Eco-friendly Treatment Research Articles

Aliquots of MIL-140 and Graphene in Smart PNIPAM Mixed Hydrogels: A Nanoenvironment for a More Eco-Friendly Treatment of NaCl and Humic Acid Mixtures by Membrane Distillation.

The problem of water scarcity is already serious and risks becoming dramatic in terms of human health as well as environmental safety. Recovery of freshwater by means of eco-friendly technologies is an urgent matter. Membrane distillation (MD) is an accredited green operation for water purification, but a viable and sustainable solution to the problem needs to be concerned with every step of the process, including managed amounts of materials, membrane fabrication procedures, and cleaning practices. Once it is established that MD technology is sustainable, a good strategy would also be concerned with the choice of managing low amounts of functional materials for membrane manufacturing. These materials are to be rearranged in interfaces so as to generate nanoenvironments wherein local events, conceived to be crucial for the success and sustainability of the separation, can take place without endangering the ecosystem. In this work, discrete and random supramolecular complexes based on smart poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM) mixed hydrogels with aliquots of ZrO(O2C-C10H6-CO2) (MIL-140) and graphene have been produced on a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) sublayer and have been proven to enhance the performance of PVDF membranes for MD operations. Two-dimensional materials have been adhered to the membrane surface through combined wet solvent (WS) and layer-by-layer (LbL) spray deposition without requiring further subnanometer-scale size adjustment. The creation of a dual responsive nanoenvironment has enabled the cooperative events needed for water purification. According to the MD's rules, a permanent hydrophobic state of the hydrogels together with a great ability of 2D materials to assist water vapor diffusion through the membranes has been targeted. The chance to switch the density of charge at the membrane-aqueous solution interface has further allowed for the choice of greener and more efficient self-cleaning procedures with a full recovery of the permeation properties of the engineered membranes. The experimental evidence of this work confirms the suitability of the proposed approach to obtain distinct effects on a future production of reusable water from hypersaline streams under somewhat soft working conditions and in full respect to environmental sustainability.

Eco-friendly treatment of synthetic dyes contaminated water by biosorption: use of Bacillus mojavensis BI2 derived lipopeptide and date palm waste flour as biosorbents

In the former section of the present paper, the prospective application of B. mojavensis BI2 derived lipopeptides for dyes biodecolorization was demonstrated. The lipopeptide was mainly composed of linear and cyclic Fengycin and Surfactin isoforms. When using 100 mg/L, we are able to remove about 98% of 100 and 200 mg/L Malachite Green (MG). For the Crystal Violet (CV), the % of biodecolorization does not exceed 85% in the presence of 100 and 400 mg/L BI2 lipopeptide. In the second part of the paper, we proved the efficiency of dyes biosorption by palm waste floor, optimized by a Taguichi design. The bio-treatment efficiency was evaluated by color removal and the enhancement of germination index. Optimum treatments were obtained with 10 g/L and 6 g/L palm waste for 200 mg/L MG and CV respectively during 1 hour. Nevertheless, BI2 lipopeptide addition has no significant effect on color biosorption by date palm waste flour.

Bio sorption Studies on Textile Effluent Using Packed Bed Reactor with Aspergillus Niger Biomass

The disposal of effluent is a major source of pollution in water bodies, textile effluent is a problem of major concern in the locale. Adsorption is the adhesion of atoms, ions, or molecules from a gas, liquid, or dissolved solid to a surface. Treatment for textile effluent involves the usage of chemicals to remove dye which is incompetent in removing the heavy metals and other organic matter in the effluent which remains unprocessed. The biosorption studies using Aspergillus niger biomass showed an overall decolorization of around 85% with a metal adsorption rate of 81% which can be feasibly utilized for the ecofriendly treatment of textile effluents Key Word: Adsorption, Biomass, Decolourisation, Eco-friendly

Efficient extraction of lipids from microalgal biomass for the production of biofuels using low-cost protic ionic solvents

The valorization of lipids available in microalgal biomass supports the indispensable transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy systems such as biofuels. Ionic liquids have been long investigated for the effective extraction of those lipids, however; the complex and expensive synthesis of traditional ionic liquids (i.e., >$50/kg) hindered their employment in commercial applications. Protic ionic liquids are a class of ionic liquids that possess a simple method of preparation and a low cost of around $1–3/kg, rendering them viable for industrial implementation. This study investigates, for the first time, the deployment of protic ionic liquids with methanol co-solvent for the extraction of lipids from Coelastrella sp. and Haematococcus sp. microalgae. The treatment process focused on the use of N,N,N-dimethyl-butylammonium hydrogen sulfate due to its high lipid extraction performance of 323.3 mg lipids/g biomass from Coelastrella sp. (81% of available lipids) compared to other screened ionic liquids. Process parameters such as temperature, time, and ionic liquid to methanol mass ratio exhibited a key impact on the lipid yield. The fatty acid profile of the extracted lipids from Coelastrella sp. demonstrated suitability to produce biofuels. The treatment has also shown selectivity in extracting lipids while leaving behind a protein/carbohydrate rich solid residue. The results obtained suggest that protic ionic liquids are promising candidates for the cost-effective and eco-friendly treatment of microalgal biomass.

Multi-stage precipitation for the eco-friendly treatment of phosphogypsum leachates using hybrid alkaline reagents

The leachate of waste phosphogypsum (PG) contains substantial amounts of phosphate, sulfate, and fluoride, which poses an immense threat to the safety of the aquatic ecosystem. In this study, a multi-stage precipitation approach is proposed to treat PG leachates using hybrid alkaline reagents including barium hydroxide (Ba(OH)2) and quicklime (CaO). To avoid potential environmental impacts, hazardous environmental contaminants are removed from the PG leachates by adding alkaline reagents in a specific order. The multi-stage precipitation approach achieves nearly 100% removal efficiencies for phosphate, fluoride, and metal ions as well as satisfactory removal efficiencies for sulfate and ammonia nitrogen (93.6% and 94.8% respectively). The compositions of generated mineral precipitates are comprehensively investigated by analytical techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), etc. The main precipitated mineral phases are barite (BaSO4), brushite (CaHPO4·2H2O), and hydroxyapatite (Ca5(PO4)3OH). This is further proven by the geochemical modeling using Visual MINTEQ, in which the precipitation of mineral phases is calculated. Furthermore, a straightforward economic analysis indicates the proposed method has a lower cost of the use of alkaline reagents. Overall, this study establishes an effective and eco-friendly approach for the treatment of waste PG leachates to remove hazardous environmental contaminants and recover valuable precipitates.

Revealing the mode of action of Phenylalanine application in inducing fruit resistance to fungal pathogens

Pathogenic fungi cause most postharvest decay. Phenylalanine (Phe) is an eco-friendly treatment that increased fruit resistance to various pathogenic fungi including Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, the main postharvest pathogen of mango fruit. The mode of action of Phe-induced fruit tolerance against C. gloeosporioides was examined after harvest, post-treatment, and post-inoculation by transcriptome, metabolome, and biochemical assays. Phe treatment induced defense response-related genes including Ca2+ signaling, MAP kinase, WRKY transcription factors, and activation of the phenylpropanoid pathway, which lead to an accumulation of flavonols and anthocyanins. In addition, after Phe application and C. gloeosporioides inoculation, the levels of the antioxidant, total phenolic, and flavonoid were induced. The increase in antioxidants in Phe-treated fruit was correlated with reduced lipid peroxidation. Phenolic extract of mango peel treated with Phe reduced conidia germination and hyphal growth of various pathogenic fungi including C. gloeosporioides, Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria alternata, and Lasiodiplodia theobromae. Furthermore, the application of peel extracts from fruit treated with Phe reduced decay against C. gloeosporioides and A. alternata in mango fruit. Overall, the novelity of this study show that postharvest Phe treatment induces the fruit defense response and the biosynthesis of antioxidant and antifungal flavonoids, which can effectively control fungal growth and disease development, indicating its applicative potential as postharvest control against fungal pathogens.

Ecofriendly functionalization of jute–cotton blended yarn using Azadirachta Indica leaves

Antibacterial materials have received a lot of attention and acceptance in the market and in everyday life over the last couple of decades. Many antibacterial finishes based on synthetic chemicals have been used, however the washout wastewater from the industry damages the environment and contributes to antibacterial resistance in bacteria in the exposed ecosystem. As a result, the current study aims to uncover a natural antibacterial component from the Azadirachta Indica (neem) leaves that may be employed as an ecofriendly treatment on jute-cotton blended (jutton) yarn. The two blended ratio of jutton was prepared and treated with the naturally extracted neem leaves. The bacterial resistivity of treatd jutton was monitored by the agar disk diffusion test and found different antibacterial activity towards both gram-positive ( Staphylococcus aureus ) and gram-negative ( Escherichia coli ) bacteria. It was found that the treated ratio 1:2 of neem:water on ring jutton yarn was highly bacterial resistivity among other sample. The colorfastness to wash grades of 4 indicated the surface plasmon resonance of color stability. These findings revealed that the interaction with the neem leaves successfully provided jutton yarn with long-lasting antibacterial performances. The morphological analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the particles from neem leaves were uniformly distributed on the treated jutton surface. The interaction between fiber and particles were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. Furthermore, the treated jutton yarn maintained excellent tensile strength and elongation (%) properties. Therefore, this study will enhanced the ecofriendly antibacterial treatment on jutton yarn in sustainable textile industrial applications. • Environment friendly neem leaves were extracted. • Neem leaves were applied onto jutton yarn. • The neem treated jutton yarn shown potential antibacterial activity. • Azadirachta Indica leaves can be an alternative of synthetic chemical.

Living membrane bioreactor for highly effective and eco-friendly treatment of textile wastewater

The treatability of synthetic textile wastewater containing model dyes, such as reactive black and direct black dye (25.0 ± 2.6 mgdye/L), with chemical oxygen demand (COD, 1000 ± 113 mg/L), ammonia‑nitrogen (NH3-N, 140 ± 97 mg/L) and sulphate ions (SO₄2−, 1357 ± 10.86 mg/L) was investigated in this study using an innovative living membrane bioreactor (LMBR) using an encapsulated self-forming dynamic membrane (ESFDM). The key advantage of ESFDMBR is the self-forming of the biological filtering layer protected between two meshes of inert robust and inexpensive material. A laboratory scale bioreactor (BR) equipped with a filtering unit mounting polyester meshes with a pore size of 30 μm, operated at an influent flux of 30 LMH was thus used. After the formation of the biological living membrane (LM), the treatment significantly reduced COD and DOC concentrations to the average values of 34 ± 10 mg/L and 32 ± 7 mg/L, corresponding to reduction efficiencies of 96.0 ± 1.1 % and 94 ± 1.05 %, respectively. Throughout the LMBR operation, the colours were successfully removed from synthetic textile wastewater with an overall removal efficiency of about 85.0 ± 1.8 and 86.0 ± 1.9 % for direct and reactive dyes, respectively. In addition, the proposed system was also found effective in affording removal efficiency of ammonia (NH3) of 97 ± 0.5 %. Finally, this treatment afforded circa 40.7 ± 5.8 % sulphate removal, with a final concentration value of 805 ± 78.61 mg/L. The innovative living membrane, based on an encapsulated self-forming dynamic membrane allows a prolonged containment of the membrane fouling, confirmed by investigating the concentration of membrane fouling precursors and the time-course variations of turbidity and transmembrane pressure (TMP). Those final concentrations of wastewater pollutants were found to be below the limits for admission of the effluents in public sanitation networks in Italy and Tunisia, as representative countries for the regulation in force in Europe and North Africa. In conclusion, due to the low costs of plant and maintenance, the simple applicability, the rapid online implementation, the application of LMBR results in a promising method for the treatment of textile wastewater.

Real Time Emblica Fruit Disease Monitoring System

Abstract: Phyllanthus Emblica (Amla) fruit is vulnerable to fungal diseases mainly soft-rot and rust causing 25-30% loss in production of fruit in India, the largest producer of Phyllanthus Emblica. So, effective automated detection of Phyllanthus Emblica fruit disease at early stage will not only monitor health status but also help farmers to correctly identify and treat Phyllanthus Emblica disease. This project proposes novel technique of real time detection and categorization of soft-rot (Phomopsis Phyllanthi) and rust (Ravenelia Emblicae) using CNN and YOLO-V2 and providing eco-friendly treatment of detected disease using Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) and bio-fertilizer as fungal controller. For early detection of disease, input image is taken directly from the field using ESP32 camera and YOLO-V2 detects whether input contains Phyllanthus Emblica fruit or not. The output image is trained using CNN to classify fruit disease. CNN and YOLO-V2 is used together for the increased accuracy and better IOU as it is faster algorithm than its counterparts, running at 45 FPS in detection of Phyllanthus Emblica fruit disease over SVM methods and result showed 99.99% accuracy in early detection of soft-rot and rust. Ravenelia Emblicae and Phomopsis Phyllanthi were isolated and identified using PDA and assessed for fungitoxity of homemade ACV and Bio-fertilizer using microbes culturing method. ACV effectively inhibited fungi on 5th day .Thus disease can be controlled after 3-5 attempts of ACV. This technique is easily accessible to farmers and finds a great future for timely detection, prevention and control using eco-friendly treatment of fruit disease which is crucial to promote healthy growth and maintain nutritive value of Phyllanthus Emblica fruit.

Efficacy of eco-friendly treatments on yield attributes in Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) against alternaria blight

Indian Mustard that is emerged as the core oilseed crop is cultivated in the northern regions of India during Rabi season. Alternaria blight is one of the most destructive pathogens for Indian Mustard resulting in huge losses in quality and quantity of the produce. A research study was taken up to control the alternaria blight in Indian Mustard with selected eco-friendly treatments by monitoring disease intensity and yield attributes. It is noted that T2 – Trichoderma viride has shown significant results on disease intensity and yield attributes, where disease intensity has significantly minimised in T2 may be due to the mycoparasitic nature and ability to generate volatile and non-volatile compounds against pathogen with great anti-microbial activity. The results showed that maximum plant height (56.10 cm), test weight (4.11 g) and seed yield (1.21 t/ha) of Indian Mustard with minimum disease intensity (40.21 %) were recorded in the treatment T2 and followed by T6­­ – neem leaf extract @15% that has shown significant results on Alternaria blight.

Eco-friendly treatments for weed control in maize fields intercropped with cowpea

Eco-friendly treatments for weed control in maize fields intercropped with cowpea

Green and Eco-Friendly Treatment of Textile Wastewater by Using Azadirachta indica Leaf Extract Combined with a Silver Nitrate Solution

The present study was conducted to treat textile industrial wastewater through the combination of green and synthetic solutions. Two case studies were applied for the treatment of wastewater. In the first case, discharged industrial effluent was reacted with Azadirachta Indica leaf extract solution for a 4 to 72 h retention time. After the reaction, some pollutants were treated but most required higher retention time and concentration of A. indica extract, which could be a potential adsorbent for wastewater treatment. In the second case, the discharged industrial effluent was reacted with A. indica solution with silver nitrate AgNO3 solution and was used as a treating agent for wastewater with a 4 to 72 h retention time. The second case was found to be better than the first case as it treated a greater number of pollutants. Moreover, treatment plant design feasibilities will be required for the application of findings of the present study on an industrial scale. This study can be useful to improve industrial estate’s environmental conditions for reducing pollution by industrial wastewater. There is also a need to raise environmental awareness regarding wastewater’s health effects in local communities.

Effect of Phanerochaete chrysosporium inoculation on manganese passivation and microbial community succession during electrical manganese residue composting

Electrolytic manganese residue poses potentially threats to the environment and therefore needs eco-friendly treatment. Composting has been reported to effectively passivate heavy metals and alleviate their ecotoxicity. Observation of the Mn concentration during composting indicated that the mobility of Mn was significantly reduced, with the easily extraction fraction (acid extractable and easily reduction fraction) of Mn in the control pile (pile 1 without Phanerochaete chrysosporium inoculation) and treat pile (pile 2 with Phanerochaete chrysosporium inoculation) decreasing by 17% and 29%, respectively. The inoculation of Phanerochaete chrysosporium prompted the passivation of manganese, prolonged the thermophilic period, and enriched the microbial community structure, which was attributed to the rapid growth and reproduction of thermophilic bacteria. Moreover, Phanerochaete chrysosporium inoculation promoted the effect of pH on the stabilization of Mn, but the opposite contribution of organic matter. This study would provide a new perspective for remediating EMR contaminated soil via composting.

Assessing some Cladosporium species in the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbon for treating oil contamination.

Biodegradation is a cost-effective and eco-friendly treatment for oil-contaminated materials using microorganisms. Bacteria and fungi can degrade petroleum by using it as an energy source and this may provide an enormous scope to remediate soils contaminated with petroleum and oil. This study aimed to assess the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons by certain Cladosporium species. By using traditional and spectroscopic assessment analysis, qualitative screening was carried out using Cladosporium spores isolated from air and cultured on mineral salt medium supplemented with petroleum hydrocarbon as the sole carbon source, followed by quantitative assessment using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Nineteen Cladosporium strains from a total of 212 isolates exhibited remarkable capability to degrade petroleum hydrocarbon, representing four species (C. herbarum, C. macrocarpum, C. sphaerospermum, and C. cladosporioides). The results were expressed in terms of biodegradation percentage and optical density of hydrocarbon using a standard calibration curve. The highest reduction of petroleum hydrocarbon was observed with five Cladosporium strains belonging to two species (C. sphaerospermum and C. cladosporioides). This study succeeded in isolating several Cladosporium strains (from the air) with a high ability to degrade crude oil that can be used as biological agents to control petroleum pollution in soils and seas. The addition of a surfactant (Tween 80) enhanced the degradation of crude oil reaching a final concentration of 0.4%. Based on these results, the present study could indicate some unique prospects in the field of bioremediation and biodegradation of petroleum-contaminated soil. This study gives unique prospects in the field of bioremediation and biodegradation of petroleum-contaminated soil.

The eco-friendly treatment of rubber industry effluent by using adsorbent derived from Moringa oleifera bark and Pseudomonas sp, cultured from effluent.

Rubber processing generates a large volume of wastewater containing rubber latex residues and chemicals. Remediation of the wastewater needs a cost-effective and environment-friendly treatment method. For this study, Moringa oleifera stem bark and Pseudomonas sp. bacteria were used for adsorption and microbial treatment of the effluent. The adsorbent surface was mostly amorphous with crystallinity index 37.9% and the BET surface area was 6.622 m2/g. FTIR analysis indicated involvement of O-H stretching, ketone α, β-unsaturated, C-H stretching, carboxylic acid and derivatives O-C stretching functional groups in the adsorption process. The assessment of the above two agents was based on their reduction capabilities of the toxic parameters, such as total suspended and dissolved solids, total solids, biological and chemical oxygen demand, sulphate, ammonium, dissolved oxygen, phosphate, pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, and oxidation reduction potential from the wastewater. A comparative study of the present work revealed that both the agents were effective in reduction of most of the above parameters below the safe discharge limits. However, the adsorption using Moringa oleifera stem bark was better compared to the biodegradation by Pseudomonas sp. bacteria. The main challenges that typically accompany biodegradation include microbe handling and a lower removal percentage than adsorption.

Applicability and Extraction Characteristics of Aluminum Sulfate as Extractant of Harmful Heavy Metals for On-Site Treatment of Deep-Sea Mining Tailings

This research was focused on the eco-friendly treatment of deep-sea mining tailings in the sea areas and mainly dealt with evaluating the optimal conditions by comparing aluminum sulfate (AS), which had been proven recently to have an effect as a heavy metal extractant, with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) in terms of environmental and economic feasibility. Harmful heavy metals in the manganese nodules (2%, w/v) were chemically washed by mixing with each EDTA and AS concentration for 16 elapsed times. Copper, zinc, nickel, and cadmium, which could have a fatal effect due to their high total content or high bioavailable content, were selected as the primary treatment target materials. The content of harmful heavy metals was 293.2 times more for nickel when compared with environmental standards of various countries. When 1% AS was used as the extractant, the removal efficiency of harmful heavy metals compared to the bioavailable content was 32.77% on average. It has been verified that multi-stage treatment could be necessary, and the short treatment time could be an important factor. Within a short elapsed time (3 h), the remediation efficiency of zinc and nickel under the 1% AS condition was higher than with 0.1 M EDTA. In terms of environmental and economic feasibility, it was verified that the use of 1% AS would be reasonable. The results of this research could be valuably applied to process design and optimization as basic data presented before the development of remediation technologies in the future.Graphical

Study of the Antibacterial Efficiency of Zinc Pyrithione Treated Cotton Fabric for Shoe Insoles: Optimizing the Zinc Content and Developing a Spectrophotometric Method

ABSTRACT Nowadays, regarding the important interest to hygienic conditions and human comfort and health, in this study, we were particularly focused on developing functional cotton for safety shoes insoles worn as personal protective equipment (PPE). In fact, numerous persons are exposed to several shoes problems such as bad odors caused by bacteria and many diseases due to foot infections. For this purpose, an AgNPs free antibacterial ecofriendly treatment respecting Oekotex standard 100 and Detox Campaign using zinc pyrithione compound was realized based on an experimental design to optimize simultaneously the zinc fixation rate under an exhaustion process and the antibacterial efficiency. The fixed zinc pyrithione content was analyzed by ICP-MS spectrometry as a reference method and a spectrophotometric method as an alternative, more straightforward, and cost-effective method. A good correlation between the two methods was established. Then, the impact of zinc pyrithione and zinc content on antibacterial effects was investigated. As a result, 173 mg/kg of fixed zinc obtained by applying only 0.14% of pure zinc pyrithione with the optimized exhaustion process showed a significant antibacterial effect. Furthermore, 0.28% of pure zinc pyrithione ensured an excellent fastness to abrasion and sweat of the antibacterial treated cotton fabric tested against bacteria Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus Epidermidis.

Eco-friendly treatment of wastewater and its impact on soil and vegetables using flood and micro-irrigation

The wastewater irrigation is carried out in order to make the nutrients present in the water available to the plants grown. But it also possesses potential health hazards due to the accumulation of heavy metals to the soil and plant parts from the wastewater. The present research work aimed to check the effect of wastewater and treated wastewater on soil and crop i.e. bottlegourd and palak(spinach). The research was conducted from 2014 to 2017 in the 12 C research farm of ICAR-IARI, New Delhi. These crops were irrigated with untreated waste water and treated waste water. Crop and field irrigated with wastewater had shown a large amount of heavy metal deposition compared to treated wastewater. In addition, the influence of two irrigation systems, including drip and flood, was studied. Drip irrigation was found to be effective because there were less amounts of heavy metals deposited in the edible portion of the crop as well as in the soil.

Evaluation and machine learning-based prediction of Zn2+treatment by the cyanobacterium biomaterial at packed columns

Excessive accumulation of zinc in the environment poses ecological risks. Hence, an approach with cost-effective and eco-friendly treatment media, such as microbial biomass, should be explored to remediate zinc from effluents. This study demonstrated the removal of Zn 2 + by packed columns, comprising Spirulina platensis (cyanobacterium) biomass fixed on polyurethane. Machine learning (ML) was also used to optimize and predict the concentration of Zn 2 + in the effluent. The results show optimum condition for Zn 2 + removal at a biomaterial height of 25 cm, a flow rate of 5 mL/min, and an inlet Zn 2 + concentration of 100 mg/L. Further, the Cubist algorithm predicted the Zn 2 + concentrations (new data) with R 2 of 0.988 and 5.34 mg/L in RMSE, and artificial neural networks (ANN) achieved 0.979 in R 2 and 6.94 mg/L in RMSE. Based on both the estimated accuracy and computing time, the Cubist model was found more advantageous than the ANN and linear regression models. This study provides optimum conditions for scaling up Zn 2 + treatment systems and an ML-based tool to estimate Zn 2 + effluents to support the design of adsorption column systems. • Spirulina platensis -polyurethane packed column built for Zn 2+ removal. • Machine learning used to explore adsorption column for Zn 2+ treatment. • Optimal conditions were height 25 cm, flow 5 mL/min, and inlet 100 mg/L. • Cubist and ANN achieved R 2 0.98 and RMSE 5.34-6.94 mg/L. • Findings could optimize and scale up Zn 2+ treatment column systems.

A Systematic Review of the Scientific Literature on Pollutant Removal from Stormwater Runoff from Vacant Urban Lands

Even though the common acknowledgment that vacant urban lands (VUL) can play a positive role in improving stormwater management, little synthesized literature is focused on understanding how VUL can take advantage of different stormwater control measures (SCMs) to advance urban water quality. The project aims to provide urban planners with information on the remediation of vacant lands using urban runoff pollutant removal techniques. To find the most effective removal method, relevant scholarly papers and case studies are reviewed to see what types of vacant land have many urban runoff pollutants and how to effectively remove contaminants from stormwater runoff in the city by SCMs. The results show that previously developed/used land (but now vacant) has been identified as contaminated sites, including prior residential, commercial, industrial, and parking lot land use from urban areas. SCMs are effective management approaches to reduce nonpoint source pollution problems runoff. It is an umbrella concept that can be used to capture nature-based, cost-effective, and eco-friendly treatment technologies and redevelopment strategies that are socially inclusive, economically viable, and with good public acceptance. Among these removal techniques, a bioretention system tends to be effective for removing dissolved and particulate components of heavy metals and phosphorus. Using different plant species and increasing filter media depth has identified the effectiveness of eliminating nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N). A medium with a high hydraulic conductivity covers an existing medium with low hydraulic conductivity, and the result will be a higher and more effective decrease for phosphorus (P) pollutants. In addition, wet ponds were found to be highly effective at removing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, with removal rates as high as 99%. For the removal of perfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA) pollutants, despite the implementation of SCMs in urban areas to remove PFAAs and particulate-related contaminants in stormwater runoff, the current literature has little information on SCMs’ removal of PFAAs. Studies have also found that VUL’s size, shape, and connectivity are significantly inversely correlated with the reduction in stormwater runoff. This paper will help planners and landscape designers make efficient decisions around removing pollutants from VUL stormwater runoff, leading to better use of these spaces.