Linking the nonmaterial dimensions of human-nature relations and human well-being through cultural ecosystem services.

Nature contributes substantially to human well-being through its diverse material and nonmaterial contributions. However, despite the growing literature on the nonmaterial dimensions of human-nature relations, we lack a systematic understanding of how they are linked with human well-being. Here, we use the concept of cultural ecosystem services (CESs) as a lens to explore this interface.

Impact of population growth and land use and land cover (LULC) changes on water quality in tourism-dependent economies using a geographically weighted regression approach.

This paper aims to assess the influence of land use and land cover (LULC) indicators and population density on water quality parameters during dry and rainy seasons in a tourism area in Indonesia. This study applies least squares regression (OLS) and Pearson correlation analysis to see the relationship among factors, and all LULC and population density were significantly correlated with most of water quality parameter with P values of 0.01 and 0.

Comparative assessment of primary and secondary infection risks in a norovirus outbreak using a household model simulation.

Diarrheal diseases can be transmitted via both primary infection due to exposures to contaminated materials from the environment and secondary infection due to person-to-person contacts. Usually, the importance of secondary infection is empirically assessed by fitting mathematical models to the epidemic curves. However, these empirical models may not be applicable to other epidemic cases because they are developed only for the target epidemics and they don't consider the detail routes of infection.

Holistic sludge management through ozonation: A critical review.

This paper critically reviews the multidimensional benefits of ozonation in wastewater treatment plants. These benefits include sludge reduction, removal of emerging trace organic contaminants (TrOC) from wastewater and sludge, and resource recovery from sludge. Literature shows that ozonation leads to sludge solubilisation, reducing overall biomass yield.

Low-Carbon Watershed Management: Potential of Greenhouse Gas Reductions from Wastewater Treatment in Rural Vietnam.

Currently in many cities and rural areas of Vietnam, wastewater is discharged to the environment without any treatment, which emits considerable amount of greenhouse gas (GHG), particularly methane. In this study, four GHG emission scenarios were examined, as well as the baseline scenario, in order to verify the potential of GHG reduction from domestic wastewater with adequate treatment facilities. The ArcGIS and ArcHydro tools were employed to visualize and analyze GHG emissions resulting from discharge of untreated wastewater, in rural areas of Vu Gia Thu Bon river basin, Vietnam.

Development of an innovative decentralized treatment system for the reclamation and reuse of strong wastewater from rural community: Effects of elevated CO2 concentrations.

In a previous study, a soil-plant-based natural treatment system was successfully developed for post-treatment of anaerobically digested strong wastewater full of potential nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium). For upgraded performance, an innovative decentralized treatment system was further developed, in which an anaerobic digestion stage and a natural treatment system stage are placed within a greenhouse. This allows the CO2 generated by the processing of wastewater and biogas consumption to be sequestrated within the greenhouse for elevating its concentration level and potentially enhance nutrient removal and recovery from the applied wastewater.

Development of natural treatment system consisting of black soil and Kentucky bluegrass for the post-treatment of anaerobically digested strong wastewater.

To develop a sound post-treatment process for anaerobically-digested strong wastewater, a novel natural treatment system comprising two units is put forward. The first unit, a trickling filter, provides for further reduction of biochemical oxygen demand and adjustable nitrification. The subsequent soil-plant unit aims at removing and recovering the nutrients nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).

Development of a natural treatment system consisting of red ball earth and alfalfa for the post-treatment of anaerobically digested livestock wastewater.

With the objective of developing a post-treatment process for anaerobically digested livestock wastewater, an innovative natural treatment system composed of two units is proposed. The first trickling filter unit further reduced biochemical oxygen demand and achieved a certain degree of nitrification. The second soil-plant unit was targeted at the removal and recovery of nutrients N, P and K.

Production of high concentrations of H2O2 in a bioelectrochemical reactor fed with real municipal wastewater.

Bioelectrochemical systems can be used to energy-efficiently produce hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) from wastewater. Organic compounds in the wastewater are oxidized by microorganisms using the anode as electron acceptor. H2O2 is produced by reduction of oxygen on the cathode.

Measurement of cadmium ion in the presence of metal-binding biopolymers in aqueous sample.

In aqueous environment, water-soluble polymers are effectively used to separate free metal ions from metal-polymer complexes. The feasibilities of four different analytical techniques, cadmium ion-selective electrode, dialysis sack, chelate disk cartridge, and ultrafiltration, in distinguishing biopolymer-bound and nonbound cadmium in aqueous samples were investigated. And two different biopolymers were used, including bovine serum albumin (BSA) and biopolymer solution extracted from cultivated activated sludge (ASBP).

Effects of using arsenic-iron sludge wastes in brick making.

The arsenic-iron sludge generated in most of the treatment systems around the world is discharged into the nearest watercourse, which leads to accumulative rise of arsenic and iron concentrations in water. In this study, attempts were made to use the arsenic-iron sludge in making bricks and to analyze the corresponding effects on brick properties. The water treatment plant sludge is extremely close to brick clay in chemical composition.

Quality of source water and drinking water in urban areas of Myanmar.

Myanmar is one of the least developed countries in the world, and very little information is available regarding the nation's water quality. This report gives an overview of the current situation in the country, presenting the results of various water-quality assessments in urban areas of Myanmar. River, dam, lake, and well water sources were examined and found to be of generally good quality.

Degradation of azo dye acid orange 7 in a membrane bioreactor by pellets and attached growth of Coriolus versicolour.

The aim of this study was to systematically compare the degradation of azo dye acid orange 7 by spongy pellets and attached biofilm of Coriolus versicolour (NBRC 9791) in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) under non-sterile conditions. Mild stirring (35 rpm) resulted in spherical (φ=0.5 cm), spongy pellets and concomitantly triggered high enzymatic activity of the fungus, allowing for excellent decolouration (>99%) of a synthetic wastewater containing the dye.

Development and testing of bioelectrochemical reactors converting wastewater organics into hydrogen peroxide.

In a bioelectrochemical system, the energy content in dissolved organic matter can be used to power the production of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)), which is a potentially useful chemical at wastewater treatment plants. H(2)O(2) can be produced by the cathodic reduction of oxygen. We investigated four types of gas-diffusion electrodes (GDEs) for this purpose.

Redistribution of wastewater alkalinity with a microbial fuel cell to support nitrification of reject water.

In wastewater treatment plants, the reject water from the sludge treatment processes typically contains high ammonium concentrations, which constitute a significant internal nitrogen load in the plant. Often, a separate nitrification reactor is used to treat the reject water before it is fed back into the plant. The nitrification reaction consumes alkalinity, which has to be replenished by dosing e.

Bioaugmented membrane bioreactor (MBR) with a GAC-packed zone for high rate textile wastewater treatment.

The long-term performance of a bioaugmented membrane bioreactor (MBR) containing a GAC-packed anaerobic zone for treatment of textile wastewater containing structurally different azo dyes was observed. A unique feeding strategy, consistent with the mode of evolution of separate waste streams in textile plants, was adopted to make the best use of the GAC-zone for dye removal. Dye was introduced through the GAC-zone while the rest of the colorless media was simultaneously fed through the aerobic zone.

Nitrate removal and biofilm characteristics in methanotrophic membrane biofilm reactors with various gas supply regimes.

Aerobic methanotrophs can contribute to nitrate removal from contaminated waters, wastewaters, or landfill leachate by assimilatory reduction and by producing soluble organics that can be utilized by coexisting denitrifiers. The goal of this study was to investigate nitrate removal and biofilm characteristics in membrane biofilm reactors (MBfR) with various supply regimes of oxygen and methane gas. Three MBfR configurations were developed and they achieved significantly higher nitrate removal efficiencies in terms of methane utilization (values ranging from 0.

Factors governing performance of continuous fungal reactor during non-sterile operation--the case of a membrane bioreactor treating textile wastewater.

White-rot fungi, unlike bacteria in conventional activated sludge system, can degrade wide varieties of textile dyes. Their large scale implementation, however, has been impeded due to lack of appropriate reactor system that can sustain stable performance under non-sterile environment. In this study, contrary to virtually complete decoloration of an azo dye (Acid Orange II, 100 mg L(-1)) in pure culture batch test, a fungal membrane bioreactor (MBR) achieved 93% removal during long-term non-sterile operation at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1 d.

Performance of a membrane biofilm reactor for denitrification with methane.

In this study, a membrane biofilm reactor was investigated for aerobic methane oxidation coupled indirectly to denitrification, a process potentially useful for denitrification of nitrate-contaminated waters and wastewaters using methane as external electron donor. Methane and oxygen were supplied from the interior of a silicone tube to a biofilm growing on its surface. We found that the membrane biofilm reactor was to some extent self-regulating in the supply of methane and oxygen.

Denitrification with methane as external carbon source.

Methane is a potentially inexpensive, widely available electron donor for biological denitrification of wastewater, landfill leachate or drinking water. Although no known methanotroph is able to denitrify, various consortia of microorganisms using methane as the sole carbon source carry out denitrification both aerobically and anaerobically. Aerobic methane-oxidation coupled to denitrification (AME-D) is accomplished by aerobic methanotrophs oxidizing methane and releasing soluble organics that are used by coexisting denitrifiers as electron donors for denitrification.

Membrane-coupled fungi reactor--an innovative approach to bioremediation of hazardous dye wastewater.

Owing to the inherent shortcomings of conventional biological dye effluent treatment processes, researchers have proposed diverse intriguing approaches that await practical implementation. This study demonstrates the feasibility of an innovative membrane-coupled fungi reactor. Preliminary batch tests revealed the noteworthy role of biosorption along with biodegradation in decoloration, and also confirmed excellent decoloration even in the presence of hardly biodegradable polyvinyl alcohol besides recalcitrant dye in the wastewater.

Comparison of sludge characteristics and PCR-DGGE based microbial diversity of nanofiltration and microfiltration membrane bioreactors.

The objective of this study was to compare the sludge characteristics and microbial community diversity between the submerged nanofiltration membrane bioreactor (NF MBR) and microfiltration membrane bioreactor (MF MBR) treating the same municipal wastewater. The influence of a higher concentration of organic matter and salt was investigated. The results of water qualities showed that the dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total phosphorus (T-P) and salt concentrations of the supernatant in the NF MBR were three, four and two times as high as those in the MF MBR, respectively.

Effects of potassium alkalis and sodium alkalis on the dechlorination of o-chlorophenol in supercritical water.

Effects of potassium alkalis and sodium alkalis on the dechlorination of o-chlorophenol (o-CP) in supercritical water (SCW) were studied in this paper under the conditions of 450 degrees C and 25 MPa. Experimental results indicated that the dechlorination of o-CP can be accelerated significantly by all alkalis investigated. The dechlorination of o-CP proceeded mainly via two pathways: hydrodechlorination and hydrolysis.

Optimization of wastewater feeding for single-cell protein production in an anaerobic wastewater treatment process utilizing purple non-sulfur bacteria in mixed culture condition.

Impacts of operation timing of feeding and withdrawal on anaerobic wastewater treatment utilizing purple non-sulfur bacteria have been investigated in mixed culture condition with acidogenic bacteria. Simulated wastewater containing glucose was treated in a laboratory-scale chemostat reactor, changing the timing of wastewater feeding and withdrawal. Rhodopseudomonas palustris, which does not utilize glucose as a substrate, was inoculated in the reactor.