Experiences with constructed wetland systems in Korea

In spite of the low temperature during the winter season and the high land environment, the wetland treatment system is gaining popularity in Korea because of its lower construction cost and simplicity in operation and maintenance. Many different types of wetland treatment systems have been built during the last 10 years, among which the free water surface wetland has been predominant. Most of the large-scale systems are government projects for improving the water quality of the streams flowing into the estuary dikes and reservoirs. The covering plants used in this system are different in different areas but cattails and reeds or their combinations are common. Constructed wetlands in Korea can be characterized by their shallow depths and short hydraulic residence times. There is no established flow pattern and configuration rules for constructing wetlands, but many efforts have been made with a view to improving their ecological function. Flow control is the most difficult problem in designing a riverbed or riparian wetland. There have been scores of flow rate control devices developed for wetlands, but none of them guarantee wetlands＇ safety against flooding. In earlier wetland construction, the building materials were mainly soil. Recently, strong and durable building materials such as rocks, gravel beds, concrete and steel are used at vulnerable places to protect them from erosion. Our investigation indicated that the wetland system would be an appropriate technology because it is not only cheaper to construct, but also requires less maintenance work. However, we suffer from the reduced effectiveness in performance during the winter. We need to evaluate the partial treatment accomplished during 6 to 7 months per year.     

Ciliate communities in a constructed mangrove wetland for wastewater treatment

In wetlands constructed for treating municipal and industrial wastewater, including mangroves, the effect of wastewater discharged on the substrate has often been neglected. Ciliates, an important group of protozoa, are sensitive to pollutants and any changes in ciliate diversity and community structure reflects the habitat quality. The ciliate communities at six sections along a constructed mangrove belt (33 m in length) planted with Aegicerascorniculatum were investigated in Shenzhen, South China. In all samples collected in both rainy and dry seasons, 183 ciliate species were observed. Most species (56%) were free-swimming forms, while only 10.8% were sessile ciliates. The abundance and species number of ciliates were both found to decrease from the anterior (the wastewater inlet) to the posterior (the outlet) parts of the wetland belt, indicating that organic matter and bacteria in wastewater, which served as food for most ciliates, were gradually removed by the constructed wetland. The r/K (number of r- and K-selected species) ratios at the six sections were relatively small, between 0.2 and 0.4, whereas the C/P (abundance of colpodids and polyhymenophorans) quotient at some sections was higher than 1. These results indicate that although most of the environments along the constructed wetland belt were not stressful for ciliate communities, there were habitats that favored colpodids in high abundances.     

太湖上游流域经济发展对废水排放及入湖总磷的影响

为探索太湖流域水环境质量随经济发展的变化趋势,利用环境库兹涅茨曲线模型模拟1978-2012年太湖上游流域人均GDP与废水排放量、入湖总磷负荷的关系.结果表明:以1978年为计算基期,太湖上游流域人均GDP年均增速为10.3%~11.8%;1990-2012年,太湖上游流域年均工业废水排放量和废水排放总量分别为64799×104、93707×104t,与人均GDP均呈倒U型关系,从2006-2007年、2008-2009年呈下降趋势;入湖总磷负荷与太湖上游流域废水排放总量呈显著正相关,且与人均GDP呈倒U型关系,从2007-2008年呈下降趋势,在1990s以前为850~1200 t/a,1990s以后为1300~2000 t/a.该研究为从经济学角度评估太湖上游流域废水排放、入湖总磷负荷及其变化趋势提供科学依据.     

Packed‐Column of Granular Activated Carbons for Removal of Chemical Oxygen Demand from Industrial Wastewater

In the present study, chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal by packed‐columns of activated carbon (AC) derived from two different materials (coal activated carbon, CAC and wood activated carbon, WAC) is reported as part of an on‐site wastewater treatment system for handling small volumes of wastewater generated at wood‐floor industries for which there are no proper on‐site treatment options available in the market. The performance of the sorbents, the effect of bed depth (0.19 and 0.57 m) and volumetric load (0.10 and 0.24 m h^?1) on the breakthrough curve of sorption systems were studied. The results indicated the feasibility of using both ACs to treat these wastewaters. At the bed depth (0.57 m), volumetric load (0.24 m h^?1), and 30% breakthrough, CAC and WAC showed treatment capacity of 40.5 L kg^?1 in 250 h and 23.8 L kg^?1 in 63 h, respectively. This indicated that CAC requires longer retention times to reach a performance similar to WAC. The experimental data was fit into the bed depth‐service time model showing that under the same conditions, CAC had higher maximum sorption capacity (N₀) than WAC. Moreover, thermal regeneration at 500°C temperature could be a cost‐effective procedure since the reuse of spent AC through such regeneration process for further treatment could still achieve 90% of the initial sorption capacity, reducing then costs for the use of new sorbents and also the need for waste disposal.     

Metagenomic Analysis of Bacterial Communities from a Nitrification–Denitrification Treatment of Landfill Leachates

The efficiency of the biological removal of carbon and nitrogen from leachates is determined by the activity of microbial populations present in biological reactors. In this work, a complete characterization of bacterial communities revealed by personal genome machine sequencing (PGM) has been carried out from different points of a nitrification–denitrification process operated in an urban landfill. The leachate fed to the treatment is a mixture of young leachate, old leachate, and effluent from an anaerobic digestion process, in a volume ratio of 1:0.9:0.12, respectively. The anoxic and oxic reactors are followed by an ultrafiltration step. Samples are taken from different points of the process. Results reveal the microbial diversity of the samples, which include detection of minority populations that are difficult to explore by other methods. Bacteria belonging to Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria are dominant in all the samples analyzed. Proteobacteria represents more than 50% of the total population in all cases. Samples taken after the biological treatment show a significant reduction in the relative abundance of Firmicutes, Tenericutes, and Lentisphaerae phyla in comparation with the initial leachate. The relative abundance of the classes is also studied and the most abundant in the samples are β‐Proteobacteria and Flavobacteria.     

Production of Drinking Water from Highly Contaminated Surface Waters: Removal of Organic,Inorganic, and Microbial Contaminants Applying Mobile Membrane Filtration Units

In military out of area missions of the Bundeswehr, it can be necessary to produce drinking water even from highly polluted surface waters containing a variety of organic, inorganic, and microbiological contaminants. Thus, mobile drinking water purification systems must be able to remove such contaminants as far as possible to meet the requirements of the German and European drinking water regulation/directive. Presently, two novel drinking water purification units applying membrane filtration undergo intensive long‐term trials carried out by the Bundeswehr. If these trials positively proof the functionality of these units and their ability to remove all possible contaminants they shall substitute so far available devices which use large amounts of chemicals and charcoal filtration for water purification.In the course of a research project, the functionality of the new devices and their efficacy to remove high amounts of algae, microbes, and organic and inorganic pollutants are additionally tested in “worst‐case” field studies. In September 2000, the first mobile drinking water purification unit was tested at the Teltowkanal in Berlin, Germany.This canal was chosen because it carries high burdens of municipal sewage effluents. The results from the fatigue test confirmed the ability of the water purification unit to reduce the concentrations of all contaminants meeting the maximum tolerance levels set by the German/European drinking water regulation.The pre‐filtration device was very effective in removing algae and solid particles to protect the membranes from clogging and to enable an almost maintenance‐free operation. Residues of pharmaceuticals and some other organic contaminants have almost totally been removed from the surface water where they were detected at individual concentrations up to the μg/L‐level.     

云南星云湖大街河口湖滨湿地修复及净化效果

星云湖入湖污染物负荷量80%来自面源,而河道是输送污染物的主要通道,为了削减入湖污染物,在大街河口末端修复湖滨湿地4.5 hm2,恢复湖湾沉水植物28.8 hm2,对表流湿地及沉水植物的净化效果进行了试验研究.研究结果表明,由于水生植物庞大的表面积吸附、分解和吸收作用、水质净化水质效果十分明显,净化大街河水317.8×104 m3/a,SS、BOD5、CODMn、TN、TP的去除率分别为82.8%、60.1%、52.8%、49.2%、40.7%.河口湖滨湿地的修复不仅净化了水质,而且改善了河湾景观,恢复了湖泊生物多样性.     

Response Surface Modeling and Optimization of Microwave‐Activated Persulfate Oxidation of Olive Oil Mill Wastewater

Olive oil mill wastewater (OMW) is environmentally hazardous not only because it contains high recalcitrant and toxic compounds, but also due to its high organic load and turbidity. In this study, oxidation of OMW by microwave (MW)‐activated persulfate is investigated. Box–Behnken design is applied to investigate the effects of operating conditions on operating cost, organic matter, and color removal. Multi response optimization is performed according to minimum operating cost, maximum organic matter and color removal efficiencies. At optimum conditions (persulfate anion dose of 266 g L^?1, oxidation duration of 23.58 min, MW power of 567 W, and initial pH 2), chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of 63.38%, color removal of 94.85%, and operating cost of 0.0633 Euro/g total organic carbon (TOC) removal are found. The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅)/COD ratio is increased from 0.144 to 0.285. Results of Pareto analysis show individual effect of MW power is 92.81% for TOC removal, 15.52% for color removal, 68.99% for operating cost, respectively. According to the results, it is not recommended to use this process as an ultimate treatment unit due to the high amount of oxidizing agent consumed. Instead, it is recommended to be used as a pre‐ or post‐treatment step.