The aim of the paper is to compare nitrate concentrations in samples of supply water as well as
water from deep and dug wells located in the eastern region of Poland. Additionally, samples of bottled water
(spring and natural mineral), certifi ed by the Institute of Mother and Child and the Children’s Memorial Health
Institute, were subjected to analyses. On the basis of the obtained results, health risks related to the occurrence
of methemoglobinemia in neonates and infants were evaluated. The risk analysis was performed according to
the procedure recommended by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Nitrate concentrations in
the examined samples ranged from: 0.153–161.1 mg/l. The lowest concentration of nitrates was determined in
the samples of bottled water, the highest being detected in the water from dug wells. It was found that nitrate
concentration in samples of bottled and supply water did not pose any risk to the health of neonates and infants.
The highest health risk related to methemoglobinemia occurs for neonates consuming water originating from
dug wells. The risk decreases along with the age of an infant.
The use of ammonium nitrate due to its high nitrogen content (> 26%) has made it the most utilized fertilizer in agricultural areas. However, being easily accessible with this feature encouraged its use for different purposes. Ammonium nitrate is usually produced with large tonnage (> 50 ton/h) and high cost (> $20 million) production processes. Therefore, any changes that can be made in the process must be applied in the process so that the result can be achieved easily without increasing the cost in any way. In this study, it is aimed to reduce the explosion sensitivity of ammonium nitrate used for explosive purposes in terrorist attacks. Thus, it was aimed to solve the problem by adding various chemicals to the ammonium nitrate production process so that it can only be used for agricultural purposes. For this purpose, the production process was examined by adding carboxymethyl cellulose and polyethylene glycol to the ammonium nitrate production process and the accuracy of the results was tested by instrumental analysis methods.
The objective of the study was to characterise the quality of surface waters in order to de-termine their vulnerability to pollution by nitrogen compounds from agricultural activity, as well as to specify the areas with increased exposure, where nitrogen runoff from agricultural sources has to be reduced. It was necessary to determine surface waters liable to pollution by these compounds due to the fact that agricultural production should be carried out in the way which limits and prevents water pollution by nitrogen compounds of agricultural origin. The study addressed the following is-sues: the concentration of nitrogen compounds in the surface waters of the Middle Odra Basin, and the extent of eutrophication in flowing inland waters (with nitrogen as the main nutrient). The results have been plotted in figures and gathered in tables.
Nutrient pollution such as nitrate (NO3−) can cause water quality degradation in rivers used as a source of drinking water. This situation raises the question of how the nutrients have moved depending on many factors such as land use and anthropogenic sources. Researchers developed several nutrient export coefficient models depending on the aforementioned factors. To this purpose, statistical data including a number of factors such as historical water quality and land use data for the Melen Watershed were used. Nitrate export coefficients are estimates of the total load or mass of nitrate (NO3−) exported from a watershed standardized to unit area and unit time (e.g. kg/km2/day). In this study, nitrate export coefficients for the Melen Watershed were determined using the model that covers the Frequentist and Bayesian approaches. River retention coefficient was determined and introduced into the model as an important variable.
The ground source of drinking water for the village of Skalice nad Svitavou is located 35 km North of Brno (Czech Republic). An evaluation of developments in selected indicators of water quality in this groundwater source in the period 2013–2017 was the essence of this work. The data was provided by Vodárenská akciová společnost, a.s., i.e. the operator. At the same time, annual monitoring of water quality in the Úmoří stream, which flows through the catchment area and can affect the quality of groundwater, was carried out. Water samples were collected in 2017–2018 from 6 profiles on the Úmoří stream and its two tributaries. Raw water from the groundwater source does not meet the requirements for drinking water in some indicators and needs to be treated. Monitoring of surface water shows that the most problematic indicator is total phosphorus, the concentration of which exceeded limit values on all sampling profiles. The highest values were found in the tributaries, where total phosphorus concentrations exceeded 10 mg∙dm–3. There are 12 municipalities in the area of interest, only two of which have their own sewage treatment plant. It is clear from the results that wastewater in some municipalities is discharged directly into the recipient and is the cause of above-limit concentrations of both phosphorus and nitrogen. Intensively used agricultural land is another major source of pollution. Based on an analysis of sources of pollution, corrective measures have been proposed to improve the quality of surface and groundwater in the area.
The removal of nitrates from aqueous solutions is cumbersome because of their high solubility in water. The use of zero-valent iron (ZVI) for the reduction of nitrates is the chemical process and it is an alternative method to the biological ones. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the eff ectiveness of nitrates removal from water solution by using the ZVI process. The process was coupled with the removal of COD, phosphates and turbidity by using by-products of nitrates reduction. Batch tests were performed to evaluate the eff ectiveness of ZVI in the removal of nitrates from aqueous solutions. The eff ectiveness of nitrates removal was analyzed after 5, 10, 20, 30 and 60 min. and compared to the initial concentration of pollutants. Simultaneously analysis of ammonium nitrogen and nitrites was controlled to identify products of nitrates reduction under various pH. The removal of COD, phosphates and turbidity was also performed in batch tests. The eff ectiveness of the emoval by using three types of chemicals was compared – PIX, FeSO4, and waste Fe2+/Fe3+ from the ZVI process. The results obtained in the study indicate that ZVI can be eff ectively used in the treatment of water polluted with nitrates and the by-products of the process could be further applied in the removal of COD, phosphates and turbidity. Based on the results the method should be advised as a promising alternative to the technologies used nowadays under technical scale as a technology that fits with a circular economy.
In the present work, the dried biomass of soil isolated fungus Eurotium cristatum was used for synthesizing silver na-noparticles (AgNPs). The synthesized AgNPs were spherical in shape with average diameter of 16.56 nm and displayed maximum absorbance at 418. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) study indicated the presence and binding of proteins with myco-produced silver nanoparticles. The optimum conditions for AgNPs biosynthesis were found to be at temperature of 40°C, pH of 8.0, substrate concentration of 500 ppm and fungal biomass wt. of 0.8 g. The AgNPs showed antibacterial ac-tivity against Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli and Shigella flexneri. AgNPs was built-in thin film nanocomposite (TFNC) membrane and the impacts of nanomaterial composition on membrane properties and de-salination process were studied. The AgNPs produced membrane TFNC had better filtration performances than pure thin film composite membrane TFC. The TFNC membrane had enhanced water flux (32.0 vs. 16.5 dm3∙m–2∙h–1) and advanced NaCl rejection (91.7 vs. 89%) compared to the TFC membrane. A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of the irrigation with desalinated water on yield and productivity of essential oil of the sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) and lavender (Lavandula multifida L.). The irrigation with desalinated water reduced significantly the soil reaction, soil electri-cal conductivity (EC), sodium adsorption ratio and exchangeable sodium percent in rhizospheric soil, it also enhanced the growth and oil yield of both plants compared with those irrigated with salt water.
In order to maintain and improve water quality, man has an increasing need to understand the relations among basin land use and in stream water quality. Being concerned about quality and quantity status of European waters European Union has adopted Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EU). The process of pressure and impact analyses and water status assessment is termed, in short, as “first characterisation” of water bodies. In accordance to WFD programmes of measures have to be developed by 2009. In WFD programmes existing measures for water protection directed by other EU directives such are Nitrate, Urban Waste Water, Dangerous Substances and IPPC will be further developed and new added. In the paper, we describe the first characterisation of the Slovene waters and show cross compliance of the Nitrate and Water Framework Directives in Slovenia
In this research different methods for measuring water quality indices were conducted to investigate the performance of the newly designed, constructed and operated 9-Nissan water treatment plant, Iraq. Data gathering and implementation took place throughout winter and summer. Water samples were taken periodically, according to the standard method, the re-search was carried out by collecting different random samples for eight months (Jun. 2015–Jan. 2016) and measuring (tur-bidity, total hardness, pH, total dissolved solids, suspended solids, Cl–, Mg2+, Fe2+,NO3–, NH3+) for each sample. Five dif-ferent approaches and methodologies of calculating the water index were applied. The results revealed that the Water Qual-ity Indices varied from 70.55 to 88.24, when applying Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment Water Quality Index (CCMEWQI) and British Columbia water quality index (BCWQI) geometric weighted mean respectively. All the results, from the five approaches indicated good water quality, multiple regression analyses were conducted for turbidity, total hardness and suspended solids, they found that these parameters are strongly related to each other and to other pa-rameters.