This research focuses on enhancing water quality for concrete construction by utilizing treated wastewater from wetlands. The study employs a dual-stage treatment process involving charcoal and ...aggregate layers for primary treatment, followed by water hyacinths for secondary treatment. Investigating water hyacinths’ ability to absorb nutrients and contaminants from wastewater is a unique aspect of the study, offering a potential solution for soil and water remediation. Water hyacinths, especially stems and leaves, act as natural filters, effectively indicating heavy-metal pollution in tropical regions. The primary goal is heavy-metal removal from wastewater, allowing treated-water use in concrete production at varying proportions (20 %, 40 %, 60 %, 80 %, and 100 %). Silica fume at 15 % concentration is incorporated to enhance the concrete’s durability. Concrete specimens undergo thorough preparation and mechanical property evaluations, compared to conventional M20-grade concrete. The results reveal improvements in mechanical properties, particularly with 80 % treated wastewater in the mix. The dual-stage treatment process removes heavy metals, and the inclusion of silica fume enhances the concrete’s durability and resistance.
Determination of trace element concentrations in atmospheric aerosols is important because of their toxic effects on human health. Additionally, they are now widely used in source apportionment ...studies. There is a number of methods for sample preparation of ambient particulate matter. One of the most widely used is microwave-assisted digestion of filter-based samples. Since the water-soluble fraction is bioavaliable, the aim of our study was to determine the concentration of selected trace elements (V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Sb, Tl, and Pb) in this fraction and compare it to the amounts obtained by two different microwave digestion procedures - one using a mixture of H2O2 and HNO3 and the other using a mixture of HF, HCl, and HNO3. The recoveries of the digestion procedures used were tested on certified reference material (NIST SRM 1648 Urban Particulate Matter). The procedures were applied to filters containing PM10 particles collected at an urban background location in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Among the elements analysed, V, Zn, As, and Cd displayed the highest concentration within the water-soluble fraction, with Cr, Ni, Tl and Pb displaying the lowest concentrations. The comparison between the two applied digestion procedures showed that Cr, Ni, Sb and Tl were strongly bound to the sample matrix.
Določevanje elementov v sledovih v atmosferskih delcih je pomembno zaradi njihovega toksičnega vpliva na človekovo zdravje. V zadnjem času se koncentracije teh elementov tudi zelo pogosto uporabljajo v študijah povezanih s porazdelitvijo po virih. Za določevanje elementov v sledovih se uporabljajo različne priprave vzorcev. Najpogostejši je razklop filtrov s pomočjo mikrovalovne peči. Ker je vodotopen delež tudi biološko dostopen, je bil namen naše študije določitev te frakcije posameznih elementov (V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Sb, Tl and Pb) in primerjava s koncentracijami po dveh različnih razklopih - prvi z mešanico H2O2 in HNO3 ter drugi z mešanico HF, HCl in HNO3. Izkoristke uporabljenih razklopov smo preverili s standardnim referenčnim materialom (NIST SRM 1648 Urban Particulate Matter). Preverjena postopka smo uporabili na filtrih, ki so vsebovali delce PM10, vzorčevane v Ljubljani, Slovenija. Med analiziranimi elementi so bili izrazito dobro topni v vodi V, Zn, As in Cd, najmanj pa Cr, Ni, Tl, in Pb. Primerjava med obema uporabljenima razklopoma je pokazala, da so Cr, Ni, Sb in Tl v delce izredno stabilno vezani.
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