Distribution of heavy metals in a sewage oxidation pond and their adsorption in residual solid (sewage sludge ash)

Abstract

Electrometric studies were carried out on the interaction of heavy metal ions such as manganese, chromium, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium and lead with the extracted organic matter, humic and fulvic acid from the sludge in a sewage oxidation pond. The distribution of heavy metals was between 60 and 97%, which is associated with the solid waste (sludge) of the oxidation pond. The adsorption/removal efficiency of metal ions onto the sludge ash was more than 90% and 97%, respectively, in the pure system. To obtain the ash, the sludge was burnt at 500°C, treated with nitric acid (1+1) to leach out all the metals and then filtered; the residue left on the filter paper was the pure ash. Both this and that coated with organic matter were studied. The adsorption isotherm for metals, humic/fulvic acids and metal-humic/fulvic acid complexes in the metal-free sludge ash and in the organic matter in the pure system were studied using the Freundlich relationship. Good agreement was found suggesting that sediment and humic/fulvic acids have an important role in the mobility, dispersion and sedimentation of metal ions in an aquatic environment. More of these heavy metals are removed in the pure system than in the natural system. This may be due to the lesser availability of humic and fulvic acids in the lagoons during the short detention time of sewage in suspension in the oxidation pond, whereas the sludge which has settled to the bottom of the pond for several years contains rich decomposed organic matter in the form of humic and fulvic acids containing heavy metals. Such pure systems could be useful for the effective removal of heavy metals.     

Effects of raw and diluted municipal sewage effluent with micronutrient foliar sprays on the growth and nutrient concentration of foxtail millet in southeast Iran

In this study, the effect of irrigation with raw or diluted municipal sewage effluent accompanied by foliar micronutrient fertilizer sprays was examined on the growth, dry matter accumulation, grain yield, and mineral nutrients in foxtail millet plants. The experimental design was a split plot with three irrigation sources: raw sewage, 50% diluted sewage, and well water comprising the main treatments, and four combinations of Mn and Zn foliar sprays as sub-treatments that were applied with four replications. The experiment was conducted in 2009 at the Zabol University research farm in Zabol, south Iran. The applied municipal sewage effluent contained higher levels of micronutrients and macronutrients and exhibited greater degrees of electrical conductivity compared to well water. Because of the small scale of industrial activities in Zabol, the amount of heavy metals in the sewage was negligible (below the limits set for irrigation water in agricultural lands); these contaminants would not be severely detrimental to crop growth. The experimental results indicated that irrigation of plants with raw or diluted sewage stimulates the measured growth and productivity parameters of foxtail millet plants. The concentrations of micronutrients and macronutrients were also positively affected. These stimulations were attributed to the presence of high levels of such essential nutrients as N, P, and organic matter in wastewater. Supplied in sewage water alone, Mn and Zn were not able to raise the productivity of millet to the level obtained using fertilizers at the recommended values; this by itself indicated that additional nutrients from fertilizers are required to obtain higher levels of millet productivity with sewage farming. Despite the differences in nutrient concentrations among the different irrigation water sources, the micronutrient foliar sprays did not affect the concentrations of micronutrients and macronutrients in foxtail millet plants. These results suggested that municipal sewage effluent could be utilized efficiently as an important source of water, and that the nutrients used in growing foxtail millet with sewage water irrigation did not have any significant harmful effect on crop productivity. In contrast, the nutrients proved beneficial to soil fertility and millet productivity and quality.     

The effect of landfill age on municipal leachate composition

The influence of municipal landfill age on temporal changes in municipal leachate quality on the basis of elaboration of 4 years monitoring of leachate from landfill in Wysieka near Bartoszyce (Poland) is presented in this study. In leachate, concentrations of organic compounds (COD, BOD(5)), nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus), mineral compounds, heavy metals and BTEX were investigated. It was shown that the principal pollutants in leachate were organics and ammonia - as landfill age increased, organics concentration (COD) in leachate decreased from 1,800 mg COD/l in the second year of landfill exploitation to 610 mg COD/l in the sixth year of exploitation and increase of ammonia nitrogen concentration from 98 mg N(NH)/l to 364 mg N(NH4) /l was observed. Fluctuation of other indexes (phosphorus, chlorides, calcium, magnesium, sulfate, dissolved solids, heavy metals, BTEX) depended rather on season of the year (seasonal variations) than landfill age. Moreover, the obtained data indicate that despite of short landfill's lifetime some parameters e.g. high pH (on average 7.84), low COD concentration (<2,000 mg COD/l), low BOD(5)/COD ratio (<0.4) and low heavy metal concentration, indicated that the landfill was characterized by methanogenic conditions already at the beginning of the monitoring period.     

生物淋滤技术在去除污泥中重金属的应用

利用微生物方法去除污泥中重金属（生物淋滤法）具有成本低,去除效率高,脱毒后污泥脱水性能好等优点,近年来在国际上备受关注,生物淋滤法采用的主要细菌为氧化亚铁硫杆菌（Thiobacillus ferrooxidans)和氧化硫硫杆菌（Thiobacillus thiooxidans),在其作用下,污泥中以难溶性金属硫化物被氧化成金属硫酸盐而溶出,通过固液分离即可达到去除重金属的目的,污泥的生物淋滤效果受温度、O2和CO2浓度,起始pH、污泥种类与浓度、底物种类与浓度、抑制因子、Fe^3 浓度等的影响,较为详细地介绍了生物淋滤法的作用机理及高效去除污泥中重金属的操作程序,并对其在环境污染治理方面的应用前景作了分析。     

Isolation of bacteria producing polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) from municipal sewage sludge

Bacterial isolates from sludge samples collected at a local municipal sewage treatment plant were screened for bacteria producing polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). Initially Sudan black B staining was performed to detect lipid cellular inclusions. Lipid-positive isolates were then grown in a nitrogen limitation E2 medium containing 2% (w/v) glucose to promote accumulation of PHA before the subsequent staining with Nile blue A. The positive isolates were quantified initially with a u.v. spectrophotometer, for a very large number of isolates (105) and among them high PHA-producing isolates (15) were selected and were confirmed by gas chromatographic analysis. The GC analysis showed the polymers produced by 13 of the selected isolates to be polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), and the remaining two isolates produced polyhydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate (PHB-co-HV) copolymer. The proportion of the PHA-positive bacterial isolates showed variability in the number of PHA accumulators during various months. The correlation of PHB production with the cell dry weight (CDW) was found to be statistically significant. The metabolism of PHB in these selected 15 isolates was studied using the Nile blue A staining, which showed an initial increase in the fluorescence followed by a decline, on further incubation. All the selected 15 isolates were classified to genus level by studying their morphological and biochemical characteristics. There were seven Bacillus species, three Pseudomonas species, two Alcaligenes species, two Aeromonas species, and one Chromobacterium species.     

Wood ash applications to temperate forest ecosystems—potential benefits and drawbacks

The objectives of the present work were (a) to quantify the effects of wood ash on forest ecosystems through a meta-analysis approach associated with a detailed review of the literature (mainly composed of work carried out in Nordic countries) and (b) to extrapolate the effects on forest growth to other contexts (i.e. warm temperate countries) by identifying the cases for which wood ash applications can be beneficial to forest production. Three databases were built regarding the effects of wood ash on soil (151 observations; 33 experimental field trials), on nutrient concentrations of tree foliage (68 observations; 28 trials) and on annual stem biomass growth rate (70 observations; 27 trials). We obtained information on the wide variability of ash properties due to differences in burnt compounds, combustion processes and ash conditioning. Two important properties of wood ash are its high pH value and neutralizing capacity. These properties result in biochemical modifications of forest soils limed with ash. In the short term, soil solution composition was dramatically modified. Intense peaks of the K, Na or SO₄ concentrations were observed, resulting from the dissolution of salts contained in ash. At the same time, Ca and Mg concentrations increased as the carbonate pool of wood ash started to dissolve. The consequence of this dissolution process was an increase in the pH in all the soil phases. These modifications increased the activity of the soil microflora and some isolated peaks in the mineralization of soil organic matter may be observed in mineral soils. In the longer term, that is to say after the first year following ash application, only the effect on the acidity status of the soil remained significant. The effects of ash addition on forest ecosystems usually increased with the dose and were more pronounced with loose ash compared to aggregated ash. The addition of wood ash into forest ecosystems increased the foliar Ca status of trees. Some modifications of other nutrients, like P or K, were also observed but only for a few years after treatment. For most stands growing on mineral soils of Nordic countries, this treatment did not result in an increase in tree growth, probably because of the absence of N in the ash. For stands growing on organic soils of the same area, this input, associated with a long-lasting increase of soil organic matter mineralization, was sufficient to improve tree growth significantly (median = +59% compared to the control). For soils located in warm temperate regions, similar responses are expected for organic soils. For mineral soils, the wood ash application is expected to be suitable for stands showing deficiencies in K, Ca or Mg. Ash may contain high amounts of toxic heavy metals such as Cd. The bioavailability of most of these elements appeared to be very low in a forest context. No contamination of food chains has been observed, except possibly via some species of fungi, and heavy metals remain in the forest litter or in the topsoil. Based on all the reviewed results, several guidelines for wood ash application into forest ecosystems are proposed. Wood ash application should be restricted to acidic soils. Applications should consist of low doses of a stabilized ash form. Wood ash should be applied to adult stands rather than onto seedlings.     

施污土壤重金属有效态分布及生物有效性

以城市污泥为研究对象,将城市污泥与土壤按照一定的质量比配成污泥混合土壤.采用6种不同性质提取剂(0.05mol/L EDTA、0.1 mol/L CH3 COOH、0.01 mol/L CaC12、1 mol/L CH3COONH4,0.05 mol/L NaHCO3和0.05 mol/L Tris-HCl)分别对污泥混合土壤中重金属(Cd、Pb、Cu和Zn)的螯合态、酸溶态、中性交换态、中性结合态、碱性交换态和蛋白质结合态进行提取,考察污泥的添加对土壤中不同形态重金属的消长规律.通过黑麦草盆栽试验,探究污泥混合土壤中不同形态重金属的植物可利用性.结果表明:污泥混合土壤中重金属螯合态比例较大,占总量的20.3％-40.0％;其次为酸溶态和中性结合态,而中性交换态、碱性交换态和蛋白质结合态的含量较低.污泥的添加促进了黑麦草对Cd、Cu和Zn的吸收,在污泥添加率为44.4％时根部对其吸收量达最大,分别较CK处理增加了0.3、2.3和6.5倍.抑制了对Pb的吸收,在污泥添加率为37.5％时,根部对Pb的吸收较CK处理下降0.4倍.Pearson相关系数分析结果表明:污泥混合土壤中以螯合态、酸溶态和中性结合态存在重金属可被黑麦草吸收利用.     

棉花751与多父本杂交受精细胞学研究及性状分析

本文报导了以棉花７５１为母本与鸡脚叶棉、乌干达棉、红叶棉、汉寿大桃、草棉等５个父本的混合花粉进行杂交。授粉后,观察了７５１大小孢子和雌雄配子体的发生、发育及其受精过程。切片观察表明在大小孢子的发生、发育与花蕾大小成正相关。大小孢子的发生在减数分裂前是不同步的。小孢子的发生早于大孢子发生１￣２个时期。减数分裂后它们的发育逐渐趋向同步。开花时达到同步成熟。用多父本的混合花粉授粉,其受精过程仍为单精入卵     

城市污泥复合肥的肥效及其对小麦重金属吸收的影响

通过盆栽和大田试验,初步探讨了污泥复合肥种植小麦的肥效及其对小麦重金属吸收的影响。试验结果表明,污泥复合肥对小麦的增产效果和土壤的增肥效果明显优于化肥,等同于市售复合肥,它能促进植株生长发育,提高小麦产量,对土壤速效养分的积累有明显的促进作用;污泥复合肥处理的小麦籽粒中重金属Cu、Zn、Pb、Cd的含量均在国家食品卫生标准范围内。     

Heavy Metal Phytotoxicity to Radish (Raphanus sativus L.) in a Digested Sludge-amended Gangetic Alluvium

A limiting factor in land application of sewage sludge is the resultant heavy metal accumulation in soils followed by biomagnification in the food chain, posing a potential hazard to animal and human health. In view of this fact, pot experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of digested sludge application to soil on phytotoxicity of heavy metals such as Cd, Cr, Ni, and Pb to radish (Raphanus sativus L.) plants. Increasing sludge levels resulted in increased levels of DTPA-extractable heavy metals in the soil. Cadmium was the dominant metal extracted by DTPA followed by Ni, Pb, and Cr. The extractability of metals by DTPA tended to decrease from the first to the second crop. Dry matter yield of radish increased significantly as a function of increasing sludge treatments. Soil application of sludge raised the concentration of one or more heavy metals in plants. Shoots contained higher concentrations of Cd, Cr, and Ni than the roots of radish plants. Shoot concentrations of Cd, Cr, Ni, and Pb were within the tolerance levels of this crop at all rates of sludge application. Shoot as well as root concentration of Cd was above 0.5 mg kg^?1, considered toxic for human and animal consumption. The levels of DTPA-extractable Cd and Ni were less correlated while those of Cr and Pb were more correlated with their respective shoot and root contents. The results emphasize that accumulation of potentially toxic heavy metals in soil and their build-up in vegetable crops should not be ignored when sludge is applied as an amendment to land.     

Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) and Heavy Metals in Dry and Wet Sludge from As-Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant,Jordan

Dry and wet sludge samples were collected from the sewage sludge storage site and primary treatment ponds at As-Samra Wastewater Treatment Ponds in Al Hayshmia, Jordan. The concentrations of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and macro- and microelements were determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), respectively.

Environmentally relevant concentrations of PAH were detected ranging from 62 μg g^?1 to 70 μg g^?1 for dry sludge and from 35 μg g^?1 to 47 μg g^?1 for wet sludge. These results indicated a potential environmental risk if sewage sludge is reused in Jordan as organic fertilizer without first being treated. The results of the study showed that the sewage sludge samples were contaminated with low levels of heavy metals, as the dry sludge samples were characterized by higher concentrations of most analyzed elements than for wet sludge samples. Still, none of the trace metal concentrations exceeded the threshold concentration levels for agricultural-related sludge.

Unlike many other nutrients found in sludge, the Total Organic Carbon (TOC%) found in dry and wet sludge revealed similar values, at 13.18 percent and 13.29 percent, respectively. The total phosphorus ranged from 0.25% for dry sludge to 0.47% for wet sludge. Total nitrogen varied from 0.80% for wet sludge to 1.01% for the dry sludge samples. The overall nutrients levels are close to those found in the literature. The findings of this study have improved the understanding of sewage sludge characteristics in a semiarid environment.     

Phytoextraction capacity of trees growing on a metal contaminated soil

Phytoremediation is an innovative biological technique to reclaim land contaminated by heavy metals or organic pollutants. In the present work, we studied the ability of five woody species to extract heavy metal (copper, zinc or cadmium) from a polluted soil to their above-ground tissues. Metal content in leaves and twigs was determined. Salix and Betula transferred zinc and cadmium to leaves and twigs, but Alnus, Fraxinus and Sorbus excluded them from their above-ground tissues. None of the species considered transferred copper to the shoots.     

Solubilization profiles of metal ions from bioleaching of sewage sludge as a function of pH

Two patterns of solubilization of metal ions resulting from bioleaching of sewage sludge by sulphur-oxidizing Thiobacillus spp. were established as a function of pH. Chromium and copper ions required a pH of 2–3 to initiate their solubilization, whereas nickel and zinc ions had their solubilization initiated at pH 6–6.5. The patterns obtained were independent of the sludge solids concentrations investigated (10, 17, 25, 32.5 and 40 g l^–1).     

Total concentrations and chemical speciation of heavy metals in liquefaction residues of sewage sludge

The risk (including bioavailability and eco-toxicity) of heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, Cr and Ni) in liquefaction residues (LR) of sewage sludge (SS) was estimated, according to both the speciation of heavy metals and the local environmental characteristics. The amount of organic matters in LR was lower than that in SS, resulting in a smaller calorific value, while the total content of heavy metals in LR nearly doubled. High residual rates of heavy metals (about 80%) indicated that the heavy metals in SS were concentrated into LR after liquefaction. The comparisons of sequential extraction results between SS and LR showed that after liquefaction, the mobile and easily available heavy metal fractions (acid soluble/exchangeable and reducible fractions) were mainly transformed into the relatively stable heavy metal fractions (oxidizable and residual fractions). The bioavailability and eco-toxicity of heavy metals in LR were relieved, though the total concentrations of heavy metals increased.     

Effect of Microwave Radiation on Immobilization of Heavy Metals in Sediment Sludge

In order to evaluate the effect of microwave radiation on immobilization of heavy metals (Cu ^{2 +} , Cr ^{6 +} , Zn ^{2 +} and Pb ^{2 +} ) in sediment sludge, leaching tests were run under different test conditions to compare microwave radiation with conventional blast heating and drying process for their effectiveness in immobilizing heavy metals within sediment sludge. Experimental results indicate that microwave radiation can decrease the concentration of heavy metals in leachate by 63% ～ 70% more than conventional blast heating and drying process in an aclinic shake leaching test. Under the same simulated natural water conditions, the concentration of heavy metals in the leachate using microwave radiation is well below the concentration of heavy metals in leachate using conventional blast heating and drying process. It is therefore concluded that microwave radiation is much more effective than conventional blast heating and drying process in immobilizing heavy metals in sediment sludge.     

Terrestrial Chironomidae on agricultural soil treated with sewage sludge

Adult Chironomidae were caught in emergence traps for three subsequent years (1988–1990) on agricultural soil. Larvae were extracted from soil samples taken since June 1989. The field was subdivided into 5 plots treated with different amounts of sewage sludge. On some plots the sludge was artificially enriched with heavy metalts. The phenology of Chrinonomidae in the three years and their distribution over the different plots are discussed. The results suggest that the abundance of Chironomidae is increased by sewage sludge and appears to be also increased by heavy metals.     

城市污泥农用对植物-土壤系统的影响

城市污泥的合理处置是目前资源与环境科学研究领域中的重要课题之一.城市污泥因富含大量的有机质和有效营养成分,对农业土壤肥力、土壤物理结构和农业生产均有一定的积极促进作用,使得污泥农用成为可能.但城市污泥中含有的重金属、有机污染物等有害物质尤其是重金属,成为污泥农用处置的瓶颈.为提高我国城市污泥的农业资源化利用效率和减少污染物造成的负面效应,本文就国内外施用城市污泥对植物-土壤互作系统的影响及过程进行了综述,为进一步提高污泥利用效率提供理论依据和科学指导.     

Phytoextraction of heavy metals from municipal sewage sludge by Rosa multiflora and Sida hermaphrodita

The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of the multiflora rose var. “Jatar” (Rosa multiflora Thunb. ex Murray) and the Virginia fanpetals (Sida hermaphrodita Rusby) to phytoextract heavy metals from municipal sewage sludge. The 6-year field experiment involved four levels of fertilization with sewage sludge at doses of 0, 10, 20, 40, and 60 Mg DM (Dry Mass) sludge ha^?1. The increasing doses of sewage sludge were found to significantly increase the yield of multiflora rose and Virginia fanpetals biomass. They also significantly increased the content of heavy metals in these plants. The highest uptake of heavy metals by the multiflora rose and Virginia fanpetals crops was recorded at the fertilization dose of 60 Mg DM ? ha^?1. Our investigations show that the Virginia fanpetals was more efficient in the phytoextraction of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Cd from the sewage sludge than the multiflora rose, due to the greater yields and higher heavy metal uptake by the former plant. In turn, the multiflora rose phytoextracted greater amounts of Pb from the sewage sludge. The analyses indicate that the Virginia fanpetals can be used for phytoremediation (phytoextraction) of heavy metals contained in sewage sludge.