Observations on Groundwater Contamination with Nitrogen Compounds: A Case Study from Medias town, Sibiu County

Worldwide, the groundwater (water well and public spring) is used as drinking water source. The water quality is important due to the possible negative effects on the consumers’ health, especially for infants. Nitrogen compounds (NO2-, NO3-, NH4+) are present as natural components of the nitrogen cycle and their presence in the groundwater is ubiquitous. But, due to the anthropogenic activities high concentrations of nitrogen compounds are release into the groundwater, thereby the chemical compounds concentrations exceed the maximum allowable concentrations (MACs). The purpose of the present study was to assess the content of nitrogen compounds in groundwater, namely private water wells and public springs used as drinking water sources by the Medias town population. The study results show alarming NO2- and NO3- concentrations; the NO3- concentrations exceed 5 times the MAC and NO2- concentrations exceed3 times the MAC.

Metal pollution biomonitoring in mining areas using perennial ryegrass (lolium perenne)

The uptake of metals (Pb, Cu, Cd, Zn, Ni, Cr) by perennial ryegrass (Loliumperenne), grown on tailings situated in Central and NW Romania, was investigated by calculating the transfer factors (TFs). The mean TFs decreased as follows: TFPb>TFCd>TFZn>TFNi>TFCr>TFCu. The metal concentrations in tailings ranged between 19.9-2640 mg/kg Cu, 11.4-5156 mg/kg Pb, 9.10-5328 mg/kg Zn, 0.200-89.6 mg/kg Cd, 3.15-77.6 mg/kg Cr, 1.90-58.9 mg/kg Ni and in ryegrass between 2.25-58.6 mg/kg Cu, 0.129-4815 mg/kg Pb, 5.12-174 mg/kg Zn, 0.010-3.50 mg/kg Cd, 0.410-6.20 mg/kg Cr and 0.440-3.71 mg/kg Ni. The linear relationship between the metal content in ryegrass and tailings indicated a significant correlation for Pb and Zn. Metal concentrations in ryegrass differ in the three areas (Certej, Baia Mare and Aries) and can be used as a biomonitor forPb, Zn pollution

Extraction of chlorophyll A, B and carotenoids from nannochloropsis oculata after heavy metal adsorption

The main objective of the present study was to determine the most suitable solvent for photosynthetic pigments extraction from the Nannochloropsis oculata biomass after adsorption of Cu, Zn and Cd from mono and multicomponent solutions. The results revealed that the highest percentage removal of heavy metals from mono solutions was achieved for Zn 20 mg/L (96.2 %), followed by Cu 20 mg/L (92.6 %) and Zn 50 mg/L (92.1 %), respectively. Organic solvents, namely ethanol, methanol and acetone were tested for chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids extractions. It was observed that higher contents of chlorophyll a were obtained after extraction with methanol from algal biomass after Cd and Zn adsorption from single component solutions. After a comparative examination, the highest content of chlorophyll b was obtained after the extraction with acetone

SALINITY AND TDS VARIATIONS OF WATER WELLS FROM MEDIAS CITY, SIBIU COUNTY

This paper investigates groundwater changes, from Medias City, regarding salinity and total dissolved solids (TDS) values. According to the data obtained from seven water wells, significant and high values for salinity and TDS can be observed. Collating the obtained results with drinking water quality standards issued by Law 311 of 28 June 2004 concerning the quality of drinking water, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and World Health Organization (WHO) it is notices that all seven water wells samples have chemical parameters concentrations that exceed the maximum admissible concentration (MAC) established by assembly organisms. For analytical and chemical analyses, a portable WTW Multi 350i multiparameter device was used. Results reflect a chemical and organic contamination for groundwater from Medias Town signifying unacceptability for drinking

INFLUENCE OF IRRIGATION, FERTILIZATION AND CULTIVAR ON THE CARROT PRODUCTION FROM 2016 TO 2018

The aim of the study was to identify some healthy technological solutions for carrot production in the agricultural area Aiton, Cluj County, for three carrot varieties: Royal Chantenay, Atomic Red and Purple Haze F1, especially in the actual conditions of climate worming and aridity (risk situations and areas strongly affecting the carrot production potential). The experiments were taken in Aiton locality (46° 31' and 46° 31' North latitude; 23°40' and 23°48 ' East longitude) from 2016 to 2018, containing 3 repetitions, 18 analyzed samples and 54 experimental plots. The crops were clustered into a complete randomly multifactorial system with plots of lands. It has been observed that after irrigation there was a 10% increase of the production (2.73 t/ha), compared to the crops that were not irrigated; also, fertilization by zeolite increased the carrot production by 27.1%, while the chemical fertilization increased the harvest only with 14.9%

REMOVAL OF HEAVY METALS FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS USING ACTIVATED CARBON

A carbon used for the filtration of fresh water was activated using HCl and tested its capacity of heavy metals (Cd, Ni and Pb) removal from aqueous solutions. The initial concentration of heavy metals was 5 mg/L and the adsorption experiments were conducting using different quantity of sorbent (from 2.5 g to 20 g). The equilibrium was touched using the right relation between the sorbent quantity and exposure time. The obtaining activated carbon was successfully applied for adsorptive removal of Cd, Ni and Pb from stock solutions. The degree of decrease of the three metals was in the order of Pb>Cd>Ni

A PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY OF VINE SHOOTS AND GRAPE MARC BIOMASS SUITABILITY FOR SOLID BIOFUELS PRODUCTION

Grapes, one of the most cultivated fruits at global level represent, in the same time, a significant biomass source in the renewable energy production. The present review discusses conditions required for a pre-feasibility study for the vine waste biomass conversion to commercial densified biofuels. The purpose is to gather preliminary information in the scope of the energy production commercial applications of the vine wastes biomass.The vine shoots and grape marc biomass supply is approached from three perspectives: (1) economic performance of the biomass supply chain for higher productivity and cost effective operations; (2) technical performance of the biomass, with physical, chemical properties characterization; (3) environmental performance summary of the contaminants content. Results highlighted that biomass densification represents one of the most viable solutions for the energy production

QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF VALEA ȘESII STREAM NEAR A COOPER MINE TAILING POND

Roşia Poieni, a large copper mine from Arieș basin, produces tons of copper/year.The resulted sterile are deposited in Geamăna tailing pond located in the vicinity of Valea Şesii stream, one of the Arieş River tributaries, contributing decisively to the quality of its water. The study aims to assess the quality status of Valea Șesii stream using a complex green technology, combining chemical analysis and biomonitoring methods in order to establish the environmental trend of the catchment.The quality of the surface water is considered relatively good, with a circum-acid pH (4.5), electrical conductivity of 1677 µS/cm , 1742 ppmfor the total dissolved solids, 7.64 mgO2/L for the biological oxygen demandand rather small values of nutrients. The presence of chlorophyll α and β was noticed (0.374 µg/mL and 0.998 µg/mL). A correlation between the nutrients content and the chlorophylls values was observed, while the chlorophylls values increases, the content of nutrients decreases

Life Cycle Assessment of Biofuels Production Processes in Viticulture in the Context of Circular Economy

Globally, as the population and the living standards expanded, so did the use of energy and materials. Renewable energy resources are being used to help address the energy issue and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Because lignocellulosic biomass resources are widely available and renewable, various processes are used to convert these resources into bioenergy. In the current study, two production processes were evaluated, namely the transformation of vine shoot waste into value-added biofuels, i.e., pellets/briquettes and bioethanol. The life cycle assessment (LCA) technique was used for simulating and documenting the environmental performance of two biomass waste to biofuels pathways, possible candidates for closing loops in the viticulture production, according to the circular economy models. The SimaPro software was used to perform the LCA. The results show that the pellets/briquettes production process has a lower negative influence on the studied environmental impact categories compared to the production of bioethanol