Air pollution and livestock production

The air in a livestock farming environment contains high concentrations of dust particles and gaseous pollutants. The total inhalable dust can enter the nose and mouth during normal breathing and the thoracic dust can reach into the lungs. However, it is the respirable dust particles that can penetrate further into the gas-exchange region, making it the most hazardous dust component. Prolonged exposure to high concentrations of dust particles can lead to respiratory health issues for both livestock and farming staff. Ammonia, an example of a gaseous pollutant, is derived from the decomposition of nitrous compounds. Increased exposure to ammonia may also have an effect on the health of humans and livestock. There are a number of technologies available to ensure exposure to these pollutants is minimised. Through proactive means, (the optimal design and management of livestock buildings) air quality can be improved to reduce the likelihood of risks associated with sub-optimal air quality. Once air problems have taken hold, other reduction methods need to be applied utilising a more reactive approach. A key requirement for the control of concentration and exposure of airborne pollutants to an acceptable level is to be able to conduct real-time measurements of these pollutants. This paper provides a review of airborne pollution including methods to both measure and control the concentration of pollutants in livestock buildings

Monitoring biological wastewater treatment processes: Recent advances in spectroscopy applications

Biological processes based on aerobic and anaerobic technologies have been continuously developed to wastewater treatment and are currently routinely employed to reduce the contaminants discharge levels in the environment. However, most methodologies commonly applied for monitoring key parameters are labor intensive, time-consuming and just provide a snapshot of the process. Thus, spectroscopy applications in biological processes are, nowadays, considered a rapid and effective alternative technology for real-time monitoring though still lacking implementation in full-scale plants. In this review, the application of spectroscopic techniques to aerobic and anaerobic systems is addressed focusing on UV--Vis, infrared, and fluorescence spectroscopy. Furthermore, chemometric techniques, valuable tools to extract the relevant data, are also referred. To that effect, a detailed analysis is performed for aerobic and anaerobic systems to summarize the findings that have been obtained since 2000. Future prospects for the application of spectroscopic techniques in biological wastewater treatment processes are further discussed.The authors thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and the project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. The authors also acknowledge the financial support to Daniela P. Mesquita and Cristina Quintelas through the postdoctoral Grants (SFRH/BPD/82558/2011 and SFRH/BPD/101338/2014) provided by FCT - Portugal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pathways to Water Sector Decarbonization, Carbon Capture and Utilization

The water sector is in the middle of a paradigm shift from focusing on treatment and meeting discharge permit limits to integrated operation that also enables a circular water economy via water reuse, resource recovery, and system level planning and operation. While the sector has gone through different stages of such revolution, from improving energy efficiency to recovering renewable energy and resources, when it comes to the next step of achieving carbon neutrality or negative emission, it falls behind other infrastructure sectors such as energy and transportation. The water sector carries tremendous potential to decarbonize, from technological advancements, to operational optimization, to policy and behavioural changes. This book aims to fill an important gap for different stakeholders to gain knowledge and skills in this area and equip the water community to further decarbonize the industry and build a carbon-free society and economy. The book goes beyond technology overviews, rather it aims to provide a system level blueprint for decarbonization. It can be a reference book and textbook for graduate students, researchers, practitioners, consultants and policy makers, and it will provide practical guidance for stakeholders to analyse and implement decarbonization measures in their professions

Free water surface and horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands: a comparison of performance in treating domestic graywater

2012 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.Communities throughout the United States and abroad are seeking innovative approaches to sustaining their freshwater resources. Graywater reuse for non-potable demands is gaining popularity because it allows for the reuse of minimally contaminated wash water, generated and treated on site. Graywater is defined as any wastewater generated at the home or office including wastewater from the laundry, shower, and bathroom sinks but excluding water from the toilets, kitchen sinks, and dishwasher. When compared to other wastewater generated in the home, graywater is contaminated with lower concentrations of organics, solids, nutrients, and pathogens. These characteristics make the water suitable for reuse with negligible treatment when compared to other domestic wastewater sources. Graywater reuse for non-potable demands reduces the demand for treated water and preserves source waters. One method of treating graywater at a community scale for irrigation reuse is constructed wetlands. Despite widespread interest in this innovative approach, limited guidance is available on the design and operation of constructed wetlands specific to graywater treatment. The foremost objective of this research was to compare the performance of a free water surface constructed wetland (FWS) to a horizontal subsurface constructed wetland (SF) for graywater treatment and to assess their ability to meet water quality standards for surface discharge and reuse. This was done by comparison of percent (%) mass removal rates and requisite surface areas (SA) based on determined removal rates ( k ). Aerial loading rates were compared to EPA suggested aerial loading rates in an attempt to provide recommendations for target effluent concentrations. Determining contaminant removal rates is important for creating wetland design standards for graywater treatment and reuse. Contaminant removal rates were evaluated over the summer and fall of 2010 and 2011 for a SF wetland. These removal rates were compared to the removal rates evaluated over a two year period (2008-2010) for a FWS wetland. Another objective was to determine the % mass removal of three common anionic surfactants in constructed wetlands (both FWS and SF) and finally, the possibility of incorporating constructed wetlands into greenhouse community garden centers as an option to reduce the losses resulting from evapotranspiration (ET) in arid climates was explored briefly. The results indicate that SF wetlands provide relatively stable and more efficient treatment year round when compared to FWS wetlands. In particular, the SF wetland showed statistically significant higher mass removal of both biological oxygen demand (BOD5 ) and total nitrogen (TN) than the FWS wetland during winter months (P=0.1 and 0.005; α=0.1). When all the seasons were compared for each wetland individually there was a statistically significant degree of removal for BOD5 and TN between the seasons in the FWS wetland (P=0.09 and 0.04; α=0.1) while there was none in the SF wetland (P=1.0 and 0.9; α=0.1). These results are consistent with other findings in the literature. When mass removals were compared to HLRs, the trends support the ability of SF wetlands to function across a wide range of HLRs and climatic conditions, whereas FWS wetlands are less capable of performing well under less than ideal conditions. Results of the k-C* and SA analyses, though limited in their completeness, suggest once again that SF wetlands are capable of increased rates of removal not only during the warm summer months but also during the winter and transition months. Specifically, nitrification and denitrification processes may be contributing to TN removal in the SF wetland, particularly during senescent periods. Surfactant removal was also consistent with findings in the literature, with 50% removal of LAS and greater than 70% removal of AES/AS, suggesting that LAS is more persistent

Monitoring and assessment of macroinvertebrate communities in support of river management in northern Vietnam

The thesis aimed to develop a water quality biological monitoring and assessment based on macro-invertebrates to analyse the status of watercourses and to select sustainable restoration measures in order to support river. The research was carried in the Du river basin in northern Vietnam. Spatial and temporal analysis showed that macro-invertebrate community compositions in the Du river were not only driven by morphological characteristics but also by water quality issues. A relatively small temporal variation was detected that requires no remarkable modifications in the development of a bio-assessment methodology for watercourses in the specific river. Multivariate analyses using CCA and Bray-Curtis cluster analysis provided a similar discrimination between pristine and impacted sites in the Du river basin. Qualitative biotic indices including the BMWP-Viet proved to be appropriate for use in the studied watercourses in Vietnam. The BMWP-Viet could differentiate study sites into classes ranging from very good to very poor ecological conditions. The current BMWP-Viet approach can be useful at an early stage of bio-assessment application in Vietnam. However, this method should be improved by optimising the scoring system for common taxa and development of more robust assessment approaches such as multi-metric indices. Data mining techniques including classification trees and support vector machines were applied to develop predictive models for BMWP-Viet as well as presence/absence of macro-invertebrate taxa (ecological indicators). Optimised models indicate the major environmental variables influencing the presence/absence of macro-invertebrates, which in the mean time also reflect the river characteristics that river managers have to consider in their policy plans. A decision support system, the WFD-Explorer was combined with classification trees to link human activities with the ecological river conditions and analyse the relevance of several restoration options