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Water pollution has become a global issue with impacts in all countries but particularly those undergoing rapid urbanisation such as China. The review for this thesis established that in 2015 China had 3,910 urban treatment plants with daily treatment capacity of 167million cubic metres. This treatment capacity was able to serve more than 90% of the population in urban regions. Compared to the previous 20 years, these treatment facilities represented a major improvement. However, the thesis uses recent annual environmental reports to show that this level of treatment is still not enough to avoid serious water pollution, more than 30% of Chinese rivers were classified as polluted. The main reason for this it is suggested is that most of treatment infrastructure is for urban areas and the rural areas still lack even basic treatment and rural communities represents about half the total Chinese population. The statistics reported in Chapter 2.1 indicates only 25.3% of towns and 11% of villages are connected to treatment facilities. It was concluded that this lower treatment rate was the major factor impacting on the water environment. Therefore, it is important to improve treatment infrastructure in China remote areas. The literature suggested that trickling filter (TF) technology had advantages as wastewater treatment in this type of situation namely Chinese rural areas. This thesis therefore reports on research to upgrade the TF basic processes to remove newly prioritized nutrient pollutants using novel, sustainable and easily available local media, these were; zeolite, maifan stone, recycled concrete aggregate (RCA), brick, blast furnace slag and dolomite. The media were screened using simple absorption tests first focussing on P removal and then a short-listed group tested under dynamic pilot scale. Further static experiments were carried out on this group to understand the mechanisms involved. The pilot tests used the selected concrete and brick. The best performers against traditional media controls and the results showed pollutant removal (COD, TSS, Turbidity, TOC and N) in line with previous models. The media, except concrete, however released phosphorus. This was further confirmed by batch tests with different operating conditions which found the media released P when the initial P concentration was below 10mg/l or above 15mg/l. Concrete was not affected and continued to adsorb P under all conditions (Chapter 4). It was recommended that tests using crushed concrete for tertiary treatment be carried out. Concrete was further studies by isotherm models the best fit was the Langmuir equation with a maximum adsorption of 6.88mg/g. The mechanism of adsorption was ionic attraction determined by kinetic study and thermodynamic models. The adsorption capacity was compared with other literature, and the results from this study suggested a larger size of crushed concrete (2-5mm) could be used for P removal as effectively as smaller sizes. In order to determine the phase of the P adsorbed, sequential extractions were carried out. The results confirmed labile or easily removed P (LBP) dominated (44%) followed by refractory or occluded P (O-P), Ca-P, Mg-P and Al-P. The literature, suggested LBP would be easily available to plants and the RCA could be reused for plant nutrient supply. Different grades of RCA in terms of their original water to cement ratio (W/C) were also tested for P removal. The study showed high W/C ratio removed more P due to the greater porosity and larger pore sizes than the lower W/C ratio.

Les systèmes agroforestiers stockent du carbone dans la biomasse des arbres. Cependant leur intérêt ne se limite pas à ce carbone stocké sous forme de bois. En effet, les arbres produisent de grandes quantités de litières, et apportent également du carbone dans les horizons profonds du sol par la mortalité et l’exsudation racinaire. Or, les sols agricoles, ayant de très faibles teneurs en matière organique, ont un potentiel de stockage en carbone bien plus important que les sols forestiers. A ce jour, il n’existe pratiquement pas de travaux permettant d’avoir une estimation de l’impact des arbres agroforestiers sur le carbone du sol. La plupart des études sont en effet menées sur le stockage de carbone dans la biomasse aérienne des arbres. Une étude a ainsi estimé qu’en climat tempéré et pour des densités comprises entre 50 et 100 arbres/ha, le stockage de carbone serait compris entre 1.5 et 4 tC/ha/an, ce qui est très important comparé au potentiel de stockage d’autres systèmes de culture. On se propose donc dans ce travail de contribuer significativement à la connaissance sur les possibilités de stockage de C dans les sols en agroforesterie. Tout d’abord, nous quantifierons les stocks de C dans les parcelles agroforestières et les comparerons aux témoins agricoles. Nous étudierons également l’hétérogénéité spatiale de ces stocks, sous la ligne d’arbres ou sous la culture intercalaire, et ce à différentes profondeurs. Dans un deuxième temps, nous étudierons les entrées de carbone au sol, notamment via la mortalité racinaire des arbres. Puis, nous étudierons les processus liés à la stabilisation de ce carbone dans les horizons profonds du sol. Enfin, nous chercherons à savoir si l’apport de carbone frais dans les horizons du sol ne pourrait pas entraîner une minéralisation d’une partie du carbone stable du sol, phénomène connu sous le nom du priming effect, et qui pourrait jouer un rôle non négligeable dans le bilan de carbone de ces systèmes. La modélisation sera utilisée afin d’estimer le stockage de carbone sur le long terme. L’étude sera menée dans un contexte de système de culture méditerranéen, sur un site expérimental d’exception. L’analyse mécaniste fournira le cadre conceptuel pour la compréhension de la dynamique du C dans d’autres systèmes agroforestiers à l’avenir. / Agroforestry is a land use type where trees are associated with crops and/or animals within the same field. This agroecosystem could help mitigating climate change, and also contribute to its adaptation. The goal of this thesis was to evaluate the potential of soil organic carbon storage under agroforestry systems. This study was performped at the oldest experimental site in France, a trial supervised by INRA since 1995, but also at farmers' fields. Soil organic carbon stocks were compared between agroforestry and agricultural plots, down to 2 m soil depth. All organic inputs to the soil were quantified (tree roots, leaf litter, crop roots and residues). The stability of additionnal stored carbon was caracterised with soil organic matter fractionation, and soil incubations. A model of soil organic carbon dynamic was described in order to better undrestand this dynamic in agroforestry, especially in deep soil layers. This study revealed the interest and the potential of agroforestry systems in increasing soil organic carbon stocks, with accumulation rates of 0.09 to 0.46 t C ha -1 yr -1. It also reveals the role of tree rows in this storage, and the importance of carbon inputs from root mortality. However, it raises concerns about the stability of this storage.

Studies were conducted to evaluate the impact of landfill leachate discharge on the operation of waste water treatment plants (WWTPs). Two aspects of interferences were found: one is UV quenching substances, which are bio-refractory and able to penetrate the biological treatment processes, consequently interfere the UV disinfection in WWTPs. The other one is organic nitrogen, which can pass the nitrification-denitrification process and contribute to the effluent total nitrogen (TN). Also, treatability study was conducted for landfill gas (LFG) condensate. In a laboratory study, leachate samples were fractionated into humic acids (HA), fulvic acids (FA) and Hydrophilic (Hpi) fractions, the specific UV254 absorbance (SUVA254) of the three fractions follows: HA > FA > Hpi. However, the overall UV254 absorbance of the Hpi fraction was important because there was more hydrophilic organic matter than humic or fulvic acids. It was found that the size distribution of the three fractions follows: HA > FA > Hpi. This indicates that membrane separation following biological treatment is a promising technology for the removal of humic substances from landfill leachates. Leachate samples treated in this manner could usually meet the UV transmittance requirement of the POTWs. Also, nitrogen species in landfill leachates under various stabilization states were investigated. Although the effect of landfill stabilization state on the characteristics of organic matter and ammonia is well documented, there are few investigations into the landfill leachate organic nitrogen under different stabilization stages. Ammonia was found to leach out slower than organic matter and can maintain a constant level within the first a couple of years (< 10 years). The concentration and biodegradability of organic nitrogen were found to decrease with landfill age. A size distribution study showed that most of organic nitrogen in landfill leachates is < 1 kDa. The protein concentration was analyzed and showed a strong correlation with the organic nitrogen. Different slopes of regression curves of untreated and treated leachates indicate that protein is more biodegradable than the other organic nitrogen species in landfill leachates. XAD-8 resin was employed to isolate the hydrophilic fraction of leachate samples, hydrophilic organic nitrogen was found to be more biodegradable/bioavailable than the hydrophobic fractions. Furthermore, biological and physical-chemical treatment methods were applied to a landfill biogas (LFG) condensate to explore the feasible treatment alternatives for organic contaminant and arsenic removal efficiency. Sequencing batch reactor (SBR) showed effectiveness for the degradation of organic matter, even in an environment containing high levels of arsenic. This indicated a relatively low toxicity of organic arsenic as compared to inorganic arsenic. However, for arsenic removal, oxidation-coagulation, including biological oxidation, conventional oxidation and advanced oxidation followed by ferric salt coagulation, and carbon adsorption were not effective for what is believed to be tri-methyl arsenic. Among these, advanced oxidation-coagulation showed the best treatment efficiency (15.1% removal). Only reverse osmosis (RO) could reduce the arsenic concentration to an acceptable level to meet discharge limits. These results implied high stability and low toxicity of organic arsenic. / Ph. D.

Simultaneous size fractionation of plankton populations associated with NaH^14CO_3 and ^3H-glucose uptake was employed in eutrophic Lake Texoma (Texas and Oklahoma) and oligotrophic Flathead Lake (Montana). Autoradiography was utilized to determine the role of specific microorganisms in community metabolism. Ultraplankton (0.45-10 μm) dominated plankton numbers and metabolic activity in both aquatic systems. Many of the most abundant species were not the most productive, in terms of inorganic C fixation. Rates of heterotrophic uptake of ^3H-glucose were small in comparison to photolithotrophic uptake in both lakes, Photoheterotrophy was more extensive in Flathead Lake, Autoradiographs indicated that bacteria were responsible for observed photoheterotrophy. Oscillatoria sp. exhibited. mixotrophy in Lake Texoma,

Les sols de montagne représentent d'importants réservoirs de carbone (C) potentiellement vulnérables aux changements climatiques et changements d'usage qui les affectent de manière amplifiée. Or la grande variabilité de ces milieux, leur faible accessibilité ainsi que le manque d'outils de mesure appropriés limitent nos connaissances qui restent aujourd'hui très fragmentaires en ce qui concerne les stocks, la chimie et la réactivité du carbone organique des sols (COS). Ces informations sont pourtant nécessaires pour appréhender l'évolution de ces sols et de leur C dans ce contexte de changements globaux. Les objectifs de ce travail de thèse étaient (i) d'accéder à une meilleure compréhension de la nature, de la stabilité et de la vulnérabilité du COS dans une mosaïque d'écosystèmes des Préalpes calcaires (massif du Vercors), (ii) de rechercher des outils de caractérisation rapides et fiables adaptés à l'étude et au suivi du COS à l'échelle du paysage, et enfin (iii) de proposer des indices pour l'évaluation et le suivi de la qualité des sols en milieu de montagne. Dans un premier temps, nous avons testé l'application de la pyrolyse Rock-Eval pour l'étude du COS à grande échelle sur un ensemble d'unités écosystémiques. Nous avons ensuite comparé la pyrolyse Rock-Eval à deux techniques classiques d'étude de la matière organique du sol (MOS) : le fractionnement granulodensimétrique de la MOS et la spectroscopie moyen infrarouge. Ces approches analytiques couplées nous ont permis de quantifier les stocks de C à l'échelle de la zone d'étude et d'expliquer la stabilité et la vulnérabilité du COS sous des angles variés. Les facteurs responsables des patrons observés dans les différentes unités écosystémiques sont discutés. Ce travail a également confirmé la pertinence de l'outil Rock-Eval pour répondre aux objectifs fixés. Parallèlement, des approches biologiques nous ont permis d'évaluer l'importance de la composante microbienne dans ces sols. Enfin, des indices évaluant le statut organique des sols (stockage de COS, fertilité des sols, vulnérabilité du COS) sont proposés pour constituer des outils de gestion et d'aide à la décision. / Mountain soils are major reservoirs of carbon (C), potentially vulnerable to climate and land use changes that affect them significantly. However, the great variability of these soils, their limited accessibility and the lack of appropriate measurement tools restrict our knowledge. Today, our comprehension of the biogeochemistry of mountain soils remains very incomplete regarding stocks, chemistry and reactivity of soil organic carbon (SOC). Yet this information is necessary to understand the evolution of soil carbon in the current context of global change. The objectives of this work were (i) to gain a better understanding of the nature, stability and vulnerability of SOC in a mosaic of ecosystems in a calcareous massif in the Alps (Vercors massif), (ii) to search for fast and reliable characterization tools, suitable for the study and monitoring of COS at the landscape scale, and (iii) to propose indicators for the assessment and monitoring of soil quality in mountain regions. As a first step, we tested the application of Rock-Eval pyrolysis for the study of COS at large-scale on a set of ecosystem units. Then, we compared the Rock-Eval approach to two conventional techniques for soil organic matter (SOM) study: the particle-size fractionation of SOM, and the mid-infrared spectroscopy. These coupled analytical approaches allowed us to quantify C stocks across the study area, and explain the stability and the vulnerability of COS at various angles. Factors responsible for the patterns observed in the different eco-units are discussed. This work also confirmed the relevance of the Rock-Eval tool to achieve our previous objectives. Biological approaches allowed us to assess the significance of microbial pool in these soils. Finally, indices assessing the status of SOM (SOC storage, soil fertility, vulnerability COS) were proposed and constituted interesting management tools for decision-makers.