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Land application of domestic and industrial wastewaters provides an effective means of recycling water and its components into the ecosystem. Successful treatment by soil requires that wastewater is applied in quantities that both maintain infiltrative capacity of the soil and do not exceed the capacity of the soil-plant system to assimilate biological and chemical contaminants. Application of N-rich wastewaters requires that consideration be given to both the ability of the soil to transmit the hydraulic load and remove sufficient N to maintain groundwater quality standards. A textile wastewater containing high concentrations of organic N was spray-irrigated to tall fescue (Festuca arunindinacea) to determine optimum N application levels. Nitrogen balances were determined at each N level and and the potential for predicting the leaching component of the excess N applied was investigated. Historically on-site wastewater disposal systems (OSWDS) for treating septic tank effluent (STE) have been designed on a hydraulic loading basis with N pollution potential essentially ignored. Many soils have been deemed unsuitable for application of STE because of textural, water table, or landscape restrictions. The relations between soil properties, hydraulic performance of OSWDS, and N distribution around OSWDS are evaluated. Wastewater from a nylon processing plant was applied to 'Ky 31' tall fescue at total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) levels of approximately 250, 430, and 1900 kg ha⁻¹ during 1982 and 1983. Fescue yield and N removal was comparable to agricultural yields at similar N application levels. Nitrogen balances indicate that plant uptake efficiency decreased with increasing organic N levels above the 250 kg ha⁻¹ level and that maximum uptake occurred at the 450 kg ha⁻¹ level. Most of the N not recovered in plant tissue mineralized rapidly to the nitrate NO₃⁻ form and leaching was noted during the winter and spring. This data is evaluated with quasi-transient analytical solution of the convection-dispersion equation. The movement of the solute center of mass is predicted on the basis of assumptions of piston flow as well as alternative assumptions of mixing via plate layer theory. Prediction of the location of the center of solute mass (α) provides a moving lagrangian coordinate solution around which dispersion of solute is calculated. The assumptions made about the sequence of evaporation and infiltration events significantly influence the prediction of α and hence the agreement between predicted and measured solute distribution. Both approaches give results which are within experimental error and provide a rational basis for predicting leaching losses and carry-over NO₃⁻ available to future crops. Prototype OSWDS with low pressure distribution installed in three clayey limestone-derived soils were dosed with STE at flux densities ranging from 0.4 to 3.6 cm d⁻¹ on a trench bottom area basis. Ponding was noted in OSWDS at all sites dosed at the 3.6 cm d⁻¹ flux due to both underlying hydraulic restrictions and resultant anaerobic conditions. It is concluded that clayey B horizons low in swelling clays but moderately well structured can be dosed at flux densities up to 2 cm d⁻¹ if low pressure distribution of STE is used. Nitrification was found to be quite limited in soils where effluent was ponded above a restrictive layer but occurred readily within 30 cm below trenches which were freely drained or had matric potentials of at least 40 cm of water. Ratios of NO₃⁻ to Cl⁻ indicate that only limited denitrification can be expected and that substantial NO₃⁻ does leach from below OSWDS in the direction of water flow. / Ph. D.

Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / The asset management process and strategy has been adopted and implemented within the public sector. Although the National Treasury developed the Capital Asset Management Guidelines to assist with the development and implementation of the asset management system the guidelines have received very little attention over the years. The Auditor General’s findings indicate a lack of proper implementation of the asset management process. The study provides a clear indication of the implementation of the asset management process by most government entities, local government municipalities and the public sector. The outcome is that while most entities have made progress with regards to the implementation, much remains to be done. Most entities implement the asset management process selectively. This does not yield positive and sustainable results and they end up abandoning the whole asset management system. The report provides the process of successful development and implementation of asset management, it also indicate that if there are element that are missed or not properly done the process will not yield constant results or performance and the impact on the organization performance will not be positive. The management of the organization must ensure that asset management is aligned with strategic objectives of the organization and performance measurement must be directly linked with asset management, performance measurement should be used to determine progress and implementation. Service level agreements must be established between all relevant departments including the finance department and there must be agreement on the objectives between all stakeholders. The key to proper implementation is the alignment of the asset management process with the strategic objectives of the organization.

This project developed a model for effective asset management drawn from successful programs in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Asset management practices were examined at the City of Ontario Utilities Department; a medium sized utility, and also at the Rainbow Municipal Water District, a small sized utility. Gaps between the ideal model and the existing practices were investigated.

This investigation had for its purpose the determination of first, the inefficiency of the Perryton, Texas, sewage disposal plant proper; and second the potential effectiveness of a lagoon now used to complete the sewage purification; and consequently, offset an apparent health hazard. The problem, as pursued, has consisted of first, the collection of sewage samples from the six stations listed in Table 1 over the period of time from September 23, 1949 to May 14, 1950; second, a quantitative analysis of each sample in order to determine the number of bacterial organisms present; third, a qualitative analysis of each sample in order to determine more expecially the presence of members of the genera Aerobacter, Escherischia, Salmonella and Shigella; and fourth, an attempt to evaluate the potentialities of the natural purification factors of the lagoon.

Dissertation submitted in fulfillment of academic requirements for the Degree of Master of Technology: Chemical Engineering, Durban University of Technology, 2008. / Currently KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province is populated with textile industry, which produces wastewater, some of which is not biodegradable. Due to the stringent environmental regulations the wastewater cannot be discharged into the rivers or public owned treatment systems. The alternative solution is to co-dispose this wastewater with easily biodegradable waste (labile effluent). The aim of this investigation was to develop a process protocol for the codigestion of high strength and toxic organic effluents under mesophilic conditions (35°C ± 2°C), with emphasis on the effect of biomass acclimation. A total of four effluents were chosen for this study, two labile (distillery and size) and two recalcitrant (scour dye and reactive dye). Two anaerobic batch experiments and two pilot scale trials were performed. The first batch anaerobic experiment investigated the influence of biomass source in anaerobic treatability. The second batch test investigated, whether biomass acclimation enhanced the biodegradability of pollutants. The pilot scale trials were the scale up version of the biomass acclimation test. The results showed sludge from Umbilo Wastewater Treatment Works was a superior biomass source, producing more gas and methane compared to Mpumalanga waste. For the high strength organic waste, the acclimated size and distillery samples produced 50% more biogas and methane compared to non-acclimated samples. This confirms that the biomass acclimation enhances the biodegradability. The biomass acclimation did not enhance the biodegradability of the recalcitrant effluent (scour dye). The pilot scale trials did not yield meaningful data; therefore it could not be proven if acclimation works on a larger scale. / Water Research Commission

Thesis (MScEng (Civil Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Waterborne sewage system design and expansion objectives are often focused on minimising initial investment while increasing system capacity and meeting hydraulic requirements. Although these objectives make good sense in the short term, the solutions obtained might not represent the optimal cost-effective solution to the complete useful life of the system. Maintenance and operation of any system can have a significant impact on the life-cycle cost. The costing process needs to be better understood, which include maintenance and operation criteria in the design of a sewer system. Together with increasing public awareness regarding global warming and environmental degradation, environmental impact, or carbon cost, is also an important factor in decisionmaking for municipal authorities. This results in a multiplicity of different objectives, which can complicate the decisions faced by waterborne sewage utilities. Human settlement and migration is seen as the starting point of expansion problems. An investigation was conducted into the current growth prediction models for municipal areas in order to determine their impact on future planning and to assess similarities between the models available. This information was used as a platform to develop a new method incorporating indirect costs into models for planning waterborne sewage systems. The need to balance competing objectives such as minimum cost, optimal reliability, and minimum environmental impact was identified. Different models were developed to define the necessary criteria, thus minimising initial investment, operating cost and environmental impact, while meeting hydraulic constraints. A non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) was applied to certain waterborne sewage system (WSS) scenarios that simulated the evolutionary processes of genetic selection, crossover, and mutation to find a number of suitable solutions that balance all of the given objectives. Stakeholders could in future apply optimisation results derived in this thesis in the decision making process to find a solution that best fits their concerns and priorities. Different models for each of the above-mentioned objectives were installed into a multi-objective NSGA and applied to a hypothetical baseline sewer system problem. The results show that the triple-objective optimisation approach supplies the best solution to the problem. This approach is currently not applied in practice due to its inherent complexities. However, in the future this approach may become the norm. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Spoelafvoering rioolstelsel ontwerp en uitbreiding doelwitte is dikwels gefokus op die vermindering van aanvanklike belegging, terwyl dit die verhoging van stelsel kapasiteit insluit en ook voldoen aan hidrouliese vereistes. Alhoewel hierdie doelwitte goeie sin maak in die kort termyn, sal die oplossings verkry dikwels nie die optimale koste-effektiewe oplossing van die volledige nuttige lewensduur van die stelsel verteenwoordig nie. Bedryf en instandhouding van 'n stelsel kan 'n beduidende impak op die lewensiklus-koste hê, en die kostebepalings proses moet beter verstaan word en die nodige kriteria ingesluit word in die ontwerp van 'n rioolstelsel. Saam met 'n toenemende openbare bewustheid oor aardverwarming en die agteruitgang van die omgewing, is omgewingsimpak, of koolstof koste, 'n belangrike faktor in besluitneming vir munisipale owerhede. As gevolg hiervan, kan die diversiteit van die verskillende doelwitte die besluite wat munisipale besluitnemers in die gesig staar verder bemoeilik. Menslike vestiging en migrasie is gesien as die beginpunt van die uitbreiding probleem. 'n Ondersoek na die huidige groeivoorspelling modelle vir munisipale gebiede is van stapel gestuur om hul impak op die toekomstige beplanning te bepaal, en ook om die ooreenkomstes tussen die modelle wat beskikbaar is te asesseer. Hierdie inligting is gebruik as 'n platform om ‘n nuwe metode te ontwikkel wat indirekte kostes inkorporeer in die modelle vir die beplanning van spoelafvoer rioolstelsels. Die behoefte is geïdentifiseer om meedingende doelwitte soos minimale aanvanklike koste, optimale betroubaarheid en minimum invloed op die omgewing te balanseer. Verskillende modelle is ontwikkel om die bogenoemde kriteria te definiëer, in die strewe na die minimaliseering van aanvanklike belegging, bedryfskoste en omgewingsimpak, terwyl onderhewig aan hidrouliese beperkinge. ‘n Nie-gedomineerde sorteering genetiese algoritme (NSGA-II), istoegepas op sekere spoelafvoering rioolstelsel moontlikhede wat gesimuleerde evolusionêre prosesse van genetiese seleksie, oorplasing, en mutasie gebruik om 'n aantal gepaste oplossings te balanseer met inagname van al die gegewe doelwitte. Belanghebbendes kan in die toekoms gebruik maak van die resultate afgelei in hierdie tesis in besluitnemings prosesse om die bes-passende oplossing vir hul bekommernisse en prioriteite te vind. Verskillende modelle vir elk van die bogenoemde doelwitte is geïnstalleer in die nie-gedomineerde sorteering genetiese algoritme en toegepas op 'n hipotetiese basislyn rioolstelsel probleem. Die resultate toon dat die drie-objektief optimalisering benadering die beste oplossing vir die probleem lewer. Hierdie benadering word tans nie in die praktyk toegepas nie, as gevolg van sy inherente kompleksiteite. Desnieteenstaande, kan hierdie benadering in die toekoms die norm word.

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

The Bottelary River area is located in a Mediterranean climate region, where the agricultural sector plays an important role. During the dry summer season, there is not enough precipitation to meet the agricultural irrigation requirements. Some farmers extract river water which is practically the final treated effluent from the Scottsdene Wastewater Treatment Works to irrigate crops. This research investigated the use of treated effluent for agricultural irrigation in this area, particularly focused on the effluent quality, farmers perception, and the potential extent.

Submitted in fulfillment for the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Technology: Biotechnology, Durban University of Technology, 2012. / Nitrification is a crucial step in biological nutrient removal (BNR) processes, mostly carried out by a group of nitrifying bacteria which includes ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidising bacteria (NOB). Nitrification failure has proven to be a common operational problem in full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) since nitrifying bacteria are very sensitive to sudden changes in environmental or plant operating conditions. The current investigation was carried out to advance our understanding of the distribution of nitrifying bacterial populations and their performance at three different BNR plants in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The latest molecular techniques such as fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH)-confocal scanning laser microscopy (CSLM), polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time quantitative PCR (Q-PCR) were applied to detect and quantify nitrifying bacteria. When using FISH to target the nitrifying population, it necessitated optimising pre-treatment protocols of the samples to improve accuracy during quantification. Sonication was found to be the superior method of dispersion based on the least disruption of nitrifier cell integrity, irrespective of the sludge type. The effect of plant configurations and wastewater characteristics on the distribution of the nitrifying bacterial population and subsequently on the nitrification performance was evaluated using FISH and PCR. FISH results revealed the dominance of Nitrosomonas (AOB), Nitrobacter (NOB) and Nitrospira (NOB) for all BNR plants. The 16S rRNA analysis of PCR products using genus-specific primers, revealed the presence of more than one species of the same group at these plants. Nitrosomonas spp. including Nitrosomonas halophila, Nitrosomonas eutropha, Nitrosomonas europaea, Nitrosomonas aestuarii and an unidentified Nitrosomonas spp. were found to dominate among the AOB and Nitrobacter vulgaris, Nitrobacter alkalicus, Nitrobacter hamburgensis and an unidentified Nitrobacter spp. were the dominant species for NOB. Among these species, Nitrosomonas aestuarii, Nitrosomonas europaea, Nitrobacter hamburgensis were detected only from the industrial wastewater samples. The efficiency of two commonly used techniques viz., FISH and Q-PCR for the detection of nitrifiers from WWTP were also studied and compared, specifically targeting Nitrobacter sp. Even though there were slight variations in the quantification results, changes in the Nitrobacter community at these plants were consistent for both FISH and Q-PCR results. Both techniques have their own limitations and advantages. This study has helped to add to the platform of understanding the distribution and activity of nitrifying bacteria by correlating population dynamics with the operational parameters at full-scale level. The observations made in this study will assist researchers and engineers to minimise future nitrification failure at full-scale BNR plants. This study also confirmed the highly complex activities of wastewater treatment processes, which is dependant on a number of factors. Specific AOB or NOB predominant in wastewater rather suggests that the wastewater type and characteristics may contribute to significantly different microbial environments. Among the AOB, Nitrosomonas dominated at all BNR plants throughout the study period and for NOB both Nitrobacter and Nitrospira were found in significant numbers but their dominance varied across the plants. These dissimilar, distinct distribution patterns could be attributed to their environment which in turn impacted on the nitrification performance of the system. It was also noted that the co-existence of more than one group of these communities at the same plant could help the plant escape complete functional failures such as nitrification, due to sudden changes in temperature and substrate concentrations, as this function can be performed by different groups. Although it would have been meritorious to conduct a nitrogen balance in this study, this was not possible since the research focused on full-scale systems. / National Research Foundation / D