Determination of organochlorine compounds in neuston from the Mediterranean

Organochlorine pesticides removal from wastewater by pine bark adsorption after activated sludge treatment

Pesticides have been responsible for strong environmental impacts, mainly due to their persistence in the environment. Removal technologies are usually combined, because degradation of organic matter is needed prior to a tertiary treatment to guarantee pesticides elimination to levels below legal limits (normally 0.1 microg L(-1)). Pine bark was studied as an alternative to activated carbon, for organochlorine pesticides removal. A combination of technologies based on biodegradation with activated sludge followed by pine bark adsorption treatment was used for lindane (LIN) and heptachlor (HEP) removal from contaminated waters. Pesticides were quantified throughout the process by GC-ECD preceded by solid-phase microextraction (SPME). An experimental set-up was maintained for 4 months, by feeding a standard solution with pesticides concentration of 1 microg L(-1) each and known organic matter (Chemical Oxygen Demand, COD, -563 mg O2 L(-1)) on a daily basis. COD suffered a reduction of about 81% in the biological step and no increase was detected in the subsequent adsorption treatment. Overall removal efficiency was 76.6% and above 77.7% for LIN and HEP, respectively.

A comparative study of the industrial discharges effect on the anaerobic treatment of domestic wastewater in both experimental and pilot-plant scales

The aim of this study was to compare the effect of industrial discharges on the anaerobic treatment of domestic wastewater in both laboratory and pilot-plant scales at mesophilic conditions. The laboratory experiment results have shown the low process efficiency of anaerobic treatment of DW by the use of an adapted or a non-adapted methanogenic inoculum. These experiments performed in batch digesters were further confirmed by scaling up to a pilot-plant anaerobic membrane bioreactor (MBR). The treatment inefficiency in both laboratory and pilot-plant experiments could be related to the presence of toxic compounds due to the wastewater contamination by industrial discharges. The toxic character of DW was proved by the phytotoxicity and microtoxicity tests. Indeed, the luminescence inhibition percentages started at an average of 21% in the morning and reached more than 84% in the late afternoon. Moreover, the toxicity results have shown a direct relation with methanization results. Indeed, when the average microtoxicity increased to 73%, the average germination index value and the methanization efficiency expressed as the average methane percentage in the produced biogas decreased to 0% and 14.5%, respectively.