Ana Faggi

Performance of pilot-scale constructed wetlands for secondary treatment of chromium-bearing tannery wastewaters

Tannery operations consist of converting raw animal skins into leather through a series of complex water- and chemically-intensive batch processes. Even when conventional primary treatment is supplemented with chemicals, the wastewater requires some form of biological treatment to enable the safe disposal to the natural environment. Thus, there is a need for the adoption of low cost, reliable, and easy-to-operate alternative secondary treatment processes. This paper reports the findings of two pilot-scale wetlands for the secondary treatment of primary effluents from a full tannery operation in terms of resilience (i.e., ability to produce consistent effluent quality in spite of variable influent loads) and reliability (i.e., ability to cope with sporadic shock loads) when treating this hazardous effluent. Areal mass removal rates of 77.1 g COD/m2/d, 11 g TSS/m2/d, and 53 mg Cr/m2/d were achieved with a simple gravity-flow horizontal subsurface flow unit operating at hydraulic loading rates of as much as 10 cm/d. Based on the findings, a full-scale wetland was sized to treat all the effluent from the tannery requiring 68% more land than would have been assumed based on literature values. Constructed wetlands can offer treatment plant resilience for minimum operational input and reliable effluent quality when biologically treating primary effluents from tannery operations.

Distribution and temporal behavior of particulate matter over the urban area of Buenos Aires

Abstract This paper contributes for the first time in Buenos Aires city to the temporal and horizontal distribution of the PM 2.5 and PM 10 concentrations. Their variations and relationships with relevant variables that characterize the air pollution potential of the urban air shed are also given. The measurements were carried out for one year from May 2006 to May 2007. During this period, particulate matter (PM) was continuously measured at one reference station and alternatively for shorter time periods at six different sites. The values and temporal variations on a daily and seasonal basis were consistent with the ventilation potential of the atmosphere. The cold season, which had the lowest values of the ventilation coefficient, indicated higher probabilities of poor air quality and this was confirmed by the higher concentrations of PM 10 and PM 2.5 measured. At the reference station, the daily EU limit value for PM 10 was exceeded 36 times during one year while the Buenos Aires limit value was exceeded only once. The PM 10 annual mean value was almost 70% of the Buenos Aires annual limit. The PM 2.5 annual mean value (15 μg m -3 ) was same as the regulated one (15 μg m -3 ). The correlation between PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentrations and frequencies of wind directions showed that the highest concentrations were observed when the wind was from the city (land wind) and lowest concentrations when the wind was from Rio de La Plata (fluvial wind). The concentrations during land wind events exceeded the Buenos Aires PM 2.5 annual limit value. The ratio of PM 2.5 to PM 10 was 0.44, which indicates the coarse particles (>2.5 μm) originated from road dust, soil re-suspension and abrasion processes are the dominated fractions of PM. Results of random PM measurements at 60 sites showed that PM 2.5 was more homogeneously distributed over the city than PM 10 .

Biodiversity in the Argentinean Rolling Pampa Ecoregion: Changes Caused by Agriculture and Urbanisation

The metropolitan area of Buenos Aires is located in the Rolling Pampa, one of the most productive ecoregions of the world (44,000 km2, 33°, S - 39°S). This region has undergone deep transformations caused by agricultural, residential, industrial and commercial land-uses. The purpose of this paper is to compare to what exient plant and avian richness is influenced by urban and agricultural uses. To capture the land-use effects a comparison between different sectors was made. Green spaces and farmland, located in areas of contrasting land-use, extending from the La Plata’s river shore to semirural and rural areas, were sampled. Vascular plant richness, floristic composition and bird presence were considered. To compare the different sites, biodiversity indexes and Sorensen’s coefficient of similarity were calculated and the percentage of forest, grassland, shrubland, wetland and rivers/streams was estimated. All collected data were correlated using Principal Components Analysis (PCA). In general, the decrease of native plants and bird richness towards the city centre is consistent with the studies of other cities. The results of the present study confirm that the actual cultivation practices are extremely more dangerous for conservation of native land than urban sprawl.

Poultry Effluent Bio-treatment with Spirodela intermedia and Periphyton in Mesocosms with Water Recirculation

Industrial production of poultry meat is associated with indirect environmental impacts such as contributing to climate change and deforestation and other direct impacts such as the deterioration of the quality of surface waters. Poultry industry effluents are rich in organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus; nutrients can be removed from wastewater through the use of macrophytes and periphyton. An essay in mesocosms with poultry industry wastewater recirculation was developed in the presence and absence of a native macrophyte Spirodela intermedia and periphyton from a lowland stream (La Choza stream, Buenos Aires) where the effluent is poured. The diffusion of O2, increased by water recirculation, had the effect of increasing the concentration of dissolved oxygen in wastewater. The presence of S. intermedia and algae periphyton significantly contributed to the removal rates (%) of solids (69.7 ± 3.9), ammonium nitrogen (84.0 ± 3.4), and total phosphorus (38.1 ± 1.8) from residual water and favored nitrification. The dominance of Bacillariophyceae on other groups of algae of periphyton and the low representation of Euglenophyceae indicated an advanced stage of the effluent treatment process at the end of the assay.

Phytoremediation of Water and Wastewater: On-Site and Full-Scale Applications

One of the burning problems of our industrial society is the high consumption of water and the high demand for clean drinking water. Numerous approaches have been taken to reduce water consumption, but in the long run it seems only possible to recycle wastewater into high-quality water. The aim of this chapter is to discuss several applications of phytoremediation for waste and wastewater treatment through natural systems using macrophytes. On-site and higher scale applications are characterized, particularly for domestic, municipal, and feedlot wastewater treatment, as well as landfill restoration. Also is discussed later use of produced plant biomass.

Low-Tech Alternatives for the Rehabilitation of Aquatic and Riparian Environments

The rehabilitation of degraded riparian environments seeks to recreate natural ecosystems by the reintroduction of native plant species, among other actions. This reintroduction could be conducted from seed, saplings, and planted rolls and blankets. The advantages of the planted rolls and blankets are the ease of field installation and a rapid establishment of vegetation due to a better protection of the roots. In addition, rolls and mats reduce erosion, stabilize slopes, and retain sediments. The creation of wetlands in the coastal zone and the use of artificial vegetated floating islands can contribute to improving water quality. The establishment of buffer areas adjacent to the shore zone acts as a biological filter retaining diffuse pollution associated with surface runoff. In this chapter are described some low-tech alternatives and strategies that can be used in the rehabilitation of riparian zones, including a case study in the Matanza-Riachuelo River (Argentina), one of the most polluted in the world.

‘Green’ or ‘Gray’? Infrastructure and Bird Ecology in Urban Latin America

Urban systems are highly complex and heterogeneous, comprised basically by two types of infrastructure. On the one hand, ‘gray’ infrastructure includes all artificial structures and buildings, often impervious, and their components. On the other hand, ‘green’ infrastructure is conformed by all remaining and planted vegetation within an urban center. In this chapter, we reviewed the global response of birds to these two main types of urban infrastructures, and then focus on urban Latin America. Few studies have focused on urban ‘gray’ infrastructure, with many of them biased toward its close relationships with exotic, invasive, and/or generalist bird species. On the contrary, many studies have been performed focusing on the ‘green’ infrastructure of cities. Due to the amount of knowledge regarding ‘green’ infrastructure, we approached it considering greenspace location, size, heterogeneity, vegetation traits, management, and human activities. Our review shows that there is a pressing need for studies that consider ‘gray’ comparison baselines when assessing the effect of urbanization on birds. Also, studies need to focus on the ‘gray’ matrix in which urban greenspaces are embedded, as we have little to null information regarding it, and it is essential to plan healthier and sustainable cities. Another important gap that needs to be bridged is the role that exotic plants have not only on bird ecology, but also on the ecology of cities. Finally, we suggest to include other conditions that, although are not as representative in all urban centers, are highly important for birds and other wildlife groups. Specifically, we consider it crucial to join efforts on studying water bodies (‘blue’ infrastructure) and wastelands (‘brown’ infrastructure) to increase our understanding of the role that these urban components play on bird conservation in urban Latin America.

USES AND PERCEIVED BENEFITS OF GREEN SPACES IN BUENOS AIRES USOS Y BENEFICIOS PERCIBIDOS EN ESPACIOS VERDES EN BUENOS AIRES

Domestic violence in itself is one of the most difficult, specific and wide-spread social-legal problems containing the number of signs of violation. Conflict directly concerns people connected with coexistence; it has the local, exclusive character and the fight against it is less effective in accordance with common practice of fight against the crime. Specificity of the fight against the crime of this category is expressed in both complexity of its revealing and in effective and lawful choice of coercive measures against it. The issue of domestic violence has been tabooed in many countries for a long time, because the disclosure of such issues was considered as interference in people’s private life. Although the society has gradually realized that the problem of domestic violence must not be ignored as violence endangers people’s health and life. Domestic violence is not only the problem of separate individuals, it has negative effect on the other members of the family, especially on minors and leads to distortion of their psyche and consciousness which, in its turn, leads to the formation of an unhealthy situation in the society.The author analyzes the results of the four stages of victimization surveys and Unified Crime Reports prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia in 2010-2013. The results of victimization surveys and statistics reports related to indexes and structure of crime became important after the parliamentary elections held in October 1, 2012, resulted by defeating of the ruling political party “National Movement” which was in power for the last 9 years. The new coalition “Georgian Dream”, headed by the billionaire B. Ivanishvili, radically changed political climate and announced the acceleration of democratization of the country and adopted the legislation decriminalization policy. According the new policy, the government of the country carried out the general amnesty, and released more than 60% of all prisoners from the custody. Such policy became the object of serious criticism from the part of the oppositions and some experts. They have expressed concerns about the criminal situation and decreasing level of security in the country predicted anarchy and disorganizations. This article is an attempt to assess the real situation in Georgia and the level of real threat to stability posed by criminality.Everything has his pros and cons. Debtor’s rights and obligations during court order enforcement, causes of problems that may arise. This problem is in the whole country, not just in one city or in one social class. A very large number of families from everywhere around Georgia have been affected. How and where it started will be discussed below in the text. Rights of creditors and debtors overlap in many aspects. We need to be very careful when sorting out this issue. We cannot under any circumstances make a decision with a benefit of one party while the other party will suffer losses. Georgian law on “Law Enforcement” does not support in any ways rights of debtors and all the procedures highlighted are towards forcing the debtor to pay off the debt. At this stage based on the current law, current socio-economic problems, statistics, ways on sorting out the problem, this object of studies is very important and has a very high intrinsic value in its theoretical part as well as in its practical part. If the right approach is taken it is possible to minimise the need to protect rights of creditors or debtors in the futures, because every party will be fully aware of their abilities and punishments for failures to fulfil their obligations, before signing the contractThe article includes detailed employment and uniploymant analysis in each municipality. In the analysis we use results from household survey conducted by the National Statistics Service. More specific information about the labour market at the municipal level was collected through cooperation with local municipalities. For the analysis we used information from municipalities’ web pages, telephone conversations with stakeholders, personal meetings with experts and so on. It should also be noted that a certain part of the data obtained from municipalities and from administrative territorial units have an approximate nature, but based on these information it is possible to gain some valuable conclusions and make assumptions. Terms and reality of employment analysis is carried out not only at the level of the municipality but on the country and regional ones as well.This project aims to apply learning of operations research and optimizing resources to practical cases. The aim of this problem is to maximize the the fairness of the schedule , while respecting all the constraints . In regards with the results obtained after some tests ILP has found a very good solution to our problem . Better values of the penalties associated to the shifts could be defined in order to represent the reality more accurately especially by taking into account the length of the shifts. The models can also be solved by means of optimization software. As shown in this paper, the current schedules can benefit from this work. My problem is NP-hard that it means unsolvable.My objective is to do the objective values ( diff =0.1) . The ideal must be 0 but it is impossible.there is shown in the table in 5 shifts , 20 nurses 10 weeks. We see that when we increase the number of shift the objective value is decreasing. It is fact that when we add a shift the software must do more iterations but the penalty is decreasing. We see that with the same number of iterations the penalty is smaller when we add a shift.For the welfare of modern society and any state`s correct function it is very important to have straightened working court system and to ensure every person`s court accessibility. Each step of court case management is detailed in civil procedure code. The legislation of civil procedure of Georgia foresees some mechanisms and opportunities of the restriction of court accessibility, which must be studied. The meaning of this study is stipulated by huge importance of court accessibility itself and by need of due caution during its restricting. The access to the court right is reserved not only by national, but also by international law, as evidenced by Article 42 of the Constitution [1], ``The UN Convention for Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms`` Article 6 [3]. As any study issue, this one also needs scientific, systemic approach. For fully demonstrating the issue it is advised to classify and define court accessibility restriction mechanisms. Here presented work is about this matter.The Administrative Law is a part of public law, as it is depended on the subordinate principle. It aims to realize public interest. On the other hand, Enforcement Law is part of administrative space, which regulates the rules and procedures of the enforcement process for different court’s decisions as well as other acts. As administrating effects our everyday lives, it is a public interest that this process should be kept in the legal borders. This is exactly what the Administrative Law is all about. It regulates the social relations in which were government and other administrative bodies play a major role. It is true that Enforcement Law provides us with the norms, rules and procedures of the legal administration, but it is still court’s responsibility to assess the legal quality of it. This is why we need effective justice, to have the competent court ruling practice and to enforce them properly.Collision issues are discussed in family law such as conditions of marriage, results of marriage, annulment of marriage, duty of maintenance, relations between parents and children, relations related to child’s origin, conditions of adopting, guardianship and tuition. I discuss issues of guardianship and tuition in mentioned work, which I think is very interesting and actual.

Adaptación de índices de calidad de agua y de riberas para la evaluación ambiental en dos arroyos de la llanura Pampeana

Los ambientes acuaticos de la llanura pampeana (Argentina) estan sometidos a presiones humanas crecientes, tales como el vertido de aguas residuales domesticas e industriales. Se llevaron a cabo ocho campanas de muestreo en el periodo 2010-2013 tomandose muestras de agua superficial en varios sitios de los arroyos La Choza y Durazno (cuenca alta del Rio Reconquista, Buenos Aires) y en canales que reciben efluentes agroindustriales (industrias avicola y feedlot porcino). Se adaptaron y aplicaron dos nuevos indices: Indice de Calidad de Aguas Pampeanas (ICAP) e Indice de Calidad de Riberas Pampeanas (ICRP). Las variables utilizadas para el calculo del ICAP fueron solidos suspendidos totales (SST), nitrogeno amoniacal (N-NH 4 + ), fosforo total (Pt), DBO 5 y oxigeno disuelto (OD). Ademas se calculo el Indice de Calidad de Aguas (ICA). Para el desarrollo del ICRP se utilizo como base el Indice de Calidad del Bosque de Ribera (QBR). El vertido de aguas residuales de la industria avicola contribuyo al incremento de las concentraciones de SST, N-NH 4 + , Pt y DBO 5 . Los valores medios de ICA e ICAP fueron bajos y similares, aunque ICAP resulto mas efectivo en la diferenciacion de casos con calidades de agua extremas. Los principales factores que redujeron el valor del ICRP fueron la ausencia o escasa abundancia de hierbas palustres, la presencia de especies vegetales exoticas e invasoras y la existencia de estructuras transversales al cauce. Los resultados sugieren que el uso conjunto de los indices desarrollados consiste una alternativa util en la evaluacion ambiental de arroyos de la llanura pampeana.

Vegetation types, soils and air temperature of the Copahue Provincial Park (Neuquén, Argentina)

Vegetation types, soils and air temperature of the Copahue Provincial Park (Neuquen, Argentina). This contribution deals with the vegetation, edafic and topoclimatic conditions at the Copahue Provincial Park. We discuss how soils and mean monthly air temperature influence the distribution of different vegetation units such as high andean communities, forests, parkland, shrublands, steppe and wetlands. The former vegetation units are well correlated with exposition, soil characteristics and four thermic units.