Influence of Water Resource Recovery Facility Effluents on the Presence of Selected Trace Organic Contaminants (TOrCs) in the Reedy River, South Carolina.

Wastewater reclamation facilities are known sources of emerging contaminants associated with human health and sanitation. This study evaluated the contribution of trace organic contaminants to a previously unmonitored river by water resource reclamation facilities. Six sampling events were conducted on the Reedy River in South Carolina.

Effects of simulated oilfield produced water on early seedling growth after treatment in a pilot-scale constructed wetland system.

Seed germination and early seedling growth bioassays were used to evaluate phytotoxicity of simulated oilfield produced water (OPW) before and after treatment in a subsurface-flow, pilot-scale constructed wetland treatment system (CWTS). Responses to untreated and treated OPW were compared among seven plant species, including three monocotyledons: corn (Zea mays), millet (Panicum miliaceum), and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor); and four dicotyledons: lettuce (Lactuca sativa), okra (Abelmoschus esculents), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), and soybean (Glycine max). Phytotoxicity was greater in untreated OPW than in treated OPW.

Treatment of oil and grease in produced water by a pilot-scale constructed wetland system using biogeochemical processes.

Constructed wetland treatment systems (CWTSs) can effectively remove many constituents that limit beneficial use of oilfield produced water. The objectives of this investigation were: (1) to assess the effect of mass loadings of oil and grease (O & G) on treatment performance in pilot-scale subsurface flow and free water surface CWTS series having sequential reducing and oxidizing cells, and (2) to evaluate effects on treatment performance of adding a pilot-scale oil-water separator. Increase in O & G mass loading from 5 to 20 mg min(-1) caused decreases in both dissolved oxygen concentration and sediment redox potential, which affected treatment performance.

Use of vegetated agricultural drainage ditches to decrease pesticide transport from tomato and alfalfa fields in California, USA.

Irrigation and storm water runoff from agricultural fields has the potential to cause impairment to downstream aquatic receiving systems. Over the last several years, scientists have discovered the benefit of using edge-of-field practices, such as vegetated agricultural drainage ditches, in the mitigation of pesticides and sediment. After demonstrating this practice's feasibility in California, field trials were initiated to document irrigation runoff pesticide mitigation in California alfalfa and tomato fields.

Assessment of the ecological effects of arsenic on a southern Ohio, USA stream.

Davis Creek is a southern Ohio, USA stream that receives a permitted discharge from the Belpre Elastomers Plant (BEP). A sediment quality triad investigation of Davis Creek was conducted over a 2-y period that included sediment and surface water chemistry measurements, toxicity tests of whole sediment, interstitial and surface water, and benthic and artificial substrate community assessments. The concentration of arsenic in surface and interstitial water was below United States Environmental Protection Agency ambient water quality criteria and was not toxic in laboratory tests (Ceriodaphnia dubia, Pimephales promelas).