“Co-culture Engineering”for Enhanced Phytoremediation of Metal Contaminated Soils

A co-culture of two plant materials, Astragalus sinicus L., a leguminous plant with concomitant nodules, and Elsholtzia splendens Naki-a Cu accumulator, along with treatments of a chelating agent (EDTA), root excretions (citric acid), and a control with E. splendens only were used to compare the mobility of heavy metals in chelating agents with a co-culture and to determine the potential for co-culture phytoremediation in heavy metal contaminated soils. The root uptake for Cu, Zn, and Pb in all treatments was significantly greater (P ＜ 0.05) than that of the control treatment. However with translocation in the shoots, only Cu, Zn, and Pb in plants grown with the EDTA treatment and Zn in plants cocropped with the A. sinicus treatment increased significantly (P ＜ 0.05). In addition, when a co-culture in soils with heavy and moderate contamination was compared, for roots in moderately contaminated soils only Zn concentration was significantly less (P ＜ 0.05) than that of heavily contaminated soils, however, Cu, Zn, and Pb concentrations of shoots were all significantly lower (P ＜ 0.05). Overall, this 'co-culture engineering' could be as effective as or even more effective than chelating agents, thereby preventing plant metal toxicity and metal leaching in soils as was usually observed in chelate-enhanced phytoremediation.

Influence of Filter Cloth on the Cathode on the Electroosmotic Dewatering of Activated Sludge

The mechanical dewatering of activated sludge is troublesome due to its high compressibility of solids. The dewatering can be enhanced dramatically by the use of electroosmosis,in which an electric field is applied to the sludge cake.In this study,the influence of filter cloth on the cathode on the dewatering of activated sludge was investigated.It was found that thicker filter cloth led to lower water removal from the sludge cake,so a stainless steel cathode net with small pore size instead of filter cloth was applied,which improves the dewatering efficiency and reduces the electric power consumption.Moreover,water absorbent materials were helpful to remove the water from the sludge cake.For the electroosmotic dewatering at 7 kPa and 24 V·cm-1,the water content in the sludge cake decreased to 60%(by mass) with the average 0.075 kW·h·kg-1of water removed by using the cathode net.

Effect of Alkaline-Stabilised Sewage Sludge on Extractable Organic Carbon and Copper in Soils

An incubation experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential for water contamination with sludge-derived organic substances and copper following land application of alkaline-stabilised sewage sludge. Twocontrasting sludge-amended soils were studied. Both soils were previously treated with urban and ruralalkaline biosolids separately at sludge application rates of 0, 30 and 120 t ha-1 fresh product. The air-driedsoil/sludge mixtures were wetted with distilled water, maintained at 40 % of water-holding capacity andequilibrated for three weeks at 4 ℃ before extraction. Subsamples were extracted with either distilled wateror 0.5 mol L-1 K2SO4 solution. The concentrations of organic C in the aqueous and chemical extractswere determined directly with a total organic carbon (TOC) analyser. The concentrations of Cu in the twoextracts were also determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry The relationship between the twoextractable organic C fractions was examined, together with that between extractable organic C concentrationand extractable Cu concentration. Application of alkaline biosolids increased the concentrations of soil mobileorganic substances and Cu. The results are discussed in terms of a possible increase in the potential forleaching of sludge-derived organics and Cu in the sludge-amended soils.

Removal of Nitrogen and Phosphorus from Saline Wastewater Using Up-Flow Sludge Blanket Filtration Process

There is recent trend of providing additional treatment of wastewater beyond tertiary level. The purpose is to refine water to a quality that is safe for reuse for unrestricted irrigation and other non potable uses. For this purpose, Kuwait has built and operated an advanced wastewater treatment plant with capacity of 500,000 m3·dl. This plant providing treatment beyond tertiary utilizes the process of Ultra Filtration （UF） and Reverse Osmosis （RO）. The reject water of this unit contains high concentration of total nitrogen and total phosphate. Safe disposal of this water into the environment or possible reuse needs substantial reduction of these chemicals. In this study, a bench scale up-flow sludge blanket filtration system was investigated. The system operated with an average Hydraulic-Retention Time （HRT） of 19 h, whereas, sludge age varied within the range of 14 days to 16.5 days. The results show that the average removal efficiencies of the system for Biological Oxygen Demand （BOD）, Chemical Oxygen Demand （COD） were over 86% and 82% respectively. The phosphate and nitrogen＇s average removal were found to be 50% and 45% respectively.

客路糖厂废水污染的初步调查

客路糖厂废水污染的初步调查●广东雷州一中生物兴趣小组（５２４２００）岑伟环境保护关系到人类生存和发展，已越来越引起人们的关注。我们在学习了“生物与环境”一章之后，对环境保护的重要性有了进一步的认识。为了增强环保意识，了解本地区环境污染的实际情况，我们...

Sediment Trapping from Hyperconcentrated Flow as Affected by Grass Filter Strips

To evaluate the effect of vegetative filter strips on sediment trapping, the spatial distribution of deposited sediment, and the size distribution of deposited particles from hyperconcentrated flows, a simulated grass filter strip experiment was conducted with plastic grass using an adjustable slope steel flume. The simulated vegetation cover was 36%, and the inflow sediment concentrations applied were 147, 238, 320, and 429 kg m^(-3). The sediment concentration in the outflow, and the sediment particle size were determined. The results showed that the grass filter strips trapped most of the sediment from inflow at low sediment concentration. The deposition efficiency decreased with increasing sediment concentration, being 55.2% and 15.7% in the 147 and 429 kg m^(-3)sediment treatments, respectively. Most of the deposited sediments were distributed in the upper flume. In addition, the grass filter strips mainly trapped the coarse sediment (particle size>10 μm).