Pollution Control Authority Research Articles

Design and Implementation of Energy Harvesting and Pollution Control System using Nano Tree

In today's globalized society, energy consumption is a fundamental pillar of societal advancement and evolution. Street lighting applications consume a lot of electricity with the benefit of preventing accidents and ensuring the safety of pedestrians at night. The main considerations in the present field of technologies are automation, power consumption, and cost-effectiveness. Alongside, rapid industrialization and urbanization have resulted in an exponential increase in air pollution causing adverse effects on living beings and deterioration of fossil fuels. Hence, the use of regenerative sources of energy is crucial to facilitate the high power demand. The proposed system presents the development of a Nano tree using the Arduino board to collect renewable solar energy from the environment used for street light illumination by using sensors at minimum electrical energy consumption. The Nano tree can be used as an alternative to streetlights with the addition of LED strips along with an accumulation of gaseous pollutants. If the pollutant level exceeds the limit an alert will also be sent to the pollution control authority of the adjacent industry. The Nano Tree is the concept of an autonomous street light with atmospheric monitoring capability.

AQI prediction using layer recurrent neural network model: a new approach.

The air quality index (AQI) prediction is important to evaluate the effects of air pollutants on human health. The airborne pollutants have been a major threat in Delhi both in the past and coming years. The air quality index is a figure, based on the cumulative effect of major air pollutant concentrations, used by Government agencies, for air quality assessment. Thus, the main aim of the present study is to predict the daily AQI one year in advance through three different neural network models (FF-NN, CF-NN and LR-NN) for the year 2020 and compare them. The models were trained using AQI values of previous year (2019). In addition to main air pollutants like PM10/PM2.5, O3, SO2, NOx, CO and NH3, the non-criteria pollutants and meteorological data were also included as input parameter in this study. The model performances were assessed using statistical analysis. The key air pollutants contributing to high level of daily AQI were found to be PM2.5/PM10, CO and NO2. The root mean square error (RMSE) values of 31.86 and 28.03 were obtained for the FF-NN and CF-NN models respectively whereas the LR-NN model has the minimum RMSE value of 26.79. LR-NN algorithm predicted the AQI values very closely to the actual values in almost all the seasons of the year. The LR-NN performance was also found to be the best in post-monsoon season i.e., October and November (maximum R2= 0.94) with respect to other seasons. The study would aid air pollution control authorities to predict AQI more precisely and adopt suitable pollution control measures. Further research studies are recommended to compare the performance of LR-NN model with statistical, numerical and computational models for accurate air quality assessment.

A novel approach for the prediction and analysis of daily concentrations of particulate matter using machine learning

Traditional air quality analysis and prediction methods depend on the statistical and numerical analyses of historical air quality data with more information related to a specific region; therefore, the results are unsatisfactory. In particular, fine particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10) in the atmosphere is a major concern for human health. The modelling (analysis and prediction) of particulate matter concentrations remains unsatisfactory owing to the rapid increase in urbanization and industrialization. In the present study, we reconstructed a prediction model for both PM2.5 and PM10 with varying meteorological conditions (windspeed, temperature, precipitation, specific humidity, and air pressure) in a specific region. In this study, a prediction model was developed for the two observation stations in the study region. The analysis of particulate matter shows that seasonal variation is a primary factor that highly influences air pollutant concentrations in urban regions. Based on historical data, the maximum number of days (92 days in 2019) during the winter season exceeded the maximum permissible level of particulate matter (PM2.5 = 15 μg/m3) concentration in air. The prediction results showed better performance of the Gaussian process regression model, with comparatively larger R2 values and smaller errors than the other models. Based on the analysis and prediction, these novel methods may enhance the accuracy of particulate matter prediction and influence policy- and decision-makers among pollution control authorities to protect air quality.

Studies on Suitability to Incorporate Tropical Fruit Pulp in Whey-based Probiotic Beverage

Background: The present investigation was planned to standardize a method for preparation of whey-based fermented probiotic beverage containing Alfonso mango (Mangifera indica) pulp. This study was undertaken in view of the fact that the probiotic foods can play an important role in promoting health and reducing public health care costs in a developing country like India. As such the whey is the major dairy by-product, which causes enormous environmental problems leading to enforcement of stringent laws by the pollution control authorities. The Indian dairy industry is exploring the ways to utilize whey in more economical way. Methods: The lab-made paneer whey (Indian milk curd) was utilized in the study. The fresh Alfonso pulp was used for value-addition of the product. The probiotic culture of Lactobacillus rhamnosus-MTCC-5463 was used for fermentation. The method was standardized and the product was subjected for its sensory evaluation. Result: It was observed that the whey-based probiotic beverage containing 15% Alfonso pulp (v/w) was liked most with mean score of 8.75 followed by 10% pulp with mean score 5.39 out of 9.0 in the nine-point Hedonic scale. The product containing 5% Alfonso pulp was disliked by the judges with a mean score of 4.54. It was concluded that the whey-based probiotic beverage containing 10-15% mango pulp can be prepared with probiotic viable counts of 107 cfu/ml. This would be one of the promising ways to utilize the whey and developing gastrointestinal health promoting product.

Study of Planetary Boundary Layer, Air Pollution, Air Quality Models and Aerosol Transport Using Ceilometers in New South Wales (NSW), Australia

The planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) is one of the key factors in influencing the dispersion of the air pollutants in the troposphere and, hence, the air pollutant concentration on ground level. For this reason, accurate air pollutant concentration depends on the performance of PBLH prediction. Recently, ceilometers, a lidar instrument to measure cloud base height, have been used by atmospheric scientists and air pollution control authorities to determine the mixing level height (MLH) in improving forecasting and understanding the evolution of aerosol layers above ground at a site. In this study, ceilometer data at an urban (Lidcombe) and a rural (Merriwa) location in New South Wales, Australia, were used to investigate the relationship of air pollutant surface concentrations and surface meteorological variables with MLH, to validate the PBLH prediction from two air quality models (CCAM-CTM and WRF-CMAQ), as well as to understand the aerosol transport from sources to the receptor point at Merriwa for the three case studies where high PM10 concentration was detected in each of the three days. The results showed that surface ozone and temperature had a positive correlation with MLH, while relative humidity had negative correlation. For other pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO2), no clear results were obtained, and the correlation depended on the site and regional emission characteristics. The results also showed that the PBLH prediction by the two air quality models corresponded reasonably well with the observed ceilometer data and the cause and source of high PM10 concentration at Merriwa can be found by using ceilometer MLH data to corroborate back trajectory analysis of the transport of aerosols to the receptor point at Merriwa. Of the three case studies, one had aerosol sources from the north and north west of Merriwa in remote NSW, where windblown dust is the main source, and the other two had sources from the south and south east of Merriwa, where anthropogenic sources dominate.

Reduction of Pollution through Sustainable and Flexible Production by Controlling By-Products

Every manufacturing system produces toxic by-products that cause a hazardous impact on society and the environment. As a result, pollution control authorities’ role has gained importance for the betterment of society and the preservation of a clean and green environment. As a result, one of the goals of this research is to develop a sustainable smart manufacturing model with less waste and controlled pollution. Here, a flexible production process is discussed under imprecise market conditions with partial backlogging and rework. Two different sustainable production models are presented here by considering pollution control costs. A sustainable production model with variable pollution costs is examined under the influence of three pollution control mechanisms to improve the model’s applicability. A solution methodology, including three critical theorems, is provided to obtain the optimal production rate, length, and total cost per cycle. The paper’s novelty lies in introducing pollution control costs and pollution control mechanisms together in a flexible, sustainable production system with uncertainty. In comparison to the other models, the model with a variable pollution cost appears to be more sustainable as, in this case, there is a 25.5% reduction in the pollution level compared to the other models. Implementing three pollution-controlling strategies, such as pollution cap, pollution cap and trade, and pollution tax, resulted in reductions of 34.37, 0.83, and 0.62% in pollution levels, respectively. A sensitivity analysis of the obtained results is carried out to show the model’s strength and robustness.

Assessment and prediction of PM10 concentration using ARIMA

Urban air pollution is rapidly becoming an environmental issue of global concern, affecting public health, regional weather, and climate. The air quality crisis in cities is mainly caused by vehicle emissions. A city's air quality is assessed using the Air Quality Index (AQI), which analyses concentrations of air pollutants such as PM10, sulphur dioxide SO2, and nitrogen dioxide NO2. The current study on air pollution was carried out in the SG Halli area of Bangaluru and required air pollutant data was collected from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (CPCB). With the exception of PM10, the pollutant concentration was within the permissible limits set by the Central Pollution Control Authority (CPCB). Pollutant concentrations were analyzed using meteorological variables such as relative humidity (RH), temperature (T), wind direction (WD), wind speed (WS), and solar radiation (SR). PM10 concentrations are predicted using an auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model. PM10 concentrations were well predicted by ARIMA model. On the AQI scale, it can be seen that the atmospheric environment of SG Halli is moderately polluted.

An Analysis of GRAP Task Force Directions for Improved AQI in Delhi during 2018

Air quality has been a matter of public concern in Delhi. The concentration of Particulate Matters (PM2.5 and PM10) often surpasses the Indian National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). This study is focused upon the evaluation of Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCAs) Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) action during 2018 in terms of PM2.5 and NO2. In order to control air pollution sources in National Capital Region (NCR), the (EPCA) Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority directed GRAP to advise the local industries and other sources of pollution to close their operations on particular dates whenever Air Quality Index (AQI) showed severe level. In this study, we have analyzed 24 hourly averaged Air Quality Index (AQI) data for the period September 2017 - January 2018 and September 2018 - January 2019 at two sites i.e. Delhi Technical University (DTU) and Income Tax Office (ITO) respectively. The GRAP results showed a significant decrease in AQI values of both after every order passed by GRAP task force. In general, the PM2.5 AQI values were always higher during year 2017-18 as compared to 2018-19 at both sites.

A Review of Eco-Friendly Preservative and Bio-Tannin Materials Using Powdered Barks of Local Plants for the Processing of Goatskin

Skin is a raw material which is considered as the heart of leather making process. Skin falls vulnerable upon the flayed of the animals and is seriously invaded by bacteria if it is not well protected. Curing and preservation of raw stock resist putrefaction and reserve leather quality. Worldwide, most commonly used skin preservation is by using table salt which is accused of polluting the environment by increasing soil salinity, affecting water body, releasing more than 40% dissolved solids and 55% chlorides etc. Further, on the side of leather tanning, 80-90% of all leathers is manufactured by tanning with basic chromium (III) salt, because of its excellent features and is also solemnly accused that; its safety record is cautionary, uncontrolled emission of chromium (VI) and it is a limited natural resources. Pollution control authorities of many countries are imposed severe restrictions on both salt preservation and chrome tanning forcing the tanners and researchers to look for possible alternative ways that are naturally abundant, easily obtainable, low priced, eco-friendly and offer competitive with existing tanned leather performances. The critical reviewed was targeting the recent alternatives trends to skin/hides salt preservation as well as vegetable tanning as a possible way to replace the use of basic chromium salt for the sustainability of leather industry and to further suggest another preservative and vegetable plant to be used in future studies.

Dunking the dust: innovation diffusion, informality and policy opportunities in a stone crushing cluster, India

ABSTRACTThis paper explores the barriers to the diffusion of environmental innovation among informal enterprises with a stone crushing cluster in Odisha as a case study. The huge dust cloud resulting from the crushing process has polluted the air and settled on farmlands and homesteads in the surrounding region. This has been associated with farm productivity decline, road accidents, school drop-outs, out-migration and various ailments. The use of water sprinklers as an environmental innovation has been the major response of the state pollution control authorities. Few have complied. The barriers are examined drawing upon interviews with 50 enterprises and various stakeholders and review of secondary sources. Absence of community pressure in the cluster, pecuniary gains of informality, and dysfunctional institutional arrangements appear to leave businesses with little incentive to reduce their burden on workers’ health, the environment and the community. However, experiences in other developing countries suggest there are policy opportunities for overcoming these barriers.

Mercury Pollution of Lake Imandra Sediments, the Murmansk Region, Russia

Research on the chemical composition of Lake Imandra sediments (including mercury) was carried out. Lake Imandra is known to be the largest one in the Murmansk region, North-West of Russia. It is the subject of intense pollution by the industrial enterprises and municipal wastewater. It was established that chalcophilic Hg metal, being a high-toxic and dangerous one for the lake ecosystem, entered the lake due to activities of apatite–nepheline and copper–nickel industries. In the vertical Hg distribution, within sediments of the stations which were close to the drainage of apatite–nepheline deposit development, subsurface maximum of sediment cores from 0.6 up to 2.3 μg/g at the depths from 7 up to 14 cm was marked. That was ten times higher than the average background content (0.044 μg/g). These values were higher up to an order of magnitude than the Interim freshwater sediment quality guidelines (ISQG) and 5 times higher than the Probable effect level (PEL) for Hg according to Canadian Sediment Quality Guidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Life (2018) ( http://st-ts.ccme.ca/en/index.html ). The Bolshaya Imandra should be classified as “Class III” with the marked contamination according to the Environmental Classification System of the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (Classification of environmental quality in fjords and coastal waters. A guide. Norwegian Pollution Control Authority, 1997). Hg content was in a wide range from 0.02 up to 1.0 μg/g in the surface of 1-cm sediment layer. The maximum Hg concentrations were confined to the water areas of the effluents from apatite–nepheline and copper–nickel industries.

Characterization and Identification of Recalcitrant Organic Pollutants (ROPs) in Tannery Wastewater and Its Phytotoxicity Evaluation for Environmental Safety.

Tannery wastewater (TWW) is of serious environmental concern to pollution control authorities, because it contains highly toxic, recalcitrant organic and inorganic pollutants. The nature and characteristics of recalcitrant organic pollutants (ROPs) are not fully explored to date. Hence, the purpose of this study was to characterize and identify the ROPs present in the treated TWW. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry data analysis showed the presence of a variety of ROPs in the treated TWW. Results unfolded that benzyl chloride, butyl octyl phthalate, 2,6-dihydroxybenzoic acid 3TMS, dibutyl phthalate, benzyl alcohol, benzyl butyl phthalate, 4-chloro-3-methyl phenol, phthalic acid, 2'6'-dihydroxyacetophenone, diisobutyl phthalate, 4-biphenyltrimethylsiloxane, di-(-2ethy hexyl)phthalate, 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, dibenzyl phthalate, and nonylphenol were present in the treated TWW. Due to endocrine disrupting nature and aquatic toxicity, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classified many of these as "priority pollutants" and restricted their use in leather industries. In addition, the physicochemical analysis of the treated TWW also showed very high BOD, COD, and TDS values along with high Cr and Pb content beyond the permissible limits for industrial discharge. Furthermore, phytotoxicity assessment unfolds the inhibitory effects of TWW on the seed germination, seedling growth parameters, and α-amylase activity in Phaseolus aureus L. This indicates that the TWW discharged even after secondary treatment into the environment has very high pollution parameters and may cause a variety of serious health threats in living beings upon exposure. Overall, the results reported in this study will be helpful for the proper treatment and management of TWW to combat the environmental threats.

Human health risk as a basis for prioritizing air quality monitoring stations in a megacity: a case study

This paper presents an objective methodology for determining the optimum number of ambient air quality stations in a monitoring network based on human health risk (HHR). The case study is related to HHRs in terms of mortality and morbidity (hospital admission) due to adverse effects of air pollution in 41 wards in Delhi in India, which were evaluated using Ri-MAP model developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). By adopting the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline concentrations of the air pollutants total suspended particles (TSP) or its surrogate, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), concentration-response relationships and a population attributable-risk proportion concept are applied. It was found that an average total mortality was 1150 [631–1852 at 95% confidence interval (CI)], cardiovascular mortality was 450 (440–665 at 95% CI), respiratory mortality was 170 (96–288 at 95% CI), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) morbidity was 176 (2–333 at 95% CI) for every one million population in Delhi according to 2008 population statistics. There were 20 wards which had mortality and morbidity higher than the average. It may be concluded that pollution control authorities need to monitor air quality in these 20 identified locations having high health risk more rigorously. From the result, it was also seen that the excess number of mortality and morbidity in Delhi was basically due to particulate matter (PM) than due to gaseous pollutants. Hence, the pollution control authorities in Delhi urgently need proper management policy to improve ambient air quality in terms of TSP levels.

Estimating premature mortality attributable to PM2.5 exposure and benefit of air pollution control policies in China for 2020

In past decade of rapid industrial development and urbanization, China has witnessed increasingly persistent severe haze and smog episodes, posing serious health hazards to the Chinese population, especially in densely populated cities. Quantification of health impacts attributable to PM2.5 (particulates with aerodynamic diameter≤2.5μm) has important policy implications to tackle air pollution. The Chinese national monitoring network has recently included direct measurements of ground level PM2.5, providing a potentially more reliable source for exposure assessment. This study reports PM2.5-related long-term mortality of year 2015 in 161 cities of nine regions across China using integrated exposure risk (IER) model for PM2.5 exposure-response functions (ERF). It further provides an estimate of the potential health benefits by year 2020 with a realization of the goals of Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (APPCAP) and the three interim targets (ITs) and Air Quality Guidelines (AQG) for PM2.5 by the World Health Organization (WHO). PM2.5-related premature mortality in 161 cities was 652 thousand, about 6.92% of total deaths in China during year 2015. Among all premature deaths, contributions of cerebrovascular disease (stroke), ischemic heart disease (IHD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer (LC) and acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) were 51.70, 26.26, 11.77, 9.45 and 0.82%, respectively. The premature mortality in densely populated cities is very high, such as Tianjin (12,533/year), Beijing (18,817/year), Baoding (10,932/year), Shanghai (18,679/year), Chongqing (23,561/year), Chengdu (11,809/year), Harbin (9037/year) and Linyi (9141/year). The potential health benefits will be 4.4, 16.2, 34.5, 63.6 and 81.5% of the total present premature mortality when PM2.5 concentrations in China meet the APPCAP, WHO IT-1, IT-2, IT-3 and AQG respectively, by the year 2020. In the current situation, by the end of year 2030, even if Chines government fulfills its own target to meet national ambient air quality standard of PM2.5 (35μg/m3), total premature mortality attributable to PM2.5 will be 574 thousand across 161 cities. The present methodology will greatly help policy makers and pollution control authorities to further analyze cost and benefits of air pollution management programs in China.

Design of 6LoWPAN enabled Real Time Water Quality Monitoring System using CoAP

The discharge of wastewater effluents untreated or equally treatment without periodic quality monitoring, can lead to catastrophic water pollution in the long term affecting the aquatic life, agriculture farming and soil conditions of the entire downstream ecosystem. In this paper, we present a 6LoWPAN-enabled approach to designing a real-time water treatment monitoring and control system connecting to the internet. Our prototype implementation also uses emerging HTTP-compatible CoAP based monitoring and control approach for seamless web integration supporting internet based data collection suitable for various stakeholders such as government pollution control authorities, industries and domain scientists. The feedback control system responsible for neutralization when the desired water quality is beyond a permissible range, for example, adjusting the pH levels by adding acid or base solution, has also been implemented using the CoAP protocol. The system was designed using Contiki OS cooja simulation environment followed by the hardware implementation using TelosB motes running 6LoWPAN/CoAP stack interfaced to temperature, pH, ORP and conductivity sensors.

Assessment of the ecological quality of the Minho estuary (Northwest Iberian Peninsula) based on metal concentrations in sediments and in Corbicula fluminea

Assessment of the ecological quality of theMinho estuary (Northwest Iberian Peninsula) based on metal concentrations in sediments and in Corbicula fluminea The concentrations of metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn) in sediments and the soft tissues of Corbicula fluminea from the Minho estuary (Northwest Iberian Peninsula) were determined to assess the spatial variation of metal bioavailability and to classify the ecological quality of the estuary. Metal concentrations in sediments showed significant spatial variation ( p < 0.0003) and ranged in concentration (dry weight basis) from 0.025-0.36 mg Cd/kg, 7-16 mg Cr/kg, 2.7-24.6 mg Cu/kg, 7.3-45 mg Ni/kg, 4.1-15 mg Pb/kg and 37.3-110 mg Zn/kg. According to the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority metal concentration guidelines for sediments, this first ecological quality classification of the Minho estuary is “Class I/II-Background/Good.” Metal concentrations in the soft tissues of C. fluminea also showed significant spatial variation ( p < 0.0001) and ranged in concentration (dry weight basis) from 1.1-2.5 mg Cd/kg, 1.0-1.8 mg Cr/kg, 34-71 mg Cu/kg, 5.8-11 mg Ni/kg, 0.45-1.3 mg Pb/kg and 136-161 mg Zn/kg. The high Cu concentrations bioaccumulated by C. fluminea in the Minho estuary suggest that the estuary should be classified as “Class II/III-Moderately/Remarkably Polluted.” Thus, the primary contributions of this work are that C. fluminea proved to be a good and adequate biomonitor of metal contamination in the Minho estuary and that it could be used to assess the ecological quality of estuarine ecosystems worldwide.

Fucus spiralis as monitoring tool of metal contamination in the northwest coast of Portugal under the European Water Framework Directives.

Metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) in coastal seawaters and soft tissues of macroalga Fucus spiralis from the northwest coast of Portugal were determined to assess spatial variations of metal bioavailabilities and bioaccumulation factors to compare different ecological quality classifications. Both coastal seawaters and soft tissues of F. spiralis showed significant spatial variations in their metal concentrations along the coast. The macroalgae F. spiralis accumulated more efficiently Cd, Mn and Zn and showed low bioaccumulation factors to Cr, Cu and Fe. Regarding the metal guidelines of the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority, the entire northwest (NW) coast of Portugal in April 2013 should be classified as 'class I--unpolluted' for all metals, except in Ave for Cu ('class II--moderately polluted') and Cavado for Cd and Cu ('class II-moderately polluted'), revealing the low metal bioavailabilities of these seawaters. As there were always significant positive correlations between all metals in seawaters and F. spiralis, this macroalga species was considered a suitable monitoring tool of metal contamination in the NW coast of Portugal and a useful aquatic organism to be included in the European Environmental Specimen Banks in order to establish a real-time environmental monitoring network under the European Water Framework Directives.

Compliance to zero liquid discharge norms in Indian distilleries: technical challenges and solutions

Molasses based distilleries in India are now classified as ‘Red Category’ because of the pollution caused by vinasse. The stringent norms being enforced by the pollution control authorities have posed many technical challenges and resulted in the development of advanced and cleaner technologies for effective and economical disposal of vinasse. There has been a shift from the end of pipe treatment to an integrated waste management in order to achieve zero liquid discharge. Anaerobic treatment to generate biogas, aerobic surface composting to manufacture bio-compost and reverse osmosis or multiple effect evaporation systems for concentration of vinasse are now well established. Advanced technologies such as concentrated vinasse incineration, and co-processing of vinasse in cement plants are also being investigated. This paper presents an overview of the latest technologies employed for fermentation and distillation, advantages and limitations of the various effluent treatment technologies and prospects for implementation of emerging technologies. The paper also provides recommendations for further improvement in established technologies for vinasse treatment.

Role of Geophysical and Hydrogeological Techniques in EIA Studies to Identify TSDF Site for Industrial Waste Management

Abstract: This paper deals with the importance of integrated hydrogeological, geological and geophysical applications in identifying suitable site for treatment, storage and disposal facility (TDSF) for industrial waste management. The pollution control authorities (Civic body) have a mandate to provide proper TSDF for the industrial zones. One such zone of 2800 acres, established by State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) at Perundurai in southern India, is selected to identify suitable TSDF site. The zone is envisaged to cater 22500 MTA (metric tones per annum) of industrial waste generated by 565 units. Hydrogeological and geological setup forms an important criterion in the process of environmental impact assessment (EIA) to establish proposed activity. Hydrogeological, geophysical and socio-economic/ecological studies were carried out to identify suitable TSDF site. Vertical electrical sounding (VES), multi-electrode resistivity imaging (MERI), ground penetrating radar (GPR) scanning, and infiltration tests were performed within the proposed TSDF site of 50 acres land. An inventory of 54 key wells includes depth to water level (varies from 9.7 to 15 m, below ground level) and water chemistry (pH, TDS, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Cl−, HCO3−,SO42−,NO3− and F−) helped in identifying physical environment around (5 km radius) proposed TSDF site. Geophysical and hydrogeological investigations verified with drillings (at 5 locations) within the proposed TSDF site resulted, shallow hard rock at 4.5 m depth, the absence of groundwater, and low infiltration rate (4.3 cm/hour) of soil in the western side (45 acres) of proposed 50 acres land reveals suitability of TSDF site.

Vermicomposting of Coffee Processing Wastes Using Exotic (Eudrilus Eugeniae) and Native Earthworm (Perionyx Ceylanesis) Species

AbstractSummary: Coffee pulp is the main solid residue from the wet processing of coffee berries. Recent stringent measures by Pollution Control authorities, made it mandatory to treat all the solid and liquid waste emanating from the coffee farms. A study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of an exotic (Eudrilus eugeniae) and a native earthworm (Perionyx ceylanesis) from coffee farm for decomposition of coffee pulp into valuable vermicompost. Exotic earthworms were found to degrade the coffee pulp faster (112 days) as compared to the native worms (165 days) and the vermicomposting efficiency (77.9%) and vermicompost yield (389 kg) were found to significantly higher with native worms. The multiplication rate of earthworms (280%) and worm yield (3.78 kg) recorded significantly higher with the exotic earthworms. The percentage of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, calcium and magnesium in vermicompost was found to increase while C:N ratio, pH and total organic carbon declined as a function of the vermicomposting. Vermicompost and vermicasts from native earthworms recorded significantly higher functional microbial group's population as compared to the exotic worms. The study reveals that coffee pulp can be very well used as substrate for vermicomposting using exotic (Eudrilus eugeniae) and native earthworm (Perionyx ceylanesis).