Multitemporal Total Coliforms and Escherichia coli Analysis in the Middle Bogotá River Basin, 2007–2019

Characterization of bacterial diversity in rhizospheric soils, irrigation water, and lettuce crops in municipalities near the Bogotá river, Colombia

The use of wastewater in agricultural practices poses a potential risk for the spread of foodborne diseases. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize the bacterial biodiversity in rhizospheric soil, irrigation water, and lettuce crops in three municipalities adjacent to the Bogotá River, Colombia. Samples were collected in Mosquera, Funza, and Cota municipalities, including rhizospheric soil, lettuce leaves, and irrigation water. The total DNA extraction was performed to analyze bacterial diversity through high-throughput sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA genes, utilizing the Illumina HiSeq 2500 PE 300 sequencing platform. A total of 198 genera from the rhizospheric soil were detected including a higher abundance of zOTUs such as Bacillus, Streptomyces, and clinically relevant genera such as Mycobacterium and Pseudomonas. In lettuce, the detection of 26 genera of endophytic bacteria showed to Proteobacteria and Firmicutes as the predominant phyla, with Staphylococcus and Bacillus as the most abundant genera. Notably, Funza's crops exhibited the highest abundance of endophytes, approximately 50 %, compared to Cota (20 %). Furthermore, the most abundant bacterial genera in the irrigation water were Flavobacterium and Pseudomonas. The most prevalent Enterobacteriaceae were Serratia, Enterobacter, Citrobacter, Klebsiella, Yersinia, Shigella, Escherichia, and Erwinia. The Bacillus genus was highly enriched in both rhizospheric soils and lettuce crops, indicating its significant contribution as the main endophytic bacterium.

Schoenoplectus americanus as a potential phytoremediator: in vitro assessment of its ability to remove contaminants in domestic and tannery wastewater

Growing industrialization and urbanization have led to increased water pollution due to the inadequate treatment and disposal of domestic wastewater (DW) and wastewater produced by industries such as tanneries (TW). These wastewaters are characterized by high concentrations of organic matter, nutrients, sulphates, chlorides and high microbial load. TW also contains phenols and chromium, which disturb and harm the ecosystem the local. The decontamination of wastewater prior to their discharge through biological tools, especially the use of species that are native to the site in need of treatment, has been described as effective and advantageous. This study evaluated the ability of Schoenoplectus americanus, a native plant species from Cordoba (Argentina), to phytoremediate local DW and TW samples at a laboratory scale. The aim was to ascertain whether this system could potentially be considered for the remediation of wastewater in real-world scenarios. S. americanus was able to tolerate pure DW and a 1/20 (v/v) dilution of TW for 30 days under hydroponic conditions. Removal rates ranging from 50% to 89% were obtained for residual organic matter (determined as chemical oxygen demand or COD), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). Significant removal of total chromium (TCr) and total phenols (TPhs) was also observed in TW (85% and 98%). The number of total coliforms (TC), was reduced by about 96% and 99%. These results indicate that S. americanus is a good candidate for the phytoremediation of regional DW and TW. For this reason, it may be considered for full-scale applications in the future.

Design and Development of a Pilot-Scale Industrial Wastewater Treatment System with Plant Biomass and EDTA

The impact generated by the indiscriminate disposal of heavy metals into the different bodies of water is not only environmental but also social due to the health effects it produces in several organisms, including ourselves. Therefore, treatment systems around the world are the subject of continuous research to find treatment systems that are economical, efficient, and easy to implement in the industries that generate these increasingly harmful impacts on society and the environment in general. One way to design and develop systems of water treatment is that which takes advantage of the waste generated, such as the waste from the E. crassipes plant. The conditions of this plant make it perfect due to its abundant biomass and important content of cellulose and hemicellulose. Nevertheless, in almost all the investigations that characterize the way in which the biomass of this plant adsorbs heavy metals, it does so under laboratory conditions, being very far from the reality of industrial discharges. The objective of this project is to design and develop a pilot-scale industrial wastewater treatment system with plant biomass and EDTA. Three pilot-scale systems were built with EDTA-modified biomass in different concentrations, giving the parameters of the design for the development of a system that can treat around 80 L of Chromium (VI) contaminated water. This treatment system with E. crassipes biomass and EDTA with proportions of 9:1 costs around USD 10, which is quite cheap compared to conventional ones.

Sustainable Real Estate and Resilient Cities: Management, Assessment and Innovations

Production and consumption activities have determined a weakness of the sustainable real estate economy [...]