Wet Oxidation (WO) of sewage sludge is a chemical oxidation of sludge at high temperatures and pressures by means of an oxygen-containing gas. The liquid stream originated by WO is easily biodegradable, and therefore, the recirculation to the biological Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) may be a feasible solution. However, the WO effluent has a residual organic and nitrogen content so that its treatment may be required when the receiving WWTP has no surplus treatment capacity left. The aim of this research was the assessment of the anaerobic treatability of the WO liquid residue, in order to reduce the organic load to be recirculated to the WWTP, simultaneously promoting energy recovery. For this purpose, the liquid residue obtained during full scale WO tests on two different types of sludge was submitted to anaerobic digestion in a continuous flow pilot reactor (V = 5 L). Furthermore, batch tests were carried out in order to evaluate possible inhibition factors. Experimental results showed that, after the start-up/acclimation period (~130 days), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal efficiency was stably around 60 % for about 120 days, despite the change in operating conditions. In the last phase of the experimental activity, COD removal reached 70 % under the following treatment conditions: Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) = 20 days, Volumetric Organic Loading Rate (VOLR) = 0.868 kg COD/m³/day, Organic Loading Rate per Volatile Suspended Solids (OLRᵥₛₛ) = 0.078 kg COD/kg VSS/day, temperature (T) = 36.5 °C, pH = 8. Energy balance calculation demonstrated anaerobic treatment sustainability.

Today, several technologies and management strategies are proposed and applied in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to minimise sludge production and contamination. In order to avoid a shifting of burdens between different areas, their techno-economic and environmental performance has to be carefully evaluated. Wet oxidation (WO) is an alternative solution to incineration for recovering energy in sewage sludge while converting it to mostly inorganic residues. This paper deals with an experimentation carried out within the EU project “ROUTES”. A mass balance was made for a WWTP (500,000 person equivalents) in which a WO stage for sludge minimisation was considered to be installed. Both bench- and full-scale test results were used. Design of treatment units and estimation of capital and operational costs were then performed. Subsequently, technical and economic aspects were evaluated by means of a detailed methodology which was developed within the ROUTES project. Finally, an assessment of environmental impacts from a life cycle perspective was performed. The integrated assessment showed that for the specific upgrade considered in this study, WO technology, although requiring a certain increase of technical complexity at the WWTP, may contribute to environmental and economic advantages. The paper provides guidance in terms of which aspects need a more thorough evaluation in relation to the specific case in which an upgrade with WO is considered.

We have created a divided convective-dispersive transport (D-CDT) model that can be used to provide an accurate simulation of conservative transport processes in planted horizontal sub-surface flow constructed wetlands filled with coarse gravel (HSFCW-C). This model makes a fitted response curve from the sum of two independent CDT curves, which show the contributions of the main and side streams. The analytical solutions of both CDT curves are inverse Gaussian distribution functions. We used Fréchet distribution to provide a fast optimization mathematical procedure. As a result of our detailed analysis, we concluded that the most important role in the fast upward part of the tracer response curve is played by the main stream, with high porous velocity and dispersion. This gives the first inverse Gaussian distribution function. The side stream shows slower transport processes in the micro-porous system, and this shows the impact of back-mixing and dead zones, too. The significance of this new model is that it can simulate transport processes in this kind of systems more accurately than the conventionally used convective-dispersive transport (CDT) model. The calculated velocity and dispersion coefficients with the D-CDT model gave differences of 24–54 % (of velocity) and 22–308 % (of dispersion coeff.) from the conventional CDT model, and were closer to actual hydraulic behaviour.

This study assessed the responses of molecular biomarkers and heavy metal levels in Cerastoderma glaucum exposed for 1 week to two industrial effluents (1 %) discharged into the Tunisian coastal area, F₁ and F₂, produced by different units of production of a phosphate treatment plant. A significant uptake of metals (Cd, Cu, Zn, and Ni) was observed in exposed cockles compared to controls, with an uptake higher for F₁ than for F₂. A decrease in LT50 (stress on stress test) was also observed after an exposure to the effluent F₁. Treatments resulted in different patterns of messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of the different genes tested in this report. Gene transcription monitoring performed on seven genes potentially involved in the tolerance to metal exposure showed that for both exposures, mechanisms are rapidly and synchronically settled down to prevent damage to cellular components, by (1) handling and exporting out metal ions through the up-regulation of ATP-binding cassette xenobiotic transporter (ABCB1) and metallothionein (MT), (2) increasing the mRNA expression of antioxidant enzymes (catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutases, CuZnSOD and MnSOD), (3) protecting and/or repairing proteins through the expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) mRNAs, and (4) increasing ATP production (through the up-regulation of cytochrome c oxidase 1 (CO1)) to provide energy for cells to tolerate stress exposure. The tools developed may be useful both for future control strategies and for the use of the cockle C. glaucum as a sentinel species.

The cadmium phytoremediation capacity of the halophyte plant Bolboschoenus maritimus (L.) Palla and the influence of water salinity were assessed in a greenhouse experiment, in order to better understand the bioremediation capacity of this plant. Three concentrations of cadmium (0, 50 and 100 μg l⁻¹) and four salinity conditions (0, 5, 10 and 20) were chosen to evaluate the cadmium accumulation, in order to test these plants as a potential phytoremediation tool in brackish environments. The cadmium content in water and plants (underground organs, stems and leaves) was analysed with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. All the plants submitted to salinity 20 and in the three cadmium treatments died. The plants’ survival was highest in the lowest salinities, where highest growth and biomasses were also obtained. The plants presented more cadmium content in the rhizomes, followed by stems and even less in leaves. The salt stress of the plants interfered with their cadmium accumulation capacity. The highest cadmium accumulation in the rhizomes occurred at salinity 0, while the salinities 0 and 5 were the most adequate for stems and leaves. The experiment pointed out that B. maritimus represents a good possible intervenient for cadmium bioremediation in freshwater and low salinity brackish water environments, but its use is limited in the habitats of higher salinity.

Small-scale composting is applied to recycle manure and biomass around the globe. Piles frequently site outside near field where bio-waste comes or compost goes within developing rural regions. However, little equipment or policy besides cover of common materials addressed concerns about its exposure to rainfall and subsequent leachate towards groundwater. In addition, little is known about its nutrient load to groundwater and covers’ effect on nutrient unloading. Differently covered swine manure piles were composted outdoors with exposure to rain, then columns consisted of resultant compost of varying maturing age and soil were leached by simulated rainfall. Leachate TN, NH₄ ⁺-N, NO₃ ⁻-N, TP, and DP were modeled by regression analysis, and further, integral of quadratic curve or nutrient load index (NLI) was designated as proxy for nutrient load. Log response ratio was employed to qualify covers’ effect on nutrient unloading. This case raised higher concern about leachate NH₄ ⁺-N than NO₃ ⁻-N for former’s lower category in groundwater quality standard. The integrated NLIs or general nutrient load for six intervals, averagely divided from composting day of 60–120, decreased by 31, 37, 45, 56, and 73 % consecutively. Covers could unload nutrient to underground and function better to prevent P than N from leaching. Capabilities of piles covered by rice straw (CR) and soil (CS) to unload respectively are 77 and 72 % of by film (CF).

Pyrolyzing municipal wastewater treatment sludge into biochar can be a promising sludge disposal approach, especially as the produced sludge-derived biochar (SDBC) is found to be an excellent sorbent for heavy metals and atrazine. The aim of this study was to investigate how and why the coexisting humic acids influence the sorption capacity, kinetic, and binding of these contaminants on SDBC surface. Results showed humic acids enhanced Pb(II)/Cr(VI) sorption binding, and increased the corresponding Pb(II) Langmuir sorption capacity at pH 5.0 from 197 to 233 μmol g⁻¹, and from 688 to 738 μmol g⁻¹ for Cr(VI) at pH 2.0. It can be mainly attributed to the sorbed humic acids, whose active functional groups can offer the additional sites to form stronger inner-sphere complexes with Pb²⁺, and supply more reducing agent to facilitate the transformation of Cr(VI) to Cr(III). However, humic acids reduced the atrazine adsorption Freundlich constant from 1.085 to 0.616 μmol g⁻¹. The pore blockage, confirmed by the decreased BET-specific surface area, as well as the more hydrophilic surface with more sorbed water molecules may be the main reasons for that suppression. Therefore, the coexisting humic acids may affect heavy metal stabilization or pesticide immobilization during SDBC application to contaminated water or soils, and its role thus should be considered especially when organic residues are also added significantly to increase the humic acid content there.

As low-temperature molten salts, ionic liquids (ILs) were considered to be “green” solvents and have begun to see large-scale applications in the chemical reactions, in separation processes, in electrochemistry studies, etc. In recent years, the toxicity of ILs has started to draw attention. To evaluate the effects of the ionic liquid [Omim]Cl on indigenous microbial community in soil, Biolog-ECO plate method were used with the addition of four different concentrations of [Omim]Cl after four different incubation periods (7, 14, 21, 28 days). The present results showed that the average well color development (AWCD) was strongly activated when the soil was contaminated with [Omim]Cl in the early stages of the incubation. However, the activation effect disappeared with extended incubation time. Therefore, the toxic effects of the alkyl-imidazolium ionic liquid ([Omim]Cl) on the functional diversity of soil microbial communities may be reversible. In addition, the kinetic characteristics of microorganisms that used different categories of carbon sources indicated that phenolic compounds were the main C source in the sample soil.

Sungai Puloh mangrove estuary supports a large diversity of macrobenthic organisms and provides social benefits to the local community. Recently, it became a major recipient of heavy metals originating from industries in the hinterland as a result of industrialization and urbanization. This study was conducted to evaluate mobility and pollution status of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Fe) in intertidal surface sediments of this area. Surface sediment samples were collected based on four different anthropogenic sources. Metals concentrations were analyzed using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). Results revealed that the mean concentrations were Zn (1023.68 ± 762.93 μg/g), Pb (78.8 ± 49.61 μg/g), Cu (46.89 ± 43.79 μg/g), Ni (35.54 ± 10.75 μg/g), Cd (0.94 ± 0.29 μg/g), and Fe (7.14 ± 0.94 %). Most of the mean values of analyzed metals were below both the interim sediment quality guidelines (ISQG-low and ISQG-high), except for Pb concentration (above ISQG-low) and Zn concentration (above ISQG-high), thus suggesting that Pb and Zn may pose some environmental concern. Cadmium, Pb, and Zn concentrations were above the threshold effect level (TEL), indicating seldom adverse effect of these metals on macrobenthic organisms. Pollution load index (PLI) indicated deterioration and other indices revealed the intertidal surface sediment is moderately polluted with Cd, Pb, and Zn. Therefore, this mangrove area requires urgent attention to mitigate further contamination. Finally, this study will contribute to data sources for Malaysia in establishing her own ISQG since it is a baseline study with detailed contamination assessment indices for surface sediment of intertidal mangrove area.

A sequential extraction approach was used to evaluate the effects of various combinations of passivators (sepiolite, phosphate rock, and coal fly ash) on the concentration and speciation of Cu in swine manure aerobic compost along with soil to which the compost had been applied. The results indicate that the various passivators altered the bound forms of Cu in pig manure and soil; the concentrations of exchangeable and Fe-Mn-bound Cu decreased, whereas the residual Cu concentration increased, indicating that Cu transformed to low-availability forms after the passivator treatments. The concentrations of the carbonate-bound and organic-bound Cu varied widely. Among all treatments, the treatment of the control + straw + sepiolite + coal fly ash (2.5 %) + phosphate rock (5.0 %) resulted in the most efficient passivation of Cu; the percentage of residual Cu reached 3.91–21.14 %, obviously surpassing the percentage for the control without passivation. The treatment of the control + straw + sepiolite + phosphate rock (2.5 %) resulted in the lowest residual Cu fraction (0.85 %) among passivator treatments. These results show that the addition of suitable combinations of passivators to the composting process reduced the availability of Cu and the risk of Cu pollution during the application of composted pig manure to soil. Passivation also decreased the Cu content of Apium graveolens.