No abstract

Airport complexes are great water consumers where the adoption of reuse practices adapted to their particular characteristics may represent significant savings of financial and environmental resources. Greywater reuse is an important alternative for reducing potable water consumption in airports. The objective of this study was to assess the quality of greywater produced in airport environments and the reuse potential of such effluent. This study was developed in a mid-size airport in Brazil, where a qualitative assessment of greywater produced by different activities was performed. The results were analyzed using descriptive and multivariate statistics. Greywater production in the administrative buildings was estimated by the application of questionnaires and interviewing employees, and compared to the nonpotable demand in these buildings. The results showed that the quality of the greywater produced in the airport is similar to that produced in residences and can be easily treated for reuse purposes. In quantitative terms, greywater reuse can meet the non-potable demand and provide great savings of water and financial resources, in addition to priceless environmental benefits.

No abstract

No abstract

In recent years, wetlands have received increasing attention in environmental engineering. Both natural and constructed wetland systems are now being used to treat a wide range of industrial, urban, and agricultural effluents. In the present study, we measured the heavy metal uptake of a wetland area in Brazil that receives runoff water from runways and paved areas. We analyzed the water, sediments, and emergent macrophytes and compared the data with the results of other studies of the retention of pollutants by wetlands. We also determined the heavy metal accumulation by the dominant macrophyte using transfer coefficients to determine metal transfer among sediments, roots, and leaves. We found that although the wetland removed significant amounts of pollutants from the airport's drainage water through sedimentation, precipitation, and uptake by plants, additional work must be done to increase water retention times in the wetland to improve the wetland's ability to immobilize pollutants.