Journal of Health System Research
Year:2010 | Volume:6 | Issue:SUPPLEMENT|Papers Count:40

Background: Rivers and streams are important sources of surface waters. Water quality of these resources depends on many factors including hydrologic, physicochemical and biological factors. These resources are important in terms of social, economic and political development. Zayanderood River is the only river in central basin of Iran that has permanent fresh water. This river has an important role in providing drinking and agricultural water supply and, preserving industrial life in Isfahan province.Therefore, management and quality control of this water source is important.Methods: In this study the effect of Isfahan city and its wastewater treatment plant effluent on some parameters of water quality of Zayandeh Rood river has been investigated.Samples for laboratory tests were taken from five stations along the river, from Moosian to Varzane.Water quality parameters measured in this study include Nitrate, phosphate, ammonia, BOD5, COD and pH. At the time of sampling, the stage of water in Moosian, Choom bridge stations and Varzane was also recorded.Findings: It was found Zayanderood water is affected from the city of Isfahan even when there is no rain.Conclusion: However, the impact of Isfahan wastewater treatment plant is much larger.

Background: Gavkhooni marsh is one of the most important marshes in Iran. In the recent years, natural conditions of this marsh have been affected by agricultural and industrial activities in Zayandehrood river catchment areas. This research was carried out in 2006 to assess some chemical parameters and the heavy metals concentration in water, soil, and plants in the area and to compare the results to the standard values and also with the previous researches conducted in the years of 2002 and 2004.Methods: The samples were taken and transferred to the water laboratory of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. The water samples were analyzed for pH, chloride, EC, alkalinity, heavy metals. Soil was sampled from depth of 5 cm (as surface sample) and 10 cm (as depth samples). Both soil and plant samples were digested with H2O2 and H2SO4 after drying. The digested samples were analyzed for the heavy metals by the Atomic Adsorption on Standard Methods, part: 303A.Findings: The findings indicated that the average concentration of Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn in the water samples were 0.73, 0.054, 0.76, 0.058, 0.48, 1.14, and 0.075 mg/L, respectively. These findings were higher than the standard values in drinking water and water for agricultural use. The values for EC and chloride indicated extreme pollution of the marsh. The continuing of this trend in the future may cause accumulation of the pollutants that could affect the marsh and destruct it.Conclusion: Comparing the results of researches in the years 2002 and 2004 indicated increasing process of the pollutants aggregation in the marsh’s water and soil. However, the evaluation of the achieved results from this research and also from 2002 and 2004 indicated that some parameters in water and soil were decreased compared to the measured values in the previous years due to suitable rainfall in 2006.

Background: Based on the economical and environmental concepts, the main purpose of the industrial waste management is reducing the production of these materials which is accessible by developing strategies of reuse, waste recycle and upgrading the technologies. Accurate investigation of the quality and quantity of the industrial waste is the basis of the industrial waste correct management. Thus, according to development of industries and the need of an efficient method based on the region conditions it was decided to collect the basic and technical information.Methods: In this study, the waste productions in 309 industrial units were assessed according to distribution, type and size of the industrial units in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province within 8 months. Information were Collected through field investigations.Findings: Based on the findings of this study, the total waste produced in the industrial towns was 1, 246 tons per month, which 48.2% is produced by the food industry, 14.9% by the metal industries, 6.7% by the chemical industry, 22% by non-metallic minerals industry, 0.9% by the textile industry, 0.6% by the electrical industries and 6.5% by the cellulose industry. The findings indicated that nearly half of the total industrial wastes produced by a range of biological materials that are biodegradable and discharged without compliance with the environmental regulations that is led to short-term pollution and nuisance in the acceptor environment. Also some parts of the studied waste were recyclable which is considerable from the economical values point of view.Conclusion: Long-term contaminations will be occurred due to improper layouts of many industries from the geographical point of view. And its health risks and environment pollution are assigned to the societies and surface water. Therefore it’s essential that the industries layouts, particularly those industrial units that produce special waste are constructed more carefully. Also stricter enforcement against the industry is an effective step in reducing their harmful impacts.

Background: Several industries including petroleum refineries, petrochemical plants, olive oil mills, pesticide manufacturing, and oil field activities generate waste streams containing significant amounts of phenol and its derivatives. Since phenol is classified as a toxic and priority hazardous compound, it is required to be degraded prior to discharging the contaminated streams to the environment. The purpose of this research was to study the phenol removal by using modified zeolite (Clinoptilolite) by FeCl3 from aqueous solutions.Methods: The prepared zeolite was crushed and pulverized by standard ASTM sieves with a range of mesh 20 (0.85 mm). The chemical composition and the surface area were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRF) and N2 gas via BET isotherm and Belsorb software. In this study, different parameters included pH (3, 7, 12), the initial concentration of phenol (25- 200 mg/L), the contact time (20-240 min) and the amount of modified zeolite (0.25-3 g / 250 cc) which carried out in a batch reactor were examined. The concentration of Phenol was measured by the photometric method (500 nm).Findings: The results of this study indicated that increasing of the primary concentration of phenol, the adsorbent dose, and pH (3 to12) would lead to increasing of adsorption/removal of phenol. Equilibration of phenol adsorption was reached at lapse of 100 min and optimum pH for adsorption of phenol with zeolite found in 3. Adsorption of phenol with zeolite complying with Langmuir isotherm (R2=0.98).Conclusion: The results of the study show that modified pumice can be used effectively in removing phenol. The removal efficiency of phenol in higher pH is more than lower pH. Also, due to the low price of the pumice and its simple modification, it can be used to remove hazardous materials in water and wastewa.

Background: Despite their simplicity and the low-cost, the conventional non-contact UV systems have low efficiency in water disinfection. The purpose of this study was to examine the possibility of upgrading these systems by some modifications in order to maximize the water contact with the UV radiation and as a result a better disinfection.Methods: In this study, two enhanced models of non-contact UV systems were compared to the conventional model. The waterfall model was made with a design based on flowing water from two thin waterfalls around a UV lamp in order to have direct radiation from the lamp’s all exposure areas. Also, the stair type model was designed in which a lamp was fixed over the shiny steel steps. The results of water disinfection in two flow rates of 0.2 and 0.4 L/s were compared with traditional design at the exact similar conditions. The disinfection efficiency of this study was measured by reduction of fecal choliforms in water which were evaluated in turbidities of 0.5, 10 and 20 NTU.Findings: The disinfection efficiency of the waterfall model in the turbidity of 0.5 NTU was specified to be 3.65 log in reduction of fecal choliforms compared to the conventional model by 2.93 log reduction (P<0.05). Besides, this new model was quite capable of disinfecting the water with high turbidities up to 20 NTU. However, the stair type model had less efficiency than the conventional model.Conclusion: The reduction in disinfection efficiency at higher flow rates and turbidities for the waterfall model was much less than conventional model. So, application of the waterfall model in larger scales and for small water treatment facilities is suggested.

Background: Control the microbial pollution in public places especially in hospitals is the best way to prevent diseases. Searching for some microorganisms such as Klebsiella, E-coli, stafilcocs and Hetrotrophic bacteria and 71 strains of enterobacteriaceae family in the air and some equipment of hospital as the indexes of microbial diversity was the main purpose of this study. Also investigating the possibility of dispersing microorganisms through air condition system was another aim of this research.Methods: The microbial studies in this research were divided in two groups: assessing the microbial quality of the air and the microbial quality of different surfaces in hospital. The polluted air was passed through a Milipore filter using a vacuum pump. The microorganisms existed in the air were collected on the filter media. These collected microorganisms were identified by the standard methods. Several objects in the hospital were examined to find possible existence microorganisms. For this purpose a cotton swap was employed to pick up microbial samples from the objects. Then microorganisms in these samples were isolated, cultivated and identified by the standard methods. In this study plate culture method was used to count heterotrophic microorganisms. Also Klebsiella and E-coli were identified by multi tube culture.Findings: After performing several tests it was revealed that the hospital air was free of e-coli. On the other hand based on the findings of this study it was concluded that existed microorganisms in the air inside the hospital included staphylococcus schleiferi, staphylococcus hyicus and klebsiella pneumoniae. Also counting heterotrophic bacteria showed that they were numerous in the inside air.Conclusion: Based on the microbial tests performed before and after the filtration of air conditioning system it was found that this filter was not efficient to significantly remove the microbial pollution from the air. The examination of the areas such as doors, walls etc. showed that the mentioned microorganisms existed in the hospital.

Background: Nitrate and nitrite compounds are considered as groundwater’s contamination factors, which in recent years, their concentration have been growing in these resources. This study was conducted aiming to measure nitrate and nitrite concentration in drinking water wells in villages around the industrial park in Urmia city, and to compare them to the approved standards.Methods: This was a descriptive, analytical, cross section study. The samples were taken from 30 wells in different parts of the surrounding areas of the industrial park within a year period and the concentration of nitrate and nitrite were measured.Findings: Based on the findings of the experiments, the annual mean concentration of nitrate and nitrite were respectively 17.46 mg/L and 0.008 mg/L. The highest nitrate concentration was related to the winter. ANOVA was used to compare the mean density of nitrite and nitrate in different seasons. The assessment showed that the average nitrate concentration was significantly different comparing spring and summer and also spring and autumn (P<0.05), but there was not any significant differences in nitrite’s mean concentration in different seasons (P<0.05). Also, a statistically significant relationship were established between nitrate levels and the water depth (P<0.001, r=0.76), with increasing the water depth, the wells nitrate concentration decreased.Conclusion: Based on the findings of the study it can be concluded that studied water quality is currently in accordance with drinking water standards in Iran with regards to nitrate and nitrite concentration; however, continuous control of water resources is essential. Hence, monitoring, treatment and disposal of production waste water should also be considered.

Background: According to the Health World Organization drinking water must be free of chemicals and microbial contaminations which are risk to human health. Therefore water quality control is very important. The purpose of this study is investigating the chemical quality and chlorination status of drinking water in Kashan’s villages.Methods: This Cross-sectional study was conducted on drinking water in Kashan’s villages in the second-half of 2007. In this study, the physicochemical parameters of the water resources and free chlorine residue of the water in delivery points were measured for one and three times respectively.Findings: The findings of this study indicated that in all villages the densities of Nitrate, Nitrite, Chloride, Calcium, and pH were within the standard limit. But the density of Sulfate, Magnesium, Sodium, TDS, and Turbidity were respectively at 5.3%, 5.3%, 8.8%, 5.3%, and 3.5% which are higher than the standard limits, and Fluoride density at 50.9% is lower than the Maximum Contaminant Levels. Also in view of free chlorine residue, 40.0% of under coverage rural population, 1.5% of non-covered population by Kashan Rural Water and Wastewater Company (KRWWC), and 34.8% of the whole population of Kashan’s villages use desirable quality water.Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, it can be expressed that the mean density of most chemical parameters in Kashan’ villages drinking water is within the 1053 standard limit in Iran, but the fluoride density is lower than the Maximum Contaminant Levels in many villages. Also, the Desirability Index of free chlorine residue of drinking water in Kashan’s villages is lower than countrywide average.

Background: The objective of the study is examining the microbial quality of drinking water in Kashan’s villages, and determining the usage of safe water in rural population in terms of microbial quality in the second-half 2007. Also the role of Kashan Rural Water and Wastewater Company (KRWWC) in improving drinking water quality in Kashan rural areas was investigated.Methods: In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, the water microbial quality was determined in all villages, in 3 rounds and based on 3 measurements, i.e. Total Coliform (TC), Fecal Coliform (FC), and Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC).Findings: In this study, the mean data obtained from the 3 sampling rounds and the experiments are presented. The findings indicate that 100.0%, 47.71% and 92.99% of the population under coverage and non-coverage by KRWWC and all Kashan’s villages, respectively, use safe water in terms of FC and 98.4%, 21.2%, and 88.00% of the population under coverage and non- coverage by KRWWC and all Kashan’s villages, respectively, use safe water in terms of TC. There is also a significant difference in microbial quality of water between villages with coverage and non- overage by KRWWC.Conclusion: The results of the current study express that the fecal contamination condition in under coverage villages is very good, but unsuitable conditions are placed in villages with non-coverage by KRWWC. Generally the microbial quality in all Kashan’s villages is approximately equal to countrywide Microbial Index. It is also illustrated that the role of KRWWC is very important in supplying safe drinking water for rural population in terms of microbial quality.

Background: In addition to the various human environmental issues, environmental hazards due to the industrial waste mismanagement are one of the country's major problems. This especially is more important in the provinces such as Bakhtiari province where there have been concentration and diversity of the natural resources and a rapid growth of technology and industry in the recent years.Methods: To evaluate the current status of the industrial waste disposal and improving its management system in the industrial town of Borujen questionnaire method was used that the owners and industry officials were questioned personaly and the responses were recorded and finally the considered industry was visited and the schematic production process were identified. In the questionnaires the operating status, type of the activity, type and amount of the raw materials, type and amount of the products and the wastes produced by each industry were studied.Findings: In average 2200kg of general health waste are produced by the personnel activities in the Industrial town of Borujen per day. In the study performed, considering all the recyclable materials and based on physical composition of the waste found, about 68.6% of the weight of the industrial waste is reduced. But not all the recyclable materials can be retrieved. Therefore, the weight loss reaches to about 61%.Conclusion: Based on field studies in order to assess the possibility to construct industrial recycle units in Borujen, the paper recycling facilities could be used in this industrial town and according to the paper recycling industry in the town, there is a good potential in this case. Installing plastic recycling and processing facilities is not economical. It is also recommended that the Iron waste are gathered in a specific point in the industrial town and sold to the mother industries as raw materials after a specified perio.

Background: Groundwater resources in arid and semi arid regions are very important. Groundwater is contaminated by agricultural, industrial and municipal activity which as a result reduces its quality. Investigating of the chemical quality of the groundwater is emphasized to identify pollutant environmental impacts associated with incorrect waste disposal practice. This research investigated the effects of wastewater from Steel Mill and channel drainage on the quality of water wells around them, by measuring the water quality and comparing it to the standards.Methods: In this analytical, observance, cross-sectional study, the samples were collected from 6 different wells during a three months period and then were transferred to the chemical laboratory of the health faculty while kept in vicinity of ice. Chemical parameters of pH, EC, TDS, COD and heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cr and Ni) were measurement according to the book of water and wastewater standards. The heavy metals concentration was measured by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (A.A.S). The Excel software was used to plot the curves and statistical method t-test to analysis the data.Findings: The pH parameter in the studied water wells was around 6.6- 8.3.The amount of EC and TDS were in the range of 3668-6388 ms/cm, 2619 mg/Li and the mean concentration (mg/Li) for COD and heavy metals were found at COD=30.22, Cd=0.045, Pb=0.062, Cr=0.049, Ni=0.143. Excluding the Cr, even the mean concentration of mention parameters exceeded the drinking water standard levels.Conclusion: The high concentration of the parameters compared to the recommended standards indicates that the water wells are polluted due to high discharge rate of agricultural and industrial wastewater, therefore it is essential to control and treat the wastewater appropriately and also to monitor the ground water to prevent the aquifer pollution.

Background: In this study, the inhibition rate of different oil concentrations containing PCBs (1242 and 1254 PCB Arochlors) on the anaerobic biomass was investigated by Specific Methanogenic Activity using the vials with volume of 120 ml.Methods: Original samples were divided into two groups: with soil containing PCBs and without PCBs and the control samples in both cases were just contained substrate, without adding oil. The concentrations were evaluated in three categories: low, moderate and high values, classified and compared together and with the control samples.Findings: the findings of this study indicated that 70% of the COD removal occurred in vials containing only two grams of soil. Biodegradation of PCBs containing oil was occurred by microorganisms without any delay in absence of oil containing 0.02 to 0.3 ml PCBs and without using oil containing PCBs.Conclusion: Maximum specific methane building happened in vials containing 0.1 ml oil. Thus optimal concentrations of oil containing PCBs vials that had maximum specific methanognic activity were equal to 0.1 ml with 0.1 ml of acetic acid as auxiliary substrate. And in the 1.5 ml oil input together with the Acetic acid as auxiliary substrate the concentration was inhibitor.

Background: Removal of heavy metals from industrial wastewaters by iron nanoparticles has been much noticed in the recent years. Chromium is considered as one of the important environmental pollutants. There is high concentration of chromium in the wastewater of electroplating industries. Magnetic iron nanoparticles are used to control and eliminate of heavy metals from industrial effluents through the mechanisms of adsorption, ion exchange and electro-static forces. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of magnetic nanoparticles for removal of hexavalent chromium (VI) from simulated electroplating wastewater and the parameters that influence it removal.Methods: The maghemite nanoparticles were prepared by sol-gel method through addition of two and trivalent iron chloride in the water environment under alkaline conditions. Then the factors influencing this process, including nanoparticle concentration, initial concentration of chromium, pH, mixing rate, and retention time were studied.Findings: The findings of this study showed that in the conditions of pH 2, initial chromium concentration of 10 mg/L, synthesized magnetite nanoparticles with a dose of 1 g/ L, retention time of 5 minutes, and mixing rate of 250 rpm, about 86% of chromium (VI) has been removed. In addition, characteristics of nanoparticles including, particles structure, composition, size and zeta potential was determined using analytical devices such as XRD, XRF, Zeta potential and particle seizer.Conclusion: It is concluded that magnetite nanoparticles have high performance for removal of chromium (VI) from simulated electroplating wastewater, and removal efficiency is reversely related with pH.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficiency of flat sheet membrane bioreactor (FS-MBR) in BOD5 and COD removal of Isfahan south municipal wastewater treatment plant.Methods: In this study a submerged FS-MBR, with 140 liters volume was fed using microfiltration membrane (MF) during 109 days and hydraulic retention time of 20 hours.Findings: The MBR application in MLSS concentration of 7800 mg/L achieved an average efficiency removal of 95% and 99 % in COD and BOD5, respectively.Conclusion: It is concluded that FS-MBR could be used in the large scales of municipal wastewater treatment plants due to the removal effluent high quality and the removal of the COD, BOD5 in accordance with effluent discharge standards.

Background: One of the major sources of drinking water contamination is nitrate. Nitrate concentrations of more than the standard levels (45mgl-1 based on nitrate) could cause methemoglobinemia in children. The aim of this study is to investigate the nitrate adsorption on granular ferric hydroxide (GFH). Also in this study, the effect of factors such as initial concentration of nitrate, contact time, adsorbent mass and particle size of adsorbent were determined.Methods: This study was conducted in a laboratory-scale in which the synthetic nitrate solutions were placed in a batch reactor, in contact with the adsorbent to model the adsorption kinetics.Findings: The findings of the study indicated that by increasing Nitrate’s initial concentration, sorption capacity reaches to the maximum level in a short time of two to three minutes. Increasing the amount of adsorbent and decreasing the adsorbent particle size could reduce the adsorption capacity. Also, the absorption kinetics followed the pseudo-degree reaction model.Conclusion: This removal method could decrease nitrate concentrations to less than the standard level (45mgl-1 based on nitrate). Easy operation and high adsorption capacity of GFH are the advantages of this removal method.

Background: The antibiotics are excreted after their effect on the host body and together with other waste disposal are entered the treatment plant processes. Antibiotics prevent the biological sewage treatment in the plant which consequently causes hazards to the environmental and human health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of some popular antibiotics used by human and livestock on the anaerobic wastewater treatment process.Methods: To evaluate the inhibitory effect of the antibiotics on biomass activity, particularly methane production (specific methanogenic activity; SMA) using anaerobic biomass Batch, the 90ml vials were filled by 15 percent volume and 70 mg biomass L substrate including volatile fatty acids, mainly acetic acid, or glucose and then various concentrations of antibiotics were added including amoxicillin, tetracycline and tylosin. To provide the optimum temperature of 35oC in vials the hot water bath was used, and to mix the contents of the vial fully, the magnetic mixer was used. The methane gas produced was measured through its replacement with KOH 2 N solution as CO2 absorber and bromine thymol blue as indicator. Each batch lasted for 10 days. COD tests were carried out before and after each test on the samples.Findings: Based on the findings of each batch, oxy tetracycline, amoxicillin and tylosin in 8000, 9000 and 9000 mg/ L concentrations, respectively, had a complete inhibitory effect on the specific methanogenic activity of anaerobic biomass.Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that by increasing the antibiotics concentrations, the produced biogas volume as per biomass weight per unit is decreased. On the other hand, COD removal was 42% to 82% due to long retention time and the groups adsorption.

Background: Ocsillator system is recognized by many water plant treatment designers for having many advantages, such as combination of mixing processes, flocculation and sedimentation processes in the same unit, the possibility of softening and lucidity simultaneously, and relatively acceptable efficiency. Despite using this process in number of the regions in the country, enough researches have not been under taken on the actual performance and the pilot-scale.Methods: In this study, to investigate the ocsillator system performance in turbidity removal a system was designed in pilot scale and operated in controlled condition (25oC and pH=7.2) using chemical coagulants (PACL and FeCl3) and different conditions of turbidity, coagulant dose and detention time.Findings: The results indicated that there was significant deference between the detention time and turbidity of outlet water (r=0.98 and P<0.05). Maximum efficiency of the system in turbidity removal was 95% while the injected coagulant dose (FeCl3) was 10 mg / l after detention time of 240 minutes. So the inlet turbidity of 100NTU decreased to 5NTU.Conclusion: FeCl3 efficiency in the turbidity removal is more than PACL.

Background: Silica aerogel is the nano-porous form silica which is the lightest synthetic solid material. Some specific properties of this material include high surface area (1500 m2.g-1), low density (<0.03 g.cm-3) and high porosity (%99). In this research, silica aerogel was investigated as an adsorbent of the heavy metal cations in aqueous solutions.Methods: The silica aerogel was synthesized by sol-gel method and its surface was modified by Amino propyl triethoxy silane. The modified silica aerogels was studied by SEM and BET techniques. Then its sorbent ability on Pb2+, Cd2+, Zn2+ and Ni2+ cations was investigated. Finally the effective parameters on adsorption of the heavy metals such as pH (2-12), Contact time (0-48 h), adsorbent amount (0-1.5 g) and cation concentration (0-500 ppm) were investigated.Findings: Optimum adsorption for all cations except cadmium occurred at pH=6 but this adsorption for cadmium occurred at pH=8. Optimum contact time to absorb all the studied cations is equal to 24 hours. Assessing Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms showed that data obtained from the studied cations matches with both isotherms. The highest adsorption capacity of adsorbent for Pb2+, Cd2+, Ni2+ and Zn2+ were respectively 45.45 g, 35.71 g, 40.00 g and 34.48 g per mg of adsorbent.Conclusion: In general, the results of the conducted experiments indicate that the cations have high adsorb ability by the modified silica aerogel and it can be used in the municipal and industrial water and wastewater treatment.

Background: Economical category is an influential area which determines the activity potential in every business. Studying the market is one of the effective methods in economical evaluations. Recycling market is investigated in order to study and analysis current recycling market and to determine the rate of investment and business attractions in this field in Isfahan province.Methods: Information of all active units in recycling connection settled inside and outside of the industrial towns was analyzed. In this study quantitative studding method and experimental researches were used. Employment rate, investment and production capacity of industrial units studied in each recycling area were determined and the activity index of each reign was determined.Findings: Based on the results of the study it is specified that in order to identify the recycling category in which there are more works and actions, an indicator was defined known as activity index.Conclusion: Finally the export market of recycling products was analyzed in this province.

Background: Production of solid waste is the result of the human’s different activities that today has changed a lot in comparison to the past due to the changing life styles and pervasive expansion. In Isfahan province lots of wastes are produced daily. Due to the importance of the waste and its recycling, the purpose is determining the production scopes of different wastes in order to find a proper place for recycling.Methods: In order to analyze the zoning of industrial and urban waste, the waste production status in different groups were studied and evaluated in this province. According to the type of industry the wastes can be divided into ten groups of metal, glass, construction and masonry wastes, rubber and plastic, paper and card board, electronic waste, decayed automobile, textile, wood and so on.Findings: In this article the composed map of produced waste in different groups in the industrial towns, dispersed industries and the provinces were drown by Arc GIS software, so based on the wastes distributions, a proper recovering place wastes are considered by the related industries.Conclusion: The distribution of recyclables are shown on the maps prepared include organic metal material (i.e. glass), cellulosic material (wood), chemical (rubber and plastic) and textiles, electronic and electric wastes and decayed automobile; in order that according to their accumulation, the proper places to recycle different wastes are recognized.

Background: The disposal the wastewater sugar extraction to the rivers and environment cause contamination and is considered as a threat to the marine life and the environment. Thus, treatment of the wastewater is necessary. Investigating the reduction of the pollution load of cane industry with anaerobic sequencing batch biofilm reactor (ASBBR) in the laboratory scale is the purpose of this study.Methods: In this study, the performance of ASBBR was investigated to treat the sugar cane industry’s wastewater for eight months. The total and effective volume of the reactor was 7 liters. The studied reactor was activated in 35oC with organic loading rate (OLR) of 0.25 g COD/l.d and surface loading rate (SLR) of 0.33 mg COD/m2.d of with feeding industrial molasses as the main substrate that had 1075 mg/l COD and 450 mg/l BOD5. An operation cycle of the reactor was lodged for 24 hours, including, the feed time: 23 minutes, the reaction time 22 hours and 14 minutes, the settle time: 1 hour, and the decant time: 23 minutes.Findings: The optimum OLR and SLR were 8 gCOD/L.d and 10.67 mgCOD/m2.d, respectively. In these loadings, the COD was decreased from 32270±351 mg/l to 6146±2222 mg/l with 81±7% the removal efficiency. The best removal efficiency of system in this loading was 91.5%. The amount of biogas production was 3.74 liter per liter of reactor volume.Conclusion: The ASBBR is able to reduce the high amount of COD up to 32000 mg/l. In general, this reactor could be a suitable alternative in treatment of sugar cane industries wastewater.

Background: In this study, adsorbentn process performance was assessed using nickel oxide nanoparticles for wastewater treatment containing mono azo Orange II dye in a laboratory scale.Methods: The effects of various factors such as adsorbent dosage, contact time, pH and initial dye concentration were investigated.Findings: Based on the obtained results, the optimum pH range to dye removal is acidic pH and under these conditions, complete removal of the 50 mg/L dye can be achieved by using 0.6 g/L of nickel oxide. This concentration of nickel oxide was determined as the optimum concentration. Although increasing dye concentration caused a decrease in the efficiency process, but a considerable efficiency was obtained in 100 mg/L dye concentration.Conclusion: The data showed that the nickel oxide nanoparticles could be used as an efficient adsorbent for the decolorization of azo dyes.

Background: The hygienic issues are the essential criteria in the primary site selection, compatibility and maintain of passengers health after use of the services. Qom with 17 million annual tourists is the second religious tourism center in Iran. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the public residential centers internal managers’ educational status on their environmental health indexes in the city of Qom.Methods: This study is a descriptive research based on arrangement and completing the questionnaire. The Questionnaire was designed by inspiration from the Environmental Health Law approved by the ministry of health. The questionnaire completed by face to face interview and sanitary inspection.Findings: There was a direct relationship between the academic degree of the residential managers and the sanitation status (P=0.01) including 21 people under Diploma, 13 people Diploma, 4 people Bachelor, 9 people Msc and 2 people post graduated.Conclusion: Considering the positive effects of the use of educated people as internal managers and technical administrators to the residential facilities, legal arrangements are recommended for residential centers operators pledge to use those with the university degree.

Background: Due to the evacuation of some industrial wastewaters to Arvandrood, the presence of the radionuclide material in the river is likely. The purpose of this study was to determine the radioactivity rate in Arvandrood land area to the Persian Gulf.Methods: The concentration of cesium radionuclide (Cs137) was measured in 20 sediment samples and 8 water samples which were collected from 20 and 8 different stations in Arvandrood respectively. The radionuclide radioactivity rates in the sediment samples were measured by using gamma spectrometry. The data were analyzed by SPSS and ANOVA.Findings: The artificial radionuclide cesium 137 radioactivity levels in sediment samples were achieved in the range of 1.13 to 4.16Bq.kg-1.Conclusion: The concentrations obtained in water samples were counted lower than the MDA system. There is not any threat to human health in terms of radionuclide presence in Arvandrood.

Background: The high percentage of consumed antibiotics by humans and animals is excreted with other residues from the body after its performance. By entering these compounds to the wastewater, they can disrupt the anaerobic treatment process. In this study, deterrent behavior of two ampicillin and gentamicin antibiotics is investigated on specific methanogenic activity (SMA) of anaerobic biomass.Methods: A total of 18 SMA (Specific methanogenic Activity) tests were done using 120-mLvials in batch mode. In each vial 40%, 37% and 23% (v/v) of substrate, biomass and biogas were placed respectively. Each test lasted in range of 20 to 25 days. Produced methane was measured by gas replacement with 2N KOH solution as CO2 absorbent. Three Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) including Acetic, propionic, and Butyric acids were used as co-substrate.Findings: In this study, in the concentrations of 200, 500 and 1000 mg/L of ampicillin, the cumulative SMA were 25, 35, and 46 ml CH4/g VSS.d for propionic acid, 66, 101, and 154 CH4/g VSS.d for Acetic acid and 198, 140, and 245 CH4/g VSS.d for Butyric acid, respectively. Also, in the concentrations of 100, 500 and 1000 mg/L of gentamicin the cumulative SMA were 54, 72, and 71 mL CH4/g VSS.d for propionic acid, 141, 204, and 257 mL CH4/g VSS.d for Acetic acid, and 139, 74, and 85.5 mL CH4/g VSS.d for Butyric acid, respectively.Conclusion: At the same concentrations, ampicillin has more deterrence effect on anaerobic biomass than gentamicin. On VFAs, the deterrence of propionic acid is greater than Acetic and Butyric acids.

Background: Groundwater is the most important source of water supply in industries and agricultures; therefore the need to protect this valuable resource against pollution is felt more than ever. In this study, the possible impact of Yazd municipal solid waste landfill was investigated on the chemical quality of the area’s groundwater.Methods: Groundwater samples were collected from three wells around the landfill, one located at the upstream and two located at the downstream. The following parameters were measured: pH, electrical conductivity (EC), chloride (Cl-), nitrate (NO3-), total hardness, alkalinity and heavy metals including lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn). The data statistical analysis was performed by SPSS t-test and Microsoft Excel was used to draw the curves.Findings: The groundwater’s pH in downstream was significantly lower than the pH in upstream (P= 0.038). also the values of EC, Cl-, NO3-, total hardness and alkalinity were significantly higher in downstream (P<0.05). However no increase was observed in heavy metal obtained from downstream groundwater of the landfill.Conclusion: The study findings indicated that the chemical quality of groundwater improves by increasing the distance from the landfill. Therefore it is better to avoid utilizing the groundwater closed to the landfill. However, the best practice is insulating the landfill’s floor to control the movement of the current contaminations into the groundwater.

During the past two centuries, production and consumption of Nitrate, especially in agricultural field, have been increased considerably. Currently many countries in the world including Iran encounter to a high Nitrate level in drinking water. The main reason is the seepage of agricultural runoff and municipal and industrial wastewater to water resources, particularly groundwater. From the old days, it has been demonstrated that high Nitrate levels in drinking water can cause methemoglobinema in infants, and even standard limits for the Nitrate level in water is established on the basis of infant preservation from this disease.However, the important issue that has been a controversial subject between researchers for decades is carcinigenity potential of Nitrate in drinking water that many studies have related high prevalence of variety of cancers such as stomach, thyroid and bladder to high Nitrate levels in drinking water. Nevertheless, some researches didn’t confirm this hypothesis.In this study the findings of the related researches on the subject “cancer risk related to Nitrate in water” is reviewed. Also some other issues related to Nitrate including dietary Nitrate, Nitrate metabolism in human body, other significance adverse effects of Nitrate like methemoglobinemia and its reproductive and developmental effects are reviewed. Finally, general procedure to Nitrate control in drinking water is discussed.

Electronic wastes (e-wastes) is the most rapidly growing segment of the municipal waste stream. EWastes comprise 2-5 percent of municipal solid wastes, including many different electronic products. Iran is the biggest consumer of electronic products in Middle East. Approximately, 1.2 million computers are assembled in Iran every year. There are more than 40 million active cell phones in Iran. Electronic wastes production in Iran has been estimated to be over 37 thousand tons annually. Governmental and private organizations must be accompanied with waste management act to meet the requirements of Iran government. This legislation could improve the e-wastes management. Also nowadays, many countries, specially developed countries, consider strict regulatory to electronic wastes management.