Wastewater Management Practices Research Articles

Anthropogenic and meteorological factors influence vector abundance and prevalence of bluetongue virus infection of dairy cattle in California

Bluetongue is an economically important arboviral disease of ruminants that is transmitted by hematophagous Culicoides midges. In light of dramatic recent changes in the global distribution of bluetongue virus (BTV), the goals of this study were to re-evaluate the prevalence of BTV infection of cattle and abundance of Culicoides midges on individual dairy farms in California. A serosurvey of adult dairy cattle confirmed that BTV infection is prevalent throughout much of the state, although the coastal northwestern region remains free of infection and prevalence varies markedly among farms in the remainder of the state. Intensive sampling for one year of 4 farms in the northern Central Valley of California showed that the abundance of Culicoides midges was markedly different and coincided with the prevalence of BTV infection of sentinel cattle on each farm. Mean maximum and minimum temperatures and other meteorological parameters were similar on all 4 farms, thus we speculate that particular management practices were responsible for both the increased midge abundance and prevalence of BTV infection of cattle at individual farms. Specifically, it is concluded that variation in vector abundance at individual farms most likely is the result of waste-water lagoon and irrigation management practices, leading to higher BTV infection rates among livestock held on farms with more waste-water lagoons and greater acreage of land for waste-water irrigation.

Water Management for a Megacity: National Capital Territory of Delhi

Urban and regional demand for freshwater in National Capital Territory of Delhi has grown significantly over the last few decades. The National Capital Territory, Delhi is one of the most rapidly growing urban centers of the world, with a population of about 15 million people, a high rate of immigration and numerous illegal settlements. In order to meet the increasing water demand, the government is focused almost exclusively on supply management and engineering solutions, which have resulted in investments of hundreds of millions of Rupees. Environmental, economic and social policies associated with water management are largely inadequate and insufficient, which is resulting in increasing deterioration in the environment, health and socio-economic conditions of a population living in one of the largest urban agglomerations of the world. Surprisingly, however, no long-term strategies on demand-management, reuse, conservation, and improved water-management practices have been developed so far. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the urban water use with a view to enhance the understanding of the factors influencing urban water demand for residential, commercial and industrial sectors in National Capital Territory of Delhi. The analysis indicates an urgent need to radically improve the current water supply and wastewater management practices to become sustainable. Other measures such as public education and information/awareness will be necessary to achieve desired rationalization in water consumption, especially in the residential and commercial sectors.

Development of A Web-Based Interactive Database for Water and Wastewater Pipeline Renewal Engineering Technologies and Management Practices

Development of A Web-Based Interactive Database for Water and Wastewater Pipeline Renewal Engineering Technologies and Management PracticesSystem Renewal includes various repair, rehabilitation, and replacement technologies and products that restore pipeline systems to the expected levels of service within the established budget plan. The key is to determine which renewal technology is best suited for the situation at hand, taking into account both past experiences, technological innovations, and project specific requirements. The...Author(s)Kristi SteinerSunil SinhaJai K. JungGrant WhittleWalter GrafSourceProceedings of the Water Environment FederationSubjectSession 108: Technology and Sewers: What a Combination!Document typeConference PaperPublisherWater Environment FederationPrint publication date Jan, 2011ISSN1938-6478SICI1938-6478(20110101)2011:8L.6879;1-DOI10.2175/193864711802793281Volume / Issue2011 / 8Content sourceWEFTECFirst / last page(s)6879 - 6892Copyright2011Word count165Subject keywordsWater and Wastewater PipelinesAsset ManagementRenewal EngineeringBaseline ConditionWATERiD Interactive Web DatabasePipeline DatabaseUtility CommunicationWater Infrastructure DatabaseNational Database

Water and wastewater management technologies through the centuries

The aim of this paper is to propose a journey through the history of water and wastewater management technologies in the ancient civilizations, a sort of Appian Way (“Via Appia”, the “regina longarum viarum”) through the Centuries. Moreover, this paper is a sort of short summary of papers presented in the first two IWA Specialty Conferences on Water and Wastewater Technologies in Ancient Civilizations with particular emphasis on the later one. The main topics considered are: aqueducts and tunnels, cisterns and reservoirs, water distributions systems, fountains, toilets and other purgatory structures, drainage and sewerage systems, irrigation systems and, finally, qanats and other similar systems. Upon completing the journey, we have arrived at the conclusion that the meaning of sustainability in modern times should be revaluated in light of ancient hydraulic water and wastewater works and management practices.

Spectral enhancement of SPOT imagery data to assess marine pollution near Port Said, Egypt

Satellite image data were used to detect, monitor and map different pollutants at five study sites along the El-Gamil beach, including El-Debba, El-Manasra, El-Fardous and El-Gamil inlets and the El-Gamil airport. The images were rectified and analysed by ERDAS IMAGINE 8.7. Image processing techniques were applied using ENVI 4.2 to analyse the SPOT image data (10 m resolution) for 2006. Image enhancement, principal component analysis (PCA), band ratios and supervised/unsupervised classifications were applied. Surface water samples were collected during the winter of 2005 and the summer of 2006. Water contamination was found to be higher in the summer than in the winter. SPOT image data from the summer, therefore, was selected to verify the results of metal analysis. Different pollutants detected along the El Manasra and El Debba sites are associated with industrial development, and discharge from natural gas companies and electric power generating stations. Significant water pollution is not unique to this region of the Mediterranean Sea, but is increasingly common at coastal locations throughout the globe. To protect both the marine environment and commercial interests that depend on clean water and beaches (e.g. beach resorts), effective wastewater management practices must be designed, implemented and maintained, along with reasonable development policies. Remote sensing may be an important tool for monitoring the effectiveness of any pollution mitigation strategies.

Microbial community dynamics in anaerobic bioreactors and algal tanks treating piggery wastewater

Integrated biosystem is becoming a major aspect of wastewater management practice. Microbial communities in piggery wastewater sampled from anaerobic (thermophilic and mesophilic) and aerobic digesters (algal tanks) during waste remediation were analyzed by culture-independent techniques based on polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). The use of Muyzer's 314F-GC, 518R bacterial primers, and archaeal A934F, 1309R primers followed by partial 16s rDNA sequence analysis of the main bands from DGGE revealed the presence of unknown and as yet uncultured microorganisms but also showed functional and ecologically significant denitrifying, acetogenic bacteria along with autotrophic, hydrogenotrophic, and acetoclastic methanogen archaea. Thermophilic digesters were dominated by gamma-Proteobacteria, Methanothermobacter sp., while mesophilic digesters showed dominance by Firmicutes, uncultured bacteria, Methanosarcina, and Methanoculleus genera. Under aerobic conditions within algal tanks, pH rose from 7.17 to 9.32, with a significant decrease in total ammonia nitrogen, chemical oxygen demand, and soluble phosphorus levels. PCR-DGGE proved a useful tool for investigating the dynamics of microbial community in the bio-processing of piggery wastewater. Knowledge of the microbial communities involved in digestion of piggery wastewater will allow optimization of integrated biosystem by removing the main pollutants like inorganic ammonium-nitrogen, phosphorus, and pathogens from intensive farming system.

Designing sustainable sanitation in urban planning proposed for Changzhou, China

China is undergoing rapid urbanization and economic development. This requires a new approach on spatial planning and environmental infrastructure. In the presented project an example of this approach is given for the city of Changzhou (China) where a new residential area (Qinglong district) will be developed for 100.000 inhabitants. Key issue within the formulation of sustainable sanitation concepts is the integration and management of water, waste and energy in such a way that they will become beneficial to the establishment of the envisaged green city. Starting point was the closing of material cycles focusing on possibilities to recover and reuse valuable resources and energy from "waste" produced in an urban setting. Four different scenarios focusing on water, nutrient and energy recovery were compared with the baseline wastewater management practice. Besides environmental benefits, the economical benefits of sustainable sanitation concepts are attractive, the break even point with the baseline scenario, is already after 5 years, provided that recovered resources will be sold for a marketable price. We believe that presented concepts are applicable for a wide range of new urban development initiatives in China and similar rapidly developing densely populated regions worldwide.

Occurrence and fate of emerging wastewater contaminants in Western Balkan Region

This paper reports on a comprehensive reconnaissance of over seventy individual wastewater contaminants in the region of Western Balkan (WB; Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia), including some prominent classes of emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products, surfactants and their degradation products, plasticizers, pesticides, insect repellents, and flame retardants. All determinations were carried out using a multiresidue analytical approach, based on the application of gas chromatographic and liquid chromatographic techniques coupled to mass spectrometric detection. The results confirmed a widespread occurrence of the emerging contaminants in municipal wastewaters of the region. The most prominent contaminant classes, determined in municipal wastewaters, were those derived from aromatic surfactants, including linear alkylbenzene sulphonates (LAS) and alkylphenol polyethoxylates (APEO), with the concentrations in raw wastewater reaching into the mg/l range. All other contaminants were present in much lower concentrations, rarely exceeding few μg/l. The most abundant individual compounds belonged to several classes of pharmaceuticals (antimicrobials, analgesics and antiinflammatories, β-blockers and lipid regulators) and personal care products (fragrances). Due to the rather poor wastewater management practices in WB countries, with less than 5% of all wastewaters being biologically treated, most of the contaminants present in wastewaters reach ambient waters and may represent a significant environmental concern.

Evaluating the vulnerability of surface waters to antibiotic contamination from varying wastewater treatment plant discharges

Effluents from three wastewater treatment plants with varying wastewater treatment technologies and design were analyzed for six antibiotics and caffeine on three sampling occasions. Sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, and clindamycin were detected in the effluents at concentrations ranging from 0.090 to 6.0 μg/L. Caffeine was detected in all effluents at concentrations ranging from 0.19 to 9.9 μg/L. These findings indicate that several conventional wastewater management practices are not effective in the complete removal of antibiotics, and their discharges have a large potential to affect the aquatic environment. To evaluate the persistence of antibiotics coming from the wastewater discharges on the surrounding surface waters, samples were collected from the receiving streams at 10-, 20- and 100-m intervals. Ciprofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, and clindamycin (0.043 to 0.076 μg/L) were found as far as 100 m from the discharge point, which indicates the persistence of these drugs in surface waters.

Incorporating phosphorus management considerations into wastewater management practice

Abstract Aspects of phosphorus management and its connection with wastewater management at a city level are explored here with the method of substance flow analysis (SFA) used to develop a phosphorus balance in Sydney, Australia, for the year 2000. The SFA results reveal that around 80% of the total phosphorus inputs into the system boundary are contained in food and detergent products. Only 50% of the total phosphorus imports leave the area, and around 90% of that amount is exported via treated wastewater discharge to the ocean. Wastewater treatment including water recycling is identified as a major activity influencing the movement of phosphorus; as such, attempts are made to link the phosphorus management options to the practice of wastewater management. The SFA method is used to evaluate different policy scenarios for the improvement of phosphorus management through static modeling with particular attention given to alternative decentralised options such as urine separation, composting toilet, and greywater recycling. Depending on the particular issue(s) of concern, different combinations of policy options are found to be most effective for the Sydney region based on the year 2000 data. Particularly effective options include, for example, phosphorus separation at source enabling beneficial reuse for agricultural purposes and changing consumers’ behaviour to minimise the use of phosphorus (hence limiting the need to mine phosphate rock).

Strategies to Mitigate Salt Runoff from Salt Storage and Salt Truck Maintenance Facilities

Mitigating salt runoff at salt storage and salt truck maintenance facilities has become a concern for many state departments of transportation (DOTs), since their storm water discharge is found to pollute the environment. The use of nonstructural and structural best management practices (BMPs) are required to minimize the generation of liquid waste containing salt and to minimize the potential hazard caused by salt runoff. The regulatory requirements mandate appropriate disposal of treated salt runoff, which has instigated the need to use wash water to make salt-brine for salt prewetting and anti-icing applications. This paper discusses a novel approach to collect and treat the liquid waste containing salt based on an approach similar to the wastewater management practices used in vehicle and equipment washing facilities. Collected wastewater will be first made to flow through an oil–grit separator to remove hydrocarbons and organic material, then through an underground sediment–sand filter to remove sedi...

Wastewater reuse and treatment options for the dairy industry

Milk-processing plants generate significant quantities of wastewater with relatively high organic matter concentrations on a daily basis. In addition to environmental damage that can result from the discharge of these wastewaters into the natural waterways, the presence of products such as milk solids into wastewater streams represents a loss of valuable product for the plants. This paper presents a review of wastewater management practices employed by six milk-processing plants in Victoria, Australia. In all six plants investigated, milk powder represents a major product. During the milk powder production, water is evaporated, condensed and can be reused for various purposes with a significant impact on water usage. Other major products are anhydrous milk fat, cheese, butter, and UHT milk. The effectiveness of the practices was assessed through two main criteria: first through the water to milk intake ratio, and the waste volume coefficient. Both parameters characterise the plant efficiency in regard of water consumption and water reuse. Information on cleaning chemical usage and recovery was also assessed as part of the review. Significant discrepancies emerge between the plants first due to the products manufactured and water reuse possibilities available in each plant. Second the type of treatment technologies used for condensate and cleaning solution influences the figures. One of the investigated plants is almost self-sufficient for water, emphasising the benefits gained from the use of technologies like membrane separations for condensate and cleaning solution treatment. In some cases, less cost-intensive technologies such as a clarifier are successful to improve cleaning agent recovery.

Water management for a megacity: Mexico City Metropolitan Area.

The paper presents an overview of the present situation of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA). The analysis indicates an urgent need to radically improve the current water supply and wastewater management practices, to become sustainable. The MCMA is one of the most rapidly growing urban centers of the world, with a population of about 21 million people, a very high rate of immigration and numerous illegal settlements. In order to meet the increasing water demand, successive governments have focused almost exclusively on supply management and engineering solutions, which have resulted in investments of hundreds of millions of USD and the construction of major infrastructure projects for interbasin water transfer. Environmental, economic and social policies associated with water management are mostly inadequate and insufficient, which is resulting in increasing deterioration in the environment, health and socioeconomic conditions of a population living in one of the largest urban agglomerations of the world. Surprisingly, however, no long-term strategies on demand-management, reuse, conservation, and improved water-management practices have been developed so far.

Climatic effects on Salmonella survival in plant and soil irrigated with artificially inoculated wastewater: preliminary results

The use of wastewater to replace other water resources for irrigation is highly dependent on whether the health risk and environmental impacts entailed are acceptable or not. Total count and species of microorganisms found in wastewater vary widely because of climatic conditions, season, population sanitary habits and disease incidence. Salmonella, one of the genera associated with waterborne diseases, lives in the intestine. Thus, it is widely accepted that they have a limited survival period under environmental conditions. Wastewater management practices and the ability of Salmonella to survival under field conditions would determine the health risk associated with its presence in wastewater. Although chlorination is widely used, there are situations in which Salmonella is able to survive the sudden stress imposed by this technique. The aim of this experiment was to contribute to the study of the climatic and soil effects on pathogen survival under agricultural field conditions in order to assess which were the best wastewater management practices from both health and economic points of view. Five pots filled with soil seeded with Medicago sativa and an automatic weather station were used. A secondary effluent was artificially inoculated with Salmonella. In addition, open plates (filled with sterilised soil) and ultraviolet radiation isolated plates (filled with non-sterilised soil) were used. As soil heat emission contributes to the environmental conditions around the bacteria, standardised meteorological temperature data had to be carefully used in the bacterial survival studies under agricultural conditions. Radiation was the main cause of Salmonella mortality as its effect was more important than natural soil bacteria competence. Higher reduction of Salmonella counts could have been associated with longer spring days. Soil was able to effectively remove Salmonella. Subsurface drip irrigation methods could provide an effective tool to prevent health risk associated with wastewater irrigation.

Mass balance for wastewater nitrogen in the Central Arizona–Phoenix ecosystem

A complete nitrogen mass balance for all wastewater generated in the Central Arizona–Phoenix ecosystem was developed using data from the 18 largest wastewater treatment plants (99% of flow). Components included total N in raw wastewater, denitrification in wastewater treatment plants, biosolids production, and effluent (reuse, recharge, and discharge). Denitrification and biosolids production remove 81% of wastewater N. Nearly all biosolids are recycled to cotton fields within the ecosystem. Most effluent is recycled within the ecosystem. As the result of wastewater management practices developed to reuse wastewater, wastewater N is either deliberately volatilized or accumulates within the system; only 4% of the original wastewater N is exported via the Gila River.

Trialkylamines and Coprostanol as Tracers of Urban Pollution in Waters from Enclosed Seas: The Mediterranean and Black Sea

The occurrence and distribution of two domestic pollution markers, namely trialkylamines (TAMs, CH3NR1R2, where R1 and R2 = n-C14H29, n-C16H33, or n-C18H37) and coprostanol (COP, 5β(H)-cholestan-3β-ol) in the open seawaters from the western Mediterranean and the northwestern Black Sea is reported for the first time. Riverine transport (i.e. Danube in the Black Sea and Ebro and Rhône in the Mediterranean) is the main source of domestic pollution in both seas. The TAM concentrations in the suspended particulate matter (SPM) collected at riverine affected seawater in each area reflects the pattern of cationic surfactant usage, the population, and its wastewater management practices in the watershed reaching the highest concentrations at the Danube estuary (average value 119 ng L-1) followed by the Ebro (53.3 ng L-1) and Rhône (1.2 ng L-1) estuaries. Coprostanol concentrations were consistently lower than TAMs and maximized at the Rhône River mouth (8.9 ng L-1) followed by the Danube (average value 2.4 ng L-1) and the Ebro (0.52 ng L-1) estuaries. In the dissolved phase (DP), TAMs and COP exhibited higher concentrations in the Black Sea (TAMs = 16.6 ng L-1-10 μg L-1; COP = <0.1−1.6 ng L-1) than in the Mediterranean (TAMs = 0.2−1.6 ng L-1; COP = 0.1−1.2 ng L-1). Negative gradients of concentrations of both molecular markers in accordance with the coast distance were steeper in the case of COP, and enrichment in TAM concentrations was observed at frontal areas. Partitioning of COP favored the particulate phase according to its high hydrophobicity, but because TAMs behave as amphiphilic organic cations, in the Black Sea with low salinity and high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) they occurred preferentially in the dissolved phase. Vertical profiles of TAMs and coprostanol show a surface enrichment, depth-depletion, and bottom-enrichment when resuspension is favored. Therefore, TAMs are proposed as molecular markers to assess the long-range transport of domestic pollution into the open sea.

Stormwater management in industrial facilities: An integrated approach

AbstractNumerous existing and proposed regulations have forced owners/operators of industrial facilities to reevaluate current methods for management of stormwater which falls within the confines of their facilities. Most have found it necessary to integrate their current stormwater and wastewater management practices into a comprehensive environmental compliance program. The development of an integrated stormwater management program should focus on the following objectives: compliance with state and federal regulations. the minimization of the volume of stormwater requiring treatment. the minimization of the impacts on process/production unit operations the minimization of the impacts on wastewater treatment unit operations. A well designed and properly implemented stormwater management program can reduce capital and operating costs and enhance effluent quality.

Irrigating with Sugarbeet Processing Wastewater

In recent years, irrigating agricultural land with wastewater has become a major wastewater management practice. Irrigation has replaced much of the discharge to streams and conventional primary and secondary waste treatment for food processing wastewater (4, 11, 12, 13). Irrigating agricultural land for treatment and disposal of the food processing wastewater is a good practice if the wastewater does not contain toxic constituents. Crops grown on the land remove part of the plant nutrients supplied by the wastewater and can be fed to livestock (1, 2). Considerable information has been published about wastewater irrigation in recent years and several food processing wastewaters have been evaluated for irrigation use (5, 6, 17, 18, 19). These systems work well, oxygen demand and the chemical constituents, except potassium, were satisfactorily removed at moderate applications, as wastewater passed through the soil, and using wastewater for irrigation can economically benefit users. Nutrient concentrations in wastewaters, and in some cases feasibility for irrigation use, have been evaluated for several food processing wastewaters: cannery wastes (8, 16), citrus wastes (10), vegetable wastes (14, 21, 22, 23), fruit processing wastes (15, 21, 22, 25), and grain wastes (22). For the most part these wastewaters can be used for irrigating agricultural land with a minimum of problems.