An ecotoxicological screening tool to prioritise acid mine drainage impacted streams for future restoration

Oberholster, PJ; Genthe, Bettina; Hobbs, P. J.; Cheng, Po-Hsun; Klerk, A. R. de; Botha, Anna‐Maria

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2013.01.010

Cited by 25 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The main product of this combination is sulfuric acid, giving the wastewater a low pH and high sulfate concentration. [1][2][3] The conventional treatment for AMD uses alkaline reagents to neutralize the pH and promote the removal of metals as hydroxides. Its major disadvantage, however, is the formation of sludge, which requires suitable disposal and does not allow for metal recovery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of acidic pH and presence of metals as parameters in establishing a sulfidogenic process in anaerobic reactor

Vieira

Couto

Sancinetti

et al. 2016

Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A

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The successful use of anaerobic reactors for bioremediation of acid mine drainage has been shown in systems with neutral pH. However, the choice of an efficient and suitable process for such wastewater must consider the capability of operating at acidic pH and in the presence of metals. This work studies the performance of an anaerobic batch reactor, under conditions of varying initial pH for its efficiencies in sulfate removal and metal precipitation from synthetic acid mine drainage. The chemical oxygen demand/sulfate (COD/SO4(2-)) ratio used was 1.00, with ethanol chosen as the only energy and carbon source. The initial pH of the synthetic drainage was progressively set from 7.0 to 4.0 to make it as close as possible to that of real acid mine drainage. Metals were also added starting with iron, zinc, and finally copper. The effectiveness of sulfate and COD removal from the synthetic acid mine drainage increased as the initial pH was reduced. The sulfate removal increased from 38.5 ± 3.7% to 52.2 ± 3%, while the removal of organic matter started at 91.7 ± 2.4% and ended at 99 ± 1%. These results indicate that the sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) community adapted to lower pH values. The metal removal observed was 88 ± 7% for iron, 98.0 ± 0.5% for zinc and 99 ± 1% for copper. At this stage, an increase in the sulfate removal was observed, which reaches up to 82.2 ± 5.8%. The kinetic parameters for sulfate removal were 0.22 ± 0.04 h(-1) with Fe, 0.26 ± 0.04 h(-1) with Fe and Zn and 0.44 ± 0.04 h(-1) with Fe, Zn, and Cu.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of acidic pH and presence of metals as parameters in establishing a sulfidogenic process in anaerobic reactor

Vieira

Couto

Sancinetti

et al. 2016

Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A

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“…This was possibly due to precipitation of Fe at pH values ≥ 4.0 making it inaccessible to algae, whereas at lower pH the dissolved Fe speciation changed due to microbial oxidation/reduction processes which make it more readily available for bioaccumulation by macroalgae. This phenomenon was previously reported by Oberholster et al (2013) in a study on the occurrence of benthic algae in the Bloubank stream, South Africa. Also, Fe is known to be important in photosynthesis and binds to the redox-active metal (a cofactor) found in proteins (Jeong et al, 2008;Kosman, 2010), which functions as protective mechanisms for survival of algae.…”

Section: Concentrations Of Metals Bioaccumulation By Various Algae Unmentioning

confidence: 63%

The potential of selected macroalgal species for treatment of AMD at different pH ranges in temperate regions

et al. 2014

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Graphical Abstract:Abstract:. The metal bioaccumulation potential of selected macroalgae species as different pH ranges were study for usage as part of a possible secondary passive AMD treatment technology in algae ponds in temperate regions during winter months. . Two separate studies were conducted to determine the suitability of macroalgae for passive treatment when metabolic processes in macrophytes and microrganisms in constructed wetlands decreases due to seasonal changes. In the field study, the bioconcentration of metals (mg/kg dry weight) crassum at all three tested pH values under constant low water temperature.

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“…The values of H’ and D were both within the range for normal diversity. In contrast, the value of d was indicated poor diversity, which may be due to the different calculation method for diversity index and the unrecovered evenness of zooplankton after the short-term EAS treatment 40, 41 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Ecosystem activation system (EAS) technology for remediation of eutrophic freshwater

Chai

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Ecosystem activation system (EAS) was developed to create beneficial conditions for microbiome recovery and then restore and maintain the ecological integrity (microbial community, phytoplankton, zooplankton) for eutrophic freshwater rehabilitation. A 30 day’s filed test of EAS indicated that over 50% of contaminant was removed and the algae visibly disappeared. EAS treatment 2.5-fold increased the diversity of microbial community and changed the microbial community structure (e.g., two and three-fold decrease in the amount of Flavobacterium and Pseudomonas, typical abundant species of eutrophic freshwater, respectively). Further, the diversity of phytoplankton and zooplankton of treated water suggested that these species were diverse. Representative phytoplankton of eutrophic freshwater, Chlorella and Chlamydomonas were undetectable. The possible mechanism of EAS is restoring the trophic levels of the water body via bottom-up approach by microbial community.

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An ecotoxicological screening tool to prioritise acid mine drainage impacted streams for future restoration

Cited by 25 publications

References 33 publications

The effect of acidic pH and presence of metals as parameters in establishing a sulfidogenic process in anaerobic reactor

The effect of acidic pH and presence of metals as parameters in establishing a sulfidogenic process in anaerobic reactor

The potential of selected macroalgal species for treatment of AMD at different pH ranges in temperate regions

Ecosystem activation system (EAS) technology for remediation of eutrophic freshwater

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