Vegetated urban streams have sufficient purification ability but high internal nutrient loadings: Microbial communities and nutrient release dynamics.

The release of nutrients back into the water column due to macrophyte litter decay could offset the benefits of nutrient removal by hydrophytes within urban streams. However, the influence of this internal nutrient cycling on the overlying water quality and bacterial community structure is still an open question. Hence, litter decomposition trials using six hydrophytes, Typha latifolia (TL), Phragmites australis (PAU), Hydrilla verticillata (HV), Oenanthe javanica (OJ), Myriophyllum aquaticum (MA), and Potamogeton crispus (PC), were performed using the litterbag approach to mimic a 150-day plant litter decay in sediment-water systems. Field assessment using simple in/out mass balances and uptake by plant species was carried out to show the potential for phytoremediation and its mechanisms. Results from two years of monitoring (2020-2021) indicated mean total nitrogen (TN) retention efficiencies of 7.2-60.14 % and 9.5-55.6 % for total phosphorus (TP) in the studied vegetated urban streams. Nutrient retention efficiencies showed temporal variations, which depended on seasonal temperature. Mass balance analysis indicated that macrophyte assimilation, sediment adsorption, and microbial transformation accounted for 10.31-41.74 %, 0.84-3.00 %, and 6.92-48.24 % removal of the inlet TN loading, respectively. Hydrophyte detritus decay induced alterations in physicochemical parameters while significantly increasing the N and P levels in the overlying water and sediment. Decay rates varied among macrophytes in the order of HV (0.00436 g day-1) > MA (0.00284 g day-1) > PC (0.00251 g day-1) > OJ (0.00135 g day-1) > TL (0.00095 g day-1) > PAU (0.00057 g day-1). 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis showed an increase in microbial species richness and diversity in the early phase of litter decay. The abundances of denitrification (nirS and nirK) and nitrification (AOA and AOB) genes also increased in the early stage and then decreased during the decay process. Results of this study conducted in seven urban streams in northern China demonstrate the direct effects of hydrophytes in encouraging nutrient transformation and stream self-purification. Results also demonstrate that macrophyte detritus decay could drive not only the nutrient conversions but also the microbial community structure and activities in sediment-water systems. Consequently, to manage internal sources and conversions of nutrients, hydrophytic detritus (e.g., floating/submerged macrophytes) must be suppressed and harvested.

Identification of rainy season nitrogen export controls in a semi-arid mountainous watershed, North China.

A comprehensive understanding of the nutrient export process and export controls is demanded effective pollution mitigation in fragile riverine ecosystems. In this study, behaviors of the full range of nitrogen (N) under stormflow (5-events) and baseflow (2-events; before and after the rainy season, multiple sites) were assessed to explore N export controlling mechanisms according to the identified main components causing the changes in N exports, N transport pathways, seasonal trends, and nutrient supply watershed regions through the 2020 rainy season in a semi-arid mountainous watershed, northern China. Results showed increments in riverine dissolved organic-N (DON) and particulate-N (PN) loadings as the leading cause of N flux and composition changes through the rainy season, although nitrate-N (NO3-N) contributed 69.6% of total-N (TN). Storm runoff generated 3-fold and 4-fold average increments in DON and PN fluxes. DON and PN shared 1-66% (18.1%) and 1-44% (9.7%) of TN through storms, registered consistency in behavior, mainly originated from near-stream soil, and were primarily transported by shallower subsurface flow. Our results broaden the understanding of PN delivery in catchment wetting-up periods by highlighting the decoupling of primary origins/transport pathways of PN from sediments. Results suggested hydrological functioning parallel to the catchment wetting-up as the principal governor of storm N evolution; soil moisture levels build up in the early rainy season, soil water runoff dominance during peak discharge fluctuations, groundwater runoff dominance at the end of the rainy season. Cumulative rainfall and antecedent soil moisture exerted more significant control over storm N exports than individual rainfall features. The assessment of N behaviors through river network disclosed watershed regions responsible for excessive N delivery and influences of unsustainable agriculture, sewage treatment work, and damming on natural riverine N fluxes. These findings could be useful references for the formulation of water pollution control strategies in the future.

Advances in micro interfacial phenomena of adsorptive micellar flocculation: Principles and application for water treatment.

Among various aqua remediation technologies, separation aims at cleaning pollutants by isolating them despite their destruction; solutes can also be recovered after the process. Adsorptive micellar flocculation (AMF) has been known as an important surfactant-based technique to separate poorly water-soluble hazardous pollutants from aqua media as an efficient and energy-intensive replacement for other surfactant-based techniques, as such AMF should be known. AMF is based on the partitioning of solutes gradient from bulk solution into the nanosized smart anionic surfactant micelle followed by flocculation. However, unlike coagulation/flocculation or adsorption, AMF is not viable for the production of drinking water in water utilities due to the loss of surfactant monomers. Unfortunately, it can be used as a reservoir or for the recycling/recovery of organic pollutants (intermediates) (ions, organics/bioactive, dyes, etc.), even at high concentrations. The performance of AMF depends on various parameters, and this review briefly summarizes the existing researches on different pollutants removal by AMF and material recovery/recycling. This includes operating condition factors (surfactants, flocculants, surfactant-flocculant or surfactant-pollutant concentration ratio, and water conditions chemistry). Because varieties of micro interfacial phenomena other than physical interactions occur in a versatile micellar environment in the AMF process, emphases are given to adsorptive oxidation, micellar catalysis, selectivity. Furthermore, for the first time, this review gives an overview of understanding the state-of-the-art multifunctional nano amphiphile-based AMF that behaves mimetic to aquatic organisms in the process of pollutant removal. The efficiency of AMF, including recycling concentrated solution without noticeable deterioration, as an auxiliary resource/income for the next cycle, signifies economic viability, versatility, and manifold applications in aqua remediation. Significance, ways to achieve enhanced process efficiency, as well as challenges and future opportunities in wastewater treatment, are also highlighted.

Nitrogen/phosphorus behavior traits and implications during storm events in a semi-arid mountainous watershed.

Seasonal rainfall events reinforce the link between terrestrial and fluvial domains and are crucial for assessing hydrological control over riverine nutrient dynamics and pollutant source behaviors, especially in a semi-arid watershed. Taking the Qingshuihe river basin, a semi-arid mountainous basin in China, as an example, this paper investigated storm effects on riverine nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) dynamics (i.e. concentration, load, and composition changes) through continuous sampling of four storm events of the 2019 rainy season, including one small storm, two moderate storms, and a large storm. Pollutant sources and transport pathways were then examined over the storm sequence via hysteresis analysis. The results revealed a strong linkage between N/P dynamics and hydrological processes. Storm runoff caused a 6-fold increase in particulate-P (PP) and a 4-fold increase in ammonia-N (NH4-N) fluxes through four storms (most sensitive nutrients to storms). On average, PP shared 86% of P exports, and nitrate-N (NO3-N) contributed 79% of N exports. PP and NH4-N were delivered primarily from overland sources and transported by surface runoff. Nonetheless, mobilization of channel sediment reserves was also an important way of PP supply during storms. The results suggested groundwater as the principal NO3-N source in the watershed, and subsurface flow was important for NO3-N and total dissolved-P (TDP) delivery during storms. The large storm (>20 mm) often registered the highest N/P load exports. However, there were other influencing factors/processes on stormflow N/P dynamics in the semi-arid watershed, which complicate/override the effects of different storm magnitudes. Total suspended solids (TSS)/PP source availability and inter- and intra-storm export trends influenced P behaviors through storms. Moreover, impacts of mobilization processes on NO3-N behavior appeared over the storm sequence. These findings enhance our understanding of storm events induced N/P exports in water-scarce regions and provide references for water quality predictions and control in flood seasons.