Ricardo Silveira Bernardes

Relações entre saneamento, saúde pública e meio ambiente: elementos para formulação de um modelo de planejamento em saneamento

The understanding of sanitation infrastructure, public health, and environmental relations is a fundamental assumption for planning sanitation infrastructure in urban areas. This article thus suggests elements for developing a planning model for sanitation infrastructure. The authors performed a historical survey of environmental and public health issues related to the sector, an analysis of the conceptual frameworks involving public health and sanitation systems, and a systematization of the various effects that water supply and sanitation have on public health and the environment. Evaluation of these effects should guarantee the correct analysis of possible alternatives, deal with environmental and public health objectives (the main purpose of sanitation infrastructure), and provide the most reasonable indication of actions. The suggested systematization of the sanitation systems effects in each step of their implementation is an advance considering the association between the fundamental elements for formulating a planning model for sanitation infrastructure.

Método Walkley-Black na determinação da matéria orgânica em solos contaminados por chorume

The present work is related to the study of potentialities of wet oxidation-redox titration (Walkley-Black) method for organic matter determination in soil samples contaminated by leachate from domestic solid wastes. The soil contamination by leachate was obtained experimentally, using leachate with high organic load (chemical oxygen demand ranging between 36.000 to 110.000 mg L-1) and two similar inorganic clay soils (organic carbon contents less than 1,4%), classified as Red Latosol. The results showed that Walkley-Black method has potential for organic matter determination in inorganic clay soil samples contaminated by leachate from domestic solid wastes. The correlation coefficients between expected and determined values ranged from 0.95 to 0.97 in soil samples studied.

Remoção de matéria orgânica do esgoto em solo de wetland construído

On constructed wetlands systems, the support media usually used are coarse sand, gravel, crushed stone and gravel. In this research, we used the natural soil (Oxisol) mixed with medium sand, planted with rice (Oryza sativa L .) and a control without plants. The objective was to evaluate the BOD removal through the immobilization of microbial biomass, basal respiration (microbial activity) and total organic carbon of the soil. We used three systems, operating with hydraulic application rates of 4, 8 e 15 cm.d-1. Each system had three units constructed wetlands and three controls, which were fed with sewage, with vertical flow unsaturated conditions, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, leaving the system with no feed on the rest of the days, for soil aeration. The results showed the soils were able to reduce significantly the BOD concentration, with removal efficiency ranging between 97 and 99%. The removal was due to the mineralization of organic matter and its accumulation in the soil. During the system start up operation, there was reduction in native soil organic matter, which started to increase gradually by the sewage application. The activity of microbial decomposers increased proportionally to the rate of sewage application, but high rates showed a trend to inhibition of this activity. In soils units controls showed minor loss of CO2 to the atmosphere, indicating a higher carbon immobilization in soils.