International Journal Of Environmental Research
Volume:8 Issue: 2, Spring2014

In developing and newly industrialized countries, population growth and migration contribute immensely to the development of megacities and mega urban areas. In most cases, the rapid development ofcities has far-reaching consequences for the ecosystem in general and the hydrological cycle in particular. The developments in China within the last decades show an interesting, but complex setting. Massive and rapidly occurring land use changes in the economically booming South-Chinese Pearl River Delta result in rising hazards and risks for the urban water resources and often in a severe deterioration of water quality. The quantity and quality of local groundwater sources is, however, much less investigated than the situation of the surface waters. In order to supporting a better protection of the urban groundwater resources, the aims of this article are to analyze the vulnerability of the groundwater and the potential hazards and risks for groundwater resulting from land use changes – taking Guangzhou as a case study area.

X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS) spectroscopy was used to identify directly the metal speciation and local bonding environment of Fe in sediments originated from Dobczyce reservoir (Poland); special attention was paid to analysis of samples collected from points situated at different distances from the land. The combination of traditional approach to data analysis as well as usage of multivariate techniques provided reliable information on the local Fe structure. The obtained average oxidation state for Fe species in all samples was found to be at about +3. The number, nature, and proportion of Fe species in sediments samples were calculated by a coupled Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Least-Squares Fitting (LSF) procedure. Results indicate for a high similarity among analyzed data collected for various points from Dobczyce reservoir. Among different forms of amorphous oxyhydroxides and various iron oxides commonly present in lake sediments, hematite (Fe2O3) and goethite (α-FeOOH) were found to be the dominant crystalline structures in analyzed samples. Based on that finding it can be concluded that Fe is principally bound to oxygen in sediment samples, therefore its (re)mobilization to the water may be neglected.

Use of zinc and iron oxide are common in the desulfurization process from natural gas. In this research, after determinations of the size and specifications through TEM and XRD for each of the metal oxides, two different size ratios were used, 0.66 for zinc oxide and 0.142 for iron oxide. Further, absorption of sulfur compounds in gas (hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbonyl sulfide (COS), methyl mercaptan (C1SH), ethyl mercaptan (C2SH), dimethyl sulfide (DMS), and carbon disulfide (CS2) were evaluated at 26°C, 15 psi. The separation and identification processes of the sulfur components were measured by gas chromatography with a chemical luminescence sulfur detector. Results show that particle size variation in zinc oxide increased the sulfur removal from H2, C1SH and C2SH from 9.4% to 15.8%, but in the case of COS, DMS and CS2, no significant sulfur removal was observed. Further, with reduction of iron oxide particle size (from 0.140 μm to 20 nm), the sulfur removal rate increased from 37.9 to 63.1% in all of the natural gas components.

Land vulnerable to desertification increased in the Mediterranean basin since World War II due to several interacting factors including climate variations, land-use changes and growing human pressure. It was hypothesized that the increase in the level of land vulnerability is not distributed homogeneously over time and space while impacting preferentially landscapes surrounding large urban agglomerations. This hypothesis was tested diachronically (1960-2010) in the peri-urban area of Rome (Central Italy) to clarifyhow different factors causing land vulnerability to desertification impact a fragile landscape close to the city with one of the largest coastal forest in Italy. Four partial indicators (climate quality, soil quality, vegetation quality, land management quality) developed within the Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) framework and measuring the level of land vulnerability have been calculated at a detailed spatial scale. The highest growth rate in land vulnerability has been observed in cropland while coastal woodlands showed a relatively high and stable land quality over time. Conservation strategies of relict forest ecosystems considered as ‘buffer zones’ contrasting land degradation processes are particularly important in Mediterranean peri-urban regions.

The exponential growth of urbanization leads to increase in severity of environmental problems especially assonated with disposal of solid waste. With considering the increasing rate of solid waste generation in urban area, the problem of availability of space required to dispose it off is become a concern for planners and administrators of urban local bodies (ULB). In order to cope up with the urge of availability of dumping space to adopt the aerobic composting technique for the degradable fraction of solid waste is become unavoidable. The present paper is an attempt to study the feasibility of aerobic composting technique by using metallic container for waste generated from Aurangabad city of Maharashtra state. The study was carried out for a period of one year with monitoring of selected parameters. The results reveals that for conversion of waste into compost of better quality requires 40-45 days. Whereas the NPK value of prepared compost resemble with international standards.

This paper presents results analyses of specific potential blowout scenarios for subsea oilpipelines between the coast of mainland of Iran and Khark island in the Persian Gulf. The analyses have been carried out with the SINTEF Oil Spill Contingency and Response (OSCAR) 3-Dimensional model system.Some hypothetical three-day blowout scenarios with light and heavy Iranian oil have been investigated in this study. Results related to scenarios demonstrate that wind is the major agent for advection and spreading of oil in the area. Within a few days, a large part of oil will evaporate; significant part will pollute the marine environment by depositing at subsea as sediment and hit the area beach. Also some oil spill scenarios are investigated to evaluate potential effect of oil spill operation planning for response actions in decreasing potential consequences. Mechanical recovery equipment systems decrease the environmental potential effects of spilled oil but do not eliminate it completely. Also dispersant vessels and dispersant aircrafts actions decrease potential of surface effects, but result in increasing the oil in the water column and increasing deposited oil on the seabed. This study is an objective basis for analyses of planed response actions and strategies for decreasing environmental consequences of spilled oil on Khark island area.

Persian Gulf is a tectonic intra-continental sediment basin in which 40% of global oil and gas trade carries out and is a rich oil and gas resource. Persian Gulf area is about 236000km2 that is one of the largest marine habitats including corals, sponges, crabs, fishes, clams, scaphpoodas, cephalopodas, foraminiferas, echinodermatas, ostracodas and bryozoas. some of them live in seabed sediments of Persian Gulf and their footprints of are still available and visible on the sediments. This study aimed to identify the effects of oil filters, drilling platforms and ship traffics on seabed sediments. we used 240 surface sediment, Sampled Sea cruise named (MG-2008-PG Cruise) within six fractions and sedimentary components were studied during morphoscopic and morphometric tests by Binocular Microscope as well as Electron Microscope in some cases. Chemical synthesis carried out with chemical analysis with ICP instrument and organic material proportion determination by Rock-Eval device. Results indicate that the effect of pollution in Persian Gulf has endangered fauna environments and absorption by shells has changed skin color to red, grey, and black. Some shells have deformed and lost their ornament. In addition, pollution has led to change the color of ooids. It identified that black color was due to existence of hydrous iron sulfide, organic materials, and oil pollutants. the source of elements could rather be from organic sources such as oil.

This paper presents the results obtained from the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the production of Sicilian artichokes (Cynara scolymus) with the aim of reducing impacts, interpreting the results, suggesting possible improvements and enriching the sustainability knowledge already existing in the agro food field. Artichokes represent one of the excellent Italian agricultural products even if still not well-known and not appreciated despite their nutritional and functional quality. According to FAOSTAT (2013) data, Italy is the world leader in artichokes production, grown mainly in the central and southern regions of Italy, in particular in Sicily, Apulia and Sardinia. In particular, among all the Italian regions, Sicily, which is highly suited for this type of cultivation, is ranked first in terms of quantity produced: the reason for this lies in the excellent combination of climate and geological conformation of the soils. The study was conducted in accordance with the ISO standards 14040 and 14044 (2006), with the functional unit of 1 ha of land and, as the system boundaries being the phases of: pre-implantation preparation of the field; artichoke implantation; and harvesting. The most impacting phases are those related with the consumption of fuel and fertilizers as well as with the use of the PVC pipes for irrigation. Possible improvements could be the use of methanol instead of the naphtha (reduction of the total damage of about 13%) and the possibility of recycling the PVC pipes once the field is dismantled (furthermore reduction of the damage of about 3%).

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the priority controlling list of US EPA weresystematically evaluated in surface sediments in Dianchi Lake and its estuaries. Total PAH concentrations (ΣPAHs) varied from 210 to 11,070 ng/g dry weight (d.w.) in Dianchi Lake, and from 230 to 12,271 ng/g d.w. in the estuaries. ΣPAHs in sediments from Caohai section were higher than those from Waihai section. The occurrences of PAHs in the Lake were closely related to the distributions of rivers, indicating that the riverrunoff was an important pathway of PAHs into the Lake. Compared with the US Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs), ΣPAHs in most area were below the effect range low (ERL), which implied that the adverse biological effects would occur rarely. The toxic equivalent concentrations of potentially carcinogenic PAHs (TEQcarc) varied from 19 to 967 ng TEQ/g d.w., and the higher values were found in northern Caohai area. The proportions of the toxic equivalent quantity (TEQcarc) to the total TEQs in sediments were all above 96%, suggesting that the carcinogenicity of PAHs could be occurred. Significantly positive correlations between total organic carbon (TOC) and less molecular weight PAHs (2, 3-ring) (LPAHs) were observed in the Lake. Diagnostic ratios showed that the primary source of PAHs in Dianchi Lake and most estuaries is biomass combustion, but is petroleum combustion or petrogenic origin in several other estuaries.

There is much discussion going on lately whether dam construction is economic or not in terms of social consequences. Accordingly, various techniques and software have been released to estimate the real social cost of dam construction among which, the Software SIMPACTS has been used extensively by researchers, worldwide. The present version of SIMPACTS software only focuses on adverse effects of hydropower dams regardless of their potential positive impacts. In order to fix the existing bugs, the software was modified by programming a new cost-benefit model in which the costs of power generation, irrigation and drainage, aquatics, and potable water as well as the benefits from electricity sales, elimination of pollutants, increased cultivated area, aquaculture practice and also prevention of flood in the area, were included. The obtained results revealed that the total costs of the Alborz Dam, including the costs added to the modified model, will raise from 164 US$/Mwh calculated by the original version of the software to US$ 1049 per MWh. Besides, total revenues resulting from the above mentioned variables added up to the model reaches US$ 1994 per MWh. Therefore, the cost over benefit ratio for construction of Alborz Dam is equal to 1.5. In other words, a sum of US$ 28 million would be expected as the annual net profit of the project which has totally been overlooked in the original model.

Dry and wet atmospheric depositions as well as urban surface soil samples were collected in eight different land use zones (during 2010) of the most important and largest industrial city, southwest Iran for determining Cadmium, Chromium, Lead and Zinc. The average of Cd, Cr, Pb and Zn concentrations in the study area for wet precipitation were 17.8 μg/L, 49.97 μg/L, 2.31 μg/L, and 0.53 μg/L, respectively. Also, the mean levels of mentioned elements were 0.144 mg/m2.day, 0.457 mg/m2.day, 0.091 mg/m2.day, and 0.0017 mg/ m2.day, respectively in dry deposition samples. Moreover, the average amounts of Pb, Zn, Cr, and Cd were recorded for soil samples as a value of 64.2 mg/kg, 197.3 mg/kg, 61.24 mg/kg and 0.73 mg/kg. As a result, the trend of metal concentrations in all media were similar and decreased as Zn> Pb> Cr> Cd. The high contamination levels of heavy metals indicate that they have been significantly impacted from anthropogenic activities (nonferrous metal smelting, fossil fuel combustion, pit burning, gas flaring and traffic sources). According to analysis results, the significantly positively correlations between Cd-Pb, Pb-Zn and Zn-Cd were shown in all three environments.

The photocatalytic decomposition of trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) in water was studied. TCE and PCE were present in water at very low concentrations of about 15 μg/dm3. This concentration level corresponds to the one occasionally occurring in groundwater. Results of this research confirmed usefulness of the photocatalytic process for successful removal of low-concentrated TCE and PCEfrom water. Removal of trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene from water can be achieved by application of the photocatalytic process over titanium dioxide. It was confirmed that both suspended and immobilized modes of the photocatalytic process give comparable results. Therefore it is recommended to employ the immobilized system as more beneficial from the economical point of view. Presented studies revealed that very low amounts of TCE and PCE can be removed from water using the photocatalytic process. This method could be than applied for purification of groundwater occasionally polluted with the small amounts of TCE and PCE.

High levels of WEEE and limited capacities for disposal and recycling, together with thenecessity to transpose the European legislation into national law have shaped the profile of WEEE system in Romania. In order to improve the functionality of this system it is important to understand the citizens’ behaviour towards WEEE recycling. Recent research conducted in different countries suggest that various determinants, such as socio-economic and demographic factors, environmental knowledge, habits, convenience, motivations, can be used to analyse WEEE recycling behaviour. The results are contradictory and demonstrate that the peculiarities of each country have different influences on how people engage in WEEE collection and recycling. In the present paper, using hypotheses testing we have developed a WEEE recycling behaviour model for Romanians. It was assumed that socio-demographic factors and personal norms would predict WEEE recycling attitude and attitude, contextual forces, knowledge and recycling habits would influence WEEE recycling behaviour. The data, gathered using a survey, were processed using a fuzzy approach. The results showed that in the Romanian context the strongest determinants of WEEE recycling behaviour are people attitudes and habits. Moderate effects have recycling knowledge, pro-environmental norms and institutional support, while gender, income, perception of availability of collection points and regulations haven’t any influence.

An organophilic clay-based adsorbent was prepared by incorporating a cationic surfactant,hexadecyltrimethylammonium (HDTMA) at different levels of CEC in Tunisian smectite-illite clay. The presence of the HDTMA surfactant enhanced the adsorption ability of the clays toward plyphenolic compounds from aqueous systems. Adsorption experiments were carried out using a batch equilibration technique to investigate the removal of tannin by the surfactant modified clay. Adsorbent characterizations were investigated using X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, surface area analysis, and potentiometric titration. The effects of pH, contact time and initial solute concentration on the adsorption of tannin onto modified clay were investigated. The adsorption process was much dependent on the pH and was found to follow pseudosecond- order kinetics. The optimum pH value was at pH ranging from 4.5 to 6. The maximum removal efficiency of tannin from aqueous solution was 91%. The adsorption isotherms were measured and correlated to Langmuir isotherms. From the results it can be concluded that the surfactant-modified clay could be a good adsorbent for treating tannin-contaminated waters.

The ultrasound assisted emulsification microextraction (USAEME) method followed byinductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) was used for preconcentration and determination of bismuth (Bi), indium (In) and lead (Pb) in the plant Azolla filiculoides Lam. Calix [4] pyrrole was used as a chelating agent and tetrachloroethylene was selected as extraction solvent. The main parameters of the USAEME method were optimized by using response surface methodology (RSM). The optimal conditions were as follows: 130 μL for volume of extraction solvent, 4 min for sonication time, 6.75 (w/v %) for salt concentration, 890 mg/L for concentration of chelating agent and 7.5 for pH. The calibration graphs were linear in the range of 1-1500 μg/L for Bi and In, and 1-1000 μg/L for Pb with the determination coefficients (R2) of 0.9983, 0.9974 and 0.9997, respectively. The limits of detection (LODs) for Bi, In and Pb were 0.57, 0.76 and 0.84 μg/L, respectively. Under the optimal conditions, the method was successfully applied to the determination of Bi, In and Pb in Azolla filiculoides Lam. tissues in Anzali wetland and satisfactory relative recoveries (94–97%) were achieved.

Kharg Island as the most important oil export terminal of Iran has faced entrance of various oil materials, so it seems necessary to know about the amount of these marine oil pollutants and their origin in this area. Oil hydrocarbons has entered in this water body as a result of numerous human activities like extraction, refinement, transmission and export of raw oil or from natural and biologic resources. The oil contamination has damaged the environment according to the different decomposed level of compounds which exist in diverse oil pollutants. The concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using sediment sampling across the coast was determined and compared the obtained concentrations with previous values. The observed PAH concentrations were obtained in the range between 9 to 1230 ng/g and indicated the more focus of PAHs in the eastern region of Kharg Island coast. In addition to investigating the sediment oil pollution by PAHs, this paper has attempted to determine the origin of aromatic compounds by developing a set of indexes. These indexes suggested that PAH concentrations have obtained from the combustion origin of hydrocarbons in the sediments, and have entered to the coastal sediment of Island by active flares that burn the sour gas by oil around the coast.Indices developed also corroborate the presence of degraded oil residue, high relative biodegradation and a degree of weathering of hydrocarbons in the surface sediment of the area, which suggest a chronic input of oil-related hydrocarbons in the neighborhood of the study region.

Laboratory-scale experiments were conducted to evaluate the joint action toxicity and biochemical effects of sublethal concentrations of Forcados light crude oil (FLCO) and three dispersants against Clarias gariepinus over a period of 28 days. The derived 96hrLC50 values revealed that the dispersant, DS/TT/066 (0.03mL/L) was the most toxic, followed by dispersant, OC/TT/OSI (0.19mL/L), FLCO (5.06mL/L) and crystal clear oil dispersant (CCOD = 12.06mL/L) the least toxic when acting singly. Joint action toxicityevaluations of FLCO and dispersants showed that the interaction between FLCO: DS/TT/066 and FLCO: OC/TT/OSI was synergistic (synergistic ratio (SR) > 1) with SR values of 10.5 and 3 respectively. However, for the mixture of FLCO: CCOD, the interaction was antagonistic (SR < 1) with SR value of 0.97. The result of the biochemical effects study revealed that malondialdehyde (MDA) levels decreased significantly (P<0.05) in the exposed fishes, reduced gluthathione (GSH) and gluthathione-s-transferase (GST) activities increased significantly (P<0.05) in fishes exposed to FLCO: CCOD mixture alone while there was no significant difference (p>0.05) in superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities in all the exposed fishes compared to control animals. The observed increase in GSH and GST levels in conjunction with a decrease in MDA concentration in the liver of test animals exposed to binary mixtures of FLCO and CCOD reveals the ability of the animals to overcome the effects of lipid peroxidation in this group. Further studies on the mechanism of toxicity of these dispersants in field and laboratory assays are recommended.

Concentrations of Cu, Pb, Cr, Cd, Mn, Ni, Fe and Zn were determined in the muscle samples of Sarotherodon melanotheron from the Fosu Lagoon in Cape Coast using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results showed that, metal concentration in the fish muscle was in the order Mn > Zn > Fe > Pb > Ni > Cd > Cu > Cr. Mean concentrations of Pb and Cd in the fish exceeded the maximum tolerable limit set by the European Union. Although the mean concentrations of some metals exceeded this limit, their estimated daily intakes were below their oral reference dose recommended by the international regulatory bodies. Health risk assessment of consumers from the intake of metal contaminated in the muscle of S. melanotheron from the lagoon was evaluated by using Health Risk Index (HRI) calculations. In this study, the total HRI through consumption of fish calculated by adding the individual HRIs was less than 1, indicating that there is no significant potential health risk associated with the consumption of fish from the Fosu Lagoon.

The problem of removing pollutants from water is an important process and is becoming more important with the increasing of industrial activities. One of the most important environmental problems is water resources pollution by Heavy metals. Bioabsorbtion is affordable adsorbents for the removal of heavy metals from aqueous solutions. This study explores the adsorption potential of Cr (VI), Cd (II) and Ni (II) by Elaeagnus angustifolia fruit powder in aqueous solution. The influences of several main parameters such as pH value of solution, sorbent amount, initial metal ion concentration, and contact time in batch experiments have been studied. The adsorption was depended on pH, adsorbent dosage, and contact time. Maximum removal of Cr (VI), Cd (II) and Ni (II) were obtained 7.19mg/g, 2.42 mg/g and 1.97 mg/g respectively. Adsorption isotherms were compared with both Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models. The experimental data best fit with the Langmuir isotherm model. Experimental results show natural biosorbent was effective for the removal of pollutants from aqueous solution.

Electrospinning is a method of nanofiber filter media production. By this method, it is possible to produce media with nanofiber in the range of nanometer to micrometer. Nanofibrous media provide a large specific surface area in a finite volume thus they are suitable for filtration applications. In this study, nanofiber non-woven membranes production of Nylon-6 by electrospinning method is investigated. It is demonstrated that the total filter efficiency and pressure drop increases by increasing the thickness of filer media. The objective of this experimental study was to find out the effect nylon concentration and thickness of nanofilter media.Samples by different Nylon-6 concentrations and time of electrospinning were made. The filtration characterizations of these media were investigated in different laboratory conditions. The SEM micrographs of specimens treated by ImageJ software reveal that the porosity passes by a minimum at 10% concentration. The diameter of nanofiber varied in the range of 47 to 89 nm when the nylon concentration varied from 7.5% to 15% respectively. The efficiency was improved more than three times by electrospinning operation for all three concentration samples. Our results showed that the highest efficiency obtained in this study was 99.96% belonging to 10% Nylon-6 concentration for 45 minutes electrospinning time.

One of the important factors in urban construction designs is noise prevention. According to results of this study (2011-2012), a suggested model is presented for traffic noise compatible to conditions in Ahvaz. Data was colleted to design a model from totally 112 measuring stations, 4 weekdays and 2 intervals as rush hours, yielding to a total number of 1344 traffic noise measurements (Leq) and the effective factors from traffic load, speed of vehicles, environmental and dimensional factors of roads. In the next step, based on desired overall structure, using analytical and experimental modeling strategies, several Regression multivariables were tested on data in order to design a model. The model designed for Ahvaz consists of 9 inputs with high clarification coefficient (R2=0.92) and correlation coefficient (R= 0.95). Due to precision and minuteness of designing as well as the number of inputs, the model can be a suitable one to define half – hour equal level for traffic noise and estimation of noise pollution in Ahvaz.

The precipitation of calcium carbonate by bacteria isolated from submerged fixed-film bioreactor used for the treatment of urban wastewater in both natural and artificial media was studied. However, carbonate precipitation was detected only when the bacteria grow in media added with calcium. Precipitation took place rapidly, and crystal formation began 3 d after inoculation and the percentage of carbonate-forming bacteria was slightly higher than 90%. Seventeen dominant colonies with carbonate precipitation capacity were the dominant heterotrophic platable bacteria growing aerobically in media added with calcium acetate and calcium chloride. According to their taxonomic affiliations (based on partial sequencing of the 16S-rRNA), the seventeen strains belonged to the following genera of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria: Artrobacter, Bacillus, Enterococcus, Pseudomonas, Agromyces and Rhodococcus. All of these strains formed calcium carbonate crystals, precipitated always as calcite crystals which showed large amounts of bacterial fingerprints or bacteria calcification. In addition all the seventeen bacterial strains showed carbonic anhydrase activity. The results of this research suggest that in submerged fixed-film bioreactors used for the treatment of urban wastewater, the precipitation of carbonates through bacterial action could take place in situ in the presence of certain concentrations of calcium. Moreover, this biological activity could be useful in the CO2 and calcium capture in urban wastewater treatments.

Landfill is the major method of solid waste disposal in developing countries. To protect soil and groundwater from contamination, anti-seepage systems have to be installed in landfills. However, during the construction of anti-seepage system, many factors can result in holes in geomembrane liners. For the purpose of improving construction quality, the construction company needs to find the leaks in geomembrane liners and analyze the damage causes according to the positions after construction. The electrical method can effectively test the integrity of geomembrane liners. In this paper, we combine the electrical method with the wireless location technology and bring forth a leak marking scheme. The working flow of the scheme is as follows: place two acoustic transceivers on two vertexes s of the detection area; after detecting the leaks with the electrical method, calculate the leaks’ relative coordinates in the detection area through acoustic ranging and, then, mark positions of leaks in the landfill. At last, we design acoustic signals for ranging, analyze their performance on anti-interference, and design the leak marking algorithm.

The microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a kind of systems through which the anaerobic bacteriaalong with the oxidation of simple or complicated organic matter in the wastewater can generate the electric power. This is a modern approach used in generation of the clean and renewable energy. In this research, two pilot laboratories of double-chamber microbial fuel cells were made. One of them contained platinum electrode and simple nano-wire Titanium and the other had nano-electrode Platinum and nano-wire with equal volume of 1 liter. They were launched in 4 Hydraulic Retention Time (2.5, 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5 hrs.) and increased in 4 steps of organic loading rate with synthetic wastewater with carbon source (acetate) and temperature (20±5°C). The voltage and electric current was measured by means of digital multimetre. The performance of the two reactors in generation of electricity was investigated based on the polarization curve. Maximum voltage and current output were, respectively, 1425 mV and 13.1 mA, and the maximum power density and current density were, respectively 78 mW/m2 and 67.3 mA/m2 and columbic efficiency were achieved in 34.6% in mreactor with nano-electrode Platinum and nano-wire Titanium (in HRT 4.5 hr and external resistance was 100Ω). In addition, the maximum removal rate of COD in organic loading rate 3.99 Kg COD/m3.day is equal to 98.28% for nano-electric and nano-wire and 72.5% for simple electrode and wire.

The microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a kind of systems through which the anaerobic bacteriaalong with the oxidation of simple or complicated organic matter in the wastewater can generate the electric power. This is a modern approach used in generation of the clean and renewable energy. In this research, two pilot laboratories of double-chamber microbial fuel cells were made. One of them contained platinum electrode and simple nano-wire Titanium and the other had nano-electrode Platinum and nano-wire with equal volume of 1 liter. They were launched in 4 Hydraulic Retention Time (2.5, 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5 hrs.) and increased in 4 steps of organic loading rate with synthetic wastewater with carbon source (acetate) and temperature (20±5°C). The voltage and electric current was measured by means of digital multimetre. The performance of the two reactors in generation of electricity was investigated based on the polarization curve. Maximum voltage and current output were, respectively, 1425 mV and 13.1 mA, and the maximum power density and current density were, respectively 78 mW/m2 and 67.3 mA/m2 and columbic efficiency were achieved in 34.6% in mreactor with nano-electrode Platinum and nano-wire Titanium (in HRT 4.5 hr and external resistance was 100Ω). In addition, the maximum removal rate of COD in organic loading rate 3.99 Kg COD/m3.day is equal to 98.28% for nano-electric and nano-wire and 72.5% for simple electrode and wire.

The performance of a plug flow electrocoagulation reactor for the treatment of cattle abattoir (slaughterhouse) wastewater was investigated. A cylindrical iron reactor was operated as a cathode at a recycling batch mode while three iron rods located at the center of the reactor were used as an anode. The effects of different parameters, including the current density, the supporting electrolyte dosage (Na2SO4), the wastewater recirculation rate, the initial pH and the polyelectrolyte addition were also evaluated. In order to achieve a high removal efficiency, the Electro-Fenton process was also evaluated by adding H2O2 of various concentrations. When the abattoir wastewater was subjected to the Electro-Fenton process, the best result regarding the removal of COD was obtained as 90% with an electrical energy consumption of 0.2 kWh/L. The experimental results reveal that the direct dischargeable effluent, according to Turkish legislation, was obtained in this study. In conclusion, the electrochemical reactor designed for this purpose is effective for the removal of COD from wastewater.

Mercury is a dangerous and an extremely toxic element, which can transfer to the food chain. Presence of this element in the atmosphere particularly during the rainy seasons cause soil and environmental pollution, therefore this research will evaluate the transformation of mercury vapor from the atmosphere through precipitation into the soil. In the present study, mercury concentrations were determined during two seasons (winter and summer 2011) with 6 air, 14 rainwater and 6 soil, sampling stations. Collection, preparation and analysis of the air, rain, soil samples were based on NIOSH 6009, EPA1631 and EPA 7000 methods, respectively. Mercury concentration was determined by using cold vapor atomic absorption after sample preparation. The results show that the mean mercury vapour concentration in the air samples of Ahvaz city in winter and summer were 3.749± 2.625 ng/m3 and 2.379± 0.984 ng/m3, respectively. Further, the range of this pollutant in the air of studied area during the summer and winter seasons were 1.83-3.962 ng/m3 and 1.394- 5.00 ng/m3, respectively. The highest value of Hg concentration in the rainwater sample was 0.77±0.0019 ppb and the mean concentration of mercury in the surface soil samples of the city was 0.511μg/g in winter. Finally, Mercury comparison between results of air and soil samples as well as air and precipitation samples at the winter season (p<0.01) showed a significant relationship.

Anaerobic digestion is a feasible technology to stabilize the solid waste generated inslaughterhouses obtaining significant quantities of biogas, considered as a clean and renewable fuel. This is why it is important to optimize the digestion process in order to eliminate organic matter and maximize the production of biogas. In this work, a system was developed for treating slaughterhouse solid waste while maximizing the production of biogas. This system is based on the separation of the acidogenic and the methanogenic phases of anaerobic digestion. The study was conducted in two phases. First, the effect of thermal pretreatment of the substrate and inoculation of the bioreactor with granular sludge were evaluated. In this phase, two variables were analyzed: the pretreatment temperature and whether or not inoculum was added. The results showed that the greatest decrease of total chemical oxygen demand (57%) and the highest biogas production (753 mL) were obtained from the inoculated sample pre-treated at 60 °C. In the second phase of the study, we analyzed the effect of running the anaerobic digestion stages, fermentation and digestion, in two separated steps. We found that the removal of organic matter is the same (56%) but more biogas (0.376 m3/m3 reactor*day) was produced in a two-step process.

The levels of 19 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in surface water and under water sediments from tanks located nearby the prime agricultural areas of Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India were investigated to evaluate their pollution risks. A total of 36 surface water samples at 9 sampling sites and 27 sediment samples at 9 sampling stations were collected from tanks, which were the water sources for cultivation. The total OCPs concentration in surface water and sediments were 5.68–25.12 ng/L and 17.7–58.59 ng/g dry weight (dw), respectively. Among the OCPs, hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs),dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDTs) and heptachlor epoxide were the most dominant compounds in the sediment as well as surface water. The dominant OCPs in sediment and water were β-HCH in HCHs, p,p′-DDD in DDTs and heptachlor epoxide in other OCPs. Distribution of HCHs, DDTs and other OCPs were different indicating their different sources. Composition analysis in sediments indicated a recent usage of lindane.

Waterborne outbreaks of pathogenic bacteria from contaminated water are serious threats for public health. Coliform bacteria have been regarded as one of the most important indicators for monitoring pathogenic bacteria. To address potential pathogenic bacterial outbreaks, the distribution and diversity of coliform bacteria in Jiahe river, which flows through densely-populated urban area in China, were detected. Escherichia Coli and other coliform bacteria were counted using the membrane filter technique to describe the distribution of the coliform bacteria. Phylogenetic analysis was applied to investigate the diversity of the coliform bacteria. The results suggested that the quantities of coliform bacteria varied greatly between five sampling sites with the highest value at site YT4 and the lowest value at site YT2. Highest concentrations of E. coli and other coliform bacteria were also observed at YT4, while the lowest value was detected at sites YT3 and YT2, respectively. Various coliform bacteria were classified by phylogenetic analysis, including Citrobacter, Klebsiella, Enterobacter, and Raoultella. Components of coliform bacteria affiliated into these four genera were various in all sampling sites. The statistical analysis suggested that the distribution of coliform bacteria were remarkably influenced by total bacteria amount. Multiple environmental parameters were proved to affect the diversity of coliform bacteria. The results of this study revealed the correlation between coliform bacteria and the environmental parameters, which is important for predicting and preventing waterborne transmission of pathogenic bacteria.

Using Environmental-friendly methods in order to remove or reduce oil pollutants and their derivations in the environment are developing. In this study, the biodegrading ability of Bacillus Subtilis. sp which has been separated from oil-polluted soil was examined. It was revealed that it can reduce surface tension of growth Medium and produce Bio-Surfactant at 37 and 20 Degrees centigrade. Also, it has the ability to biodegrade oil hydrocarbons. A reduction in surface tension from 58 Nm/m to 31.2 Nm/m at different percentages of crude oil at 37 degrees centigrade is one of the important results.