This study aims to study the distribution of contaminants in rivers that flow into the Caribbean Sea using chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) and suspended sediment (SS) as markers and ALOS AVNIR-2 satellite sensor data. The Haina River (HN) and Ozama and Isabela Rivers (OZ-IS) that flow through the city of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, were chosen. First, in situ spectral reflectance/Chl-a and SS datasets obtained from these rivers were acquired in March 2011 (case A: with no rain influence) and June 2011 (case B: with rain influence), and the estimation algorithm of Chl-a and SS using AVNIR-2 data was developed from the datasets. Moreover, the developed algorithm was applied to AVNIR-2 data in November 2010 for case A and August 2010 for case B. Results revealed that for Chl-a and SS estimations under cases A and B conditions, the reflectance ratio of AVNIR-2 band 4 and band 3 (AV4/AV3) and the reflectance of AVNIR-2 band 4 (AV4) were effective. The Chl-a and SS mapping results obtained using AVNIR-2 data corresponded with the field survey results. Finally, an outline of the distribution of contaminants at the mouth of the river that flows into the Caribbean Sea was obtained for both rivers in cases A and B.

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The effect of coagulation and ozonation as pretreatments for granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration on calcium accumulation onto GAC was studied.Three kinds of FA solutions extracted from commercial leaf mold for horticulture were used: FA itself, FA after coagulation (FA-c) and FA after ozonation (FA-oz). Coagulation used as pretreatment before GAC filtration significantly decreased calcium accumulation onto GAC while ozonation caused a small increase on calcium accumulation onto GAC.Acidic functional groups into GAC introduced by adsorption of fulvic acid controlled accumulation of calcium onto GAC. Significant decrease of calcium accumulation onto GAC by coagulation was caused by the removal of the fraction with acidic functional groups from FA.

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