Water Environment Research最新文献

Contaminated groundwater must be treated to protect drinking water supplies. This study investigated the degradation of MTBE and TBA with UV/persulfate (PS) and UV/hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) advanced oxidation processes. Experiments were conducted at initial concentrations of MTBE and TBA of 7.4 and 6.2 mg/L respectively over a range of conditions and computational analysis was carried out to elucidate reaction mechanisms and pathways. Pseudo first-order rate constants were retrieved from temporal degradation profiles. MTBE degradation was faster than that of TBA, and UV/PS-driven oxidation of both chemicals was faster than that of UV/H₂O₂. Relative absorptivity measurements showed that PS absorbed a higher proportion of light than H₂O₂ did, which in turn created greater potential to generate radicals. Density Functional Theory (DFT) results provided additional new insights. UV/PS is a promising groundwater remediation technology for the removal of MTBE and TBA.

Green corrosion inhibitors have gained attention as natural and eco-friendly solutions for microbiologically induced corrosion in various industries. This study investigates the potential of Agave sisalana saponins (ASS) combined with glycerol, a green solvent, to control biofilm-induced corrosion on copper surfaces. Bacterial strains with strong biofilm-forming abilities were isolated from Koel River water and identified through 16S rRNA gene amplification. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the presence of Acinetobacter spp., Exiguobacterium sp. BFR12y, and Solibacillus sp. BFR13. Structural characterization of ASS using FTIR spectroscopy, NMR, and high-resolution mass spectroscopy confirmed the surfactant properties of extracted saponins. The Agave sisalana saponins-glycerol combination (ASSG) exhibited no antibacterial activity at the tested concentrations. However, colony-forming unit (CFU/biofilm) counts, CLSM, and SEM revealed a significant biofilm inhibition efficacy of 80.14%. Corrosion rate and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy study demonstrated 76.42% corrosion inhibition. The inhibitory effect of ASSG was attributed to its adsorption onto metal surfaces, resulting in a reduction in bacterial motility and adhesion, and Cu₂O formation, as confirmed by motility assay, contact angle measurement, and Raman spectroscopy analysis. The findings suggest the potential use of the Agave sisalana saponins-glycerol combination as a green, prospective corrosion inhibitor, with promising applications in cooling water systems across various industries.

Polyethersulfone (PES) membranes, while widely used in ultrafiltration, are hindered by their inherent hydrophobicity and susceptibility to fouling. This study investigates the incorporation of aluminum oxide hydroxide-tannic acid (AlOOH-TA) hybrid nanoparticles into PES membranes via phase inversion to enhance hydrophilicity and antifouling behavior. The AlOOH-TA hybrid introduces abundant hydroxyl and phenolic groups that promote hydration layer formation and reduce foulant adhesion, while alumina contributes structural reinforcement. The modified membranes were characterized using SEM, FTIR, contact angle, and porosity analyses to correlate surface and structural changes with filtration performance. The optimized membrane (M4) achieved a pure water flux of 37.71 L·m^-2·h^-1 and a contact angle of 56.7°, representing a 38.95% flux improvement and enhanced surface wettability compared to pristine PES. In humic acid filtration, M4 exhibited a rejection efficiency of 61.4% and a flux recovery ratio (FRR) of 99.72%, confirming its excellent antifouling and reusability performance. These findings demonstrate that AlOOH-TA hybrid incorporation effectively improves membrane hydrophilicity and antifouling resistance through synergistic chemical and structural modification.

Waste management has become a major environmental challenge worldwide, particularly due to the rapid increase in solid waste generation associated with population growth and socioeconomic development. The accumulation of waste in landfills leads to the production of leachate, a highly contaminated liquid that poses serious risks to soil and groundwater. This study investigates the impact of the Hassi Bounif Technical Landfill, located in Oran, northwestern Algeria, on the physicochemical quality of nearby groundwater. Leachate and groundwater samples were collected during both summer and winter seasons and analyzed for physicochemical parameters and heavy metals using standard analytical methods. The leachate exhibited high contamination levels, with mean concentrations of Fe (17.55 mg/L), Pb (0.85 mg/L), and Cu (3.00 mg/L), while the average levels of Al, Cr, Mn, Hg, Ni, Cd, Mg, and Zn were 5.00, 1.25, 3.50, 0.04, 0.85, 0.60, 4.00, and 5.50 mg/L, respectively. Elevated organic loads were also recorded (COD = 28,653 mg/L; BOD₅ = 6223 mg/L), resulting in a leachate pollution index (LPI) value of 33.94, indicating a high pollution potential. Groundwater samples collected near the landfill showed electrical conductivity ranging from 3536 to 7905 μS/cm and elevated concentrations of major ions (Na⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Cl^-, and SO₄ ^2-), exceeding both World Health Organization (WHO) and Algerian standards. A distinct gradient was observed, with contamination levels decreasing with distance from the landfill. Seasonal variations were evident in both leachate and groundwater quality, with higher pollutant concentrations during the summer season, primarily due to enhanced evaporation and reduced groundwater dilution. The findings confirm the significant influence of landfill leachate on groundwater quality in the study area and underscore the urgent need for improved leachate treatment and management practices to mitigate environmental and public health risks in semiarid regions such as Oran.

This review explores the links, challenges, and gaps among six key elements of water management: watershed models, optimization algorithms, artificial intelligence, surrogate models, monitoring, and decision support systems. The main goals of this review are twofold: (1) to examine the established interrelationships among these key elements and analyze how these connections contribute to improved management effectiveness and (2) to identify and explore potential, yet unexplored, synergies among these elements that could lead to enhanced management practices. This study adheres to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, following steps for identification, screening, eligibility assessment, and selection while applying exclusion criteria and cross-referencing. The findings highlight that while advanced watershed models leveraging high-resolution datasets offer valuable insights, they face scalability challenges in capturing spatial and temporal variations. Additionally, the adaptability and performance of machine learning approaches are constrained by data limitations, including insufficiencies and inconsistencies across diverse sources. Overall, this synthesis provides actionable insights for advancing water quality protection and resource recovery by integrating emerging technologies with established management frameworks.

This review summarizes scientific studies from 1963 to 2024 on how chemical and biological surfactants affect oxygen transfer at the air-water interface. Surfactants, which often enter water from human activities, can alter water surfaces and involve the transfer of oxygen, an important aspect of water quality and treatment. We reviewed 54 peer-reviewed studies and sorted them by surfactant type, water type, and experimental scale. A lot of research has been done on chemical surfactants, but less on biosurfactants. Most of the experiments were conducted in labs, indicating that more field research is needed. There are still more than 92.22% of possible combinations of surfactants and water that have not been tested. Surfactants usually make it harder for oxygen to move through water, but the extent to which they do depends on their chemistry, the amount present, and the water's cleanliness. Research is segregated into distinct disciplines, exhibiting minimal collaboration. This review highlights areas where further research is needed, especially on biosurfactants and their behavior in real-world water. It also offers ideas for improving wastewater treatment. Our findings support green chemistry and give a framework for better managing oxygen transfer and surfactant pollution in water systems.

This study examines the spatiotemporal dynamics and determinants of waterborne diseases (WBDs) in Algeria between 2000 and 2023, using annual epidemiological reports from the National Institute of Public Health. Five major diseases are analyzed: foodborne disease outbreaks (FBDOs), hepatitis A, dysentery, typhoid fever, and cholera. Descriptive statistics, temporal trend analysis, and age-stratified profiling are applied to identify epidemiological patterns and underlying determinants. Results indicate a significant epidemiological transition: Typhoid fever and dysentery declined by nearly 98%, reflecting progress in access to safe water and sanitation. In contrast, FBDOs and hepatitis A account for more than 80% of the total burden, with distinct seasonal peaks: hepatitis A in winter and FBDOs in summer. Cholera remains sporadic but re-emerged in 2018, highlighting persistent outbreak risks. Age-stratified analysis reveals differential vulnerabilities: Children and adolescents are most affected by hepatitis A and dysentery, young adults by typhoid fever and FBDOs, and older adults by cholera. Spatial disparities are evident, driven by climatic variability, unequal access to safe water, and weaknesses in the food supply chain. These findings underscore the need for an integrated public health approach that combines strengthened epidemiological surveillance, sustainable improvements in water and sanitation systems, enhanced food safety regulation, targeted vaccination, and climate-sensitive health policies. The Algerian experience offers insights relevant to other North African and Mediterranean contexts facing similar environmental and socio-demographic challenges.

This study assessed the long-term performance of sequencing batch reactor (SBR) technology for municipal wastewater treatment in Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, over the period 2021-2024. Four sampling stations (S1-S4) were monitored for key physicochemical parameters, including TSS, BOD₅, COD, turbidity, nitrate, and phosphate, before and after treatment. The reduction efficiency index (REI), contamination factor (CF), and pollution load index (PLI) were applied to evaluate system effectiveness and contamination trends. Results showed consistently high removal efficiencies (70%-90%) for TSS, BOD₅, COD, turbidity, nitrate, and phosphate. However, a gradual decline in performance was observed from 2022 to 2024, particularly for TSS, COD, and turbidity, indicating possible operational or load-related variations. Among all stations, S1 exhibited the most stable treatment efficiency, with PLI decreasing from 0.892 in 2021 to 0.517 in 2024, signifying improved water quality and sustained reactor performance. Overall, the findings confirm the reliability of SBR systems for municipal wastewater treatment under semiarid urban conditions, while emphasizing the need for continuous monitoring and operational optimization to maintain long-term efficiency.

Studies evaluating the sedimentation of solid particles in carwash wastewater (CWW) are scarce. This research is innovative because it is the first to study solid sedimentation specifically in CWW. The motivation lies in the fact that existing parameters (for sanitary sewage) are inadequate due to the peculiar physicochemical characteristics of CWW. This study evaluated the settleability of solids present in CWW, aiming to generate empirically validated parameters to support the optimized design of sedimentation units. Granulometric characterization of the settleable material and column settling tests for total suspended solids (TSS) were performed. The granulometric analysis of the settleable solids revealed a predominance of the sandy fraction (D_90% = 1.1 mm), with an average of 87.44%. This characteristic confirms the coarse texture of the retained material and its high sedimentation velocity during the first hour. The column settling tests for TSS demonstrated highly variable removal efficiency, which did not directly correlate with the initial concentration of solids or with rainfall conditions. Results indicated the need for hybrid sedimentation models to adequately represent TSS sedimentation. A surface application rate of 1.5 m·h^-1 is suggested, which corresponds to an average TSS removal efficiency of approximately 80%. The adoption of specific design parameters for CWW provides greater reliability in the sizing of treatment units, supporting both operational efficiency and the economic viability of the system.

Groundwater circulation well (GCW) technology and electro-Fenton (EF) technology offer promising prospects for groundwater remediation due to their high efficiency in removing volatile organic compounds and their advantage of causing no secondary pollution. In this study, chemical oxygen demand (COD) was selected as the target contaminant to investigate the remediation performance of the EF coupled with GCW technology. The results indicate that the optimal COD removal was achieved at an applied voltage of 30 V, as higher voltages facilitate the accelerated generation of ·OH radicals, thereby enhancing the degradation rate of pollutants. However, excessively high voltages may lead to increased current, elevated energy consumption, and potential anode damage; thus, considering both treatment efficiency and economic cost, 20 V was identified as the optimal voltage. In the coupled EF-GCW system, the optimal aeration rate was determined to be 1.3 L/min. Increasing the aeration rate beyond this value did not significantly improve the removal performance and instead reduced EF efficiency due to decreased dissolved oxygen residence time. Furthermore, the current GCW hydraulic design presents flow blind zones, which limit remediation efficiency in certain regions. This study defines the optimal operational window for the EF-GCW system and provides insights into overcoming hydraulic circulation blind spots, offering valuable process parameters for the optimization and practical application of groundwater remediation technologies.