Water quality in forest and village ponds in Burkina Faso(western Africa)

Forest ecosystems help conserve the quality of water resources in aquatic habitats. The conservation of biological diversity in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems remains a communal concern. Aquatic ecosystems and resources are vulnerable but can be preserved and protected by forests. In sub-Saharan regions of Africa, water from ecosystems such as ponds still play important role in the livelihood of local populations. Water from temporary ponds is used by local populations for multiple needs; however, in this part of the world, the population is increasing, thus increasing human needs and activities and land use in the region. Land-use changes lead to deforestation, land degradation and the decline in freshwater, affecting human health and well-being. Forest degradation leads to the decline in ecosystem goods and services, particularly those related to watersheds. This study conducted in eastern Burkina Faso aimed to assess water quality of temporary ponds in protected forest areas (reserves) and surrounding villages. It was conducted in 61 temporary ponds where physical, chemical and biological variables were measured, such as water surface area, depth, transparency, macrophyte cover, pH, dissolved O2, conductivity, nutrient concentrations and algae biomass. The results showed that at p < 5%, water surface area (p = 0.02), depth (p = 0.00), nutrient content (p = 0.00), and algae biomass (p = 0.04) were significantly higher outside reserves than inside reserves. In contrast, macrophyte cover (mean cover percentages 53 vs. 44.5%) and water transparency (p = 0.02) were higher inside reserves. The variations in conductivity and pH were not significant. All trends showed the influences of human activities on water characteristics and the role forests and land cover had in preventing negative human impacts and disturbance of temporary ponds. Forests and land cover are important to water quality conservation and algae biomass regulation in temporary ponds. Protecting and managing forests is therefore an essential part of future strategies for limiting algal blooms and their negative consequences, maintaining water quality and providing clean water to citizens.

Biological Effects of Nutrient Nualgi on the Water Ecological Environment in Culture Pond

In order to study the short-term effects of Nualgi on water quality and phytoplankton in fishpend, we conducted continuous and regular surveys on the phytoplankton community and the water quality indexes in four groups. The four groups were a Nualgi group （ M1 ）, a diatom group （ M2 ）, a Nualgi and diatom group （M3）, and a control group （C）. The results showed that there were no significance differences in pH, dissolved oxygen （DO）, total nitrogen （TN） and total phosphorus （TP） among the four groups. The IP concentration of groups MI and M3 was significantly lower than that of groups M2 and C, indicating that Nualgl can reduce the IP concentration of water. The concentrations of NH4＋ -N, NO2- -N and CODMn, of groups M1 , M2 and M3 were sigeificantly lower than those of group C, suggesting that both Nualgi and dominant diatom species can adjust water quality by reducing the concentrations of NH4＋ -N, NO2- -N and CODMR. In this test, we identified 186 species that belonged to 109 genera of seven phyla. Among them, 86 species were Chlorophyta, 48 were Bacillariophyta, 27 were Cyanophyta, 17 were Euglenophyta, three were Dinophyta, three were Cryptophyta and two were Chrysophyta. Both diatom species and Nualgi can promote the growth of Bacillariophyta, restrain the growth of Chlorophyta and Cyanophyta, and thus change phytoplankton community structure. The biomass of Bacillariophyta in groups M1, M2 and M3 was larger than that in group C from the 20th d of the experiment, while the biomasses of Chlorophyta and Cyanophyta were lower than that in group C. Melo- sira granulata became the dominant algae species in groups M1, M2 and M3 , while Coelastrum microporum and Crucigenia tetrapedia were the dominant algae species in group Conly. Scenedesmus quadr/cauda became the dominant algae in groups M1 , M2 and C. There was no remarkable difference in diversity index among the four groups. The Shannon-Wiener index in all the four groups were all above 2.00, suggesting that the addition of Nualgi or diatom species did not affect the species diversity in this experiment.

Cr （Ⅲ） Removal from Synthetic Waste Water by Using Water Pond Mud

The pollution of aquatic ecosystem by heavy metals has assumed serious proportions due to their toxicity and accumulative behavior. The toxicity metal is dependent on its chemical form and therefore removal of metal is more meaningful than the estimation of its concentrations. In this study, the batch experiments were carried out under 30℃ to study the effect of pH, initial Cr concentration, adsorbent dose and contact time on the removal of Cr （lII）. The maximum adsorption efficiency （99%） was observed when 1.5 g of pond mud was used for removal ofCr （Ⅲ） from test solution containing 150 mg·Cr / 100 ml. The optimal pH and contact time recorded during the study were 6 and 10.0, respectively.

Application of polymeric flocculant for enhancing settling of the pond ash particles and water drainage from hydraulically stowed pond ash

Delayed settling of the ash particles and poor drainage of water from the pond ash are the major problems faced during the hydraulic stowing of pond ash. In this study the effect of polymeric flocculant on settling of the ash particles and drainage of water during pond ash stowing are investigated. In addition, the parameters, viz. drainage and absorption of water during pond ash stowing are quantified by stowing a mine goaf model with pond ash slurries of five different concentrations added with and without flocculant. The study revealed that addition of only 5 10 6 of Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose (Na-CMC) flocculant with the pond ash slurries during stowing offers best result in terms of quicker settling of the ash particles and enhanced water drainage from the hydraulically stowed pond ash. Besides, it resulted in drainage of more than 85% of the total water used in the initial 45 min of stowing. The improvement in drainage is caused due to coagulation and flocculation of the pond ash particles because of charge neutralization and particle-particle bridging. This study may provide a basis for estimating the drainage and absorption of water during the real pond ash stowing operation in underground mines.

Chemical Compostion of Earthen Pond Feed from Spring Water, in Asaba Campus, Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria

Sound pond productivity accompanied with adequate fish health is maintained, when water quality parameters are conducive. The study evaluated the chemical composition of a pond feed from spring water, in Asaba Campus. Sampling was carried out from September 2011 to February 2012 on a monthly basis. Surface water samples were collected between the hours of 7：00-9：00 am from the pond on each sampling day. Hydrogen-ion-concentration was in the range of 6.5 to 8.0 units. Dissolved oxygen was the highest in February 2012 with a value of 11.0 mg/L while it was the lowest in December 2011 with a value of 9.0 mg/L. Biological oxygen demand ranged from 3.5 to 5.0 mg/L. The chemical oxygen demand was the highest in December （10.00 mg/L） and lowest between January and February （8.0mg/L）. The highest alkalinity was observed in October with a value of 1.05 mg/L and lowest in December with a value of 0.042 mg/L. Conductivity values ranged from 0.075 to 0.12 μS/cm. Total phosphorus was the highest in October with a value of 1.01 mg/L and lowest in December with a value of 0.83 mg/L. Total dissolved solids ranged from 90 to 105 mg/L. Values of physco-chemical parameters revealed that the pond was not polluted. Water quality analysis of the aquatics is of economic advantage to the fish farmer, hence, the need for its assessment at regular intervals. This is a quality assurance process that assures early dictation of toxic substances and mitigation processes to adopt before problems arise. In this way, the good health of organisms in the aquatic ecosystem and those of human dependent on them are guaranteed.

Determination of five endosulfan pesticides in the fish pond water by dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction combined with GC–MS

A simple and rapid dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction(DLLME)technique coupled with gas chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry(GC-MS)was developed for the extraction and analysis of five endosulfan pesticides from the fish pond water.In this work,different parameters affecting the extraction process such as the type and volume of extraction solvent,type and volume of disperser solvent,and extraction time were studied and optimized.Under optimized conditions,the enrichment factor ranged from 189 to 269 and the relative recovery ranged from 88.5%to 94.9%.The linear range was 2.0-80.0 mg/L;the limits of detection and quantitation were in the range 0.04-1.06 mg/L and 0.12-3.53 mg/L,respectively.The relative standard deviations were in the range 0.94%-2.08%(n D 5).The obtained results show that DLLME combined with GC-MS is a fast and simple method for the determination of endosulfan pesticides in fish pond water.

Differences in nitrite-oxidizing communities and kinetics in a brackish environment after enrichment at low and high nitrite concentrations

Nitrite accumulation in shrimp ponds can pose serious adverse effects to shrimp production and the environment.This study aims to develop an effective process for the enrichment of ready-to-use nitrite-oxidizing bacteria（NOB）inocula that would be appropriate for nitrite removal in brackish shrimp ponds.To achieve this objective,the effects of nitrite concentrations on NOB communities and nitrite oxidation kinetics in a brackish environment were investigated.Moving-bed biofilm sequencing batch reactors and continuous moving-bed biofilm reactors were used for the enrichment of NOB at various nitrite concentrations,using sediment from brackish shrimp ponds as seed inoculum.The results from NOB population analysis with quantitative polymerase chain reaction（q PCR）show that only Nitrospira were detected in the sediment from the shrimp ponds.After the enrichment,both Nitrospira and Nitrobacter coexisted in the reactors controlling effluent nitrite at 0.1 and 0.5 mg-NO2^--N/L.On the other hand,in the reactors controlling effluent nitrite at 3,20,and 100 mg-NO2^--N/L,Nitrobacter outcompeted Nitrospira in many orders of magnitude.The half saturation coefficients（Ks）for nitrite oxidation of the enrichments at low nitrite concentrations（0.1 and 0.5 mg-NO2^--N/L）were in the range of 0.71–0.98 mg-NO2^--N/L.In contrast,the Ksvalues of NOB enriched at high nitrite concentrations（3,20,and 100 mg-NO2^--N/L）were much higher（8.36–12.20 mg-NO2^--N/L）.The results suggest that the selection of nitrite concentrations for the enrichment of NOB inocula can significantly influence NOB populations and kinetics,which could affect the effectiveness of their applications in brackish shrimp ponds.

Comparative study on composition and abundance of major planktons and physico-chemical characteristics among two ponds and Lake Tana,Ethiopia

Objective:To evaluate the difference in physico-chemical characteristics,composition and abundance of plankton communities owing to the supplementary feed added in fish ponds as compared to Lake Tana.Methods:Physico-chemical and biological data of plankton were collected from 3 studied sites from November 2008 to October 2009.Data were compared using One-way ANOVA to see the difference among sites.Diversity indices such as Margalef's index,Shannon-Wiener index,and evenness index were employed to describe the distribution of plankton community among the studied sites.Results:The pH value was remarkably higher in ponds water.However,conductivity and total dissolved solids were the highest in lake water.Nitrate concentration was relatively high in ponds.Zooplankton species richness was higher in lake water than ponds.The lake also had the highest mean value of both Shannon-Wiener index and evenness index in phytoplankton.Conclusions:The results revealed that the supplementary feed added to each pond had influence on nutrient content which enhanced algal biomass and productivity of the ponds.However,the pond water has to be regularly refreshed to control eutrophication.