The pyrolysis of sewage sludge (SS) and olive mill waste (OMW) was carried out under nitrogen atmosphere and analyzed thermogravimetric and scanning electron microscopy micrographs. Removal capacity of pyrolyzed cokes was measured by humic acid solution. Humic substances can react with chlorine to produce carcinogens in drinking water. Activated carbon can be used as an effective treatment method to remove humic substances from water to prior to disinfection by chlorination. Olive mill waste, an agricultural byproduct and sewage sludge were used to produce activated carbon by pyrolysis with the addition of zinc chloride to enhance the reaction. Activated carbon was also produced using olive mill waste and sewage sludge. Both of them were compared to a commercially-available activated carbon product. Optimum pyrolysis conditions and concentration of the activating agent were identified. The equilibrium parameter model of the Freundlich isotherm and Langmuir isotherm was applied to the adsorption data, and the efficiency of pyrolyzed coke was determined. Activated carbon produced from olive waste material had a lower specific surface area (437.92 m 2 /g) than activated carbon produced from sewage sludge (814.48 m 2 /g). While both of these were lower than the surface area of a commercially activated carbon, the latter fell within the expected range of commercial products, thus suggesting an effective means of producing activated carbon while reducing sewage waste disposal costs.

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BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical extraction efficiency of five metals (Cu, Ni, Zn, total Cr, and Fe) from galvanic sludge using molasses hydrolysate produced from molasses, a by‐product of the sugar industry. The study was also aimed to compare the extraction efficiency of the molasses hydrolysate with those of nitric acid and EDTA. RESULTS The experimental results showed that the metal removal (%) increased with extracting solution concentration, but decreased with increasing solid:liquid (S:L) ratio. The highest removal efficiencies using molasses hydrolysate were: Cu 90%; Ni 100%; Zn 90%; total Cr 100%, and Fe 81% at 10 min extracting time and S:L = 1:10 g mL−1. CONCLUSION Molasses hydrolysate was found to be more effective than nitric acid and EDTA in the extraction of metals from the sludge. It was concluded that although using HNO3 was more economical than Na2EDTA and molasses hydrolysate, using molasses hydrolysate which is a novel, environmentally friendly, biodegradable extracting agent would be appropriate to prevent secondary pollution. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry

a b s t r a c tThe increase in population and industrialization has led to increase wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Turkey's pharmaceutical sector has grown by over 30% in the last decade, therefore the levels of estrogenic hormones are also expected to increase in wastewater. When exposed from external sources, estrogenic hormones may cause endocrine disturbance. This paper assesses the levels of 17β-estradiol and estrone levels in treatment plants. A total 16 treatment plants and 4 water reservoirs were analysed for 17β-estradiol and estrone using the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA) test method. 17β-estradiol and estrone values were detected in the range of 37-382 ng/L and <1-187 ng/L, respectively. Pre-treatment plants had the highest levels estrogenic hormones, while reservoirs had the least levels.