scholarly journals Microplastics in the gastrointestinal tracts of fish and the water from an urban prairie creek

FACETS ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 395-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha H. Campbell ◽  
Patrick R. Williamson ◽  
Britt D. Hall

Microplastics are defined as any plastic with a diameter ≤5 mm. Problems associated with these plastics such as contamination of both marine and freshwater environments and ingestion by aquatic organisms are of increasing concern. Our study quantifies the number of microplastics in a prairie creek immediately downstream of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Water samples and five species of fish were collected from sample sites upstream and downstream of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in the summers of 2015 and 2016. Samples were digested in either a Fe(II)/H2O2 or NaClO solution and observed under a microscope where plastics present were enumerated by colour and type. At least one microplastic was detected in 73.5% of fish and 95.6% of water samples, showing that the creek does, in fact, contain microplastics. Concentrations were higher in water from upstream sites, likely due to dilution of creek water by the release of treated effluent. The results of this study provide baseline conditions for the presence of plastics in the creek prior to a major upgrade of the WWTP scheduled for completion in 2016.

2000 ◽  
Vol 41 (9) ◽  
pp. 7-14
Author(s):  
A. Jobbágy ◽  
B. Literáthy ◽  
F. Farkas ◽  
Gy. Garai ◽  
Gy. Kovács

The treated effluent of the Southpest Wastewater Treatment Plant is discharged into a small, low-flow branch of the Danube susceptible to eutrophication. The first, high-load activated sludge system with a hydraulic retention time of 2.5 hrs in the aerated basins, was installed here in 1966. The paper presents the evolution of the technology by illustrating the effects of the different changes carried out since 1991. Reconfiguration of the existing activated sludge basins connected originally in parallel into an arrangement of tanks in series increased the settleability of the sludge as well as the efficiency of COD removal significantly. Introduction of an anaerobic zone preceding the aerated basins facilitated biological excess phosphorus removal with a consequent release in the thickener and digester. Introducing lime addition into the recycled sludge processing wastes significantly improved the performance of the system. However, since there had been no provision built for eliminating the nitrate content of the recycled sludge, efficiency of phosphorus removal proved to be dependent on the eventually occurring nitrification. In order to achieve both an effective nitrogen and phosphorus removal the current technology established in 1999 applies a nitrification and a denitrification filter following the activated sludge unit and uses precipitation for phosphorus removal.


2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 523-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Morikawa ◽  
I. Hirashiki ◽  
S. Furukawa

A coliforms monitoring system in treated effluent of a wastewater treatment plant has been developed. In order to achieve rapid monitoring within 1 hour, an enzymatic fluorescence method without a culturing process was introduced to this system. It converts the increase rate of fluorescence intensity as enzymatic activity into the number of coliforms instead of converting fluorescence intensity itself. A flow injection analysis is used in this system for automatic measurement. Moreover, it is equipped with the pre-filtering unit to remove the interfering substances in the suspended solids causing deterioration in measurement precision. The good relationship (correlation coefficient of 0.90) between the obtained values using this system and the analysed values using the conventional direct counting method was observed in a test at an existing wastewater treatment plant.


2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 297-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Tonkovic ◽  
S. Jeffcoat

The Mt Buller Alpine Resort is located approximately 200 km north of Melbourne, in Victoria, Australia. A wastewater treatment plant services the resort and currently treats to advanced nutrient removal standards. The treated effluent is presently discharged into the Howqua River. Most Australian ski resorts are not blessed with abundant snow cover on a regular basis. Artificial snow allows most of the popular ski runs to operate for the whole of the season. At the Mt Buller resort, snow-making is presently limited by lack of water supply in the catchment. The conditions at Mt Buller resort present a unique opportunity to utilise reclaimed wastewater to allow increased snow-making capacity. It is one of the unique opportunities where the wastewater is valued as a resource rather than merely viewed as a waste problem. Wastewater reclamation for snow-making will require additional treatment for pathogen removal. It is proposed that following advanced nutrient removal, the effluent will require further treatment, including membrane ultrafiltration, so as to ensure a minimum of four barriers for pathogen removal. Pilot plant operation of a membrane ultrafiltration system commenced in June 2000 and will continue until the end of 2001, to primarily demonstrate the extent of pathogen removal.


2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dipti Prakash Mohapatra ◽  
Satinder Kaur Brar ◽  
Rajeshwar Dayal Tyagi ◽  
Rao Y. Surampalli

The identification and quantification of bisphenol A (BPA) in wastewater (WW) and wastewater sludge (WWS) is of major interest to assess the endocrine activity of treated effluent discharged into the environment. BPA is manufactured in high quantities fro its use in adhesives, powder paints, thermal paper and paper coatings among others. Due to the daily use of these products, high concentration of BPA was observed in WW and WWS. BPA was measured in samples from Urban Community of Quebec wastewater treatment plant located in Quebec (Canada) using LC-MS/MS method. The results showed that BPA was present in significant quantities (0.07 μg L–1 to 1.68 μg L–1 in wastewater and 0.104 μg g–1 to 0.312 μg g–1 in wastewater sludge) in the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The treatment plant is efficient (76 %) in removal of pollutant from process stream, however, environmentally significant concentrations of 0.41 μg L–1 were still present in the treated effluent. Rheological study established the partitioning of BPA within the treatment plant. This serves as the base to judge the portion of the process stream requiring more treatment for degradation of BPA and also in selection of different treatment methods. Higher BPA concentration was observed in primary and secondary sludge solids (0.36 and 0.24 μg g–1, respectively) as compared to their liquid counterpart (0.27 and 0.15 μg L–1, respectively) separated by centrifugation. Thus, BPA was present in significant concentrations in the WWTP and mostly partitioned in the solid fraction of sludge (Partition coefficient (Kd) for primary, secondary and mixed sludge was 0.013, 0.015 and 0.012, respectively).


Author(s):  
Thaís Andrade de Sampaio Lopes ◽  
Luciano Matos Queiroz ◽  
Asher Kiperstok

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied to estimate and analyze the environmental impacts from the construction and operation phases of a full-scale wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) located in the municipality of Lauro de Freitas, Bahia, Brazil. The WWTP process consists of the association of an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor followed by four constructed wetlands (CWL) and a disinfection step. The functional unit was defined as one cubic meter of treated effluent during the useful life of this WWTP (20 years). The LCA was carried out using SimaPro® software and the Centre of Environmental Science (CML) assessment method. The environmental impacts during construction phase were mainly from the wooden forms for concrete and the use of reinforcing steel. During the operation phase, the chlorine used as effluent disinfectant caused the greatest impacts in the abiotic depletion and acidification categories. Macronutrient concentrations present in the treated effluent and the methane generated also caused significant environmental impacts during the WWTP’s useful life. The results obtained highlight the importance of the application of a methodology like LCA to assist in decision-making with regard to the implementation, construction and operation of a WWTP.


2009 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 715-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theng-Theng Fong ◽  
Mantha S. Phanikumar ◽  
Irene Xagoraraki ◽  
Joan B. Rose

ABSTRACT Enteric viruses are important pathogens found in contaminated surface waters and have previously been detected in waters of the Great Lakes. Human adenoviruses were monitored because of their high prevalence and persistence in aquatic environments. In this study, we quantified adenoviruses in wastewater, surface water, and combined sewer overflows (CSOs) by real-time PCR. Between August 2005 and August 2006, adenovirus concentrations in raw sewage, primary-treated effluent, secondary-treated effluent, and chlorinated effluent from a wastewater treatment plant in Michigan were examined. CSO samples (n = 6) were collected from a CSO retention basin in Grand Rapids, MI. Adenoviruses were detected in 100% of wastewater and CSO discharge samples. Average adenovirus DNA concentrations in sewage and CSOs were 1.15 × 106 viruses/liter and 5.35 × 105 viruses/liter, respectively. Adenovirus removal was <2 log10 (99%) at the wastewater treatment plant. Adenovirus type 41 (60% of clones), type 12 (29%), type 40 (3%), type 2 (3%), and type 3 (3%) were isolated from raw sewage and primary effluents (n = 28). Six of 20 surface water samples from recreational parks at the lower Grand River showed virus concentrations above the real-time PCR detection limit (average, 7.8 × 103 viruses/liter). This research demonstrates that wastewater effluents and wastewater-impacted surface waters in the lower Grand River in Michigan contain high levels of viruses and may not be suitable for full-body recreational activities. High concentrations of adenovirus in these waters may be due to inefficient removal during wastewater treatment and to the high persistence of these viruses in the environment.


2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (12) ◽  
pp. 281-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Felis ◽  
D. Marciocha ◽  
J. Surmacz-Gorska ◽  
K. Miksch

Naproxen belongs to the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. It is often used to treat pain of rheumatic and non-rheumatic diseases. The photochemical experiments of naproxen degradation were performed in the wastewater effluents from wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) Kloten/Switzerland at its real concentrations (without standard addition) and in drinking water containing naproxen standard, adjusted to pH = 7 and pH = 6. All performed experiments showed that within 5 min of photochemical oxidation, the disappearance of naproxen exceeded 90%. The first-order rate constants of naproxen degradation were determined. The maximal value of rate constant was observed by UV/H2O2 process in water samples at pH = 6 (k=0.997 min−1).


2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leyla Tahrani ◽  
Joris Van Loco ◽  
Hedi Ben Mansour ◽  
Tim Reyns

Antibiotics are among the most commonly used group of pharmaceuticals in human medicine. They can therefore reach surface and groundwater bodies through different routes, such as wastewater treatment plant effluents, surface runoff, or infiltration of water used for agricultural purposes. It is well known that antibiotics pose a significant risk to environmental and human health, even at low concentrations. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the presence of aminoglycosides and phenicol antibiotics in municipal wastewaters, sea water and pharmaceutical effluents in Tunisia. All analysed water samples contained detectable levels of aminoglycoside and phenicol antibiotics. The highest concentrations in wastewater influents were observed for neomycin and kanamycin B (16.4ng mL−1 and 7.5 ng mL−1, respectively). Chloramphenicol was found in wastewater influents up to 3 ng mL−1. It was observed that the waste water treatment plants were not efficient in completely removing these antibiotics. Chloramphenicol and florfenicol were found in sea water samples near aquaculture sites at levels up to, respectively, 15.6 ng mL−1 and 18.4 ng mL−1. Also aminoglycoside antibiotics were found near aquaculture sites with the highest concentration of 3.4 ng mL−1 for streptomycin. In pharmaceutical effluents, only gentamycin was found at concentrations up to 19 ng mL−1 over a sampling period of four months.


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