Management of Atrazine Bearing Wastewater Using an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor-Adsorption System
01 Apr 2005-Practice Periodical of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste Management (American Society of Civil Engineers)-Vol. 9, Iss: 2, pp 112-121
TL;DR: In this article, an attempt was made to develop a treatment system for the management of atrazine bearing wastewater, which consists of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket ~UASB! reactor followed by an adsorption column using waste activated carbon as the adsorbent.
Abstract: In the present investigation, an attempt was made to develop a treatment system for the management of atrazine bearing wastewater. The system consists of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket ~UASB! reactor followed by an adsorption column using waste activated carbon as the adsorbent. The UASB reactor could remove more than 80% of organic matter and 40-50% of atrazine, irrespective of the concentration of organic matter and atrazine tried. Though low concentration of atrazine did not affect the anaerobic system, higher atrazine concentration in the range of 10-15 mg/ L had a little effect on the treatment system. The adsorption column could remove atrazine from the UASB effluent effectively. Methanol could desorb the atrazine from the adsorbent. The regenerated adsorbent retained 80% of its original capacity. The regenerant can be utilized as a pesticide.
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: A state of art review of pesticide agrochemical practice, its fundamental characteristics, background studies and environmental implications, and the expanding of activated carbon adsorption represents a plausible and powerful circumstance, leading to the superior improvement of environmental preservation.
Abstract: Concern about environmental protection has increased over the years from a global viewpoint. To date, the percolation of pesticide waste into the groundwater tables and aquifer systems remains an aesthetic issue towards the public health and food chain interference. With the renaissance of activated carbon, there has been a consistent growing interest in this research field. Confirming the assertion, this paper presents a state of art review of pesticide agrochemical practice, its fundamental characteristics, background studies and environmental implications. Moreover, the key advance of activated carbon adsorption, its major challenges together with the future expectation are summarized and discussed. Conclusively, the expanding of activated carbon adsorption represents a plausible and powerful circumstance, leading to the superior improvement of environmental preservation.
246 citations
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: In this paper, an extensive review has been made on the occurrence of atrazine in surface and ground water bodies, probable sources and causes of its occurrence in water environment, the toxicity of Atrazine on various living organisms and its removal by biological processes.
Abstract: Atrazine, a chlorinated s-triazine group of herbicide is one of the most widely used pesticides in the World. Due to its extensive use, long half-life and various toxic properties, it has very high environmental significance. Up to 22 mg l -1 of atrazine was found in ground water whereas permissible limit of atrazine is in ppb level in drinking water. As per Indian standard there should not be any pesticide present in drinking water. Among many other treatment processes available, Incineration, adsorption, chemical treatment, phytoremediation and biodegradation are the most commonly used ones. Biological degradation of atrazine depends upon various factors like the operating environment, external carbon and nitrogen sources, carbon/ nitrogen ratio (C/N), water content and the bacterial strain. Although, general atrazine degradation pathways are available, the specific pathways in specific conditions are not yet clearly defined. In this paper extensive review has been made on the occurrence of atrazine in surface and ground water bodies, probable sources and causes of its occurrence in water environment, the toxicity of atrazine on various living organisms and its removal by biological processes.
86 citations
TL;DR: Aerobic biodegradability tests of the resulting anaerobic effluents revealed that aerobic post-treatment is also a feasible and effective option, yielding more than 60% COD reduction.
Abstract: This work presents a sustainable and cost-competitive solution for hardly biodegradable pesticides-bearing wastewater treatment in an anaerobic expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor at mesophilic (35°C) and thermophilic (55°C). The reactor was operated in continuous mode during 160days, achieving an average COD removal of 33 and 44% under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions, respectively. The increase of temperature improved the biomass activity and the production of methane by 35%. Around 96% of pesticides identified in raw wastewater were not detected in both mesophilic and thermophilic effluents. A dramatic selection of the microbial population in anaerobic granules was caused by the presence of pesticides, which also changed significantly when the temperature was increased. Pesticides caused a significant inhibition on methanogenesis, especially over acetoclastic methanogens. Aerobic biodegradability tests of the resulting anaerobic effluents revealed that aerobic post-treatment is also a feasible and effective option, yielding more than 60% COD reduction.
29 citations
Cites background from "Management of Atrazine Bearing Wast..."
...concentrations in the range of 5–10 mg/L [24, 25]....
[...]
01 Feb 2016-Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part B-pesticides Food Contaminants and Agricultural Wastes
TL;DR: This study demonstrated that both the monoculture extracts of the native strain T. maxima and its co-culture with P. carneus can efficiently and quickly degrade atrazine in clay-loam soils.
Abstract: This investigation was undertaken to determine the atrazine degradation by fungal enzyme extracts (FEEs) in a clay-loam soil microcosm contaminated at field application rate (5 μg g(-1)) and to study the influence of different soil microcosm conditions, including the effect of soil sterilization, water holding capacity, soil pH and type of FEEs used in atrazine degradation through a 2(4) factorial experimental design. The Trametes maxima-Paecilomyces carneus co-culture extract contained more laccase activity and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content (laccase = 18956.0 U mg protein(-1), H2O2 = 6.2 mg L(-1)) than the T. maxima monoculture extract (laccase = 12866.7 U mg protein(-1), H2O2 = 4.0 mg L(-1)). Both extracts were able to degrade atrazine at 100%; however, the T. maxima monoculture extract (0.32 h) achieved a lower half-degradation time than its co-culture with P. carneus (1.2 h). The FEE type (p = 0.03) and soil pH (p = 0.01) significantly affected atrazine degradation. The best degradation rate was achieved by the T. maxima monoculture extract in an acid soil (pH = 4.86). This study demonstrated that both the monoculture extracts of the native strain T. maxima and its co-culture with P. carneus can efficiently and quickly degrade atrazine in clay-loam soils.
27 citations
Cites background from "Management of Atrazine Bearing Wast..."
...[8] Thus, atrazine levels often exceed the maximum permissible level for drinking water (0.1 mg L¡1) in Europe[9] and the health advisory level (3 mg L¡1) set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)....
[...]
...1 mg L¡1) in Europe([9]) and the health advisory level (3 mg L¡1) set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the roles of sulphate and empty bed contact time on simultaneous removal of arsenic, iron and nitrate to meet the drinking water standards in an attached growth bioreactor.
Abstract: There are several reports on simultaneous occurrence of arsenic, iron and nitrate in drinking water sources especially in groundwater at wide range of concentrations. However, there is no report available, so far, on simultaneous successful removal of arsenic, iron and nitrate from contaminated groundwater, and effects of one contaminant on the overall performance of a biological reactor. The present study investigates the roles of sulphate and empty bed contact time on simultaneous removal of arsenic, iron and nitrate to meet the drinking water standards in an attached growth bioreactor. An attached growth reactor was fabricated using Perspex cylinder, inoculated with mixed microbial culture and operated in downflow mode in absence of oxygen at 30 °C for more than 500 days under varying influent arsenate (500–1500 μg/L as arsenic), iron (2.0–10 mg/L) and nitrate concentrations (50–200 mg/L) in simulated groundwater, and empty bed contact time of 45–120 min. Acetate was used as external carbon source and electron donor in this project. Iron and arsenic removal met the drinking water standards, while complete nitrate removal was observed at all tested concentrations. Roles of sulphate concentration and empty bed contact time were found to be very important to improve efficiency of the reactor. The reactor was also fed with real groundwater containing arsenic and iron of up to 295 μg/L and 13.2 mg/L respectively. The reactor could remove both the contaminants to meet drinking water standards after supply of sufficient amount of sulphate and adjustment of empty bed contact time. Results of field emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses suggested that precipitation in the form of arsenosulphides (orpiment and realgar) and iron sulphides (pyrite and pyrrohite) were the removal mechanisms for arsenic and iron. Hence, this study demonstrates an excellent potential of application of biological process on simultaneous removal of arsenic, iron and nitrate to meet drinking water standards.
16 citations
References
More filters
TL;DR: In this paper, the main results obtained with the process in the laboratory as well as in 6 m3 pilot plant and 200 m3 full-scale experiments are presented and evaluated in this paper.
Abstract: In recent years considerable effort has been made in the Netherlands toward the development of a more sophisticated anaerobic treatment process, suitable for treating low a strength wastes and for applications at liquid detention times of 3–4 hr. The efforts have resulted in new type of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) process, which in recent 6 m3 pilot-plant experiments has shown to be capable of handling organic space loads of 15–40 kg chemical oxygen demand (COD)·m−3/day at 3–8 hr liquid detention times. In the first 200 m3 full-scale plant of the UASB concept, organic space loadings of up to 16 kg COD·m−3/day could be treated satisfactorily at a detention times of 4 hr, using sugar beet waste as feed. The main results obtained with the process in the laboratory as well as in 6 m3 pilot plant and 200 m3 full-scale experiments are presented and evaluated in this paper. Special attention is given to the main operating characteristics of the UASB reactor concept. Moreover, some preliminary results are presented of laboratory experiments concerning the use of the USB reactor concept for denitrification as well as for the acid formation step in anaerobic treatment. For both purposes the process looks feasible because very satisfactory results with respect to denitrification and acid formation can be achieved at very high hydraulic loads (12 day−1) and high organic loading rates, i.e., 20 kg COD·m−3/day in the denitrification and 60–80 kg COD·m−3/day in the acid formation experiments.
1,339 citations
TL;DR: It is hypothesize that atrazine induces aromatase and promotes the conversion of testosterone to estrogen and likely explains the demasculinization of the male larynx and the production of hermaphrodites.
Abstract: Atrazine is the most commonly used herbicide in the U.S. and probably the world. It can be present at several parts per million in agricultural runoff and can reach 40 parts per billion (ppb) in precipitation. We examined the effects of atrazine on sexual development in African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis). Larvae were exposed to atrazine (0.01–200 ppb) by immersion throughout larval development, and we examined gonadal histology and laryngeal size at metamorphosis. Atrazine (>0.1 ppb) induced hermaphroditism and demasculinized the larynges of exposed males (>1.0 ppb). In addition, we examined plasma testosterone levels in sexually mature males. Male X. laevis suffered a 10-fold decrease in testosterone levels when exposed to 25 ppb atrazine. We hypothesize that atrazine induces aromatase and promotes the conversion of testosterone to estrogen. This disruption in steroidogenesis likely explains the demasculinization of the male larynx and the production of hermaphrodites. The effective levels reported in the current study are realistic exposures that suggest that other amphibian species exposed to atrazine in the wild could be at risk of impaired sexual development. This widespread compound and other environmental endocrine disruptors may be a factor in global amphibian declines.
1,130 citations
"Management of Atrazine Bearing Wast..." refers background in this paper
...Among the pesticides produced, atrazine~2-chloro-4ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine!, a chlorinated herbicid ~a class of pesticide! took the front seat by production as well usage~Hayes et al. 2002!....
[...]
852 citations
TL;DR: This bacterium was used to increase the biodegradation of atrazine in soils from agricultural chemical distribution sites and it was found that the addition of 105 J14a cells g−1 into soil with a low indigenous population of atazine degraders resulted in two to five times higher mineralization than in the noninoculated soil.
Abstract: We examined the ability of a soil bacterium, Agrobacterium radiobacter J14a, to degrade the herbicide atrazine under a variety of cultural conditions, and we used this bacterium to increase the biodegradation of atrazine in soils from agricultural chemical distribution sites. J14a cells grown in nitrogen-free medium with citrate and sucrose as carbon sources mineralized 94% of 50 microgram of [14C-U-ring]atrazine ml-1 in 72 h with a concurrent increase in the population size from 7.9 x 10(5) to 5.0 x 10(7) cells ml-1. Under these conditions cells mineralized the [ethyl-14C]atrazine and incorporated approximately 30% of the 14C into the J14a biomass. Cells grown in medium without additional carbon and nitrogen sources degraded atrazine, but the cell numbers did not increase. Metabolites produced by J14a during atrazine degradation include hydroxyatrazine, deethylatrazine, and deethyl-hydroxyatrazine. The addition of 10(5) J14a cells g-1 into soil with a low indigenous population of atrazine degraders treated with 50 and 200 microgram of atrazine g-1 soil resulted in two to five times higher mineralization than in the noninoculated soil. Sucrose addition did not result in significantly faster mineralization rates or shorten degradation lag times. However, J14a introduction (10(5) cells g-1) into another soil with a larger indigenous atrazine-mineralizing population reduced the atrazine degradation lag times below those in noninoculated treatments but did not generally increase total atrazine mineralization.
325 citations