Water Pollution Problems Research Articles

Multi-objective optimization of sponge facility layout in built-up urban areas

In order to effectively cope with the destruction of natural hydrological cycle mechanism, frequent urban flood, serious water pollution and other problems, which are caused by the rapid urbanization process, the ‘sponge city’ concept has been widely used in China. This paper mainly focuses on how to rationally arrange the sponge grey and green facilities in built-up urban areas. With background analysis as the premise, model construction as the platform and swarm intelligence optimization as the method, the optimal proportion of sponge green facilities is determined. Furthermore, gray facilities are strengthened for the problem area, and the optimal allocation scenario of sponge facilities with the combination of gray and green is obtained through continuous circulation. The final results show that the optimal layout proportion of rain garden, sunken green space, permeable pavement and green roof are 3.88%, 7.95%, 2.01% and 0.99% respectively, which can meet the 80% runoff control rate and 40% pollution load control rate in the standard. Based on the simulation results of 50a rainfall, regulation and storage facilities are arranged near the severely overloaded node and the diameter of the overloaded pipes are increased. It can be proved that runoff and pollution can be effectively controlled and urban flood can be alleviated with grey facilities by model. The research results of this paper are expected to provide the overall idea and method of layout optimization of grey-green facilities for sponge city construction in built-up urban areas.

Numerical simulation of velocity distribution and pollution retention in flexible submerged vegetated channel

Vegetation is an important factor that affects the hydrodynamics of river channels. Using hydrodynamic and water quality models in vegetated channels can help better understand the problem of river water pollution. In this paper, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is used to simulate the hydrodynamics of flexible vegetated channels, and the projected area characteristics of flexible vegetation are input into the model to obtain better simulation results for the vertical velocity distribution. At the same time, the random displacement method is used to simulate the transport law of pollutants and calculate the pollutant retention rate under different vegetation projected area characteristics. The results show that both vegetation species and average flow velocity have significant effects on pollutant retention efficiency. This method helps to optimize the selection of species, density, and distribution of river vegetation.

Internet of Things experimental platform for real-time water monitoring: a case study of the Araranguá River estuary

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a technology that can be employed to monitor several sectors, mostly precision agriculture, where environmental data can be used to better manage resources, reduce costs, and improve the use of natural resources. This work proposes the application of cloud-based IoT for monitoring irrigation water in rice fields. Southern Brazil was chosen as a case study because it suffers from water pollution problems due to urban activities, coal mining, and the inflow of saline water into the Araranguá River estuary. All these factors can compromise the water quality for irrigation. The presence of salt in irrigation water can compromise rice growth, making its monitoring essential for successful cultivation. Currently, the rice farmer needs to travel to the riverbank to assess the water quality using a manual sensor. This procedure demands time and resources and is not always efficient. The technology helps indicate whether the water is of quality to irrigate crops, helping the farmers decide whether to use that water to irrigate their fields. The solution is based on low-cost wireless sensor network devices, with subsequent transmission of data from the gateway using the network mobile phone cloud. Data collected were also accessed by the smartphone through a mobile application. This system was implemented for testing in the Araranguá River estuary, southern Santa Catarina, Brazil. Also, it appears as an option for farmers who need to monitor the quality of the water channel of the crop, thus avoiding the loss and reduction in crop productivity because the system can be continuously monitored and show notifications to the user. The highlights of this work were prototyping a complete solution to help the farmer using a smartphone application.

Present Situation and Research Progress of Advanced Oxidation Technology

With the acceleration of the industrialization process, the discharge of wastewater and the types of pollutants are constantly rising, resulting in increasingly serious water pollution problems. Advanced oxidation technology, as a new sewage treatment technology in recent years, has the advantages such as strong oxidation capacity and wide application range in degradation of organic matter in water. At present, it is widely used in domestic sewage and industrial wastewater as well as other aspects. In this paper, the principle, characteristics and application status of Fenton oxidation, photocatalytic oxidation, electrochemical oxidation, ultrasonic oxidation, wet oxidation and ozone oxidation in advanced oxidation technologies are reviewed. On this basis, the progress and prospect of advanced oxidation technologies are described.

Bromine Ion-Intercalated Layered Bi2WO6 as an Efficient Catalyst for Advanced Oxidation Processes in Tetracycline Pollutant Degradation Reaction.

The visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of pharmaceutical pollutants in aquatic environments is a promising strategy for addressing water pollution problems. This work highlights the use of bromine-ion-doped layered Aurivillius oxide, Bi2WO6, to synergistically optimize the morphology and increase the formation of active sites on the photocatalyst's surface. The layered Bi2WO6 nanoplates were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal reaction in which bromine (Br-) ions were introduced by adding cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)/tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB)/potassium bromide (KBr). The as-synthesized Bi2WO6 nanoplates displayed higher photocatalytic tetracycline degradation activity (~83.5%) than the Bi2WO6 microspheres (~48.2%), which were obtained without the addition of Br precursors in the reaction medium. The presence of Br- was verified experimentally, and the newly formed Bi2WO6 developed as nanoplates where the adsorbed Br- ions restricted the multilayer stacking. Considering the significant morphology change, increased specific surface area, and enhanced photocatalytic performance, using a synthesis approach mediated by Br- ions to design layered photocatalysts is expected to be a promising system for advancing water remediation.

Policy evaluation of economic – environmental tradeoffs in regulating industrial water use: An agent-based model

Water resource shortage and water pollution are prominent and urgent resource and environment problems. Industrial water consumption and sewage discharges account for a large proportion of the total sewage discharge of China. Therefore, scientifically regulating the water consumption and sewage discharge of industrial enterprises can effectively alleviate water scarcity and pollution problems. By establishing a multi-agent model, this study simulates the water use behavior of industrial enterprises, exploring the responses of industrial enterprises to a different type of scenarios for water management that can coordinate economic and environmental benefits. The purpose is to reduce the water consumption and pollutant emissions of industrial enterprises while achieving economic benefits, so as to provide policy references for water authorities. The results show that: 1) The three policies of water price, water resource tax and emission reduction subsidy can effectively regulate the water consumption and sewage discharge of enterprises. 2) Water price and water resource tax rate need to be controlled within a reasonable range. Appropriate water price and water resource tax rate can encourage enterprises to increase R&D investment. On this basis, it is suggested to emphasize the two-way influence of the government and enterprises, continue to implement water resources management policies such as water resources tax, so as to promote the balance between ecology and economy.

Problematika ochrany vodných zdrojov v Európskej únii - Skúsenosti regionálnych aktérov

The pollution of water resources is a civilizational problem, the urgency of which will increase as climate change progresses. Today we have a problem with water not only with quantitative, but also in qualitative point of view. This was the main reason for us to focus our attention on this environmental problem. The focus of this paper was to provide theoretical and practical information for integrating the legislative-implementation process on the regional level in the context of strengthening the protection of water resources. In the first part of our study, we explored the water pollution problem through the lens of European competences and selected legislations. The same process was chosen for the analysis of water protection in joined member states of the integration grouping which is Slovakia and the Czech Republic. In the research part we focused on assessing the degree of implementation of European measures in the issue of water resource protection by chosen regional actors of water politics in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, while identifying deficiency arising in this process. This research obtained the data using open questionnaire, through which we addressed the actors that were responsible for the implementation of the adopted decisions into practice. Subsequently, we used a comparative method to evaluate the current state and protection level of drinking water in the compared regions.

Fabrication of Self-Assembled BiFeO3/CeO2 Nanocatalytic Materials for Efficient Catalytic Dye Degradation.

The catalytic treatment of wastewater serves as an effective way to solve the problem of water pollution, in which non-homogeneous Fenton catalysts are widely used. However, the activity enhancement of non-homogeneous Fenton catalysts still remains a great challenge. Herein, self-assembled BiFeO3/CeO2 nanocatalytic materials with different molar ratios were successfully fabricated by a suspension blending method, following which the structure evolution was determined by various characterizations. The catalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB), rhodamine B (RhB), and saffron T (ST) were performed over the BiFeO3/CeO2 nanocatalytic materials. It was found that the 0.2BiFeO3:0.8CeO2 nanocatalytic materials exhibited an 80.8% degradation efficiency for RhB. The 0.6BiFeO3:0.4CeO2 nanocatalytic materials reached 81.1% and 48.7% for ST and MB, respectively. The BiFeO3/CeO2 nanocatalytic materials also showed a good stability during several cycles. The combination of CeO2 with BiFeO3 led to an enhanced activity for dye degradation, probably due to the electron transfer from ≡Fe2+ to ≡Ce4+. This study provides a new approach to dye degradation by using Fenton catalytic systems.

Development of water resources protection planning and environmental design in urban water conservancy landscape based on ecological concept

Abstract With the development of society, water resources are gradually scarce and water pollution is becoming increasingly serious, which would seriously restrict the development of the urban economy. In response to the current problems of water scarcity and severe water pollution, this article will study the key points of urban environmental design development based on ecological concepts. This article will also use ecological concepts to divide water function zones based on different pollution-carrying capacities in different regions, which can be mainly divided into two levels. In the experimental analysis section, the Xiongan New Area will be analyzed. This article randomly selected three regions in the Xiongan New Area and studied the utilization rate of various types of water in these regions. The pollution capacity and main water resources of each region in the functional area were planned and designed. Through experiments, it can be found that based on ecological concepts, it is beneficial to improve the pollutant-carrying capacity of each functional area and reduce the total amount of ammonia nitrogen.

Preparation of Molybdenum Disulfide Nanopowders and Their Adsorption Performance for Rhodamine B

With industrialization, industrial wastewater, especially dye wastewater, flows into water resources, causing serious water pollution problems. Therefore, it is urgent to quarantine organic dyes from wastewater and improve water resource quality. Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanomaterials are widely used in water treatment fields because of their special structure and properties; a case in point is pollutant adsorption, photocatalysis, membrane separation, and antibacterial treatment. In this paper, ammonium molybdate and thiourea were used as precursors; while the relative concentration of thiourea was increased, MoS2 nanopowders were prepared by the hydrothermal method. Then the prepared MoS2 nanopowders were characterized. The adsorption performance of organic dyes was preliminarily studied with the rhodamine B dye adsorption model.

Spatio-temporal assessment of water quality of a tropical decaying river in India for drinking purposes and human health risk characterization.

River water pollution and water-related health problems are common issues across the world. The present study aims to examine the Jalangi River's water quality to assess its suitability for drinking purposes and associated human health risks. The 34 water samples were collected from the source to the mouth of Jalangi River in 2022 to depict the spatial dynamics while another 119 water samples (2012-2022) were collected from a secondary source to portray the seasonal dynamics. Results indicate better water quality in the lower reach of the river in the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. Principal component analysis reveals that K+, NO3-, and total alkalinity (TA) play a dominant role in controlling the water quality of the study region, while, CaCO3, Ca2+, and EC in the pre-monsoon, EC, TDS, Na+, and TA in the monsoon, and EC, TDS and TA in the post-monsoon controlled the water quality. The results of ANOVA reveal that BOD, Ca2+, and CaCO3 concentrations in water have significant spatial dynamics, whereas pH, BOD, DO, Cl-, SO42-, Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, CaCO3, TDS, TA, and EC have seasonal dynamics (p < 0.05). The water quality index depicts that the Jalangi River's water quality ranged from 6.23 to 140.83, i.e., excellent to unsuitable for drinking purposes. Human health risk analysis shows that 32.35% of water samples have non-carcinogenic health risks for all three groups of people, i.e., adults, children, and infants while only 5.88% of water samples have carcinogenic health risks for adults and children. The gradual decay of the Jalangi River coupled with the disposal of urban and agricultural effluents induces river pollution that calls for substantial attention from the various stakeholders to restore the water quality.

Design of a Conduction-Cooled Open Gradient Superconducting Magnetic Separation Magnet

Magnetic separation of wastewater is required to solve the problem of water pollution caused by a large amount of wastewater discharge in urbanization and industrialization. Superconducting magnets reduce energy consumption, increase the magnetic field strength, and improve the magnetic separation effect compared to traditional magnetic separation using permanent magnets and electromagnets. In this paper, an open gradient superconducting magnetic separation magnet conduction-cooled by a two-stage GM cryocooler was designed and developed. The open gradient superconducting magnetic separation magnet comprised four saddle-shaped coils and an optimized iron yoke. The radial magnetic flux density was 1 T at a distance of 20 mm from the surface of the coil at an operating current of 120 A, resulting in a magnetic force density of 3.5*10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">7</sup> N/m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> , with a peak field in the coil of 4.82 T. Additionally, this paper proposed a superconducting coil structure and winding method with an end positioning groove. The design and manufacture of the end former, as well as the magnet structure, was completed. Finally, this paper designed a compact cryostat with a two-stage GM cryocooler.

Application of Graphene Oxide–Natural Polymer Composite Adsorption Materials in Water Treatment

Graphene is a new type of carbon material with excellent properties that has been developed in recent years. Graphene composites have potential application value in solving the problem of water pollution. In this study, we investigated the properties and performance of graphene composites prepared through polymer modification and inorganic particle doping modification. Our research focused on the composites’ ability to adsorb heavy metal ions and degrade organic compounds through photocatalysis. In this study, we prepared graphene oxide (GO) first and then grafted p-phenylenediamine onto its surface. The process was successful and yielded promising results. The aniline grafted onto the graphene oxide surface was used as anchor point for the in situ redox polymerization of aniline, and a polyaniline macromolecular chain was grafted onto the edge of graphene oxide. The structure of the composite was determined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The adsorption performance of Pb+ on GO-PANI composite was studied. The maximum adsorption capacity of the GO-PANI composite for Pb+ is 1416 mg/g, 2.3 times that of PANI. Graphene/polyaniline composites can be used as an excellent adsorbent for Pb2+ heavy metal ions and have great application prospects in heavy metal wastewater treatment.

The economic impact of water supply disruption from the Selangor River, Malaysia

Abstract The insidious economic impact of water disruption has received less attention compared to palpable climate disasters, but climate change and water security concerns call for investigation on cost consequences of property values and business losses in an already fragile water supply-demand balance in many developing countries. The economic impact of frequent water supply disruptions from the Selangor River in Malaysia due to technical issues, water pollution, and climate-related problems was estimated using the stock flow measure to assess property at risk, and survey to estimate business loss. The findings revealed that commercial, residential, and industrial property valued at RM459,041 million in 2020 in the State of Selangor and parts of Kuala Lumpur were at risk due to frequent water supply disruptions. A survey of small and medium enterprises from the manufacturing, construction, and services sectors revealed that 46% of the respondents were affected with losses amounting to RM2,053 million. The total economic impact of water supply disruption in 2020, combining both property value at risk and business loss, amounted to RM461,094 million, which accounted for 34% of Malaysia's GDP. A number of recommendations are made to prevent the widespread occurrence of water disruptions.

Distribution of Essential and Toxic Elements in Pelecus cultratus Tissues and Risk Assessment for Consumer Health.

Nowadays, the problem of inland water pollution is acute. It is caused by vast industrial growth and agricultural intensification. Concentrations of Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, Mn, Fe, Mg, and Kwere determined in the muscles, liver, and gonads sabrefish from Rybinsk Reservoir areas with different anthropogenic loads. The tissue samples were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry. Heavy metals accumulated more intensively in the body of fish from more polluted areas of the reservoir. Among the analyzed elements, the maximum accumulation levels were found for K, Zn, and Fe and the minimum levels were observed for Cd and Pb. The gonads contained the largest concentration of Cd and Mn, the muscles contained the highest concentrations of Mg, and the other elements mainly accumulated in the liver of sabrefish. The THQ and HI values for all elements did not exceed 1, which suggests that there is no potential non-carcinogenic risk to human health. The target values of carcinogenic risk (TR) for cadmium ranged from 8.32 × 10-6 to 1.22 × 10-4 in the muscles. The increased content of cadmium in the gonads of sabrefish not only poses a risk to human health, but also to the reproduction of this species in the Rybinsk Reservoir.

Iron nanoparticles decorated TiO2 hollow microspheres for boosting degradation of tetracycline in a photo-Fenton catalytic system

The problem of water pollution caused by antibiotic contamination is essential for human health and the ecological environment. In this study, Fe-doped TiO2 (FT-2) photocatalyst with a hollow microsphere structure was fabricated for efficient photocatalytic-Fenton removal of tetracycline (TC) under visible light irradiation. The unique hollow microsphere structure of FT-2, iron doping and oxygen vacancies enhance the photo-Fenton activity and stability of the material. The results showed that the degradation rate of tetracycline in the FT-2 photo-Fenton system at 60 min was 98.18%, with a degradation efficiency of mostly 90% after five successful reuses. The efficient TC degradation activity should be mainly ascribed to the structure of hollow microspheres and oxygen vacancies, resulting in the extended optical light absorption in the visible light region, reduced compound efficiency of electron cavitation pairs, and accelerated separation and migration of photogenerated carriers. In addition, this highly benefits the formation of reactive radicals·O2- and h+ play a key role in the TC degradation in a photo-Fenton reaction system and thus lead to great improvement in TC removal according to the capture experiments and EPR. This study provides an idea for the construction of semiconductor catalysts with oxygen vacancy and doped with transition metal elements for the effective photocatalytic remediation of wastewater containing antibiotic contaminants.

Simple preparation of monolithic N-doped electrode for efficient EF remediation of petrochemical wastewater: Performance, degradation pathways, and mechanism of different N-doped positions

Developing metal-free N-doped electrode for efficient electro-Fenton (EF) application is significant for petrochemical wastewater treatment considering the serious water pollution problem that caused by petrochemical industry. Herein, a robust monolithic N-doped electrode was fabricated by simple physical mixing and heating methods using accessible raw materials, and applied in EF system for wastewater treatment. The prepared 3D NC-650 electrode was used as cathode, showing excellent catalytic activity and stability for degradation of typical p-nitrophenol (PNP) pollutant and remediation of petrochemical wastewater. During the EF process, the PNP was completely decomposed via the substitution, oxidation, and ring-opening reactions under the attack of ·OH. The degradation pathways of organics in real wastewater matrix were also revealed based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and three-dimensional fluorescence analysis. According to the degradation experiments, microstructure analysis, and theoretical calculation (molecular electrostatic potential, bond length, and adsorption energy), the possible mechanism of different N-doped positions on the monolithic 3D NC-650 electrode was revealed, in which the graphitic N, edge pyridinic N, and edge pyrrolic N all contribute to enhance the EF activity by accelerating the O2 adsorption, facilitating the H2O2 formation by promotion of *–OOH bond breaking, and promoting the adsorption of organics on electrode surface, respectively. This work illustrates insights into the EF reaction mechanism with the monolithic N-doped electrode, and thus accelerates its application for actual wastewater remediation.

MONITORING OF THE RIVERS OF THE BLACK SEA BASIN FLOWING THROUGH THE SETTLEMENTS OF THE ADJARA REGION

Guram Darchidze&#x0D; Email:darchidz1995@gmail.com&#x0D; Ph.D. student, Georgian Technical University&#x0D; Tbilisi, Georgia&#x0D; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7597-856X&#x0D; Abstract. The problem of water pollution is becoming more and more urgent for the world. Despite the implemented measures, improvement of wastewater treatment methods, the issue remains relevant. One of the most common is biological pollution, directly related to the entry of pathogenic microorganisms, bacteria, viruses and protozoa into water.&#x0D; The effects of water pollutants on specific waters vary and may not always be fully appreciated. However, we know these pollutants harm drinking water supplies, recreation, fisheries, and wildlife. That is why it is necessary to find the source of biological water pollution, to study its age and lethality, to develop an effective method of pollution elimination.&#x0D; The topic "Monitoring of the rivers of the Black Sea basin flowing through the settlements of the Adjara region" presents the areas of human activity of large and small rivers in the Adjara region and the research and evaluation of the pollution caused by them.&#x0D; For the process of development of the topic, an initial study was carried out on more than 300 large and small rivers flowing in Adjara territory. They were studied and evaluated in terms of biological contamination.&#x0D; 16 rivers were selected, on which a bacteriological study was carried out to determine the presence of fecal waste, discharge, turbidity and E-Coli (in field conditions) were determined on other sources.&#x0D; In the report, I have presented the following works:&#x0D; &#x0D; Evaluation of rivers at the stage of the primary study, assessment of type, discharge, turbidity, E.Coli and other types of anthropogenic pollution. 2. Laboratory research conducted to determine the level of contamination with fecal waste; 3. After determining the level of pollution, the search for centers of pollution was carried out; 4. After finding the foci, evaluating these foci and determining the probable age of the future pollution capacity; 5. After the evaluation of the pollution centers, recommendations for the elimination of pollution were developed, both informational, constructive, and biological/chemical. 6. According to the data obtained in the research, a histogram was constructed and the data were grouped according to the optimal number of intervals; 7. According to the data obtained in the research, a graph of dependence on the debit of pollution with fecal waste was constructed.&#x0D; &#x0D; Conclusions are drawn, including the implementation of work to eliminate the problem of the existing situation.

Sorption and Photocatalysis of Dyes on an Oil-Based Composite Enriched with Nanometric ZnO and TiO2

Sustainable development and environmental protection are among the most important challenges facing humanity today. One important issue is the problem of groundwater and surface water pollution which can lead to the degradation of aquatic ecosystems and negatively affect human health. As a result, new methods and materials are being sought that can help remove contaminants from water in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in composite materials made from used cooking oil. This paper presents attempts to obtain composite materials with the addition of nano-sized zinc oxide and titanium oxide. The characterization of the composite materials was performed using FTIR, XRD, and SEM-EDS; their sorption and photocatalytic abilities were studied using batch mode experiments. The materials obtained exhibited sorption and photocatalytic properties. The highest value of photodegradation efficiency of more than 70% was recorded for the oil composite containing 20% zinc oxide. Composites containing 10% zinc oxide and titanium oxide had comparable sorption efficiencies of about 45% but different photodegradation efficiencies of 0.52% and 15.42%, respectively.

Understanding the Nanoscale Affinity between Dissolved Organic Matter and Noncrystalline Mineral with the Implication for Water Treatment.

In recent decades, the concentration of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in aquatic ecosystems has gradually increased, leading to water pollution problems. Understanding the interfacial chemical processes of DOM on natural minerals is important to the exploration of high-efficiency absorbents. However, studying DOM chemical processes and adsorption mechanisms are still challenging due to the complex DOM structure and environmental system. Hence, we characterized the microstructure changes after the formation of amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) at the interface of montmorillonite (Mt) minerals in a simulated environment system. Combined with atomic force microscopy and density functional theory (DFT) simulation, the mechanism of interfacial interaction between Mt-ACP and DOM was characterized at the molecular level. Moreover, we further evaluated the adsorption behavior of Mt-ACP as a potential adsorbent for organic matter. The comprehensive investigation of humic acid adsorption, intermolecular force, and DFT simulation is conducive to our understanding of the interfacial interaction mechanism between organic matter and noncrystalline minerals in aquatic environments and provides new perspectives on the application of clay-based mineral materials in pollutant removal under exposure from DOM.