Revista Ambiente & Água - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Science

1-10

Authors: Joicy Micheletto ; Naiara Mariana Fiori Monteiro Sampaio; Henrique Zavattieri Ruiz; Lucia Regina Rocha Martins; Marcus Vinicius de Liz; Adriane Martins de Freitas

The pulp and paper industry is one of world’s largest water consumers, generating high volumes of effluents. The Kraft process produces effluents with high BOD, COD, suspended solids, lignin and a myriad of potentially toxic compounds, which require treatment before discharge into the aquatic environment. Advanced oxidation processes, such as UV/H2O2, have been applied as treatment alternatives because they can destroy many compounds before they mineralize. However, when the oxidation process is incomplete, occurs could be produced by products with high toxicity. This study evaluated the acute toxicity on Daphnia magna of two effluent samples of Kraft pulp mill (KE1 and KE2) treated by UV/H2O2 process. The effects of the pH variation and oxidant concentration on the removal of DOC, total UV-vis spectral area and apparent color were considered to adjust the experiments’ conditions with diluted effluent KE1. Both samples were treated at pH 4.0 and 70 mg L-1 of H2O2 for 40 min, achieving removals of up to 69.4% in apparent color, 73.7% of phenolic compounds and 68.9% of lignin compounds. When the reaction was applied in undiluted effluent samples, the acute toxicity for Daphnia magna decreased for KE1 after 780 min of treatment, whereas KE2 became four times more toxic. The data showed that although the treatment had been efficient considering physics and chemicals parameters, it is necessary follow the oxidative processes with ecotoxicological bioassays to guarantee their safety, since different effluents of the Kraft pulp mill could present different levels of organic compound mineralization.

1-10

Authors: Andressa de Almeida Soares Oliveira; Reinaldo Gaspar Bastos; Claudinei Fonseca Souza

Domestic effluent reuse is an alternative for irrigated agriculture in situations of reduced water availability. However, as there is the presence of pathogens in wastewater, the disinfection process is necessary before use. This research evaluated the sanitary and agricultural viability of treated wastewater at a pilot-scale station composed of a septic tank, Wetlands and an ultraviolet radiation (UV) disinfection system. The Sewage Treatment Station (STS) is installed in the Agricultural Sciences Center, UFSCar, in Araras city, SP, and receives 2000 L of sewage daily, which was monitored in terms of pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), sodium (Na), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), magnesium (Mg), total organic carbon (TOC), total coliforms (TC), Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR).The removal efficiency of the parameters was calculated based on the input and output means of each treatment unit. Results indicated removal efficiency for K (68.2%), TN (54.1%) and TP (36.1%). The levels of Na (26.7%) and Ca (22.9%) demonstrated the contribution of these salts to the wastewater; however, SAR did not present any risks for soil sodification. Microbiologically, the STS presented removal efficiency of 4 and 5 log-cycles for TC and E. coli, respectively. Therefore, results of monitoring indicate that the treated wastewater presents sanitary and agricultural viability, and conforms with the current legislation.

1-21

Authors: Sergio Arturo Rentería-Guevara; Antonio Sanhouse-García; Yaneth Bustos-Terrones; Abraham E. Rodriguez-Mata; Jesus Gabriel Rangel-Peraza

A hydrological basin is established as a geographic frame to officially determine surface water availability and is basic to confer or deny water rights. In Mexico, the legal definition of a hydrological basin is confusing and inconsistent with the official basin delineation published by the authority. This situation is demonstrated through the analysis of eight study cases located in Hydrological Region 10 Sinaloa. A proposal to define the legal term of hydrological basin, ensuring its consistency with official delineation of hydrological basins is presented. Geographic analysis was performed using QGIS software, by using official sources of Mexico and worldwide data bases. By law, in Mexico a water parting is defined as a borderline of maximum elevation. Nevertheless, the legal definition fails to explain hydrologic basin official boundaries where the basin limit is the location of a hydrometric station. Besides, the presence of this equipment does not mean that a waterbody exists in a hydrological basin, or that the delimited basin is an autonomous differentiated unit, as it is required by the legal definition. Other inconsistencies are presented dealing with the presence of inland water bodies as watershed limits and with groups of independent watersheds incongruously considered as a single basin. An amendment is proposed to harmonize this situation, with a minimum of changes in policy documents. The method proposed can be useful to analyze similar situations in other countries where discrepancies between the legal and official definitions of watershed delineation are also observed, or in countries where no official watershed definition has been established.

1-27

Authors: João Paulo Sena-Souza; Fábio José Viana Costa; Gabriela Bielefeld Nardoto

Spatial patterns of stable isotope ratios can be represented in spatial models called isoscapes, and have been widely used to track biogeochemical processes in natural and anthropic systems. Isoscapes have the potential to improve isotope dissemination and interpretation of spatial patterns, increase scientific results appropriation by non-specialists and improve natural resource management. However, the isoscape approach has not commonly been used in studies performed in the Brazilian context. Isoscapes with oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes contribute in areas such as animal migration, forensics, hydrology, and studies on population, community and ecosystem level, among others. Here, we show the well-known global use and applications of isoscapes in different studies worldwide as a background to point out the potential for more Brazilian researchers to employ this approach in their studies, taking advantage of existing methods and filling spatial and methodological gaps. The incorporation of isoscapes may broaden the understanding of mechanisms and processes of major biogeochemical cycles in Brazil, assist in solving crimes, track illicit drug origins, help to detect wild animal trafficking, and increase Brazilian knowledge about the hydrological cycle and animal migration patterns in the Neotropics.

1-14

Authors: Cíntia Ourique Monticelli; Jorge Rodolfo Zabadal; Daniela Muller Quevedo; Carlos Augusto Nascimento

This work presents a new analytical approach for solving pollutant dispersion problems along irregular-shaped water bodies. In this approach, the advection-diffusion equation is expressed in terms of orthogonal curvilinear coordinates, defined by the velocity potential and the corresponding stream function for inviscid flows. The boundary condition rewritten in terms of these new coordinates is reduced to a classical third kind one, i.e., the derivative of the concentration distribution with respect to the stream function is proportional to the numerical value of the local pollutant concentration. The solution obtained from the proposed formulation was employed to simulate pollutant dispersion (thermotolerant coliforms) along the Pampa Creek, a tributary of the Sinos River at the outskirts of Novo Hamburgo city, South Region of Brazil. The results obtained reproduce the qualitative behavior of the expected concentration distribution.

1-13

Authors: João Paulo Simioni; Laurindo Antonio Guasselli; Tatiana Silva da Silva

The Shifting Habitat Mosaic refers to temporal changes in the spatial pattern of habitats, through the flood and dry pulses. This work mapped the dynamics of a Shifting Mosaic associated with the flood and dry pulses in the Environmental Protection Area of the Banhado Grande (EPABG). The research was divided into four stages: i) acquisition of satellite images; ii) obtaining rainfall river basin data from the Gravataí River; iii) identification of the flood and dry pulses; and iv) mapping of the Shifting Mosaic in the wetlands of the EPABG. In large swaths of flooding, a shifting connectivity is established between the AUs of EPABG, providing several interactions among these wetlands, such as nutrient exchange, sediments and living organisms. It was found that in periods where the accumulation of precipitation in the last 30 days is greater than 200 mm, we have the presence of predominantly aquatic mosaic with the presence of predominantly aquatic animals and vegetation; In periods where the cumulative precipitation in the 30 days is less than 200 mm, a terrestrial mosaic predominates, with increase of ciliary vegetation.

1-11

Authors: Jéssica Sieklicki ; Nilton Cesar Pires Bione ; Paulo Costa de Oliveira-Filho ; Viviane Fernandes de Souza ; Kelly Geronazzo Martins

Anthropic activities as well as land use and occupation are closely linked to water and soil quality. An alternative to assess their influence on water quality in water bodies is through biomonitoring using Allium cepa as a bioindicator organism. This technique allows the detection of cytogenetic abnormalities in Allium cepa root meristematic cells after contact with analyzed water samples. Thus, we evaluated the genotoxic potential of water samples from the Rio das Antas (Antas River) along the urban perimeter of the city of Irati, Paraná, Brazil. With the aid of GeoEye Satellite high-resolution fused orbital images, we searched for possible relationships between the use and occupation of land around this river. Biomonitoring was performed at three different sampling points. Statistical equality between the negative control and Point 1 and between Points 2 and 3 was obtained using Fisher's test and a Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA). The former presented a low frequency of abnormalities chromosomes and the latter presented larger averages. In addition, Point 1 had strong influence of tree vegetation. Points 2 and 3, demonstrated a strong influence of urbanized area, with significant degradation of permanent preservation areas (áreas de preservação permanente – (APP). The results showed remarkable anthropogenic interference to the ecosystem. Furthermore, this indicates importance of an APP watercourses functioning to preserve the quality of the water resources.

1-11

Authors: Catiele Vieira; Annette Droste

The accentuated increase in the production of solid urban waste (SUW) and the consequent accumulation of leachate in landfills increase the risk of environmental contamination. Biomonitors are used to assess the toxicity of pollutants on living organisms. In this study, the pollutant potential of leachate from SUW from a deactivated landfill was evaluated by bioassays with Lactuca sativa L. and Lycopersicon esculentum Mill., and the relationship between chemical characteristics of the effluent and biological parameters was analyzed. The effluent was tested in its raw form and diluted in distilled water at concentrations of 75 and 50%. The percentage of germination, root growth (RG), mitotic index (MI), chromosomal abnormalities index (CAI), and micronuclei frequency (MCN) were analyzed. In the presence of effluent, germination and MI decreased, while RG, CAI and MCN frequencies increased in relation to the negative control (distilled water) for both species. Lead, iron and zinc presented negative relation with seed germination for both species, with RG of L. sativa and MI of L. esculentum, as well as a positive relation with MCN frequency in the studied species. Because of its larger chromosomes, L. sativa is a more suitable biomonitor of SUW leachate toxicity than L. esculentum. Even though the landfill is deactivated, it is necessary to treat this effluent, in order to minimize environmental impacts.

1-8

Authors: Mariana Silveira Guerra Moura e Silva; Ana Lúcia Silva Marigo; William Viveiros ; Mônica Luisa Kuhlmann

The midge Chironomus sancticaroli (Diptera: Chironomidae) has been used in ecotoxicological tests because it is sensitive to a variety of inorganic pollutants. Among the parameters used to evaluate the toxicity of a substance is the frequency of mentum deformity, which is part of the oral system of this organism. However, there is still no consensus on the baseline level (percentage) of acceptable deformities in laboratory cultures not exposed to pollutants. The determination of this variable is important to ensure the validity of bioassays and to compare cultures from different research and teaching institutions. Once this value is established, it will also be used to monitor the quality of organisms cultured, since factors such as inbreeding could increase the frequency of mentum deformity. Thus, the objective of this study was to quantify the percentage of mentum deformity in the fourth instar of C. sancticaroli larvae from the culture of the Laboratory of Aquatic Ecosystems, at Embrapa Meio Ambiente. The average frequency of mentum deformity obtained was 6,63%. It is believed that factors such as the renewal of the culture with the inclusion of spawns from the laboratories of other institutions, as well as the control of the quality of the dilution water and the sediment of the breeding may have contributed to a low frequency of mentum deformity of the culture observed in this study.