Activated sludge is now one of the most widely used biological processes for the treatment of wastewaters from medium to large populations. It produces high amounts of sewage sludge that can be managed and perceived in two main ways: as a waste it is discharged in landfill, as a fertilizer it is disposed in agriculture with direct application to soil or subjected to anaerobic digestion and comp...

Bacterioplankton community structures under contrasting subtropical marine environments (Hong Kong waters) were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and subsequent sequencing of predominant bands for samples collected bimonthly from 2004 to 2006 at five stations. Generally, bacterial abundance was significantly higher in the summer than in the winter. The ...

The number and properties of drug-resistant coliform bacteria in hospital and city sewage were compared. There was little difference in the counts of organisms with nontransferable resistance to one or more of 13 commonly used drugs. An average of 26% of coliforms in hospital waste water had transferable resistance to at least one of the drugs ampicillin, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, sulfonam...

Introduction Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a class of flame retardants that were added to thousands of consumer products, such as thermoplastics, electronic equipment, and textiles (Hale et al., 2001).Research has revealed that municipal sewage could be a significant source of PBDEs contamination that is ubiquitous throughout the environment (North, 2004; Song et al., 2006). The Pe...

Sterol ratios are used to identify sources, occurrence and partitioning of faecal matter in sediments of the Tay Estuary, Scotland. The 5β/(5α+5β) ratio is used to discriminate between sewage and biogenic sterol sources by comparing the concentrations of coprostanols to cholesterol plus coprostanols. This index shows unambiguous sewage pollution in the Invergowrie Bay area (values >0.7). The co...

Sewer systems are large-scale systems that collect and transport stormwater and sanitary sewage out of urban areas. Sewer systems are mainly operated using pumping stations and pollutants are removed from sewage by treatment plants before water is released into the environment. When a sewer overflow occurs, e.g., caused by a strong rainfall, sewage is discharged directly into the environment wi...

Short chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are listed as persistent organic pollutant candidates in the Stockholm Convention and are receiving more and more attentions worldwide. In general, concentrations of contaminants in sewage sludge can give an important indication on their pollution levels at a local/regional basis. In this study, SCCPs were investigated in sewage sludge samples collected...