A nitrogen budget of the Changjiang river catchment

Based on 1997-1998 field investigations in the Changjiang river mouth, rain sampling from the river's upper reaches to the mouth, historical data, and relevant literature, the various sources of Total Nitrogen (TN) and Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen (DIN) in the Changjiang river catchment and N transport in the Changjiang river mouth were estimated. The export fluxes of various form of were mainly controlled by the river runoff, and the export fluxes of NO3-N, DIN and TN in 1998 (an especially heavy flood year) were 1438 103 tonnes (t) yr(-1) or 795.1 kg km(-2) yr(-1) 1746 10(3) t yr(-1) or 965.4 kg km(-2) yr(-1) and 2849 10(3) t yr(-1) or 1575.3 kg km(-2) yr(-1), respectively. The TN and DIN in the Changjiang river came mainly from precipitation, agricultural nonpoint sources, N lost from fertilizer and soil, and point sources of industrial waste and residential sewage discharge, which were about 56.2% and 62.3%, 15.4% and 18.5%, 17.1% and 14.4%, respectively, of the N outflow at the Changjiang river mouth; maximum transport being in the middle reaches.

Assessment of metal contamination in surface sediments of Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao, China

An assessment of metal contamination in surface sediments of the Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao, one of the rapidly developing coastal economic zones in China, is provided. Sediments were collected from 10 stations and a total of 15 heavy metals were analyzed. Concentrations of metals show significant variability and range from 210 to 620 ppm for Ti, 2.7 to 23 ppm for Ni, 4.2 to 28 ppm for Cu, 5.2 to 18 ppm for Pb, 12 to 58 ppm for Zn, 0.03 to 0.11 ppm for Cd, 5 to 51 ppm for Cr, 1.5 to 9.9 ppm for Co, 5.3 to 19 ppm for As, 12 to 32 ppm for Se, and 19 to 97 ppm for Sr. Based on concentration relationships and enrichment factor (EF) analyses, the results indicate that sediment grain size and organic matter played important roles in controlling the distribution of the heavy metals in surface sediments of the Jiaozhou Bay. The study shows that the sediment of the Jiaozhou Bay has been contaminated by heavy metals to various degrees, with prominent arsenic contributing the most to the contamination. The analysis suggests that the major sources of metal contamination in the Jiaozhou Bay are land-based anthropogenic ones, such as discharge of industrial waste water and municipal sewage and run-off. Notably, the elevated heavy metal concentrations of the Jiaozhou Bay sediments could have a significant impact on the bay's ecosystem. With the rapid economic development and urbanization around the Jiaozhou Bay, coastal management and pollution control should focus on these contaminant sources, as well as provide ongoing monitoring studies of heavy metal contamination within the bay.

污泥处理经济评价和污泥堆肥中氧气监测与动态分析

With the continually increase both in the amount of wastewater disposal and in the treatment rate, more and more sewage sludge has been produced. An economic estimate was taken on the different sewage sludge disposal and treatment technologies, and led to the conclusion that compost is an effective way to make sewage sludge harmless, stable and resourceable. Normally, there are several ways to treat sewage sludge, such as landfill, compost, incineration and so on. These technologies will cost 300-1000 Y per ton of sludge. Among those ways, landfill is the cheapest one and operates easily, however, it just postpones the pollution instead of eventually eliminating the pollution; The amount of the sludge will reduce dramatically after incineration, while incineration will take a very high investment in the beginning, at the same time, it's very hard to maintain running; Sewage sludge will be resourceful after composting treantment, thus makes up the treatment cost, makes composting is the most economical way. Compost production is safe when correctly used, compost is a important way to treat sewage sludge. Oxygen is an important control factor in aerobic composting that has great effects on temperature and microorganisms. The gas gathering and transfering system of an online oxygen monitoring system for composting were bettermented to prolong the monitoring system's running period. The oxygen concentration changes in various aerobic composting stage were studied, and conclusions came to that oxygen concentration changes much faster in the oxygen concentration increasing stage than that in the declining stage; the better the aerobic condition is, the sooner the monitoring system starts to work. The minimal oxygen concentration during a ventilation cycle often falls at the beginning, then ascends in the composting period; at the same time, oxygen concentration changes fast in the early composting stage(temperature increasing stage), much slower in the middle stage(continouns thermophilic stage),and seldom changes in the late composting stage(temperature declining stage). With the help of the oxygen realtime-online monitoring system, oxygen concentrations was measured. During the composting period, water contents was analyzed after sampled. It's found that water contents (WC) and Oxygen concentration can both influence the composting process, and the control rule varies in the various composting stages. Essentially, the rule that water and oxygen control the composting process comes from water counterchecks the oxygen transferring to the composting substrate. The most influential factor to the WC and to the oxygen is the components in the composting pile. In the temperature increasing stage, seldom microorganisms exist in the composting pile with low activity, thus oxygen can meet with microorganisms' need, and WC is the dominant factor. In the high temperature (continouns thermophilic) stage, composting process is controlled by WC and oxygen, essentially by WC, at the same time, their influence somehow is not remarkable. In the temperature declining stage, WC and oxygen influence the composting process little. It's also found that the composting process will differ even if under the same components, thus to equably mix the components can avoid WC focusing in some place and let the composting pile to be aerobic. In one sentence, aerobic state is the most important factor in the composting process, suitable bulking material will be useful to the composting control.