Search

River water is used for various purposes like as drinking water, in agriculture etc. The impact of river water pollution on human health depends mainly on the water uses, as well as the concentration of pathogen in water. Riverbank filtration (RBF) is an efficient and low-cost natural alternative filtration technology for water supply application. This technology was greatly removing many contaminants including pathogenic bacteria and viruses. However, this technology is new and not well explored in Malaysia. During the study, USM research team has embarked on the study of RBF at Lubuk Buntar, Kedah Malaysia. In order to understand the transportation of pathogenic bacteria during the filtration process, it is necessary to identify residence pathogenic bacteria in the river. Hence, this study was aimed to isolate and identify the pathogenic bacteria at the RBF study area located in Lubuk Buntar, Kedah, Malaysia. This study also conducted physicochemical test to monitor the river water quality. Analysis of 16S rDNA sequence revealed that Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579, Pseudomonas aeruginosa DSM 50071, Enterobacter ludwigii EN-149 were the origin pathogenic bacteria in the river at the RBF study site. pH for the river water was found in range 5.24-6.89 while temperature was recorded in range 30-25.31°C. BOD and COD were in range 6.8-2.0 mg/l and 31.0-8.0 mg/l respectively. The results show high value of turbidity, TSS and color which in range 179-64 mg/l, 177-68 and 74-20 PtCo respectively.

Bacteria is believed to induce calcium carbonate precipitation as it meets the concept of bioconcrete. Bacillus sphaericus was found to produce enzyme urease capable to hydrolyse urea, thus generate carbonate ions. The excess presence of calcium ions in the system will precipitate calcium carbonate. Therefore, the used of bioreactor to produce calcium carbonate can meet the demand for calcium carbonate as it can be produced in large-scale production thus maximize the production of calcium carbonate. The aim of this paper conducted by using 2.5 L bioreactor was to investigate the precipitation of CaCO3 and to optimize the production of H2CO3 by using different parameters such as agitation and aeration. As this is a preliminary study, the artificial urea is used as the carbon source of the Bacillus sphaericus. The determination of the kinetics of CaCO3 precipitation in the 2.5 L batch bioreactor such as specific growth rate (μ) and doubling time (Td) were studied after fermentations were stopped. The composition of calcium carbonate characteristic from the fermentation of Bacillus Sphaericus in 2.5 L bioreactor of pH 8.0 and 30 °C were proved by X-Ray Diffraction. The highest specific growth rate (0.141 h-1) was obtained. The optimum parameters condition to produce bicarbonate ions and calcium carbonate was at 50 rpm with 2.0 vvm aeration rate

The colloidal borescope can be used for measuring groundwater flow directions and velocity. It is an integrated high-resolution flux gate compass with a high-magnification colloid-imaging camera that can measure flow at selected depths within a well. In this study, the colloidal borescope was used to determine flow direction and measure velocity during a pumping test for the riverbank filtration study in Jenderam Hilir, Selangor. During each measurement, the instrument, which monitored the movement of the suspended particles, was inserted into a well at a particular depth (screen well). The relative flow direction was determined by plotting the trajectory and speed of colloidal particles across the screen with AquaLITE Software, which determined the horizontal speed of the particles and flow speed. The groundwater flow pattern was dtermined at four boreholes in the study area, and the groundwater flow velocities were found ranging from 0.72 to 2.45 x (10-4) m/s. The direction of the groundwater flow at boreholes monitoring well 02 (MW02) and monitoring well 19 (MW19) was moved toward borehole pumping well (PW). The groundwater flow at monitoring well 01 (MW01) was moving toward the northwest of the study site which was parallel with the Langat river. The groundwater flow in borehole monitoring well A (MWA) was toward the southern part of the study site and was not affected by the pumping test activities at borehole monitoring well 03 (MW03).

464Barium (Ba) is a silver-white metal that makes up 0.05% of the Earth’s crust. Very small amounts of naturally occurring barium are sometimes present in food and drinking water. Two barium compounds barium sulfate and barium carbonate are often found in underground deposits. Naturally occurring levels of barium are very low. Groundwater erosion of sedimentary rocks is the primary source of naturally occurring barium in drinking water. Natural soil erosion releases barium into the air. The air most people breathe contains less than 0.0015 parts of barium per billion parts (ppb) of air. Barium and barium compounds are used for many commercial processes. Barium sulfate is mined and used in oil and gas production, medical procedures, and the manufacture of paints, bricks, tiles, glass, and rubber. Other barium compounds are used in the manufacture of ceramics, pesticides, and oil and fuel additives. Barium can enter the body in three ways: through consumption of certain foods and/or drinking water; by inhalation of airborne barium compounds; and through direct skin contact with material containing barium. The latter is a rare occurrence, unless working in a chemical laboratory or similar occupation. Persons working in industries that manufacture or use barium compounds may also be exposed to barium in the air. Such exposure may be hazardous. The amount of barium in food and water supplies poses little or no health concern. In fact, the human body requires a certain level of barium in order to maintain good health. Barium is not a carcinogen, according to the most recent research. The Environmental Protection Agency has established a maximum level of 2 parts of barium per million parts (ppm) of water. Federal agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulate barium releases in both water and workplace air in order to protect human health and the environment.

This chapter describes the manufacturing processes, energy requirement, waste characterization, environmental impacts, pollution prevention and abatement, treatment technologies, costs, monitoring, global overview, and standard requirement of air emission and effluents discharge of the chlor-alkali industry. The caustics chain begins with sodium chloride (NaCl) and forms the basis for what is often referred to as the chlor-alkali industry. Major products of the chlor-alkali industry, include chlorine, sodium hydroxide, soda ash, sodium bicarbonate, potassium hydroxide, and potassium carbonate. In the diaphragm process, there are two compartments, which are anode and cathode separated by a permeable diaphragm, often made of asbestos fiber. Membrane cells are acknowledged as most efficient for chlor-alkali. The hydrogen gas from chlor-alkali cells is usually used for the production of hydrochloric acid or as a fuel to produce steam. The solution-mined brine or the solid salt dissolved in a salt dissolver is treated in a reactor with sodium carbonate and caustic soda to precipitate calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide.

This paper describes the investigation of solidification and stabilization (S/S) process for the safe disposal of incinerated wastewater sludge produced from a textile industry in Penang, Malaysia. Physical and chemical properties of the samples were first characterized. Various ratios of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) as a binder were used to immobilize the metals. The leachability of metals in these cement-based waste materials was studied by standard toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) and the mechanical strength was tested by a compressive strength test. TCLP results showed the ability of OPC to immobilize various metals such as Zn, Cu, Fe, Al, Ti, and K within the limits set by USEPA and Malaysia Environment Quality Act, 1974. However, the strength of the solidified matrixes was generally lower than the control specimens, ranging from 1-23 Mpa, which was well above the specified limit of 414 kPa for such matrices for their disposal in landfills.

Riverbank filtration (RBF) is a natural process where river water is induced to flow through riverbed soils to pumping wells located on the banks. It is a well-established and proven natural water treatment technology. Improvement of water quality is achieved by a series of chemical, biological and physical processes during subsurface passage. This paper aims at evaluating the hydraulic properties of the aquifer and bank filtered water at the RBF study area located in Kg. Jenderam Hilir, Selangor. The pumping well was able to produce 142.21 m3/hour of water with a drawdown of 2.17 m. Transmissivity (T) and hydraulic conductivity (K) were 59.15 m2/hour and 4.41 m/hour respectively. Turbidity and color from the range of 52.1 to 62.3 NTU and 9 to 44 PtCo were reduced to 0.27 to 0.55 NTU and 7 to 12 PtCo respectively.

Riverbank filtration (RBF) technology is new in Malaysia and only a few efforts have been made to understand the RBF mechanisms and processes. Soil characteristics and properties play important roles in determining the suitability of the site for the RBF application. A research has been carried out in Kota Lama Kiri, Kuala Kangsar, Perak, Malaysia to identify the characteristics of the riverbank soil for different layers of the pumping well (PW) and three adjacent monitoring wells namely MW2, MW3, and MW5. Particle size distributions and hydraulic conductivities of the soils were obtained from sieve analyses and constant head permeability tests. The subsurface soils of the study site consisted of medium sand, fine sand, coarse sand and gravel but them medium sand was highest in percentage over the other types of soil. The aquifer extended down to 8 m. The highest hydraulic conductivity value for the PW was 0.91 cm/s and obtained for sample taken from 6 m deep. The highest hydraulic conductivity value for the monitoring wells was 5.03 cm/s and obtained for sample taken from 2.20 to 3.20 m of MW5. The overall well production capacity determined from the pumping test was 112.10 m3/hr.