The study was conducted in the area of the impact of sulfur mine in Jeziórko. The aim of the study was to assess changes in pH, cation exchange capacity and content of available phosphorus, potassium and magnesium after 6 years of conducting remediation. In the experiment (plots with an area of 15 m2) degraded soil was rehabilitating by post-floating lime and compost from sewage sludge, sewage sludge and ash from combined heat and power (CHP). Composts at a dose of dry matter 180 t · ha-1 (6%), were determined in accordance with Minister of the Environment Regulation from 2001, applied the following options: control (only native soil limed), compost from municipal sewage sludge, sewage sludge compost (80%) and ash (20%), compost from sewage sludge (70%) and ash (30%). The reclaimed plots were sown with mixture of rehabilitation grass. Single de-acidification, land fertilization and a further 6-year extensive (without fertilization) use had a different influence on the properties of the native soilless substratum. Irrespective of the reclamation manner, after six years land use in the upper layers, observed increase in the average content of available phosphorus, available potassium content does not changed significantly but recorded a tenfold decrease in the content of available magnesium.
This paper presents the use of multi-criteria analysis as a tool that helps choosing an adequate technology for a household wastewater treatment plant. In the process of selection the criteria of sustainable development were taken into account. Five municipal mechanical-biological treatment plants were chosen for the comparative multi-criteria analysis. Different treatment technologies, such as sand filter, activated sludge, trickling filter, a hybrid system - activated sludge/trickling filter and a hybrid constructed wetland system VF-HF type (vertical and horizontal fl ow) were taken into account. The plants’ capacities were 1 m3∙d-1 (PE=8) and they all meet the environmental regulations. Additionally, a solution with a drainage system was included into the analysis. On the basis of multi-criteria analysis it was found that the preferred wastewater treatment technologies, consistent with the principles of sustainable development, were a sand filter and a hybrid constructed wetland type VF-HF. A drainage system was chosen as the best solution due to the economic criteria, however, taking into consideration the primary (ecological) criterion, employment of such systems on a larger scale disagree with the principles of sustainable development. It was found that activated sludge is the least favourable technology. The analysis showed that this technology is not compatible with the principles of sustainable development, due to a lack of proper technological stability and low reliability.
Sediments of two dam reservoirs in SE Poland, Zalew Zemborzycki (ZZ) and Brody Iłżeckie (BI) were studied. The sediments from both reservoirs were sampled in the transects perpendicular to the shoreline, at the river inflow and the frontal dam. The total concentration of Mn, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cu, Cr and Ni was determined by ICP-EAS method after the sample digestion in the mixture of concentrated HNO3 and HClO4 acids. The statistical analyses: value intervals, mean values, variation coefficient, the median and the skewed distribution were performed. To estimate differences between the means for transects, Tukey’s test was applied with least significant difference (LSD) determination. The maps of the metal spatial distribution were drawn and sediment quality according to the geochemical and ecotoxicological criteria evaluated. Differences between the reservoirs in terms of heavy metals concentration in bottom sediments, and regularities in their spatial distribution were found. In the ZZ sediments the concentration was at the level of geochemical background (Zn, Cr), slightly (Cd, Cu, Ni) or moderately (Pb) contaminated sediments. The metal concentration in the sediments of the BI was up to eight times higher as compared to the ZZ. Moreover, sediments from the BI reservoir showed a greater variability of metal concentration than those from ZZ, which resulted from the dredging operation performed in the part of the reservoir. Metal concentration in sediments of the dredged part was ca. 2–5 times lower than in the undredged one, which indicates that after the dredging operation, accumulation of these metals was slight. The concentrations of Zn, Pb and Cd from the undredged part of BI were at the level of contaminated sediments and exceeded the probable effects level (PEL). In the ZZ, the greatest accumulation of metals occurred in the upper part of the reservoir and at the frontal dam, and the lowest in the middle part of the reservoir. In BI, the lower outflow of water in this reservoir caused a lower metal concentration in the sediments at the frontal dam, as compared with the other sediments in the undredged part of the reservoir. The results indicate that in small and shallow reservoirs, areas of accumulation of heavy metals depend on such factors as a parent river current, reservoir depth, water waving, reservoir shape (narrowing, coves/bays), and type of water outflow.