Economic Analysis of The Innovative Eco-Biofilter /Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) System for Community Wastewater Recycling

A prototype Eco-biofilter/MBR (Membrane Bioreactor) system has been developed and installed at a community in Chiang Rak Yai Sub-district, Sam Khok District, Pathum Thani Province, Thailand for community wastewater treatment and recycling. This research aims to investigate the performance of Eco-biofilter/MBR system, as well as the economic analysis of willingness to pay for wastewater treatment.  A novel porous baked clay biofilter was also developed as an eco-friendly filter media to replace traditional plastic filter in order to reduce plastic pollution to water environment.   The effluent quality from the system could meet the international standard for agricultural water reuse. The survey data for economic analysis were collected from the 281 households living in the studied area, analyzed by descriptive statistic and Contingent Valuation Method. The results show the fact that household’s land use has an inverse relationship while the water source use positively correlates to the value of willingness to pay for wastewater treatment at the statistical significance level of 0.05. The economic analysis of the innovative wastewater treatment system reveals the appropriate wastewater treatment fee at 7 THB per cubic meter of wastewater that is a breakeven point. In addition, the Eco-biofilter/MBR also shows many benefits both of direct and indirect benefits such as water reuse potential, opportunity economic value of treated effluent, and reducing medical expenses. The benefit to cost ratio is equal to 1.04

Alkalinity of Cassava Wastewater Feed in Anodic Enhance Electricity Generation by a Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cells

This study was demonstrated that the alkaline feeding in the anode chamber could enhance the electricity generation from a single chamber microbial fuel cell (SCMFC). The SCMFC was operated in batch mode. The substrate was cassava wastewater from a flour factory in Roi-Et province, Thailand and the concentration of COD value was controlled between 1,086 ± 50.06 mg/L. The pHs were varied from acidicity (pH 5.0 and 6.0), neutral (pH 7.0) and alkalinity (pH 8.0 and 9.0) by adding NaOH. The temperature was controlled at 30oC. The maximum power density could be generated to 22.19 W/m3 from pH feed at 9.0. Whereas at pH feed of 8.0, the second highest power density at 16.70 W/m3 was gained. The maximum efficiency of COD removal (92.83 ± 1.37%) was obtained from pH of 8.0. The maximum of coulombic efficiency (CE) was 47.8% which was obtained from pH feed of 9.0. The alkalinity feed enhanced the power generation by increasing the alkalinity and conductivity in the anode chamber more than other feeds. It was also found that the pH feed which was nearly close to neutral would enhance the wastewater treatment by SCMFC

Water resource management for sustainable development

Water resource management is the cornerstone for sustainable development. According to the United Nations world water development report, one-fifth of the world?s population lives in areas characterized by physical water scarcity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A novel simplified method for extraction of microplastic particles from face scrub and laundry wastewater

Abstract Microplastic pollution in different environmental matrices is a serious concern in the recent times. Personal care products and washing of synthetic fabrics are some of the main sources of microplastic pollution. In this work, a novel simplified, effective and sustainable method for extraction of microplastic particles from face scrub and laundry wastewater was developed. Different parameters affecting the extraction were analysed and the extraction process was optimised. The extraction efficiency of the proposed method was found to be ~ 94.1 ± 1.65%, which was slightly better than the previously available method with an advantage of ease in extraction and lesser time and resource consuming. The developed method was used to demonstrate the extraction of microplastic particles from 12 face scrub samples with different brands. It was found that the samples contained microplastic particles of varying size. The physical and chemical structure intactness of microplastic particles during the extraction was also analysed and found to be acceptable. The developed extraction method was also applied for the extraction of microfibers from the laundry wastewater. It was found that this proposed method is suitable to make the cleaner extracted samples for an easy and more effective qualitative and quantitative analysis of MPs

Recycling of waste coffee grounds as a photothermal material modified with ZnCl2 for water purification

Abstract The aim of this study was to develop a photothermal material modified with carbonization and ZnCl2 impregnation and supported by polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) for water purification using the waste coffee grounds. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characterization of the prepared material revealed that a significant surface modification was achieved due to the carbonization and ZnCl2 impregnation. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) pattern of the samples showed two broad peaks at 18.4° and 22.2°, this is due to the crystal planes of β-crystal phase structure, which indicates the existence of strong hydrogen bonds between the micro-structures and therefore less suspectable to chemical attack. Additionally, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) result suggests a slight mass reduction between the temperature range of 65–75 °C implying the thermal stability of the prepared material. The produced modified material had a photothermal conversion efficiency of 74% and could produce vapor at a rate of 1.12 kg/m2h under 980 W/m2 irradiation at 1 sun. A significant reduction in Cu2+ ion concentration (83%), turbidity (91%), total dissolved solids (TDS) (61%), microbial load (95.6%), and total hardness (41.2%) were achieved. Therefore, waste coffee grounds can be considered as a future eco-friendly and low-cost candidate for water purification

An Integrated Lean Management, IoT and MFCA Systems for Water Management of Industrial Manufacturing in Thailand

The study objective was to examine, develop and apply an integrated lean management, IoT and MFCA system to optimize water management of industrial manufacturing in Thailand to increase efficiency. The results of a case study reduced water use in production processes by 15% per annum, with cost reduction of approximately US$12, 182. Reduced water consumption renders production processes more environmentally friendly, with increased ease and accuracy in managing water resources. Production processes also become more valuable by applying a modern management approach using industrial engineering techniques that enhance productivity, while reducing costs and increasing competitiveness. Results can be used to balance business development and promote the economy, society and environment in Thailand in the future

Development of Green Supermarket Evaluation Model Based on Green Process and Green Output—Case of Bangkok City

The study aimed to develop a green supermarket evaluation model based on a green process and green output to provide empirical evidence on the model’s relationship with the green process, green output, and green supermarket. To this end, the study combined data from a survey of one store manager, one facility manager, and three assistant store managers from each of the 190 supermarket branches in Bangkok, Thailand with data from an in-depth interview of a sample group of green supermarket management specialists. The green supermarket evaluation model is divided into three levels, two elements (green process and green output), nine major indicators for green supermarket evaluation, and one hundred one sub-indicators for green supermarket evaluation, according to the findings. The five major indicators of the green process are green procurement, green storage, green service, green transportation and green environmental and energy management system, while the four major indicators of green output are social performance, environmental performance, economic performance, and organization image performance. In addition, the sub-indicator details were also identified for this evaluation model

Development of Mobile Application for Sustainable Creative Tourism Assessment using Confirmatory Factor Analysis Approach

Creative tourism has received increasing attention. At present, the concept of creative tourism is still in development stage since there are few or no indicators for assessing the potential of creative tourism to area-based sustainable goals. This document aims to introduce the process of mobile application for sustainable creative tourism (SCT) model development using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) approach. The study was divided into 4 phases. The first phase involved establishing elements, indicators and criteria drawn from some previous studies and the opinions of experts’ judgement in this study. Secondly, indicators and criteria were selected by using Delphi technique. Thirdly, the indicators and criterias were confirmed by utilizing CFA, Finally, the prototype of SCT mobile application assessment tool is proposed for SCT in this study, based on CFA. Tools for the study included: 1) structured questionnaire from reviews of literature for interviewing the expert, 2) questionnaire for Delphi techniques among the experts for collecting an opinion about the selection of the indicators, and 3) a questionnaire to assess the possibility of data collection concerning the components and indicators of SCT. 300 samples from creative tourism enterprises from all around Thailand were collected and 253 were responded. Data analysis was conducted by using descriptive statistics and CFA. The study found that SCT model consists of 8 components and 36 indicators. The finding from our research shows that it is eligible to establish the novel SCT assessment indicators. The result of SCT application model is appropriate to develop mobile application for SCT assessment tool.