The surface water chemistry of Thiruvananthapuram Museum Lake was carried out in the period of February 2013 to January 2014. Correlation study of the parameters and overall CCME WQI (Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment Water quality Index) was also prepared in the study for the lake water. The parameters analysed are cations such as Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+ and K+ and the anions like PO4-, Si4- , NO3- and NO2-. Abiotic factors like water pH, Temperature, Conductivity, TDS, Total Alkalinity and Total Hardness were also analysed. The pH ranged between 6.5 to 7.4. The total hardness ranged between 50.8-99 mg/L which shows the water is moderately hard one. During the pre monsoon period, water temperature showed a positive correlation with total alkalinity (r= 0.915) pH (r= 0.841) and TDS (0.876). Dissolved Oxygen (DO) value showed a positive correlation with Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) (r= 0.999). The overall CCME water quality index was 80.81 which indicate the water body is protected with only a minor degree of threats. The quality of the water is an essential element of the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo environment with respect to both healths of the ecosystem and zoo tourism enjoyment. Moreover, if maintained properly, this water body can be treated as a major drinking water source for the zoo animals.

The adsorption study was conducted on three Japanese soils with different soil properties to characterize the adsorption pattern of Arsenic (As). Double tube method was used to find out the effect of soil moisture levels on As adsorption. For this study, besides double tube method, conventional batch method also was used. The As adsorption showed two phase kinetics. An initial and rapid adsorption was found at first hour and then gradually preceded before equilibrium in all the three soils in the case of double tube method and in clay loam and light clay soil in the case of batch method. Adsorption seemed to reach equilibrium at 24 h in both methods, though the initial adsorbate load was not the same at the same applied concentration in the methods. Adsorption activity differed according to soil and as well as to the methods. The highest adsorption was found in clay loam soil followed by light clay and sandy loam soil. The linear model of Freundlich adsorption was found better fitted in the case of double tube method than batch method. Suggesting that, under the experimental conditions stated here, the double tube method is more appropriate to describe the adsorption of As in the three Japanese soils under normal field condition. The concentration of As in soil water was slightly increased at different moisture levels from 50%-80% which may contribute significantly to the bioavailability of As at the moisture level below maximum filed capacity.

Bioremoval and bioreduction activities of hydrocarbon (diesel) isolation from environmental samples were studied by the activity of biosurfactant production, and calculating emulsification index, gravimetric, and FTIR analysis along with the estimation of bacterial biomass. Sample from soil near petrol, diesel pumps and water sample from Thesjaswini River near Padannakad, Kasaragod, Kerala, India, were used to screen the potential diesel oil utilizing bacteria. Among the bacterial isolates (Staphylococcus, Bacillus and Corynebacterium strains), Staphylococcus sp was the potent degraders of diesel oil. Staphylococcus strain was observed to be maximum diesel oil utilizing ability (73% emulsification index) and change in the functional groups of the compound (FTIR analysis). The strain showed optimal growth at 37oC with pH 7, agitation of 150 rpm and time period (5days). The results revealed the possibility to use these strain for the reduction of complex hydrocarbon in ecosystems where they accumulate and cause pollution problems. The highest rate of hydrocarbon degradation occurred when the bacterial strain is a biosurfactants producer. The selective strain produces biosurfactants which increase the interfacial area for contact to give improved uptake of hydrophobic substrates. Bacterial strains capable of degrading complex hydrocarbons, present in the environment, have a potential to be used as an effective tool for removing ecotoxic compounds. Furthermore, results indicated that the bacterial strain Staphylococcus sp could be potentially used in biodegradation of diesel oil in waste water and had a promising application in bioremediation of hydrocarbon contaminated environments.

Phytoremediation is an emerging green technology that uses plants and their associated microbes to remediate different environments contaminated with various pollutants. Phytoremediation, as an effective soil remediation technology, has gained popularity in the past ten years both in developed and developing countries. The main goal of the current article is to improve the understanding of phytoremediation of organic pollutants with emphasis on hydrocarbons. To design phytoremediation systems and also enhancement of their efficiency, either in laboratory or in field experiments, there is a serious need for better knowledge of phytoremediation mechanisms and also of factors affecting phytoremediation. In addition to phytoremediation applications, advantages, and limitations, its mechanisms and related new developments have been discussed in this article.

The present research article highlights the metal (Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn and Fe)distribution pattern in the RSPM generated in different hot spot sites located at Kochi, theQueen of Arabian Sea. These sampling sites are categorized under three different zonesas estuarine, riverine, and coastal. Two sampling phases are selected in order to check theconsistency in pollution trend after a two year gap and are described in Phase I and PhaseII, respectively. Metals are noticed to be intensely concentrated in the post monsoonmonths in both phases. Among the metals, Fe is revealed as the prominent metal at theestuarine sites. Estuarine and riverine zone expresses the overall enrichment pattern withslight difference at coastal regime in phase I. In phase II, insignificant metal load withirregular pattern is observed. Source apportionment study reveals that major sources ofmetals are from automobile exhausts and the estuarine zone is entangled with 45.9%.

The contamination of riverbed sediments by heavy metals has assumedserious problems due to their toxicity and accumulative behavior. The present studyinvestigated the concentrations of heavy metals from the bottom sediments of ShitalakhyaRiver to understand the level of contamination and their distribution. The averageconcentrations of heavy metals Al, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, As, Cu, Co, Cr, and Zn are 30432.41,10929.21, 391139.13, 23148.14, 38697.37, 14.02, 143.69, 13.37, 74.82, and 200.59mg/kg respectively in river sediments, and their abundance decreased in the followingorder: Ca (79.05%)>Fe (7.82%)>Al (6.15%)>Mg (4.68%)>K (2.21%)>Zn (0.04%)>Cu(0.03%)>Cr (0.015%)>As (0.0028%)>Co (0.0027%). In most cases, the meanconcentrations of the heavy metals exceed the permissible limit. Significantly higherconcentrations of Ca, Mg, Zn, and Cu were found in sediment samples. The heavy metalscontaminations in the sediments were also evaluated by applying index of geoaccumulation(Igeo), contamination factor (Cf), degree of contamination (Cd), and pollutionload index (PLI) etc. These indices indicated that most of the samples were moderate tostrongly pollute by heavy metals and the spatial distribution showed that the northern andsouthern parts of the study area are more contaminant than middle portion.

Evaluation of surface water quality is a complex process undertakingmultiple parameters. Converting great amount of parameters into a simpler expressionand enabling easy interpretation of data are the main purposes of water quality indices.The main aim of this study is to plan effective water resources management system forKarun River by combination of CCMEWQI and Geographic Information System (GIS).The investigation was carried out to set a management plan through exploratory andspatial analysis of physicochemical water parameters of collected samples from 10stations over one year period. Since all indices were obtained from index, river zoningwas conducted by GIS. Moreover, trace metals concentrations (As, Cr, Cd, Fe, Zn, Mn,and Al) ranged in safer limit. The highest values of F1 belonged to aquatic life and thelowest ones belonged to irrigation. Aquatic life and drinking uses received the maximumvalues of F2. The lowest values were devoted to livestock and then recreation uses. It wasinferred from index that the quality of the Karun River is principally impacted by highturbidity, TDS, NO3, SO4, and PO4 due to high suspended sediment loads. The maincause is incremental agricultural, industrial, and residential effluents. Amongst stations,station one only received the priority for drinking water supply and recreation.

The knowledge of local and regional factors that affect effective solidwaste collection plays an important role in choosing appropriate technology. Wastecollection has grown to become a major challenge demanding daily response from wastemanagers and it becomes inevitable to provide stakeholders with necessary information toaid key decision-making. This paper provides a comprehensive and detailed review oflocal-based factors that affect waste collection in Nigeria. Literature study and on-siteobservation were used for getting theoretical and useful information on the collection ofwaste in the study area. The study considered various standard collection technologiesand their supporting factors in order to assess the effectiveness of existing methods. Thecurrent collection techniques existing in different parts of the country together withunique local factors for these various areas are reported. The findings in many casesreveal that the method of waste collection adopted and equipment used are faced withmany challenges. This paper revealed that there is no investment presently made on theexisting development plan to initiate a modern waste collection system. The studyrecommends a new approach that could be used by institutions and government agenciesfor efficient municipal solid waste collection to achieve sustainable and effectivesanitation which will consequently facilitate the development of an aesthetically balancedand friendly environment.

Kerosene is the colorless liquid and slightly heavier than gasoline thatspecific odor removes after evaporation. Soil and underground water source arecontaminated with different pollutants such as petroleum hydrocarbons. These pollutantshave various negative environmental effects on soil and surrounding environment. Theaim of this research is to understand the effect of kerosene pollution on two differentsoils. The two different collected soils include Industrial and Forest soil. Six microcosmswere designed. Indeed, each soil has three microcosms: unpolluted microcosm, pollutedmicrocosm, and polluted microcosm with nutrient (Nitrogen and Phosphor). Some factorswere assayed in each microcosm during 120 day of experiment. These factors includetotal heterotrophic bacteria, total kerosene degrading bacteria, dehydrogenase enzyme,and kerosene biodegradation. The results of this study show that the highest quantity ofheterotrophic bacteria is related to forest soil (6×109). The quantities of kerosenedegrading bacteria significantly were lower than heterotrophic bacteria in all soilmicrocosms. The quantity of kerosene degrading bacteria have decrement pattern until60th day of experiment, but, after this day, these bacteria have increment pattern. The bestdehydrogenase activity between different microcosms is related to polluted microcosmwith kerosene except for farmland soil. The highest biodegradation of kerosene in allstudied soil belongs to industrial microcosm (95%). Statistical analysis of the resultsshows that there is a significant correlation between MPN quantity of heterotrophicbacteria and other assayed factrs. Also, forest soil has significant difference with othersoils. It may be possible to propose appropriate strategies for bioremediation of differentstudied soil types using the results obtained in this research.

In the present study, air quality analyses for ozone (O3) were conducted in Shiraz, a city in the south of Iran. The measurements were taken from 2011 through 2012 in two different locations to prepare average data in the city. The average concentrations were calculated for every 24 hours, each month and each season. Results showed that the highest concentration of ozone occurs generally in the afternoon while the least concentration was found in the morning and at midnight. Monthly concentrations of ozone showed the highest value in August and June while the least value was in December. The seasonal concentrations showed the least amounts in autumn while the highest amounts were in spring. Relations between the air pollutant and some meteorological parameters were calculated statistically using the daily average data. The wind data (velocity, direction), relative humidity, temperature, sunshine periods, evaporation, dew point, and rainfall were considered as independent variables. The relationships between concentration of pollutant and meteorological parameters were expressed by multiple linear regression equations for both annual and seasonal conditions using SPSS software. Root mean square error (RMSE) test showed that among different prediction models, stepwise model is the best option.