A Glass-Fiber-Optic Turbidity Sensor for Real-Time In Situ Water Quality Monitoring.

Turbidity is an important water quality parameter, especially for drinking water. The ability to actively monitor the turbidity level of drinking water distribution systems is of critical importance to the safety and wellbeing of the public. Traditional turbidity monitoring methods involve the manual collection of water samples at set locations and times followed by laboratory analysis, which are labor intensive and time consuming.

Composting and green technologies for remediation of phthalate (PAE)-contaminated soil: Current status and future perspectives.

Phthalate esters (PAEs) are hazardous organic compounds that are widely added to plastics to enhance their flexibility, temperature, and acidic tolerance. The increase in global consumption and the corresponding environmental pollution of PAEs has caused broad public concerns. As most PAEs accumulate in soil due to their high hydrophobicity, composting is a robust remediation technology for PAE-contaminated soil (efficiency 25%-100%), where microbial activity plays an important role.

The nitrogen cycle and mitigation strategies for nitrogen loss during organic waste composting: A review.

Composting is a promising technology to decompose organic waste into humus-like high-quality compost, which can be used as organic fertilizer. However, greenhouse gases (NO, CO, CH) and odorous emissions (HS, NH) are major concerns as secondary pollutants, which may pose adverse environmental and health effects. During the composting process, nitrogen cycle plays an important role to the compost quality.

Enhanced Slow Sand Filtration for the Removal of Micropollutants from Groundwater.

Remote areas, where centralized water supply cannot reach, rely heavily on decentralized supply systems such as slow sand filters (SSFs). Groundwater used to be a reliable water source; yet, the advent of micropollutants (MPs) has raised concerns over its quality. In this study, an enhanced slow sand filtration utilizing graphene oxide (GO)-coated sand prepared via a simple thermal method was employed to remove two representative MPs, atrazine (ATZ) and atenolol (ATL), from real groundwater for drinking water treatment.

Bacterial community progression during food waste composting containing high dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP) concentration.

The overall dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP) degradation efficiency during food waste composting was 98%. The thermophilic phases contributed to 76% of the overall degradation efficiency, followed by the maturation phase (22%), then the mesophilic phase (0.7%).

Aerobic composting remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil. Current and future perspectives.

This article provides a comprehensive review on aerobic composting remediation of soil contaminated with total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs). The studies reviewed have demonstrated that composting technology can be applied to treat TPH contamination (as high as 380,000 mg kg) in clay, silt, and sandy soils successfully. Most of these studies reported more than 70% removal efficiency, with a maximum of 99%.

Magnetic porous NiLa-Layered double oxides (LDOs) with improved phosphate adsorption and antibacterial activity for treatment of secondary effluent.

The removal of phosphate (nutrient) and E. coli (pathogen) from secondary effluent is of great importance to control the water quality of the receiving water bodies. In this study, magnetic porous NiLa-layered double oxides (NiLa-LDOs/FeO) were synthesized using a simple co-precipitation method.

Assessment of heavy metal contamination and adverse biological effects of an industrially affected river.

One of the most industrially affected rivers in Taiwan, the Houjing River, was studied in this research. The water and sediment samples were collected at five locations to measure the concentration of eight metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Ni, and Zn). In order to assess the heavy metal contamination and its adverse biological effect, the heavy metal pollution index (HPI), the degree of contamination index (DC), the contamination factor (CF), the index of geo-accumulation (I), and hazard quotients (HQs) were employed.

Highly efficient recovery of ruthenium from integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing wastewater by Al reduction and cementation.

Ruthenium (Ru) is a rare-earth metal, which is employed widely in metal-processing industries. This study recovered Ru from the wastewater of an IC foundry by cementation using metallic aluminum (Al) powder as the sacrificial agent. Ru ions were efficiently reduced to the metal and coagulated with the derived aluminum hydroxide flocs.

Engineered multifunctional sand for enhanced removal of stormwater runoff contaminants in fixed-bed column systems.

The degradation of surface water quality in the US is mostly contributed by nonpoint-source pollution, in which stormwater runoff plays a major role. Stormwater runoff pollution is difficult to control due to its diffuse and stochastic loading. In this study, multifunctional AlMg/GO engineered sand synthesized via a simple method was used to address four major categories of runoff contaminants, namely nutrient (phosphate), metal (zinc), organic contaminant (caffeine), and pathogen (E.

Aerobic co-composting degradation of highly PCDD/F-contaminated field soil. A study of bacterial community.

This study investigated bacterial communities during aerobic food waste co-composting degradation of highly PCDD/F-contaminated field soil. The total initial toxic equivalent quantity (TEQ) of the soil was 16,004 ng-TEQ kg dry weight. After 42-day composting and bioactivity-enhanced monitored natural attenuation (MNA), the final compost product's TEQ reduced to 1916 ng-TEQ kg dry weight (approximately 75% degradation) with a degradation rate of 136.

How human activities in commercial areas contribute to phthalate ester pollution in street dust of Taiwan.

Unlabelled: Exposure to phthalate esters (PAEs) poses health risks to humans. Much research has been performed evaluating PAE levels in foodstuffs, river sediment and drinking water, but little attention has been paid to their presence in urban outdoor environments where human activities are highly intense. Here we evaluated PAE presence and distribution in street dust in Kaohsiung, the most industrialized city in Taiwan.

Contamination levels and potential sources of organic pollution in an Asian river.

The Houjing River has long been an environmental victim of economic development. Industries that have settled along the bank of this river may have largely contributed to severe organic wastes pollution. This study collected water and sediment samples at various points along the river and measured concentrations of 61 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and 128 semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) for a period of 16 months (Feb 2014-June 2015).

Bioaccumulation and potential sources of heavy metal contamination in fish species in Taiwan: assessment and possible human health implications.

In this study, tissues of five fish species prevalent in the Houjing River were analyzed for heavy metal concentrations. Results show concentrations of such metals to be much higher than internationally recommended standard limits (as determined by the WHO and FAO) and other similar studies. Heavy metal contamination of fish in the Houjing River is hence significant.

The use of ultrasound-assisted anaerobic compost tea washing to remove poly-chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzo-furans (PCDFs) from highly contaminated field soils.

The remediation of dioxin-contaminated soil of a specific coastal area previously employed for the manufacture of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in southern Taiwan's Tainan City has attracted much attention of researchers there. This work addresses the possibility of providing an effective and environmentally friendly option for removing PCDD/Fs from soil in that field. Soil screening/sieving was first conducted to assess particle distribution.

Green and sustainable remediation (GSR) evaluation: framework, standards, and tool. A case study in Taiwan.

Taiwan has a large number of poorly managed contaminated sites in need of remediation. This study proposes a framework, a set of standards, and a spreadsheet-based evaluation tool for implementing green and sustainable principles into remediation projects and evaluating the projects from this perspective. We performed a case study to understand how the framework would be applied.