SECONDARY EDUCATION TEACHERS' VIEWS ON ISSUES RELATED TO WASTEWATER AND SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

This research investigated the views of secondary education teachers in Greece regarding waste management. A questionnaire was administered to 332 in-service secondary education teachers from various specialties to collect data on their views related to their ability and willingness to implement waste management topics, knowledge of waste management terms, and prioritization of waste management actions. The findings revealed that secondary education teachers expressed a moderate to low level of ability to implement educational activities related to waste management, with a wide distribution of views. They express that they felt more confident in implementing Environmental Education Programs (EEP) related to solid waste management than wastewater management. Teachers showed interest in participating in and organizing environmental programs, particularly for solid waste management. While teachers demonstrated a moderate level of basic knowledge of waste management, their understanding varied across different topics. Some terms were well-known, while others were less familiar. Teachers had a limited understanding of waste management principles and struggled to correctly prioritize waste management actions, with a significant percentage prioritizing recycling over waste minimization. These findings highlight the need for further education and training for secondary education teachers in Greece regarding waste management and environmental education. Improvements are necessary to bridge the gap between teachers' knowledge and understanding of waste management principles. This study emphasizes the importance of integrating waste management topics into teacher education programs and providing ongoing professional development opportunities. This research contributes to the literature by identifying areas for improvement in environmental education practices among secondary education teachers in Greece. The findings provide insights for curriculum development and teacher training programs. Future research should evaluate the effectiveness of environmental education initiatives aimed at enhancing teachers' knowledge and understanding of waste management principles.  Article visualizations

Wastewater and Sludge Reuse Management in Agriculture

Huge quantities of treated wastewater (TMWW) and biosolids (sludge) are produced every day all over the world, which exert a strong pressure on the environment. An important question that is raised is “what to do with them?”.An effort is put by the scientific community to eliminate the concept of “waste” and to replace it with the concept of “recycling of resources”, by means of effective management, which does  not concern only the users, but all the other groups involved in the problem, such as facility administrators, operations, politicians, scientific community and the general  population. Sludge concentration data showed that there exist 516 chemicals in biosolids which create a serious health risk.   It is pointed out that this risk will be greatly exacerbated by chemical toxins present in the sludge which can predispose skin to infection by pathogens. Consequently, the need for science-based policies are necessary to effectively protect public health. The risk assessment due to sludge, is difficult to evaluate of due to the large number of unknown interactions involved. People living near the sludge application sites may suffer from such abnormalities as:  eye, nose, and throat irritation, gastrointestinal abnormalities, as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, including cough, difficulty in breathing, sinus congestion, skin infection and sores. Many problems seem to be related to biosolid and wastewater application in agriculture, which should be solved. A universal one, acknowledged as an “international health crisis” is the resistance of pathogens to antibiotics and to the evolution of multidrug resistance of bacteria”. Certain anthropogenically created environments have been identified as major sources of multidrug resistance bacteria such as in water treatment plants, concentrated animal feeding operations etc. All these, and many other health problems, render the safety of sludge and biosolid and wastewater agricultural reuse, for the time being questionable even though the application is done according to official guidelines. It is therefore necessary that more research work be conducted on the short and long term application effects of sludge on human health, and on the environment so as to successfully address these problems Also,the existing guidelines must be reconsidered on the basis of the research findings to be attained. It is only then that the application of these inputs to land could be as safe as possible

Microplastics in Water Bodies and in the Environment

Nowadays, plastics and microplastics, along with nanoplastics, are pollutants of emerging concern [...

Microplastics in Water Bodies and in the Environment

Nowadays, plastics and microplastics, along with nanoplastics, are pollutants of emerging concern [...

Wastewater Reuse Planning in Agriculture: The Case of Aitoloakarnania, Western Greece

In the present paper, the possibility of the treated municipal wastewater (TMWW) reuse in agriculture, produced by the Wastewater Treatment Plants of Aitoloakarnania prefecture, one of the greatest agricultural regions of Greece, has been investigated. The boundaries of agricultural soils and the irrigated crops were defined, and the water requirements of crops were calculated. Also the chemical characteristics of the TMWW were determined for the safe reuse in crop production, and for the protection of soils from potential pollution. The research conducted in this area is expected to constitute the basis for an integrated TMWW reuse planning in soils and crops, in the context of sustainable agriculture, and environmental protection. It must be mentioned that the Messolongion-Aitolikon lagoon is in the area under investigation, one of the largest wetland ecosystem of Mediterranean region, which makes the area ecologically sensitive. The ultimate scope of this study is to describe the planning of the TMWW reuse on the basis of soil characteristics, climatic factors, and irrigation water requirements of the crops, grown in this ecologically sensitive area. The volume of the effluents produced by the wastewater treatment plants of Messolonghion, Agrinion, Nafpaktos, Aitoliko and Thermo could cover 19.3%, 25.14%, >100%, 17.18 and 87.84% of the irrigation water requirements, respectively

An Investigation into the Possibility of Reusing Wastewater and Sludge on Soil Enriched with Humic Acid of Young Growing Seedlings of Cupressus Arizonica Greene

The influence of Humic acids (HA) in combination to Treated Municipal Waste Water (TMWW) and biological sludge (S) reuse was studied, for the characteristics of growth and metal accumulation in the forestal species Cupressus Arizonica Greene and soil characteristics. The experiment was held at the forestal seedbed of Agrinio at an experimental spacing of random groups containing 12 combinations of TMWW, S and HA plus control, in 4 replicates, meaning 12x4. The findings were: The interventions affected statistically significant the micronutrients capacity of Cu, Fe, Zn, and Mn of soil, leaves and roots. Humic acids raised significantly the availability of Cu and Zn micronutrients in the soil, but did not affect their concentrations in leaves and roots. The higher concentration of Cu and Zn in the leaves was found in the absence of humics with the intervention of E1 (control), while in the presence of humics with the intervention of E11 (Control+TMWW+200mg/kg HA). In the roots the higher concentration of Cu and Zn was achieved in the absence of humics with the intervention of E1 (control), while in the presence of humics with the intervention of E2 (Control+200mg/kg HA). Closing, in the soil, the highest concentration of Cu and Zn was observed in the absence of humics with the intervention of E10 (control+S), while in the presence of humics with the intervention of E8 (TMWW+S+200mg/kg HA)

pH and organicmatter impact on the indices of soil metal load assessment under wastewater and biosolid reuse

Backgound: Experimental data were used to study the impact of pH and organic matter on soil pollution indices, with the view to express them as a function of the above two variables. Results: Data were from an experiment performed in a greenhouse using 12 wastewater and sludge treatment combinations in four replications, using Lactuca sative var Longifolia as a test plant. The experimental data were analyzed by means of linear multiple regression analysis, and the equations found were considered as revised forms for the calculation of pollution indices, which could be used as a tool for the assessment of the level of soil pollution by heavy metals. Conclusion: Tentative critical levels of the pollution indices were established on the basis of the reference revised Index PLIn. However, additional work is necessary, such as calibration of the revised indices on the basis of percentage crop yield loss, towards a more accurate assessment of the heavy metal soil pollution levels