Bioavailability of Pulp and Paper Mill Effluent Phosphorus

1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 93-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maarit Priha

The aim of this study was to examine the stability and bioavailability of different phosphorus fractions of pulp and paper mill effluents in order to assess the environmental benefits of reducing their phosphorus discharges. Two types of effluent were studied: activated sludge treated bleached kraft mill effluent and activated sludge treated paper mill effluent. Phosphorus was characterized on the basis of its solubility and chemical reactivity. The stability of particulate phosphorus was studied in long-term (6-8 weeks) degradation tests. The bioavailability of different phosphorus fractions was measured by algal growth potential tests. In bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) the proportion of dissolved phosphorus in relation to the total phosphorus was on an average 80%, and of this, approximately 80-90% was reactive phosphorus. During a 6-8 week incubation period some 60-70% of the particulate phosphorus in BKME was dissolved as soluble phosphorus, and most of it was of the reactive type. Approximately 90% of the dissolved phosphorus and 45% of the particulate phosphorus in BKME was biologically available phosphorus (BAP). Altogether some 80% of the total phosphorus in activated sludge treated BKME was available for algae either immediately or after inherent degradation. The percentages of dissolved and particulate phosphorus of paper mill effluent (PME) total phosphorus were of the same order of magnitude as those of BKME, but less than 20% of the dissolved phosphorus was of the reactive type. Approximately 50-60% of the particulate phosphorus in PME was dissolved in degradation tests, and 90% of it was biologically available.

1977 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 856-862 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Moore ◽  
R. J. Love

The short-term effect of a kraft mill effluent on the productivity of periphyton and phytoplankton in Nipigon Bay was examined. Addition of raw effluent at concentrations of 10−2 and higher consistently reduced photosynthesis of both periphyton and phytoplankton. Significant reductions were occasionally observed at effluent concentrations as low as 10−4. At high effluent concentrations pH change produced a major portion of the depression. Laboratory experiments with four compounds identified from the effluent showed dehydroabietic acid to be slightly toxic.


1999 ◽  
Vol 40 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 131-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. J. T. Leppänen ◽  
A. O. J. Oikari

Retene (7-isopropyl-1-methylphenantrene) is an alkyl substituted PAH derived primarily from bacterial aromatization of abietic type resin acids. Retene has been shown to induce cytochrome P450 1A in rainbow trout whereas e.g. dehydroabietic acid does not induce it. We analysed resin acids and retene in sediments from seven sites receiving pulp and paper mill effluents from 4 mills, and from two reference sites. All mills have employed treatment of waste waters by activated sludge. The highest concentration of retene measured in sediment was 1600 μg/g d.w. (11 700 μg/g organic carbon, OC) while the highest concentration of resin acids was 1500 μg/g d.w. (9 300 μg/g OC). Downstream from the point (12 km) of bleached kraft mill effluent discharge, the concentration of retene at the depth of 5-10 cm in sediment was still 16 μg/g d.w. (650 μg/g OC) and the concentration of resin acids 139 μg/g d.w. (1700 μg/g OC). Background concentration for retene on the upstream reference site was below 0.1 μg/g d.w and for resin acids below 70 μg/g d.w. Substantial concentrations of retene (54 μg/g d.w.) and resin acids (1470 μg/g d.w.) were also detected in sedimenting particles collected at the sediment sampling sites. When the concentrations and sedimentation rates before and after the installation of activated sludge systems were compared, the effect of improved waste water treatment on total amount of sedimenting resin acids and retene (μg/m2/day) is clear. To assess the bioavailability of retene we analysed its concentration in the bile of feral fish caught 1-2 km downstream of pulp and paper mill. Data on roach shows that retene in sediments can be bioavailable to fish feeding on benthic food chain.


1988 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Langi ◽  
M. Priha

The mutagenic properties of pulp and paper mill effluents were studied in three mills: bleached kraft mill with aerated lagoon treatment (Mill 1), bleached kraft mill with activated sludge treatment (Mill 2) and mechanical pulp/paper mill (Mill 3). Both treated and untreated effluents, process streams and molecular fractions were tested for mutagenicity (Ames test. Salmonella typhimurium TA100 and SCE sister chromatid exchange test, Chinese hamster ovary cells). To verify the potential environmental effects the mutagenic activity of concentrated recipient lake water (Mill 2) was also studied. The Ames mutagenicity of the bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) originated from the first chlorination filtrate, SCE mutagenicity also occurred in the alkali extraction stage filtrate (Mill 1). No Ames mutagenicity was detected in the paper mill effluent, but it was SCE mutagenic. Activated sludge treatment of BKME removed both Ames and SCE mutagenicity, but the aerated lagoon treated BKME was still SCE mutagenic. No mutagenic activity was detected in the recipient water concentrates.


2004 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 95-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.E. Suvilampi ◽  
J.A. Rintala

Thermophilic aerobic treatment of settled pulp and paper mill effluent was studied under mill premises with two comparative pilot processes; suspended carrier biofilm process (SCBP) and activated sludge process (ASP). Full-scale mesophilic activated sludge process was a reference treatment. During the runs (61 days) hydraulic retention times (HRTs) were kept 13 ± 5 h and 16 ± 6 h for SCBP and ASP, respectively. Corresponding volumetric loadings rates (VLR) were 2.7 ± 0.9 and 2.2 ± 1.0 kg CODfilt m-3d-1. Temperatures varied between 46 to 60°C in both processes. Mesophilic ASP was operated with HRT of 36 h, corresponding VLR of 0.7 kg CODfilt m-3d-1. Both SCBP and ASP achieved CODfilt (GF/A filtered) removals up to 85%, while the mesophilic ASP removal was 89 ± 2%. NTU values were markedly higher (100-300) in thermophilic effluents than in mesophilic effluent (30). Effluent turbidity was highly dependent on temperature; in batch experiment mesophilic effluent sample had NTU values of 30 and 60 at 35°C and 55°C, respectively. As a conclusion, both thermophilic treatments gave high CODfilt removals, which were close to mesophilic process removal and were achieved with less than half of HRT.


2000 ◽  
Vol 66 (12) ◽  
pp. 5155-5160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Gauthier ◽  
Josh D. Neufeld ◽  
Brian T. Driscoll ◽  
Frederick S. Archibald

ABSTRACT The majority of pulp and paper mills now biotreat their combined effluents using activated sludge. On the assumption that their wood-based effluents have negligible fixed N, and that activated-sludge microorganisms will not fix significant N, these mills routinely spend large amounts adding ammonia or urea to their aeration tanks (bioreactors) to permit normal biomass growth. N2 fixation in seven Eastern Canadian pulp and paper mill effluent treatment systems was analyzed using acetylene reduction assays, quantitative nitrogenase (nifH) gene probing, and bacterial isolations. In situ N2 fixation was undetectable in all seven bioreactors but was present in six associated primary clarifiers. One primary clarifier was studied in greater detail. Approximately 50% of all culturable cells in the clarifier contained nifH, of which >90% were Klebsiella strains. All primary-clarifier coliform bacteria growing on MacConkey agar were identified as klebsiellas, and all those probed contained nifH. In contrast, analysis of 48 random coliform isolates from other mill water system locations showed that only 24 (50%) possessed thenifH gene, and only 13 (27%) showed inducible N2-fixing activity. Thus, all the pulp and paper mill primary clarifiers tested appeared to be sites of active N2fixation (0.87 to 4.90 mg of N liter−1 day−1) and a microbial community strongly biased toward this activity. This may also explain why coliform bacteria, especially klebsiellas, are indigenous in pulp and paper mill water systems.


2010 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne L. Parrott ◽  
L. Mark Hewitt ◽  
Tibor G. Kovacs ◽  
Deborah L. MacLatchy ◽  
Pierre H. Martel ◽  
...  

Abstract To evaluate currently available bioassays for their use in investigating the causes of pulp and paper mill effluent effects on fish reproduction, the responses of wild white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) collected from the receiving environment at the bleached kraft mill at La Tuque, Quebec, were compared with responses of fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) exposed to effluent in a laboratory lifecycle test. White sucker collected at effluent exposed sites had increased liver size but none of the reproductive effects that had been documented in earlier field studies at this site. Exposure to 1, 3, 10, 30, and 100% bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) in the lab led to significantly decreased length, but increased weight and liver size in male fathead minnow. Female length was also decreased and liver size was increased at high effluent exposures. Most effluent concentrations (1 to 30%) significantly increased egg production compared with controls. The fathead minnow lifecycle assay mirrored the effects seen in wild fish captured downstream of the BKME discharge. These results will be used to select short-term fish tests for investigating the causes of and solutions to the effects of mill effluents on fish reproduction.


1997 ◽  
Vol 35 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 205-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. T. Adisesha ◽  
S. Purwati ◽  
P. R. Panggabean ◽  
S. E. Sarief

Padalarang pulp and paper mill, a soda pulp and paper mill without chemical recovery, located near Bandung, Indonesia, discharges untreated effluent mixed with domestic waste water into surrounding rice fields. For more than 60 years, paddy has been harvested 3 times a year. An in-depth study to characterize the effluent, the soil and the biomass production was conducted to define the evidence. A field study using four experimental plots indicated that soil irrigated with effluent had a higher concentration of potassium, calcium, sodium ions and greater cation exchange capacity than near-by soil. Analysis of well water showed that the effluent had no effect on the ground water. A reduction of suspended solids and BOD occurred in the effluent while flowing through rice fields. The yields of paddy demonstrated significant positive effect of effluent either in dry or in rainy season, while zeolites as soil amendment did not give significant effect to the already high paddy crop yield.


1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Khan ◽  
D. E. Barker ◽  
K. Williams-Ryan ◽  
R. G. Hooper

Samples of longhorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus octodecemspinosus) were exposed to sediment contaminated with crude oil or pulp and paper mill effluent for periods up to 13 months in the laboratory. Other samples were collected at sites where crude oil or effluent from a pulp and paper mill are discharged. The intensity of gill infections of Trichodina spp. on exposed fish was significantly higher than on controls 5, 9, and 13 months after exposure. The intensity of the ciliates was also greater on sculpins collected near an oil-receiving terminal than on those sampled 5 km from the polluted site. Field collections of longhorn and shorthorn (Myoxocephalus scorpius) sculpins at and distant from a pulp and paper mill had high and low intensities of the ciliates, respectively. Similarly, the intensity of trichodinid ciliates was also significantly greater in longhorn sculpins exposed to effluent-contaminated sediment than in controls 5 months after exposure. The results suggest that the intensity of gill-inhibiting species such as trichodinids in susceptible fish hosts increases after chronic exposure to crude oil and to pulp and paper mill effluent, and the parasites may serve as indicators of pollution.


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