The Threat of Food Additive Occurrence in the Environment-A Case Study on the Example of Swimming Pools.

Widespread use and the continuous increase in consumption has intensified the presence of food additives and their metabolites in the environment. The growing awareness that newly identified compounds in the environment may cause a real threat, both to the environment and to future generations due to the transformation they undergo in ecosystems, makes this topic a leading problem of engineering and environmental protection. This manuscript highlights the relevance of finding these compounds in water.

Identification of Potential Harmful Transformation Products of Selected Micropollutants in Outdoor and Indoor Swimming Pool Water.

This paper presents the estimation of micropollutant decomposition effectiveness and the identification of transformation intermediates formed during selected processes used in the treatment of swimming pool water. Tests were carried out under both indoor and outdoor conditions to simulate the removal of contaminants in different types of pool water basins. Model swimming pool water spiked with caffeine, carbamazepine, bisphenol A and oxadiazon were subjected to chlorination, ozonation, UV radiation, and artificial and sun lightening, carried out as single or combined processes.

Impact of swimming pool water treatment system factors on the content of selected disinfection by-products.

Recommendations regarding disinfection by-products (DBPs) in pool waters consider the content of trihalomethanes (THMs) and combined chlorine (CC) as indicators of DBPs based on which the health risk for swimmers and staff of pool facility can be determined. However, the content of DBPs in swimming pools depends on many factors. In this paper, the influence of selected factors (physicochemical parameters of water and technological parameters) on the content of THMs and CC in pool water was determined.

Preparation, Characterization and Adsorption Potential of Grainy Halloysite-CNT Composites for Anthracene Removal from Aqueous Solution.

Grainy Hal-CNT composites were prepared from powder halloysite nanoclay (Hal) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The effect of the amount and type of CNTs, as well as calcination temperature on morphology and properties of Hal-CNT composites and their adsorption capacity of anthracene (ANT), were studied. The surface topography of granules was heterogenous, with cracks and channels created during granulation of powder clay and CNTs.

Application of Ultrafiltration in a Swimming Pool Water Treatment System.

Swimming pool water was treated using an ultrafiltration process using ceramic and polymer membranes for comparison. It was determined that the efficiency of the process depended on the type of membrane used. The polymer membrane decreased the absorbance and concentration of combined chlorine in the pool water to a greater extent than the ceramic membrane.

Estimation of physicochemical properties of 2-ethylhexyl-4-methoxycinnamate (EHMC) degradation products and their toxicological evaluation.

The organic UV filters, commonly used in personal protection products, are of concern because of their potential risk to aquatic ecosystems and living organisms. One of UV filters is ethylhexyl-4-methoxycinnamate (EHMC) acid. Studies have shown that, in the presence of oxidizing and chlorinating factors, EHMC forms a series of products with different properties than the substrate.

Indirect methods of dried sewage sludge contamination assessments.

Thermal conversion (combustion, co-combustion, gasification and pyrolysis) appears to be the most promising alternative for sewage sludge management in the future. Nevertheless, safe and ecological usage of sewage sludge as a fuel requires information about their contamination. The aim of this paper is to present the photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) as a good method for contamination assessments of dried sewage sludge.

The Impact of Oxone on Disintegration and Dewaterability of Waste Activated Sludge.

Biochemical parameters such as soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD), phosphate, ammonium nitrogen and proteins are often used to characterize the efficiency of disintegration of waste activated sludge (WAS) flocs and microorganism cells. In this study, the chemical disintegration using peroxymonosulfate (MPS, Oxone) and thermally activated MPS, were evaluated for the destruction of WAS. Our study was conducted for chemical disintegration of WAS by MPS in doses between 84.

The assessment of sewage sludge gasification by-products toxicity by ecotoxicologial test.

The process of gasification of sewage sludge generates by-products, which may be contaminated with toxic and hazardous substances, both organic and inorganic. It is therefore important to assess the environmental risk associated with this type of waste. The feasibility of using an ecotoxicological tests for this purpose was determined in the presented study.

Gaseous fuels production from dried sewage sludge via air gasification.

Gasification is a perspective alternative method of dried sewage sludge thermal treatment. For the purpose of experimental investigations, a laboratory fixed-bed gasifier installation was designed and built. Two sewage sludge (SS) feedstocks, taken from two typical Polish wastewater treatment systems, were analysed: SS1, from a mechanical-biological wastewater treatment system with anaerobic stabilization (fermentation) and high temperature drying; and (SS2) from a mechanical-biological-chemical wastewater treatment system with fermentation and low temperature drying.