Suspended Soil Research Articles

Biofloc Application Using Aquaponics and Vertical Aquaculture Technology in Aquaculture: Review

Some aspects of traditional aquaculture have negative impacts on the aquatic environment, leading to pollution and disease outbreaks in farmed organisms. Biofloc technology (BFT) is a closed aquaculture system that utilizes specific microbial communities to remove ammonia emitted from aquaculture organisms or adds carbon to the aquaculture system to improve water quality. BFT has benefits, such as increasing production and improving water quality, and reducing disease spread and pollution, without the need for water exchange. However, there are disadvantages, such as rapid changes in water quality due to accumulation of dissolved nutrients and total suspended soils (TSS) and the requirement for expensive aeration equipment to maintain dissolved oxygen. BFT can be enhanced in value and efficiency by combining it with other aquaculture technologies, such as aquaponics and vertical aquaculture to overcome the disadvantages. The integration of biofloc with technologies from the fourth industrial revolution holds potential for further development, while aquaponics and vertical farming can eliminate geographical limitations and accelerate the urbanization of aquaculture. The integration of aquaponics and vertical aquaculture with BFT has potential for development, accelerating the urbanization of aquaculture and removing geographic limitations.

Multivariate statistical analysis to assess the surface water quality of a snow and glacier-fed river: A case from Alaknanda River basin.

The water quality of Himalayan rivers has declined due to human activities, untreated effluent discharge, and poor sewage and drainage systems. The current study aimed to assess the water quality of these rivers using multivariate statistical analysis throughout four seasons. The analyses of 44 surface water samples taken during the monsoon, winter, spring, and summer seasons are well within the ranges acceptable for drinking and domestic use after the sedimentation. The suspended soils and turbidity are highly correlated and affect the water quality index (WQI). The WQI of headwater streams is good during low water flow seasons and poor during high water flow seasons. This is due to the number of melting glaciers and suspended solids/turbidity. Principal component analysis shows that in all the seasons, human activities such as road-cutting projects across the river and natural causes such as intense rainfall and melting of moraine-filled glaciers both impact the WQI. The findings of this study provide important information for future research and policy decisions aimed at improving the water quality of the Himalayan rivers.

Organic Matter Structural Composition of Vascular Epiphytic Suspended Soils of South Vietnam

The biosphere organic matter is stored in nature in various forms. Most of it is associated with classical terrestrial organo-mineral soils. The carbon of woody plant biomass is counted separately from soil as carbon of the standing biomass. Nevertheless, humification as a universal process already begins in plant residues before they reach the surface of the classical tropical mineral soil. Moreover, in tropical humid-forest ecosystems, most of the organic matter does not reach the soil surface at all and accumulates in the state of suspended soils. The data obtained in this study characterize, for the first time, the component and structural composition of the organic matter of plant residues of suspended soils, as well as the products of their transformation—humic substances formed in suspended soils. With the use of micro morphological methods, it was shown that humification appears in merged areas of organic remnants. There were statistically significant differences in the elemental composition of humic acids and initial organic material for all elements—C, H, O and N. It has been shown that the aliphatic part dominates (75–93%) in the initial organic materials of suspended soils, whereas the humic substances are characterized by a relatively increased fraction of aromatic fragments (31–42%) in the composition of their molecules, which confirms that humification takes place. Thus, even in the suspended soils, classical humification occurs, and this is not limited by the low content of mineral particles and cations in the suspended soils and the rather acidic reaction of the material. Therefore, the existence of tiering and the formation of the corresponding layers of suspended soils is accompanied by the stabilization and humification of organic matter, which is accompanied by a radical change in its structural and component composition. This process is the “natural biotechnology” of organic matter conservation and stabilization is discussed in article.

Physicochemical Quality and Health Risks Associated with Use of Water from Nyamwamba River, Kasese, Western Uganda

Aim: In Kasese district of Western Uganda, farmers cultivating near Nyamwamba River (NR) experience crop wilting whenever the river banks burst. Increased cases of cancer and ulcers in the district is anecdotally blamed on ingestion of contaminated water from water resources polluted by tailings from Kilembe copper mines. Sand miners attested that mining in NR caused body irritations and itching while drinking water from the same river results in abdominal complications in infants. The aim of this study was to assess the seasonal variations in the physicochemical parameters and heavy metals (HMs) content of water from NR, and the associated health risks.
 Place and Duration of Study: The experiments were done at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda from 2018 to 2019.
 Methodology: This study employed quantitative research design. Water was sampled from down, middle and upstream of NR and Mubuku River, Western Uganda during the dry and wet seasons. The samples were analyzed for physicochemical parameters (pH, conductivity, total dissolved solids, total suspended soils) and HMs: chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), arsenic (As) and copper (Cu) by atomic absorption spectrometry. The estimated daily intake (EDI), target harzard quotient (THQ) and cancer risks were calculated to explore if there are any carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks that could arise from ingestion and dermal contact with water from NR.
 Results: Most physicochemical parameters of the water samples only met WHO guidelines for drinking water in the upstream. The mean concentration of Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, Cd and As were 0.90-29.66 mg/L, 0.21-10.74 mg/L, 0.40-8.21 mg/L, 1.10-13.47 mg/L, 0.79-13.47 mg/L, 0.05-1.40 mg/L and 0.22-4.34 mg/L, respectively. Wet season recorded higher HMs concentrations when compared to the dry season, with all its samples exceeding the WHO guidelines for drinking water. There was an extremely high concentration of HMs in the upstream samples than expected. Health risk assessment indicated that the EDI through dermal contact ranged from 0.015 to 4.150 mg/kg/day while through ingestion of contaminated water, the values ranged from 0.008 × 10-6 to 38.266 × 10-6 mg/Lday. Some of the EDI doses were higher than corresponding reference doses for ingestion and contact with the HMs in water. THQ and total THQ exceeded 1 while cancer risk values were beyond the US EPA cancer risk borderline.
 Conclusion: This study revealed that there are serious non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks that could arise from consumption and contact with water from NR. Future studies should examine the relationship between the occurrence of trace metals in food stuffs with cancer, ulcers and other associated diseases in the area.

Soil Actinomycetes of Vietnam Tropical Forests

Actinomycetes are an important group of bioactive hydrolytic bacteria in any ecosystem. However, the actinomycete biodiversity in tropical ecosystems, particularly in Vietnam, is still underexplored. The aim of this article is to analyze the abundance, taxonomic structure and ecophysiological features of actinomycete complexes of soils and litter in Vietnam’s protected areas. A total of 41 samples of soils, plant litter and suspended soils were collected from six of Vietnam’s national parks and nature reserves. The direct inoculation technique showed that the total abundance of actinomycetes varied from 2.0 × 104 to 1.0 × 108 CFU/g. According to the luminescent microscopy with acridine orange dye, the length of the actinomycete mycelium was as long as 1000 m/g in the litter of Xuan Son National Park. A total of 80 strains were isolated and tested for antagonistic activity against Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. Inoculation on Getchinson’s medium showed high cellulolytic activity. The most active strains were isolated from alluvial brown soil, plant litter and suspended soil of the Pu Hoat Nature Reserve. In these samples, actinomycetes adapted to high temperatures and low pH were found to be predominant. High-throughput sequencing of the V3–V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene and bioinformatic analysis confirmed the high taxonomic diversity and high hydrolytic activity of actinomycete complexes of the Pu Hoat Nature Reserve samples.

The impact of lower quality water on soiling removal from photovoltaic panels

Soiling, bird droppings, and dust accumulation on the surface of photovoltaic cells, can reduce the solar energy absorption and produce power losses. In solar plants where soiling is a problem, the use of low quality water in lieu of typically used demineralized water could conserve fresh water. Soiling was studied in a group of 264 photovoltaic panels, facing due south with a tilt angle of 32°, located at the West Yard of the City of Las Vegas, Nevada. The panels were grouped into six independent sections and each section was manually washed eight times during 302 days using different cleaning methods. The results show that dust did not seem to have a great effect on the system performance, with the control group experiencing only a 1.88% reduction in mean efficiency due to dust accumulation. Washing with distilled water recovered the mean normalized system efficiency approximately 1.32%, followed by treated wastewater (0.92%), treated wastewater with surfactant (0.73%), vacuum cleaner (0.27%), and groundwater (0.24%). The dust composition analysis indicated the dust particles identified on the surface of the photovoltaic panels were the same from the ground or caused by the light vehicular traffic. Pyrolysis-GC/MS identified that the presence of organic compounds on the surface of the PV panels was related to the local suspended soil, pollen, and vaporized cooking oils. The dissolved minerals in the wastewater and in the groundwater, at this location, negatively impact the performance of the system and can be considered an inefficient cleaning method.

Simultaneous removal of suspended fine soil particles, strontium and cesium from soil washing effluent using inorganic flocculants

The purpose of this study was to remove suspended soil, Sr 2 + , and Cs + that may exist in soil-washing effluents using an inorganic coagulant (J-AF). The major chemical constituents of the flocculant J-AF were SO 3 and CaO, and were confirmed to have thenardite (Na 2 SO 4 ), calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ), and tychite (Na 6 Mg 2 (CO 3 ) 4 (SO 4 )) crystals. When 10 g/L of J-AF was injected into the turbid solution containing unstably suspended soil particles of < 45 μ m , the suspended soil could be completely precipitated. The agglomerates of suspended soil formed using J-AF had a maximum size of more than 1 mm, due to which sedimentation was effective. The precipitation of suspended soil by J-AF was more favorable under acidic conditions, such as pH 2, 3, and 5. Sr 2 + was mainly removed from the supernatant by adsorption using J-AF, and Cs + was precipitated by J-AF while adsorbed on suspended soil and subsequently eliminated from the supernatant. These results provide that J-AF can be used for the simultaneous removal of suspended soil, Sr 2 + , and Cs + from a radioactive soil suspension. • J-AF successfully flocculated and precipitated suspended soil. • Suspended soil precipitated favorably at pH 2, 3, and 5. • Sr 2+ was adsorbed by soil and J-AF, and was partially co-precipitated. • Cs + precipitated while adsorbed onto the soil and separated from the aqueous phase.

The Biological Performance of a Novel Electrokinetic-Assisted Membrane Photobioreactor (EK-MPBR) for Wastewater Treatment.

Developing an effective phycoremediation system, especially by utilizing microalgae, could provide a valuable approach in wastewater treatment for simultaneous nutrient removal and biomass generation, which would help control environmental pollution. This research aims to study the impact of low-voltage direct current (DC) application on Chlorella vulgaris properties and the removal efficiency of nutrients (N and P) in a novel electrokinetic-assisted membrane photobioreactor (EK-MPBR) in treating synthetic municipal wastewater. Two membrane photobioreactors ran in parallel for 49 days with and without an applied electric field (current density: 0.261 A/m2). Mixed liquid suspended soils (MLSS) concentration, chemical oxygen demand (COD), floc morphology, total phosphorus (TP), and total nitrogen (TN) removals were measured during the experiments. The results showed that EK-MPBR achieved biomass production comparable to the control MPBR. In EK-MPBR, an over 97% reduction in phosphate concentration was achieved compared to 41% removal in the control MPBR. The control MPBR outperformed the nitrogen removal of EK-MPBR (68% compared to 43% removal). Induced DC electric field led to lower pH, lower zeta potential, and smaller particle sizes in the EK-MPBR as compared with MPBR. The results of this novel study investigating the incorporation of Chlorella vulgar is in an electrokinetic-assisted membrane photobioreactor indicate that this is a promising technology for wastewater treatment.

Effective treatment of uranium-contaminated soil-washing effluent using precipitation/flocculation process for water reuse and solid waste disposal

The purpose of this study was to effectively purify uranium (U(VI))-contaminated soil-washing effluent using a precipitation/flocculation process, reuse the purified water, and dispose of the solid waste. The U(VI) ions in the effluent were easily removed as sediments by neutralization, and the metal sediments and suspended soils were flocculated–precipitated by polyacrylamide (PAM). The precipitate generated through the precipitation/flocculation process was completely separated into solid–liquid phases by membrane filtration (pore size <45 μm), and Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions remaining in the effluent were removed by distillation. Even if neutralized or distilled effluent was reused for soil washing, soil decontamination performance was maintained. PAM, an organic component of the filter cake, was successfully removed by thermal decomposition without loss of metal deposits including U(VI). Therefore, the treatment method of U(VI)-contaminated soil-washing effluent using the precipitation/flocculation process presented in this study can be used to effectively treat the washing waste of U(VI)-contaminated soil and dispose of the generated solids.

Using Two Ecological Engineering Technologies to Treat River Pollution in Changhua County, Taiwan

AbstractPolluted rivers are a primary concern in Changhua County, Taiwan, due to the rapid development and expansion of agriculture and industry. A water purification system is tested on samples from the Yangzi‐Cuo River, Ci‐Tong Jiao, Changhua County. Two ecological engineering technologies (a gravel contact oxidation and a surface flow constructed wetland treatment) are investigated separately and in combination. The river pollution index (RPI) is measured before and after treatment and used to quantify the results. The inflow volume is 1534–2261 m3 day−1. Pollution elimination efficiencies are 62.83–95.83% for suspended soils, 55.02–86.02% for biochemical oxygen demand, 52.43–88.43% for total nitrogen, 11.95–82.43% for total phosphate, and 40.43–100.00% for ammoniacal nitrogen after using the combined methods. The inflow water is classified as highly polluted with an RPI &gt; 6 mg L–1, whereas the post‐treatment outflow has medium or low pollution with RPIs of 3–6 or 2–3 mg L–1, respectively. The combination of both methods effectively purified Yangzi‐Cuo River water.

Efficiency of Some Traps to Measure Flux Dust Suspension Particles by Wind Erosion

This study was to analyze the efficiency (E) of traps in holding suspended soil particles that cause dust, environmental and agricultural problems by wind erosion in NWCZ, Egypt. These vertical and passive sediment traps with different design in rotary and fixed reservoir box and different methods of measured soil loss. Rotary Distance (RD), Fixed Distance (FD), Rotary Point (RP) and Fixed Point (FP) traps were compared with traditional trap Big Spring Number Eight (BSNE). The variation between traps’ efficiency as a function of height was significantly (P≤0.05) and was as follow: RD, FD, RP, and FP more increase than BSNE. The performance of the trap types as an efficiency of suspension particles (assumed to possess E=1 for suspended particle sizes) was as follow RD> FD> RP> FP> BSNE; 99%, 98%, 88%, 85%, 65% respectively. The efficiency of traps in suspension particles size (<45, 45- 63 and >100 µm) were significant (P ≤ 0.05) and the best efficient were RD and FD. Therefore, RD and FD traps have direct methods for measuring soil loss by wind erosion and have the most acceptable, accurate, fastest and easiest in soil particle analyzed and therefore the most effective way to discriminate suspension particles.

Dispersal patterns of oribatid mites across habitats and seasons

Oribatid mites are tiny arthropods that are common in all soils of the world; however, they also occur in microhabitats above the soil such as lichens, mosses, on the bark of trees and in suspended soils. For understanding oribatid mite community structure, it is important to know whether they are dispersal limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the importance of oribatid mite dispersal using Malaise traps to exclude sole passive wind-dispersal. Oribatid mite communities were collected over a 3-year period from five habitat types (coniferous forests, deciduous forests, mixed forests, meadows, bog/heathlands sites) and three seasons (spring, summer, autumn) in Sweden. Mites entered traps either by walking or by phoresy, i.e., by being attached to flying insects. We hypothesized (1) that oribatid mite communities in the traps differ between habitats, indicating habitat-limited dispersal, and (2) that oribatid mite communities differ among seasons suggesting that dispersal varies due to changing environmental conditions such as moisture or resource availability. The majority of the collected species were not typically soil-living species but rather from habitats such as trees, lichens and mosses (e.g., Carabodes labyrinthicus, Cymbaeremaeus cymba, Diapterobates humeralis and Phauloppia lucorum) indicating that walking into the traps or entering them via phoresy are of greater importance for aboveground than for soil-living species. Overall, oribatid mite communities collected in the traps likely originated from the surrounding local habitat suggesting that long distance dispersal of oribatid mites is scarce. Significant differences among seasons indicate higher dispersal during warm and dry periods of the year. Notably, 16 species of oribatid mites collected in our study were sampled for the first time in Sweden. This study also demonstrates that Malaise traps are a meaningful tool to investigate spatial and temporal patterns of oribatid mite communities.

Evaluation of off-site effects of wind-eroded sediments especially the content of pesticides

Wind-eroded sediment, as an environmental transport pathway of toxic elements and pesticids, can result in environmental and human exposure far beyond the agricultural areas where it has been applied. In our research we quantified the pesticide residues moving in the soil near Szeged (Hungary) on the original soil surface of agricultural areas with a portable wind tunnel. Before the experiments, a portion of the sample area was treated with chlorpyrifos and pendimethalin. A control area was also selected. In 2017-2019, a total of 42 wind event experiments were conducted by examining the topsoil samples. During the experiments, moving soil particles were trapped at various heights (5-10 cm, 20-25 cm and 50-55 cm) and the pesticide concentrates by GC-MS were measured. The enrichment ratios (ER) were calculated, and statistical analyzes were also carried out (SPSS). The measurements obtained that the pendimethalin ER is much higher in the rolled fraction (mean: 13.7) than chlorpyrifos (mean: 2.9). Our measurements showed that the enrichment of chlorpyrifos and pendimethalin can be detected in the rolling and suspended soil particles.

Efficient separation performance of suspended soil and strontium from aqueous solution using magnetic flocculant

This study aimed at magnetically separating suspended soil and Sr2+ from a soil suspension using a magnetic flocculant (MNP/IF). MNP/IF was prepared using the electrostatic interaction between the magnetite particles and the inorganic flocculant (IF) based on CaCO3 and Na2SO4. By analyzing the physical properties of MNP/IF, it was confirmed that MNP/IF was successfully imparted with magnetism and had excellent adsorption capacity for Sr2+. The optimal MNP/IF dosage for the sedimentation of suspended soil was determined to be 0.3 g/g (mass ratio of flocculant to soil). Compared with raw IF, MNP/IF showed better flocculation performance to suspended soil for a shorter sedimentation time. The lower the pH, the more favorable the flocculation-sedimentation process of the suspended soil by MNP/IF, since Ca2+ and Mg2+, which are the most common strong flocculators, were further eluted from IF under acidic conditions. MNP/IF also showed excellent removal performance for Sr2+, exhibiting maximum Sr2+ adsorption capacities of 163.6 mg/g in the flocculation-sedimentation reaction of suspended soil. The Sr2+ adsorption process was consistent with the Langmuir model and followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics. These results provide that MNP/IF can be used for the simultaneous removal of suspended soil particles and Sr2+ from a radioactive soil suspension.

Groundwater Quality Determination from hand-dug wells in Ososo Town, Akoko-Edo North Local Government Area Edo State

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; Groundwater is water beneath the surface of the earth. The primary source is precipitation from rain, snow, and hail. Groundwater commonly occurs as water that fills pore spaces between mineral or rock grains in sediments and sedimentary rocks. This study is to evaluate the physiochemical characteristics and selected heavy metal levels of Water from Hand Dug Wells in Ososo in Akoko Edo Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. A total of twenty (20) water samples were collected in very clean containers from twenty (20) hand dug wells in Ososo town, and taken to the laboratory immediately for physical, chemical and heavy metal analysis using standard laboratory techniques. The physical analysis results from the study show that depth to ground water is very shallow. Ph was below 7.5. Conductivity varies from 167.8-2120.00/cm. The temperatures were uniform. The ground water is odorless and tasteless. The amounts of total suspended soil (TSS) in all the samples vary from 10–20 ppm. The total dissolved solid content (TDS) concentration for all the samples varies from 132–1320.00 ppm. Total hardness is soft to moderately hard. Total alkalinity values vary between 3.0 to 18.0 ppm. The phenolphthalein value for the sample tested was zero. Chemical analysis results for the cations shows that Calcium (Ca) is one of the most abundant cations in the entire well water samples with concentration varying from 6.4 – 40.0 mg/L. Magnesium (Mg) concentration vary from 2.0 -9.5 ppm. Dissolved Sodium (Na) content values vary from 17.9- 92.5 mg/L. Chemical analysis results for the anions shows that the concentration of sulphate (SO4) ions varies from 93–125 mg/L. The bicarbonate (CO3) concentration in all samples varies from 25.7–90 mg/L. The dissolved nitrites and nitrates concentrations varies from 5.7 – 9.1. Heavy metals analysis shows the concentrations of copper (CU) in the samples range from 0.1 – 0.5 mg/l. The result of the analysis indicates high values of lead (Pb) in nine samples, but lead was not detected in wells 6 and 7. The values for other wells ranged between 0.1-0.2 mg/l. The values for the concentration of chromium (Cr)range from 0.4 -0.89 mg/l. The values of barium (Ba) range from 0.05- 0.3 mg/l. Result from the heavy mineral analysis for Cadmium (Cd) gave an approximate value of 0.2 and below detectable limit in the other wells. The values of Zinc (Zn) range from 0.8 – 11.4 mg/l. The values of Nickel (Ni) range from 0.1–0.5 mg/l.The hand-dug wells in the study area contain free Carbon IV Oxide and the alkalinity of the well water is entirely due to Bicarbonate ions. Sodium, chloride, bicarbonates, calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium are the most abundant. All the dissolved anions in the well water sample are generally below the recommended maximum limits by WHO. Samples also showed high bacteria load which primarily originated from effluent discharge from pit toilets and waste dumps and can constitute health risk on ingestion. Highly populated areas have groundwater with high concentration of dissolved ions and the converse for areas of low population. From the results of the analysis, conclusion is drawn to the fact that, the groundwater chemistry in the study area has been influenced greatly by human activities than the bedrock geology of the area. It is therefore recommended that well location should be at least, 30 m away from any source of contamination such as soak- ways, adequate treatment must be given to well water such as chlorination, boiling to destroy any bacteria and filtration to remove all unwanted/undesirable constituents that may be present, and a policy on land use planning and urban development to guard against indiscriminate setting of wells within the centre of the village should be established. This study has been able to enhance sustainable water development, since the health of inhabitants in a community depends to a large extent on the quality of groundwater supply.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

Tree Species and Epiphyte Taxa Determine the "Metabolomic niche" of Canopy Suspended Soils in a Species-Rich Lowland Tropical Rainforest.

Tropical forests are biodiversity hotspots, but it is not well understood how this diversity is structured and maintained. One hypothesis rests on the generation of a range of metabolic niches, with varied composition, supporting a high species diversity. Characterizing soil metabolomes can reveal fine-scale differences in composition and potentially help explain variation across these habitats. In particular, little is known about canopy soils, which are unique habitats that are likely to be sources of additional biodiversity and biogeochemical cycling in tropical forests. We studied the effects of diverse tree species and epiphytes on soil metabolomic profiles of forest floor and canopy suspended soils in a French Guianese rainforest. We found that the metabolomic profiles of canopy suspended soils were distinct from those of forest floor soils, differing between epiphyte-associated and non-epiphyte suspended soils, and the metabolomic profiles of suspended soils varied with host tree species, regardless of association with epiphyte. Thus, tree species is a key driver of rainforest suspended soil metabolomics. We found greater abundance of metabolites in suspended soils, particularly in groups associated with plants, such as phenolic compounds, and with metabolic pathways related to amino acids, nucleotides, and energy metabolism, due to the greater relative proportion of tree and epiphyte organic material derived from litter and root exudates, indicating a strong legacy of parent biological material. Our study provides evidence for the role of tree and epiphyte species in canopy soil metabolomic composition and in maintaining the high levels of soil metabolome diversity in this tropical rainforest. It is likely that a wide array of canopy microsite-level environmental conditions, which reflect interactions between trees and epiphytes, increase the microscale diversity in suspended soil metabolomes.

Assessment of Capsicum annuum L. Grown in Controlled and Semi-Controlled Environments Irrigated with Greywater Treated by Floating Wetland Systems

Accumulation of trace elements, including heavy metals, were evaluated in soil and fruits of chilli plants (Capsicum annuum L.) grown under both laboratory-controlled and semi-controlled greenhouse location conditions. Chilli plant biomass growth in different development stages and fruit productivity were evaluated and compared with each other for the impact of growth boundary conditions and water quality effects. Treated synthetic greywaters by different operational design set-ups of floating treatment wetland systems were recycled for watering chillies in both locations. Effluents of each individual group of treatment set-up systems were labelled to feed sets of three replicates of chilli plants in both locations. Results revealed that the treated synthetic greywater (SGW) complied with thresholds for irrigation water, except for high concentrations (HC) of phosphates, total suspended soils, and some trace elements, such as cadmium. Chilli plants grew in both locations with different growth patterns in each development stage. First blooming and high counts of flowers were observed in the laboratory. Higher fruit production was noted for greenhouse plants: 2266 chilli fruits with a total weight of 16.824 kg with an expected market value of GBP 176.22 compared to 858 chilli fruits from the laboratory with a weight of 3.869 kg and an estimated price of GBP 17.61. However, trace element concentrations were detected in chilli fruits with the ranking order of occurrence as: Mg &gt; Ca &gt; Na &gt; Fe &gt; Zn &gt; Al &gt; Mn &gt; Cu &gt; Cd &gt; Cr &gt; Ni &gt; B. The highest concentrations of accumulated Cd (3.82 mg/kg), Cu (0.56 mg/kg), and Na (0.56 mg/kg) were recorded in chilli fruits from the laboratory, while greater accumulations of Ca, Cd, Cu, Mn, and Ni with concentrations of 4.73, 1.30, 0.20, 0.21, and 0.24 mg/kg, respectively, were linked to fruits from the greenhouse. Trace elements in chilli plant soils followed the trend: Mg &gt; Fe &gt; Al &gt; Cr &gt; Mn &gt; Cd &gt; Cu &gt; B. The accumulated concentrations in either chilli fruits or the soil were above the maximum permissible thresholds, indicating the need for water quality improvements.

Improving the ecological safety of potato chips production by devising a method for wastewater treatment and recycling

The study deals with determining the effectiveness of mechanical and physical and chemical methods for the treatment of wastewater of potato chips enterprises. It was established that the wastewater that is formed at different stages of production differ in composition. Wastewater after washing and peeling potatoes is contaminated mainly with suspended soil substances of about 500 mg/l, which are not settled, and also has soluble organic substances with a value of COD of about 1,000 mg/l. It was found that the use of coagulation-flocculation treatment makes it possible to get clear water suitable for reuse for washing potatoes. Coagulant – aluminum sulfate in the amount of 250 mg/l turned out to be effective to destroy the stability of the dispersed system. To intensify the sedimentation of coagulated flakes of suspended particles, non-ionogenic flocculant, which is recommended to be dosed after the introduction of coagulant in the amount of 2.5 ml/l, was selected. Analysis of clarified water indicates a decrease in the concentration of suspended particles up to 26 mg/l and a decrease in COD and BOD5 to values of 262 mg/l and 176 mg/l, respectively. The completed studies made it possible to propose a circuit of treatment of wastewater after washing potatoes, which consists of pre-filtering, reagent treatment, water clarification, and sediment dehydration. This circuit makes it possible to intensively clean the water to the standards of its discharge into the sewage network. However, additional disinfection of water with oxidizers, for example, ozone, was proposed for the reuse of clarified water to wash vegetables at an enterprise itself. The use of the proposed circuit of intensive water treatment will allow increasing the environmental safety of the production of potato chips by preventing environmental contamination through reducing the volume of tap water consumption

Microbiomes in Suspended Soils of Vascular Epiphytes Differ from Terrestrial Soil Microbiomes and from Each Other.

Microbial biodiversity parameters for tropical rainforests remain poorly understood. Whilst the soil microbiome accounts up to 95% of the total diversity of microorganisms in terrestrial ecosystems, the microbiome of suspended soils formed by vascular epiphytes remains completely unexplored. Samples of ground and suspended soils were collected in Cat Tien National Park, southern Vietnam. DNA extraction and sequencing were performed, and libraries of 16s rDNA gene sequences were analyzed. Alpha diversity indices of the microorganisms were the highest in the forest ground soil. In general, the microbiological diversity of all the soil types was found to be similar at the phylum level. Taxonomic composition of the bacterial communities in the suspended soils of plants from the same species are not closer than the taxonomic compositions of the communities in the suspended soils of different plant species. However, the beta diversity analysis revealed significant differences in the movement of mineral elements in terrestrial versus suspended soils. Our data showed that the suspended soils associated with vascular epiphytes were a depository of unique microbiological biodiversity. A contributing factor was the presence of large amounts of organic matter in the suspended soils—deposits collected by the epiphytes—which would have been degraded by termites if it had reached the ground. Further, the nutrient content of the suspended soils was prime for soil respiration activity and taxonomic microbial community biodiversity.

Potential of Road Rainwater Harvesting in Yemen – Its Social, Environmental and Economic Benefits: A Case Study of Sana›a – Hodeida Road, Yemen

Abstract&#x0D; In Yemen, farmers and people living along the roads are suffering from the lack of utilization of rainwater runoff from road surface &amp; surrounding area and road water structures. The objectives of this research is to optimize the benefits of Road Rainwater Harvesting (RRWH) to the beneficiaries during road design, construction and operation &amp; maintenance; to suggest a technical outlines; to induce the awareness of road’s engineers on the importance of Integrated Water Harvesting Management (IWHM), in addition to discussing the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA). The research approach focused on conducting field visits and applying a reconnaissance survey to document the current and potential road rainwater structures along the pilot section of 24 km as part of Sana’a – Al-Hodiedah road between Al- Masajed village and Sooq Al-Aman; Designing and applying questionnaires and interviews for farmers &amp; beneficiaries, and road engineers. The SPSS software program was used to analyze the collected data. From the conducted interviews along the road, it was revealed that almost all the stakeholders have land adjacent to the roadside, and their farms are irrigated from rainwater collected from road structures. All inhabitants considered water floods running from/on the road surface and structures as their rights, and it is distributed at the moment according to the field’s water rights which exist before the road construction. The research found that almost all farmers considered the water from roads as contaminated water. The source of contamination comes from residual oil on the road, diesel, oil from oil shops and suspended soil particles. On the other hand, according to the road engineer’s questionnaire, the concept of water harvesting, groundwater recharge and water for irrigation from road surface and road structures were not considered during design. In addition, the results obtained showed that water-harvesting techniques in the pilot road section is in the form of farmers’initiatives implemented by directing water to their farms for irrigation. The study conclude applying RRWH to protect the road sections from erosion and damage; increase the availability and utilization of water in the areas nearby roads; minimize the erosion of landscape especially in mountainous areas as well as in road embankments; improve the stabilization of the road slopes; and maintain esthetic value of landscape nearby roads. It is recommended that road drainage structure should be located in a proper place to avoid conflicts among farmers and fulfill their water rights. To avoid soil and water contamination by oil, grease and fuel from vehicles along the road, the research recommends that oil workshops should be implemented and forced to collect and recycle oil instead of disposing it on the road surface. RRWH is recommended to be applied to mitigate the damage of terraces during the heavy runoff. The study urges the joint efforts from all stakeholders and road engineers to apply the suggested technical outline in this paper by including rainwater harvesting from roads as part of road design, implementation and maintenance.&#x0D; Keywords: rainwater harvesting, road design, culverts, engineers,stakeholders, farmers, ESIA, Yemen, social and economic benefits.