CHEMICAL UPGRADING OF THE NORTH-BUDAPEST WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT

In the past decade, the development of chemical technologies has opened the way to use low doses of metal salts (with or without polymers), in wastewater treatment. Then this led to a combination of chemical and biological processes driven by different goals, Available experiences suggest that chemical upgrading is an efficient method to increase the capacity of biological treatment plants (with primary sedimentation), The specific problem of the North-Budapest Wastewater Treatment Plant (NB- WWTP) is that on the short run the flow to the existing treatment plant can be tripled (which would lead to a 50 - 60% hydraulic overload of the presently under-utilized capacity, 140 000 m3/d), while on the longer run the flow may reach 400 000 m3/d. The costs of meeting European Union standards with a proposed advanced biological nutrient removal are extremely high (several hundred million S) and the future flow is uncertain. Since financial resources are scarce, a cost-effective intermediate solution (say for the coming ten years) based on the upgrading of the existing facility should be sought to cope with the increased wastewater flow. In the frame of the present study, first laboratory jar tests were conducted to study the applicability of chemical enhancement which was followed by a three-week full-scale experiment performed with low chemical dosage during the fall 1993. The experiments showed the ability of chemical upgrading to maintain (or improve) current treatment plant performance under flow increased by at least 50%

The Adaptation of Territorial Governance from Unitary State Perspective: About the Framework of Functional Space Construction

During the past twenty years all over Europe the proliferation of networked governance forms can be experienced, which do not harmonise with statutory state spaces. Parallel with this, in the planning theory, there is a discussion about the modernisation of planning and the birth of new spatial categories. ‘Soft spaces’, make state boundaries fuzzy and allow the space construction for public–private networks. The precondition of this process has been the rescaling of the state territories and the decentralisation or devolution of state power to new, multi-scalar spatial entities. This also means that sub-national governments, city-regions have been mobilised and were given new fields of action for the assertion of their interests, while national governments have kept their control over them. The paper will reveal the different characteristics of territorial governance efforts in CEE, especially in Hungary compared to highly developed countries. Significant hindrances in adaptation of governance structures can be recognised horizontally on the one hand, and weak vertical connections between the different political levels, owing to the rejection of decentralisation by the state, on the other hand. The analysis based on the institutional and regulatory environment proves the lack of desired authorisation of the local and subnational levels for network-building and taking part in the national planning scheme

Wind-induced resuspension in a shallow lake from Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) full-resolution reflectances

A lack of empirical evidence impedes assessment of the spatial and temporal extent of critical conditions for recurring high turbidity in large wind-exposed shallow lakes. Here spatiotemporal variation in total suspended matter (TSM) concentration was captured by processing 30 Envisat Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) images of a shallow lake (Markermeer) with a spectral matching algorithm. The TSM maps showed elevated downwind concentrations for moderate winds (from 4 to 9 m

Az értől az óceánig – a víz: a jövő kihívása | From Brook to Ocean – Water: the Challenge of the Future

Sokan úgy vélik, elegendő mennyiségű egészséges vízzel rendelkezünk, és aggodalomra nincsen okunk. Mások vészharangot kongatnak: a víz a 21. század olajválságát hozhatja létre. A víz megítélése roppant változatos. A városi emberek számára a víz csodája jelentős részben elveszett. Többségük úgy véli, bőségesen rendelkezésre álló közegről van szó, amelyet jól ismer és ért. Hozzászokott ahhoz, hogy gombnyomásra jut tiszta vízhez, az elhasznált, piszkos vizet pedig észrevétlenül nyeli el a csatorna. Izgalmat legfeljebb váratlan események okoznak: csőtörés, halpusztulás a Balatonon, cianid-szennyezés a Tiszán vagy hasonlók. Mások, a száraz területeken élők igazi csodaként vágynak a víz után, és kincsként gazdálkodnak minden cseppjével: életük múlik ezen. Ismét mások a vizet az árvizekkel azonosítják. Elsősorban fenyegetettséget és tehetetlenséget éreznek: szeretnének cselekedni, de nem tudják, mikor és hogyan. Ami talán közös: a többség a saját „portájával” és az ivóvízzel foglalkozik. Kevesen teszik fel a kérdést: mi történik az elszennyezett vízzel, hová jut és milyen károkat okoz, mit jelent a víz az állatok és a növények számára, mekkora a felelősségünk abban, hogy a jövő generációk is elegendő tiszta vízhez juthassanak, mit tehet a társadalom és az egyes ember azért, hogy vizeink egészségesek legyenek? | László Somlyódy, engineer and member of HAS, lectured about water as the element of all that is living, form brook to ocean. As to its structure, water is the simplest and smallest asymmetric molecule, formed of oxygen and hydrogen. Within a narrow temperature range, water is present in three different states, which is very advantageous for life. Hydrogen bonds make water into a powerful solvent, thus making water the primary medium of the emergence of life. Practical applications, such as one of the best innovations of the modern age, the flush toilet, gave way to loads of socioenvironmental effects. Today, water science offers analyses to decision-makers concerning water pollution, the problems of Lake Balaton, and prospects for our water reserves. Water is an increasingly limited resource so it is our human and social responsibility to learn to deal with it