Sidney Seckler Ferreira Filho

Copper removal using a heavy-metal resistant microbial consortium in a fixed-bed reactor

A heavy-metal resistant bacterial consortium was obtained from a contaminated river in São Paulo, Brazil and utilized for the design of a fixed-bed column for the removal of copper. Prior to the design of the fixed-bed bioreactor, the copper removal capacity by the live consortium and the effects of copper in the consortium biofilm formation were investigated. The Langmuir model indicated that the sorption capacity of the consortium for copper was 450.0 mg/g dry cells. The biosorption of copper into the microbial biomass was attributed to carboxyl and hydroxyl groups present in the microbial biomass. The effect of copper in planktonic cells to form biofilm under copper rich conditions was investigated with confocal microscopy. The results revealed that biofilm formed after 72 h exposure to copper presented a reduced thickness by 57% when compared to the control; however 84% of the total cells were still alive. The fixed-bed bioreactor was set up by growing the consortium biofilm on granular activated carbon (GAC) and analyzed for copper removal. The biofilm-GAC (BGAC) column retained 45% of the copper mass present in the influent, as opposed to 17% in the control column that contained GAC only. These findings suggest that native microbial communities in sites contaminated with heavy metals can be immobilized in fixed-bed bioreactors and used to treat metal contaminated water.

Planejamento e aspectos ambientais envolvidos na disposição final de lodos das estações de tratamento de água da Região Metropolitana de São Paulo

The disposal of sludge produced by water treatment plants in an environmentally safe manner is one more challenge to be faced by the sanitation companies and has been given more attention in Brazil and in the Metropolitan Area of Sao Paulo (MASP). The purpose of this work is to present the existing alternatives for use and final disposal of sludge produced by the Water Treatment Plants (WTP) of the MASP. In this respect, several techniques for use and disposal of sludge performed in Brazil and worldwide have been investigated, and their technical and environmental conditions. The amount of sludge generated in the MASP and the existence of or the forecast to establish sludge thickening and dewatering systems have been evaluated and based on this information alternatives have been identified for use and disposal which are technically and environmentally feasible for sludge produced by the WTP in the MASP.

Biostimulation of metal-resistant microbial consortium to remove zinc from contaminated environments

Understanding the diversity and metal removal ability of microorganisms associated to contaminated aquatic environments is essential to develop metal remediation technologies in engineered environments. This study investigates through 16S rRNA deep sequencing the composition of a biostimulated microbial consortium obtained from the polluted Tietê River in São Paulo, Brazil. The bacterial diversity of the biostimulated consortium obtained from the contaminated water and sediment was compared to the original sample. The results of the comparative sequencing analyses showed that the biostimulated consortium and the natural environment had γ-Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and uncultured bacteria as the major classes of microorganisms. The consortium optimum zinc removal capacity, evaluated in batch experiments, was achieved at pH=5 with equilibrium contact time of 120min, and a higher Zn-biomass affinity (KF=1.81) than most pure cultures previously investigated. Analysis of the functional groups found in the consortium demonstrated that amine, carboxyl, hydroxyl, and phosphate groups present in the consortium cells were responsible for zinc uptake.

Otimização de processos físico-químicos na remoção de fósforo de esgotos sanitários por processos de precipitação química com cloreto férrico

Since chemical coagulation processes are very promising for wastewater treatment, this work looked into phosphorus removal from aerobic and anaerobic systems treating domestic wastewater. It was possible to reach phosphorus removal efficiencies in the order of 90 % for coagulant dosages in the range 60 to 100 mg of ferric chloride per liter. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal in parallel with phosphorus removal was observed for the previously mentioned treatment system effluents. The coagulant dosages for optimized phosphorus removal also led to optimum DOC removal. The removal of organic phosphorus fractions as polyphosphates was justified due its association with the DOC removal by chemical precipitation.

Otimização multi-objetivo de estações de tratamento de águas de abastecimento: remoção de turbidez, carbono orgânico total e gosto e odor

Traditionally, the design of conventional water treatment plants (WTPs) has considered turbidity and color removal as well as the production of microbiologically safe water as primary goals regarding treatment optimization. In face of new technical challenges, the water quality objectives that must be achieved are far reaching. The purpose of this paper was to study the optimization of Rio Grande WTP in order to define the optimum operating conditions with respect to coagulation which maximize turbidity, natural organic matter (NOM) and taste and odor removal. The experimental results indicated that the coagulation pH in the range 5.8 to 6.5 led to both turbidity removal and NOM removal optimization. In addition to that and regardless of the pH range, taste and odor removal by adsorption was satisfactory. Therefore, the optimization of Rio Grande WTP is technically feasible.

Water treatment plant sludge disposal into stabilization ponds

Researchers have paid particular attention to the disposal of sludge produced in water treatment plants (WTPs) into wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) for further processing, mainly because it is considered an attractive alternative for the treatment of waste generated in water production processes. This study evaluated the effects of flow equalization and disposal of sludge, from a conventional WTP, into a WWTP system that includes an anaerobic stabilization pond followed by a facultative pond. During the period of sludge discharge from the WTP into the wastewater system, the influent to the WWTP presented an increase of 17% (from 171 to 200 mg L(-1)) of total suspended solids (TSS) and a 7.0% flow rate increase, without showing adverse effects on the organic load, TSS and nutrients removal. The most significant impact observed in the WWTP was the increase of solids accumulation rate in the anaerobic pond, with a value of 141 mm/year during the sludge discharge period. The operating time, before the dredging and desludging cycles required for this specific anaerobic pond, decreased from 12.7 to 10.4 years, which is consistent with previous studies in literature. Thus, based on the observed parameters of this study, it is viable to release solids from a WTP effluent into a WWTP that includes anaerobic stabilization ponds followed by a facultative pond. Indeed, this process scheme becomes a viable technical, environmental, and economical alternative for small to medium WWTPs.

Comportamento cinético do cloro livre em meio aquoso e formação de subprodutos da desinfecção

One indirect approach to predict the disinfection by-product (DBP) formation potential for a given water source is by evaluation of the kinetic behavior of free chlorine in the liquid phase and chlorine demand determination for different operation conditions of the chlorination process. The objective of this work was to evaluate the kinetic behavior of free chlorine in water or a number of different raw water sources, as well as to investigate the impact of the coagulation process on chlorine demand reduction and DBP formation. It was observed that the higher the total organic carbon (TOC) removal efficiency through coagulation, the lower the liquid phase chlorine demand. Regarding trihalomethane (THM) formation, a ratio of 28 ug/L formed per mg/L of applied chlorine was observed for the waters employed in the experimental investigation.

Modelação matemática e otimização operacional de processos de membrana de ultrafiltração

The utilization of membrane processes in Environmental Engineering has expanded significantly in the last few years. This paper had the primary objective of defining an optimization technique for ultrafiltration (UF) membrane operation by studying UF membrane operation and backwashing cycles. The main importance of UF operation optimization is to maximize permeation production as a function of time. Experimental tests were conducted with two UF membranes with different molecular weight cutoff. The experimental results led to the proposition of a mathematical model for the optimization of UF systems; such optimization conducted in practice to an increase of 14% in the permeate volume production.

Viabilidade tecnica e economica da regeneracao de coagulantes a partir de lodos de estacoes de tratamento de agua

The primary goal of this work was to evaluate the technical and economical feasibility of coagulant recovery from acidification of water treatment plant sludges, and the use of recovered coagulants in wastewater treatment. Acidification bench tests were conducted in order to study the regeneration conditions, the recovered coagulant quality and the remaining sludge. The recovered coagulant had a satisfactory behavior in the treatment of UASB reactor effluent and was observed significantly suspended solids reductions in the water treatment plant sludges. On the economical evaluation it was verified that considering the costs decrease due to the sludge reduction, the recovered coagulant production cost was very similar to commercial coagulants cost. Thus, it was concluded that nowadays this technology must be considered as a potential alternative for the treatment and reuse for water treatment plant sludges, regarding to technical and economical aspects.

Interferência do processo de coagulação na remoção de compostos orgânicos causadores de gosto e odor em águas de abastecimento mediante a aplicação de carvão ativado em pó

Powered Activated Carbon (PAC) has been widely used in Water Treatment Plants with the purpose of minimizing taste and odor problems in drinking water. Its application can be done immediately before or after coagulant application or in parallel with it. To look into possible interferences of the coagulation process in the adsorption process, an experimental investigation was carried out by means of jar tests, with the purpose of simulating different case scenarios of PAC and coagulant application. For the same PAC type and coagulant dosage, regardless of the application point, it was not observed any significant differences in the removal of taste and odor compounds, thus indicating that under the tested conditions the PAC application point has a much lower importance than the initially expected in adsorption processes.