Water pollution evaluation

M. Ramanathan and W. E. Vedey, Evaluation, Design and Startup of an Innovative and Cost-effective Wastewater Treatment Plant at Concord, New Hampshire, paper presented at the 36th Annual Meeting, Virginia Water Pollution Control Association, Inc., Charlottesville, Va., 1982. 

With the LCA analysis, the impact categories - the impact on climate, water pollution and air pollution - are mostly evaluated. Whereas, impacts such as biodiversity or pesticide toxicity are seldom evaluated because of methodological problems [34]. The LCA study consists of four basic stages Definition of objectives and the scope, Inventory, Impact assessment and Interpretation [32]. 

Okubo, K. and T. Okubo. 1962. Study on the bioassay method for the evaluation of water pollution — II. Use of the fertilized eggs of sea urchin and bivalves. Bull. Tokai Reg. Fish. Res. Lab. 32 131-140. 

Simovic, L. and W.J. Snodgrass. 1985. Natural removal of cyanides in gold milling effluents — evaluation of removal kinetics. Water Pollut. Res. Jour. Canada 20 120-135. 

ASCE (1983), Existing sewer evaluation and rehabilitation, ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) Manual and Report on Engineering Practice 62 WPCF (Water Pollution Control Federation) Manual of Practice FD-6, p. 106. 

Dang, J.S., Harvey, M., Jobbagy, A. Grady, C. P. L., Jr (1989). Evaluation of biodegradation kinetics with respirometric data. Research Journal Water Pollution Control Federation, 61, 1711-21. 

Jury, W.A., Focht, D.D., Farmer, W.J. (1987b) Evaluation of pesticide ground water pollution potential from standard indices of soil-chemical adsorption and biodegradation. J. Environ. Qual. 16(4), 422 -28. 

Chapter 6 describes solar-powered photocatalytic reactors for the conversion of organic water pollutants. Nonconcentrating reactors are identified as some of the most energetically efficient units. It is reported that the absorption of radiation is a critical parameter in the efficiency reactor evaluation. The radiative transfer equation (RTE) solution under the simplified conditions given by the PI approximation is proposed for these assessments. 

The following is an example of a typical chemical process (in a schematic form) used for the analysis of a wastewater sample in order to determine the presence of organic matter or oxidizable fraction through the measurement of the chemical oxygen demand (COD), a very common parameter in the evaluation of water pollution ... 

Otson R, Williams DT. 1981. Evaluation of a liquid-liquid extraction technique for water pollutants. J Chromatogr 212 187-198. 

The Benehmark Simulation Model No.I-BSMI has been used as a standard model [1], based on the most popular Aetivated Sludge Model No.l (ASMI) developed by the International Assoeiation on Water Pollution Researeh and Control, for modelling and for performanee assessment and evaluation of the eontrol strategy [2]. The sehematie representation of the WWTP is presented in Fig. I. 

Evaluation of Chemical Risks to Human Health and the Environment Since its conception, the IPCS has evaluated an impressive list of commonly used and internationally traded agricultural and industrial chemicals. IPCS has also evaluated radioisotopes, chemicals frequently found as dangerous air and water pollutants, chemicals associated with global atmospheric changes, such as the greenhouse gases and the chlorofluorocarbons, as well as certain natural toxins and certain physical factors, such as noise and low-frequency radiation. 

Each of these systems has special applications which require their use (e.g., mole fraction in heats of mixing calculations, and molality for osmotic pressure calculations). But none of these is in common use for the evaluation or remediation of water pollution problems. 

Coal and fly ash are currently monitored to control air and ground water pollution, to evaluate mass balance in coal production and as indirect control of emission (based on the differences in contents between coal and fly ash). Some areas sufTer from a severe pollution by emission of fluorine to the atmosphere and its consequent transport into the ground water. Chlorine is responsible for burner corrosion and has to be determined to assess the risk monitoring of these elements under good quality control implies that CRMs of coal and fly ash should be available. A new coal reference material (CRM 460) has hence been prepared with the objective to certify both F and Cl [13,14] as described below, only fluorine could be certified, owing to an in-homogeneity detected for Cl. 

One of the major sources of water pollution in East Africa is human waste. The effluents from untreated mimicipal sewers pose great danger to the conservation of a sustainable ecology in and around Lake Victoria. Municipal sewage contains both faeces and urine that are sources of phosphorus. Therefore let us make two assumptions that will enable us calculate the phosphorus contributions from these sources. Let us assume that each person produces 25-50 kg/yr of faeces which contain 0.18 kg P second, assume that each adult produces about 400 liters of urine per year, depending on liquid consumption, and contains 0.40 kg P. This is because municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants are known to be the major point sources of phosphorus in urban areas." Waste disposal sites, construction sites, fertilizers and farmyards also make substantial contribution to the total phosphorus load. However, all these have not been adequately evaluated. Given the number of sewered and unsewered municipalities and their populations in Table 2, one is able to calculate the amount of phosphorus produced. 

Practical Problems. As we have seen, many different types of disturbances cause changes in ecosystems that are similar and in broad outline predictable. What has been called (8) the strategy of ecosystem development provides a most important basis to anticipate the ecological effects of pollution and to evaluate measures of water quality control. Table II lists some examples of measures and how they grossly affect water quality. This brief list illustrates that water pollution control... 

This paper presents a standardized system which can be used to evaluate the ground-water pollution potential of any hydrogeologic setting in the United States. The system has been designed to use information which is available through a variety... 

Some Existing Systems Which Evaluate Ground-Water Pollution Potential... 

Inherent in each hydrogeologic setting are the physical characteristics which affect the ground-water pollution potential. Many different biological, physical and chemical mechanisms may actively affect the attenuation of a contaminant and, thus, the pollution potential of that system. Because it is neither practical nor feasible to obtain quantitative evaluations of intrinsic mechanisms from a regional perspective, it is necessary to look at the broader parameters which incorporate the many processes. After a complete evaluation of many characteristics and the mappability of the data, the most important mappable factors that control the ground-water pollution potential were determined to be ... 

Once a DRASTIC Index has been computed, it is possible to identify areas v/hich are likely to be susceptible to ground water contamination relative to one another. The higher the DRASTIC Index, the greater the ground-water pollution potential. The DRASTIC Index provides only a relative evaluation tool and is not designed to provide absolute answers. 

This paper summarizes the efforts to produce a standardized system to evaluate ground water pollution potential. The project was designed to span two years. During the first year, the methodology was developed with the help of an advisory committee. 

A Standardized System for Evaluating Ground Water Pollution Potential Using Hydrogeologic Settings" USEPA No. 600/2-85/... 

Bonazountas, M. I. Wagner and B. Goodwin "Evaluation of Seasonal Soil/Ground Water Pollutant Pathways," Arthur D. Little, Inc., Final Report, prepared for U.S. EPA, Monitoring and Data Support Division, EPA Contract No. 68-01-5949/9. 

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