Greywater reuse: an assessment of the Jordanian experience in rural communities.

Water conservation is a critical issue, particularly in arid countries and countries that suffer a lack of natural water resources. Jordan is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world; this fact has forced the search for alternative sustainable solutions. With the support of several regional and international organizations, tens of projects were implemented across the country over the past 30 years that aimed to reuse greywater in rural communities. The current review provides a wide overview of Jordan's experience in greywater treatment and its reuse for non-potable purposes in rural areas. To the best knowledge of the authors, the present review is the first to assess the Jordanian experience in this field. Many governmental authorities and non-governmental organizations have been involved in Jordan's experience. The greywater reuse systems were established to achieve advantageous environmental and socio-economic consequences on the rural communities. The strategy of greywater treatment was based on a local on-site greywater treatment system in households or the so-called 'autonomous water management'. The applied greywater treatment technologies in households were found efficient in rendering greywater adequate for agricultural uses. However, further improvements and territorial expansion of the experiment are needed.

Determination of Blood Calcium and Lead Concentrations in Osteoporotic and Osteopenic Patients in Pakistan.

Osteoporosis is the leading cause of deformity and bones fracture all over the world and has some relationship with the blood concentrations of calcium and lead. Therefore, in the current study, the blood samples of 58 control and 56 clinically diagnosed osteoporotic and osteopenic patients were taken from different hospitals in Pakistan and analyzed for calcium and lead concentrations using atomic absorption spectrometry. In female control samples, the mean calcium value was found to be 98.53 ± 4.81 µg/mL, and in male control samples, the mean blood calcium level was found to be 121.33 ± 7.27 µg/mL. In female control samples, the mean lead value was found to be 0.133 ± 0.005 µg/mL, and in male control samples, the mean lead level was found to be 0.183 ± 0.008 µg/mL. All the male and female control samples showed a mean value of calcium of 115.63 ± 5.2 µg/mL and a mean value of lead of 0.153 ± 0.007 µg/mL. In osteoporotic female patients, the decline in the mean calcium value was found to be 34.93 ± 1.9 µg/mL, and in male patients, the decrease in the mean calcium level was found to be 47.73 ± 2.5 µg/mL. The increase in the mean value of lead in osteoporotic females was 4.13 ± 0.22 µg/mL, whereas in male patients, the increase in the mean lead value was 0.95 ± 0.07 µg/mL. All the male and female patients showed a decrease in the mean value of calcium of 41.43 ± 2.2 µg/mL and an increase in the mean value of Pb of 3.63 ± 0.16 µg/mL.

Degradation of dissolved diazinon pesticide in water using the high frequency of ultrasound wave.

This article aims to apply the ultrasound technique in the field of clean technology to protect environment. The principle of sonochemistry is conducted here to degrade pesticides in simulated industrial wastewater resulted from a factory manufacturing pesticides namely diazinon. Diazinon pesticide selected in this study for degradation under high frequency ultrasound wave. Three different initial concentrations of diazinon (800, 1200, and 1800 ppm), at different solution volumes were investigated in to degrade dissolved diazinon in water. Ultrasound device with 1.7 MHz, and 0.044 cm diameter, was used to study the degradation process. It is found that as the concentration of diazinon increased, the degradation is also increasing, and when the solution volume increases, the ability to degraded pesticides decreases. The experimental results showed an optimum condition achieved for degradation of diazinon at 1200 ppm as initial concentration and 50 ml solution volume. Kinetic modeling applied for the obtained results showed that the degradation of diazinon by high ultrasound frequency wave followed a pseudo-first-order model with apparent rate constant of around of 0.01 s(-1).

Batch adsorption of cadmium ions from aqueous solution by means of olive cake.

The use of natural adsorbent such as olive cake to replace expensive imported synthetic adsorbent is particularly appropriate for developing countries such as Jordan. In this study, batch adsorption experiments were carried out for the removal of cadmium ions from its aqueous solution using olive cake as adsorbent. Parameters effects such as temperature, pH and adsorbent dose on the adsorption process were studied. The adsorbent used in this study exhibited as good sorption at approximately pH 6 at temperatures 28, 35 and 45 degrees C. The removal efficiency was found to be 66% at pH 6 and temperature 28 degrees C. The equilibrium data were analyzed using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models to calculate isotherm constants. The experimental results were in a good agreement with these models. Results show that when an increasing in temperature from 28 to 45 degrees C, the maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) is decreased from 65.4 to 44.4 mg/g and Freundlich constant (Kf) decreased from 19.9 to 15.7. The thermodynamic parameters for the adsorption process data were evaluated using Langmuir isotherm. The free energy change (DeltaG degrees) and the enthalpy change (DeltaH degrees) showed that the process was feasible and exothermic, respectively. The dynamic data fitted to the first order, Lagergren-first order and pseudo second-order kinetic models. The experimental results indicated that the pseudo second-order reaction model provided the best description for these data with a correlation coefficient of 0.99. The adsorption rate constant was calculated as 8.4x10(-3) g mg(-1) min(-1) at 28 degrees C.

The application of high frequency ultrasound waves to remove ammonia from simulated industrial wastewater.

This article aims at applying the ultrasound technique in the field of clean technology to protect environment. The principle of ultrasound was conducted here to remove and recover ammonia from industrial wastewater. Three different concentrations of ammonia namely 5%, 15% and 25% (vol.%) were used to study the efficiency of removing ammonia from water. These concentrations are exactly similar to what may be found in wastewater resulting from strippers at petroleum refinery. High ultrasound frequency device with 2.4 and 1.7 MHz was conducted to study the effect of waves on the removal of ammonia. It was found that the ultrasound has the ability to remove ammonia with 5% concentration to meet the local standard of treated wastewater within less than 2 h for 0.080 L solution. It was also found that as the concentration of the ammonia increases the removing of ammonia within 2 h decreases, still the concentration of the ammonia meets the standard of the treated wastewater. The ability of the ultrasound to remove the ammonia failed to produce any mist when the height of the liquid solution increased, namely when the height reached (0.0337 m). This is equivalent to liquid volume of 0.150 L. It means that the device capacity to remove ammonia has certain limitations based on liquid heights. The best condition for ammonia removal was obtained at 5% concentration and 0.080 L liquid volume (equivalent to 0.0165 m).