics was ineffective after 70 days, whereas autoclaving significantly altered groundwater composition. Gamma irradiation, a high dose of antibiotics, and azide were effective for the duration of the experiment.     

Six decades of agricultural land use change in Bangladesh: Effects on crop diversity,productivity, food availability and the environment, 1948–2006

This paper provides a detailed analysis of agricultural land use change in Bangladesh over a 59‐year period (1948–2006) and examines how these have impacted crop diversity, productivity, food availability and the environment. The key findings of the analysis are: first, land use intensity has increased significantly over this period, mainly from the widespread adoption of a rice‐based Green Revolution technology package beginning in the early 1960s; second, contrary to expectation, crop diversity too has increased; third, although land productivity has increased significantly, declines in the productivity of fertilizers and pesticides raise doubts over sustaining agricultural growth; fourth, food availability has improved, with a reversal in the dietary energy imbalance in recent years despite a high population growth rate; and finally, the production environment has suffered with widespread soil nutrient depletion experienced in many agroecological regions. The policy implication points towards crop diversification as a desired strategy for agricultural growth to improve resource economy, productivity and efficiency in farming in Bangladesh.     

Measuring drop size distribution and kinetic energy of rainfall using a force transducer

The relatively high cost of commercially available raindrop spectrometers and disdrometers has inhibited detailed and intensive research on drop size distribution, kinetic energy and momentum of rainfall which are important for understanding and modelling soil erosion caused by raindrop detachment. In this study, an approach to find the drop size distribution, momentum and kinetic energy of rainfall using a relatively inexpensive device that uses a piezoelectric force transducer for sensing raindrop impact response is introduced. The instrument continuously and automatically records, on a time‐scale, the amplitude of electrical pulses produced by the impact of raindrops on the surface of the transducer. The size distribution of the raindrops and their respective kinetic energy are calculated by analysing the number and amplitude of pulses recorded, and from the measured volume of total rainfall using a calibration curve. Simultaneous measurements of the instrument, a rain gauge and a dye‐stain method were used to assess the performance of the instrument. Test results from natural and simulated rainfalls are presented. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Participatory Vulnerability Reduction (PVR): an urban community-based approach for earthquake management

Participation of local people during any disaster is enormous. They possess better knowledge and information about their own community than anyone else from the outside. This study proposes Participatory Vulnerability Reduction (PVR), a community-based approach for disaster management. The concept of PVR was applied to an urban community of Dhaka city (Ward no. 06 of Dhaka North City Corporation) which has been identified by the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme as one of the most vulnerable areas of the city for earthquake. PVR consists three steps, and in each step, different participatory urban appraisal tools were used. In the first step, the community people assessed the earthquake vulnerability. It was found that some certain parts of the study area are highly vulnerable due to lack of accessibility to the critical facilities, inadequacy of open space, poor construction practice and unsuitable soil condition for building construction. This was followed by analyzing the root causes and effects of these problems. Structural fragility of the buildings, construction of settlements by filling the low-lying areas and development of slums beside taller buildings are the three major causes behind the above vulnerable issues. In the second step, capacity of the community was assessed in terms of resources and their organizational structure. In the final step, local people developed the strategies to overcome the vulnerability and a community-based organizational set up was proposed to coordinate the collective actions. Although developed in local context, application of PVR is not limited for earthquake and it can be replicated for other communities as well.     

Response of porous beds subjected to random waves

A general analysis procedure is developed for the evaluation of the effective stress response of a porous ocean bed subjected to random waves. The ocean floor soil is treated as a saturated porous elastic medium and Biot's theory is used to formulate the coupled flow and deformation. The waves are treated as a random process which is described by Pierson–Moskowitz spectrum. The derived statistical properties of the response are used to evaluate the probability of failure in ocean bed.