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Waste and Pollution
Published in John C. Ayers, Sustainability, 2017
Many examples illustrate the pervasive environmental and health impacts of anthropogenic water pollution. The collapse of a bauxite tailings impoundment in Hungary in 2010 allowed 200 million gallons of sludge with a pH of 13 to flow into the Danube River and its tributaries, killing most wildlife and 9 people and injuring 122 people (Zhu and Schwartz 2011). Rivers draining areas containing mountaintop removal coal mines have elevated concentrations of selenium, sulfate, magnesium, and other inorganic solutes (Lindberg et al. 2011). Nutrient pollution affects many surface water bodies in developed countries, where it causes eutrophication and the development of dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico and other coastal waters (Howarth et al. 2000). Highly toxic cyanide used in heap leaching to extract gold from ore often ends up in streams where it causes fish kills (Manahan 2013).
Microalgae as a Source of Sustainability
Published in Pau Loke Show, Wai Siong Chai, Tau Chuan Ling, Microalgae for Environmental Biotechnology, 2023
Pik Han Chong, Jian Hong Tan, Joshua Troop
Waste is typically found in excessive nutrients, which are sourced from waste such as livestock feeds and fertilizers from agricultural waste. Typically, such waste contains nitrogen (N), carbon (C), phosphorus (P) that are essential for plant growth (Rawat et al. 2016). With improper management, these chemicals can get released into our ecosystem and lead to excessive levels of pollution. When these chemicals are carelessly released or washed off by rain into aquatic environments, algae bloom or “eutrophication” occurs (Howarth et al. 2000). Eutrophication is an excessive plant and algal growth which can cause ecological changes and imbalance in marine and freshwater ecosystems. This results in impairing other aquatic plants and sometimes produces toxins harmful to aquatic animals (Howarth et al. 2000). Thus, nutrient recovery or removal would be a crucial process to prevent nutrient pollution. Phycoremediation is a bioremediation process that specifically utilizes algae, which in this case are the microalgae. It can prove to be cost-effective for removing nutrients from algae strains with special attributes such as extreme temperature tolerance or quick sedimentation behavior (Olguín 2003). It was discovered that municipal sludge treated with high-temperature water through hydrothermal treatments can allow selective nutrient recovery (Aida et al. 2016). Microalgae-based processes can reduce the energy consumption of wastewater treatment processes by half while recovering up to 90% of the nutrients contained in the wastewater. The nutrients eventually are used in the production of valuable biomass for biofuels or food (Acién Fernández, Gómez-Serrano, and Fernández-Sevilla 2018)
Understanding the Environment
Published in Julie Kerr, Introduction to Energy and Climate, 2017
Nutrient pollution occurs when wastewater, fertilizer, or sewage contain high levels of nutrients. If the nutrients get washed into water sources, excess algae and weed growth occur. This makes water undrinkable and depletes the oxygen content. Surface water pollution occurs in rivers, lakes, ponds, and oceans. This happens when hazardous substances dissolve and mix with the water. Oxygen-depleting pollution occurs when biodegradable matter ends up in the water and causes microorganisms to grow, which in turn use up the oxygen in the water, depleting it.
Success and sustainability of nutrient pollution reduction in the Danube River Basin: recovery and future protection of the Black Sea Northwest shelf
Published in Water International, 2021
A key set of measures to reduce nutrient inputs and losses related to farming practices and land management has been identified as appropriate management tools to be applied in agricultural areas. The ND requires designation of Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) or alternatively, to apply the whole territory approach. In the zones (or over the whole territory) the amount of nitrate that is applied on agricultural fields in fertilizer or manure is limited and the application is strictly regulated through action programmes with basic mandatory measures. Moreover, codes of good agricultural practices are also recommended to be respected outside the NVZs on voluntary basis to ensure low N emissions entering the groundwater and river network. Furthermore, various best management practices are adopted in the Basin countries. Best management practices have been the most effective and practical methods of preventing or reducing non-point source nutrient pollution from croplands and animal farms. They include inter alia good agricultural practices, fertilizer application limits, standards for good agricultural and environmental conditions, agri-environmental measures, and natural water retention measures. Measure implementation usually involves both compulsory actions and voluntary measures that are acceptable for the farming community and subsidized or compensated via EU and state funds.
Low-cost physicochemical treatment for removal of ammonia, phosphate and nitrate contaminants from landfill leachate
Published in Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, 2019
Sinead Morris, Guiomar Garcia-Cabellos, David Ryan, Deirdre Enright, Anne-Marie Enright
Nutrient pollution, largely caused by the deliberate release of excess nitrogen and phosphorus into the atmosphere and waterbodies, is one of the most costly and challenging environmental problems of the industrialized world. Nutrient pollution of the aquatic environment is of particular concern as it often results in eutrophication and increased algal blooms within these ecosystems which reduces their stability.[1,2] One potential source of nutrient pollution is landfill leachate (LFL) which may contain, among other pollutants, particularly high concentrations of ammonia, nitrate and phosphate.[2,3] LFL is produced when water percolates through a landfill picking up the by-products of waste degradation. The composition of LFL changes over the lifespan of the landfill, as such in-depth knowledge of the stages of waste degradation is required to determine the most effective treatment options. Such investigations have revealed mature LFL, that is >5 years, characterized by biological oxygen demand: chemical oxygen demand ratios of ≤0.2, low concentrations of biodegradable compounds and elevated levels of ammonia, can be successfully treated physicochemically.[4,5] In particular, physiochemical treatments are effective for the removal of non-biodegradable organics such as humic and fulvic acids, heavy metals and absorbable organic halogens from LFL.[6,7]
Application of ANN and SVM for prediction nutrients in rivers
Published in Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, 2021
Industrial development, urbanization and growing agricultural activity for the last decades consequently result in degradation of river water quality. The quality of rivers on a global level is decreasing caused by different influences such as change of levels of nutrients, salts and sediments.[1] River water is often used as a source of potable and irrigation water, which is why the levels of different pollutants must be controlled and monitored. Nutrient pollution in water mainly represents high concentration of compounds of phosphorous and nitrogen which leads to eutrophication process in water.[2] Environmental problems caused by eutrophication could affect river water ecosystem and indirectly pollute other sources of water. In order to prevent nutrient pollution and avoid eutrophication process many initiatives on global level have been launched. The focus of those initiatives is reduction of nutrients in point sources. On global level, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and, in the EU context, main policies that are focused on preventing eutrophication are the EU Water Framework Directive and the Nitrates Directive.[3–5] The member states of mentioned regulations are obliged to submit annual reports on the condition of water sources expressed through the values of physicochemical and microbiological parameters. Concentration of nutrients is one of monitored chemical parameters. According to existed methodology, concentration of mentioned parameters is determined by manual method, i.e. according to standardized laboratories methods. In order to obtain as reliable data of nutrient concentration as possible, the existence of alternative models is desirable.