The sewage sludge originating from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) serving rural areas is suggested for agricultural or natural usage. However, sewage sludge is beforehand subjected to the several pre-treatments, which involve stabilization, hygienisation and pre-composting. These methods mainly decrease the amount of organic substances and the presence of microorganisms, but hardly affect the concentrations of heavy metals. The advantages of using sludges as fertilizer for improving and sustaining soil fertility and crop production are numerous. The addition of sewage sludge to soils could affect the potential availability of heavy metals. Trace elements are distributed in the soil in various forms: solid phases, free ions in soil solution, soluble organicmineral complexes, or adsorbed on colloidal particles. The most undesirable heavy metals in sewage sludge that are toxic for the living organisms include: cadmium, chromium, nickel, lead and mercury. In the study, the concentrations of trace elements (Pb, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni, Zn, Al, As, Se, B, Ba, Br, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mn, Na, Ga, Li, Mo, Sr, Mg, K, Ru, Tl, V, U) were tested in the sewage sludge obtained from a WWTP serving rural areas (PE< 9 000). In each case, the tested sewage sludge was meeting the criteria of stabilization and was used for agriculture and land reclamation purpose. All the samples were collected in 2016 and subjected to microwave mineralization in a closed system in aqua regia. The total amounts of macro and microelements were determined with a spectrophotometer Coupled Plasma emission ICP-OES. It was found that the total concentrations of trace metals in all of sewage sludges are the same as the Polish regulation limit of pollutants for sludge to be used in agriculture. European legislation is less restrictive and permits higher contents of heavy metals in sludge used for agriculture than Asia. The trace elements (cadmium: 1.16 mg·kg . The two of the tested heavy metals (beryllium, bismuth) were under the detection limit, while gallium, molybdenum, thallium, vanadium and silver were detected in the concentrations lower than 0.005 mg·kg -1 /d.m. According to the obtained results, in all the tested samples, the total amount of trace elements, did not exceed the limit values in sewage sludge for their use in agriculture and land reclamation.

Abstract. The currently heavy metal pollution in rainwater is a huge problem, especially in industrial areas. Sediment from devices for stormwater runoff treatment, especially those located in city centers, industrial districts and within the area of highways is characterized by a high content of heavy metals and is found to be most contaminated. A significant fraction of these harmful chemicals are deposited on the surface of highways and urban roads and eventually transported into local waterbodies by stormwater runoff that is the primary source of water quality impairments in urban areas. This review analyzes and interprets the collected results of tests for the content of heavy metals in sediments from the urban drainage to determine the actual threat they pose to the environment. As a result of the combustion of liquid fuels, significant amounts of nickel, vanadium, cadmium and zinc get into the aquatic environment. Due to the amount of sediments accumulated in the rainwater drainage system, periodic pollution monitoring should be carried out leading to the determination of the method of management and utilization of sludge. The use of separators contributes to the reduction of the presence of heavy metals in the aquatic environment.

Abstract. The aim of the study is to assess the quality of water from selected recreational fountains in Ciechocinek and Inowrocław health resorts. All analyzed water fountains are characterized by seasonal changes in their discharge. The exceedance of biochemical oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand values found in the water samples may indicate water contamination with compounds of organic origin getting from the external environment to the basin of the fountain or too little recirculation of water. A significant improvement in water quality was noted in fountains in which water exchange occurred due to, for example, its failure. In addition, the water was characterized by a relatively high content of general hardness and conductivity. Reported exceedances of water quality parameters disqualify it for direct human consumption. It does not meet the requirements for drinking water. It is recommended to introduce supervision over the quality of water from fountains by the bodies of the State Sanitary Inspection in the form of water monitoring in order to eliminate from the water compounds that may have a negative impact on human health. It is recommended to regularly use pre-filtration, chlorination and sodium hypochlorite in water in fountains to eliminate physical impurities.