Phosphorus retention capacity in red ferralitic soil.

In this study the main physical-chemical characteristics of red ferralitic soil to use as substrate in subsurface wetlands was determined. The P-removal was evaluated in a short-term isotherm batch experiment and in a column percolation experiment. The acid characteristic and high content of iron minerals in the red ferralitic soil facilitated the phosphorus removal. Also the sorption isotherms at two different temperatures were obtained. The results showed that the sorption capacity increases with an increase in solution temperature from 25 to 35 °C. The experimental data were fitted to Langmuir and Freundlich models, having a better fit to the Freundlich isotherms. The maximum P-sorption capacities estimated using the Langmuir isotherm were 0.96 and 1.13 g/kg at 25 and 35 °C respectively. Moreover a column experiment was carried out at two different flows. Sequential extractions of the phosphorus-saturated soil indicated that phosphorus is mainly bound with iron or aluminum minerals. The results have demonstrated a good potential for red ferralitic soil for phosphorus removal from urban wastewater.

Vertical flow constructed wetlands: kinetics of nutrient and organic matter removal.

The kinetics of organic matter and nutrient removal in a pilot vertical subsurface wetland with red ferralitic soil as substrate were evaluated. The wetland (20 m(2)) was planted with Cyperus alternifolius. The domestic wastewater that was treated in the wetland had undergone a primary treatment consisting of a septic moat and a buffer tank. From the sixth week of operation, the performance of the wetland stabilized, and a significant reduction in pollutant concentration of the effluent wastewater was obtained. Also a significant increase of dissolved oxygen (5 mg/l) was obtained. The organic matter removal efficiency was greater than 85% and the nutrient removal efficiency was greater than 75% in the vertical subsurface wetland. Nitrogen and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) removal could be described by a first-order model. The kinetic constants were 3.64 and 3.27 d(-1) for BOD and for total nitrogen, respectively. Data on the removal of phosphorus were adapted to a second-order model. The kinetic constant was 0.96 (mg/l)(-1) d(-1). The results demonstrated the potential of vertical flow constructed wetlands to clean treated domestic wastewater before discharge into the environment.

Diffusive gradient in thin FILMS (DGT) compared with soil solution and labile uranium fraction for predicting uranium bioavailability to ryegrass.

The usefulness of uranium concentration in soil solution or recovered by selective extraction as unequivocal bioavailability indices for uranium uptake by plants is still unclear. The aim of the present study was to test if the uranium concentration measured by the diffusive gradient in thin films (DGT) technique is a relevant substitute for plant uranium availability in comparison to uranium concentration in the soil solution or uranium recovered by ammonium acetate. Ryegrass (Lolium perenne L. var. Melvina) is grown in greenhouse on a range of uranium spiked soils. The DGT-recovered uranium concentration (C(DGT)) was correlated with uranium concentration in the soil solution or with uranium recovered by ammonium acetate extraction. Plant uptake was better predicted by the summed soil solution concentrations of UO(2)(2+), uranyl carbonate complexes and UO(2)PO(4)(-). The DGT technique did not provide significant advantages over conventional methods to predict uranium uptake by plants.

Enhanced phytoextraction of uranium and selected heavy metals by Indian mustard and ryegrass using biodegradable soil amendments.

The applicability of biodegradable amendments in phytoremediation to increase the uptake of uranium (U), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) by Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) and ryegrass (Lolium perenne) was tested in a greenhouse experiment. Plants were cultivated during one month on two soils with naturally or industrially increased contaminant levels of U. Treatments with citric acid, NH4-citrate/citric acid, oxalic acid, S,S-ethylenediamine disuccinic acid (EDDS) or nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) at a rate of 5 mmol kg(-1) dry soil caused increases in soil solution concentrations that were up to 18 times higher for U and up to 1570 times higher for other heavy metals, compared to the controls. Shoot concentrations increased to a much smaller extent. With EDDS, 19-, 34-, and 37-fold increases were achieved in shoots of Indian mustard for U, Pb and Cu, respectively. The increases in plant uptake of Cd, Cr and Zn were limited to a factor of four at most. Ryegrass generally extracted less U and metals than Indian mustard. Despite a marked increase of U and metal concentrations in shoots after addition of amendments, the estimated time required to obtain an acceptable reduction in soil contaminant concentrations was impractically long. Only for Cu and Zn in one of the studied soils, could the Flemish standards for clean soil theoretically be attained in less than 100 years.

Effect of biodegradable amendments on uranium solubility in contaminated soils.

Chelate-assisted phytoextraction has been proposed as a potential tool for phytoremediation of U contaminated sites. In this context, the effects of five biodegradable amendments on U release in contaminated soils were evaluated. Three soils were involved in this study, one with a relatively high background level of U, and two which were contaminated with U from industrial effluents. Soils were treated with 5 mmol kg(-1) dry weight of either citric acid, NH(4)-citrate/citric acid, oxalic acid, S,S-ethylenediamine disuccinic acid or nitrilotriacetic acid. Soil solution concentration of U was monitored during 2 weeks. All amendments increased U concentration in soil solution, but citric acid and NH(4)-citrate/citric acid mixture were most effective, with up to 479-fold increase. For oxalic acid, S,S-ethylenediamine disuccinic acid and nitrilotriacetic acid, the increase ranged from 10-to 100-fold. The highest concentrations were observed 1 to 7 days after treatment, after which U levels in soil solution gradually decreased. All amendments induced a temporary increase of soil solution pH and TOC that could not be correlated with the release of U in the soil solution. Thermodynamic stability constants (log K) of complexes did not predict the relative efficiency of the selected biodegradable amendments on U release in soil solution. Amendments efficiency was better predicted by the relative affinity of the chelate for Fe compared to U.

Plant-induced changes in soil chemistry do not explain differences in uranium transfer.

A greenhouse experiment was set up with maize, ryegrass, Indian mustard, wheat and pea to evaluate to what extent differences in uranium (U) transfer factors can be explained by root-mediated changes in selected soil properties. The experiment involved an acid and an alkaline soil contaminated with (238)U. U soil-to-shoot transfer factors (TFs) ranged between 0.0005 and 0.021 on the acid soil and between 0.007 and 0.179 on the alkaline soil. Indian mustard showed the highest U uptake in shoots and maize the lowest. The root TFs, only available for the acid soil, ranged from 0.58 for maize and Indian mustard to 1.38 for ryegrass. The difference in U uptake between the two soils and the five plants was only partially explained by the different initial U concentrations in soil solution or differences in soil properties in the two soils. However, we obtained a significant relation for differences in shoot TFs observed between the two soils when relating shoot TFs with concentration of UO(2)(2+) and uranyl carbonate complexes in soil solution (R(2)=0.88). The physiological mechanisms by which root-to-shoot U transfer is inhibited or promoted seemed at least as important as the plant-induced changes in soil characteristics in determining soil-to-shoot TFs.

Calculation and mapping of critical loads of sulfur and nitrogen in Flanders, Belgium.

Up to now, critical loads calculations for the Flemish Region were based on European background data of surrounding countries. A first attempt has been made to calculate and map critical loads for forest ecosystems in Flanders using available site-specific information. Values of current deposition were used to calculate and map exceedances. The lowest critical loads for acidification (697 eq ha(-1)year(-1)) occur in the Campine and the north of Limburg where ecosystems largely consist of coniferous forests on poor sandy soils. The dominance of coniferous forest types in the Campine is also responsible for low critical load values for eutrophication (between 536 and 971 eq ha(-1)year(-1)). In 75% of the receptor points that have been considered an exceedance of the critical load for acidification is noted, primarily in areas with high SO2 and NOx depositions, such as the north of the provinces East and West Flanders and Antwerp. The critical load for eutrophication is exceeded in all points considered. Exceedances are particularly high in coniferous forests in West Flanders, and in the north of the provinces of Antwerp and Limburg, where especially NHx depositions amount to high values. Data needed for the calculation of critical loads are still sparse in Flanders, e.g. for: (1) weathering rates of soil minerals; (2) interception and evaporation of forest ecosystems; and (3) uptake of N and basic cations by vegetation. This supplementary information will contribute to a further refining of the calculated critical loads, which constitute indispensable information in developing an emission abatement policy.