scholarly journals Environmental impacts of landfill covering by use of industrial by-products

2019 ◽  
pp. 307-313
Author(s):  
Frida Veibäck ◽  
Lena Johansson Westholm

Since the introduction of an EC-directive on stronger demands on covering and lining oflandfills, the Swedish Parliament has adopted new legislation on waste deposition.Within a near future, a large number of landfills in Sweden have to be closed down due tothese stronger demands. Covering of landfills has traditionally been carried out with tillas covering material. The use of till causes depletion of a natural resource and in addition,high costs for transportation might arise. Alternative materials have thus been sought for.Two potential materials are sludge and ash. Their behaviour with regard to leaching is notvery well known and the focus of this work is to further investigate this issue. A pilotscale area on a closed-down part of the Gryta landfill site in Viistenis, Sweden; was partlycovered with composted sewage sludge mixed with mineral soil, partly with ash. The aimwas to find out whether the leachate from the covered areas had to be subject for furthertreatment before being discharged into the recipient. The leachate was analysed fornitrogen and phosphorus. The results from the first three months of the experimentshowed high concentrations of both nitrogen and phosphorus in the leachate, probablydue to a washing effect. It is expected that the nutrient concentrations will decrease in thefuture when the content of nutrients in the covering materials have been washed out andwhen vegetation has been established. Further investigations of the leachate will confirmthis. Based on these findings and the fact that the materials fulfil other requirements forcovering materials, it was concluded that both sludges and ashes could be regarded assuitable materials for a sustainable landfill covering. Further investigations on the subjectare however suggested.

Soil Research ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
NB Greenhill ◽  
KI Peverill ◽  
LA Douglas

Concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus forms, calcium, sulfur and potassium in runoff from previously fertilized plots were explained on the basis of differences in slope, previous fertilizer history, and land management at three runoff sites. Data are also given for concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus forms, calcium, sulfur and potassium in runoff that occurred after superphosphate was applied. High concentrations of phosphorus forms, calcium and sulfur occurred in runoff from a storm 24 h after fertilizer application. At other times, concentrations of all measured parameters were low, and similar to those reported elsewhere.


2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Minamiyama ◽  
S. Ochi ◽  
Y. Suzuki

Many environmental problems caused by endocrine disrupters (EDs) have been reported. Because little is known about the fate of EDs accumulated in sewage sludge, we carried out a study to clarify the fate of EDs in composted sludge after its application to soil. Nonylphenol (NP) and 17β-estradiol (E2) were measured for leachate and soil. High concentrations of NP and E2 were detected in the leachate at the early stage, but they decreased rapidly. Also, the high contents of NP and E2 in soil decreased significantly within 300 days. Because the decrease of NP and E2 in the soil was much larger than that of NP and E2 in the leachate, there must have been a physicochemical or biological decomposition mechanism in the soil layer. We also tried to clarify the transfer of NPs to plants from compost. In the experimental conditions of this study, the transfer of NPs to plants from compost was not observed.


1996 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 485-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Chow-Fraser ◽  
Barb Crosbie ◽  
Douglas Bryant ◽  
Brian McCarry

Abstract During the summer of 1994, we compared the physical and nutrient characteristics of the three main tributaries of Cootes Paradise: Spencer, Chedoke and Borer’s creeks. On all sampling occasions, concentrations of CHL α and nutrients were always lowest in Borer’s Creek and highest in Chedoke Creek. There were generally 10-fold higher CHL α concentrations and 2 to 10 times higher levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in Chedoke Creek compared with Spencer Creek. Despite this, the light environment did not differ significantly between Spencer and Chedoke creeks because the low algal biomass in Spencer Creek was balanced by a relatively high loading of inorganic sediments from the watershed. Laboratory experiments indicated that sediments from Chedoke Creek released up to 10 µg/g of soluble phosphorus per gram (dry weight) of sediment, compared with only 2 µg/g from Spencer Creek. By contrast, sediment samples from Spencer Creek contained levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon that were as high as or higher than those from Chedoke Creek, and much higher than those found in Borer’s Creek. The distribution of normalized PAH concentrations suggests a common source of PAHs in all three tributaries, most likely automobile exhaust, since there were high concentrations of fluoranthene and pyrene, both of which are derivatives of engine combustion.


1997 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 693-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Fierro ◽  
J. Norrie ◽  
A. Gosselin ◽  
C. J. Beauchamp

In a greenhouse study, deinking sludge was evaluated as a soil amendment supplemented with four nitrogen (N) fertilization levels for the growth of the grasses Agropyron elongatum (Host.) Beauv. (tall wheatgrass), Alopecurus pratensis L. (meadow foxtail), Festuca ovina var. duriuscula (L). Koch (hard fescue), and four levels of phosphorus (P) for the growth of the legumes Galega orientalis Lam. (galega), Medicago lupulina L. (black medic), Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam (yellow sweet clover). Fertilizers were applied on the basis of sludge level to maintain uniform carbon (C)/N or C/P ratios across sludge treatments. In one experiment, sand was mixed with 0, 10, 20 or 30% sludge while, in a second experiment, mineral soil was mixed with 0, 27, 53 or 80% sludge (vol/vol). In sand mixtures of 30 and 20% sludge, grasses had similar or greater growth than in unamended mineral soil when N was added at about 6.5 and 8.4 g kg−1 deinking sludge, respectively. For all legumes but Medicago lupulina, P at about 0.8 g kg−1 sludge was required for these sand mixtures. In soil mixtures of 53 and 27% sludge, grasses grew well when supplemental N was about 5.3 and 6.9 g kg−1 sludge, respectively. Legumes required P at 0.5 and 1.2 g kg−1 sludge, respectively. In general, growth was closely related to total amount of added N or P in spite of the wide range of C/N or C/P ratios. When growing in media amended with sludge, grasses needed higher tissue N concentration for an equivalent growth than in control soil; legumes had similar tissue P concentration. The grasses Agropyron elongatum and Alopecurus pratensis as well as the legumes Melilotus officinalis and Galega orientalis are promising species for field testing, based on dry matter production. Deinking sludge can be used as soil amendment when adequate N and P supplements are provided. Key words: Soil amendment, papermill sludge, Agropyron elongatum, Alopecurus pratensis, Festuca ovina, Medicago lupulina, Galega orientalis, Melilotus officinalis


1986 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 1504-1514 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Joan Hardy ◽  
Ken S. Shortreed ◽  
John G. Stockner

Inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus were applied weekly during the growing season from 1980 to 1982 and twice weekly in 1983 to Hobiton Lake, a warm monomictic coastal lake in British Columbia. The lake was not fertilized in 1984. Average numbers of bacteria during the growing season decreased from a high of 1.53 × 106∙mL−1 in the fertilized condition to 0.84 × 106∙mL−1 in the unfertilized condition. Chlorophyll a concentrations decreased from a maximum seasonal average of 2.69 μg∙L−1 (1981) to 1.30 μg∙L−1 (1984), and algal numbers decreased from 5.83 × 104∙mL−1 (1983) to 2.29 × 104∙mL−1 (1984). Although the numbers of phytoplankton in each size fraction (picoplankton, nanoplankton, or microplankton) decreased in the unfertilized condition, the greatest change was an almost fourfold decrease in picoplankton, which consisted of 90% cyanobacteria (primarily Synechococcus spp.). Abundance of the large diatoms Rhizosolenia spp. and Melosira spp. increased in 1984, resulting in an increase in average seasonal algal volume. Average densities of medium (0.15–0.84 mm) and large (0.85–1.5 mm) zooplankton were greatest in 1982, while rotifers and small zooplankton (0.10–0.14 mm) were most dense in 1984 following nutrient reduction. The lake had relatively high concentrations of planktivorous juvenile sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) that appeared to minimize any direct effect of nutrient additions on zooplankton densities.


Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nícolas Reinaldo Finkler ◽  
Flavia Tromboni ◽  
Iola Boëchat ◽  
Björn Gücker ◽  
Davi Gasparini Fernandes Cunha

Pollution abatement through phosphorus and nitrogen retention is a key ecosystem service provided by streams. Human activities have been changing in-stream nutrient concentrations, thereby altering lotic ecosystem functioning, especially in developing countries. We estimated nutrient uptake metrics (ambient uptake length, areal uptake rate, and uptake velocity) for nitrate (NO3–N), ammonium (NH4–N), and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) in four tropical Cerrado headwater streams during 2017, through whole-stream nutrient addition experiments. According to multiple regression models, ambient SRP concentration was an important explanatory variable of nutrient uptake. Further, best models included ambient NO3–N and water velocity (for NO3–N uptake metrics), dissolved oxygen (DO) and canopy cover (for NH4–N); and DO, discharge, water velocity, and temperature (for SRP). The best kinetic models describing nutrient uptake were efficiency-loss (R2 from 0.47–0.88) and first-order models (R2 from 0.60–0.85). NO3–N, NH4–N, and SRP uptake in these streams seemed coupled as a result of complex interactions of biotic P limitation, abiotic P cycling processes, and the preferential uptake of NH4–N among N-forms. Global change effects on these tropical streams, such as temperature increase and nutrient enrichment due to urban and agricultural expansion, may have adverse and partially unpredictable impacts on whole-stream nutrient processing.


1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 119-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen C. Chao ◽  
Sergio J. de Luca ◽  
Carlos N. Idle

Studies concerning the treatment, stabilization and final disposal of biosolids, one of the by-products of wastewater treatment, in environmental recovery, have been intensified by the sanitary and environmental effects of land disposal. The careful assessment of biosolid quality shows that, when appropriately managed, the environmental risks of their uses can be minimized by chemical stabilization, and biosolids could even be used as fertilizer and soil conditioner. A research study of biosolid stabilization was performed using lime as a standard process compared to potassium ferrate (VI). The chances of leaching and solubilization of metals were tested, simulating conditions for disposal in the environment. The sanitary effectiveness in terms of pathogens (bacteria, fungi and helminth eggs) were also evaluated. Experiments were performed on the lime and ferrate(VI) treatment of compounds such as ammonia, nitrate, soluble sulphides, and total sulphates, indicators of odouriferous offensive compounds which might occasionally prevent some uses of the solids, and the results are presented in this paper. Wastewater Treatment Plants emit offensive odours generated during the sewage treatment process, as well as during the treatment and the management of biosolids. This occurs in the drying beds and the spreading of biosolids on land, due to the high concentrations of sulphur compounds, nitrogen compounds, acids and organic compounds (aldehydes and ketones). The potassium ferrate(VI) utilized in the research is a powerful oxidizing agent throughout the pH scale, with the advantage of not generating by-products which will cause toxicity or mutagenicity (DE LUCA, 1981). The ion ferrate(VI) has greater oxidizing power than permanganate, e.g., it oxidizes reduced sulfur forms to sulphate, ammonia to nitrate, hypochlorite to chlorite and chlorite to chlorate(DE LUCA et al., 1992; CHAO et al., 1992). This paper shows that, as expected, the potassium ferrate (VI) treatment replaces several chemical products utilized for odour control of sludges, mainly aggressive odours caused by ammonia and sulphides, through the formation of precipitates with iron compounds. Ferrate (VI) has often been shown to destroy soluble sulphides, transforming them into sulphate. The generation of oxygen in the decomposition of ferrate(VI) increases its oxidizing power. Ferrate(VI) applied to sludges also has the double effect of transforming ammonia into nitrates, such that this product takes the place of sulphates, acting as an electron acceptor, thus preventing the development of further odours when biosolids are utilized.


2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Lina Cardoso ◽  
C. Esperanza Ramírez ◽  
E. Violeta Escalante

There are problems associated with sludge management in small treatment plants (<10 L/s) located in rural communities, due to costly conventional technology for sludge stabilization. Many of these plants have only sludge drying beds. Mexican Institute of Water Technology has proposed developing suitable low-cost technologies, one of which is vermicomposting a biodegradation system using earthworms of the species Eisenia foetida (earthworm) which stabilize sludge and reduce its pathogenicity. The objective of this work is to present two case studies where vermicomposting technology has been applied in Mexico. The first study corresponds to a plant where 4.8 m3/month of sludge are produced; for these wastes, a vermicomposting system was built and installed. The second study is a treatment plant where 9 m3/month of sludge are produced; experimental tests were conducted with sludge and water hyacinth and a vermicomposting system was designed. The vermicomposts were analyzed using parameters defined by Mexican standards. In regards to stabilization, TVS was reduced by 38% and the microbiological quality of the vermicompost was Class A and B, with a reduction in fecal coliforms and Helminth eggs according to NOM-004-SEMARNAT-2002. A CRETI (Corrosivity, Reactivity, Explosivity, Toxicity and Ignitability) analysis (NOM-052-SEMARNAT-2005) was used to show that the process reduced the concentration of releasable sulfides. The agronomic quality of the vermicompost exhibited a high content of organic matter comparable to many organic manures and high content of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. It is concluded that it is possible to improve the conditions of sewage sludge management in small plants of rural communities with a minimum investment (less than $10,000.00 USD) and with a requirement of a minimum area of 60 to 70 m2 for a production of less than 9 m3/month of dehydrated sludge (80% humidity).


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