Options to improve the coagulation process operation in a drinking water treatment plant. Case study

Aluminum salts are widely used across Romania in surface water treatment as coagulants. It is well-known that the efficiency of these coagulants has a complex dependency on the nature of the raw water, being affected by temperature, pH, and suspended solids. The objective of this case study was to compare the coagulation-flocculation efficiency process of raw water from the Bega River, at low temperature and turbidity, taking into account the use of alternative coagulating agents such as alum, poly aluminum chloride (PAC), and their mixing in 1:1 ratio. The raw water samples were treated using the "Jar Test" procedure, comparable with the current plant conditions at Timisoara Waterworks and taking into account possible operational improvements. For the mixture method applied in which was combined alum and PAC in 1:1 mixing ratio were achieved lower concentrations in aluminum residual, TOC, and turbidity.

Reducing Environment Pollution by Reusing of Alum Sludge Waste in Stone Mastic Asphalt Mixtures

Globally, a huge quantity of alum sludge waste is produced as a by-product material from drinking water treatment plants that utilize aluminum salts as an essential coagulate and is the most generally produced water treatment remaining sludge around the world, which causes a serious environmental problem. Direct discarding of this substance has ecological effects. Hence, it is important to reuse this alum sludge waste material in such a manner to diminish its detrimental impacts on the environment. This research investigates the possibility of reusing alum sludge waste as a partial replacement of cement filler in stone mastic asphalt (SMA) paving mixtures. For this investigation, the alum sludge was used as a filler material in SMA mixtures in two modes; dried alum sludge at 110°C and burned alum sludge at 700°C. Different percentages of alum sludge were used as a replacement by the total weight of mineral filler at 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%. The results showed that using alum sludge as a substitution of filler in SMA mixtures reduces the performance of the mixtures in terms of Marshall properties and tensile strength for both dried and burned alum sludge compared with a standard mix. However, the performance of the mixtures containing burned alum sludge gave a better performance than the mixtures containing dried alum sludge.

A bioassay of the toxic effects of aluminum chloride and aluminum sulfate using Auloforus (Dero furcata)

The analysis of the toxicity of aluminum salts is determined by the fact that aluminum cation is contained in drinking water, artificial dyes and additives, medicines, vaccines, aerosols, and there is also a correlation between the concentration of aluminum ion in brain tissues and clinical manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease. The article presents the results of biotesting the toxic effects of aluminum chloride and sulfate using Aulophorus (Dero furcata). Currently, the methods of bioassay do not have a generally recognized and standardized system of biological analysis, there are no unambiguous requirements that an indicator system should meet. These worms are a biotest object, because its reaction to the environment can be traced by its creation of conglomerates. The behavior of Auloforus in the experiment depends on the concentration, the time spent in aluminum solutions, as well as on the specific salt. When comparing the dynamics of the behavior of Auloforus in experimental samples of aluminum solutions, we established toxic concentrations. It was found that aluminum chloride salts have a less toxic effect than aluminum sulfate.

USE OF MODIFIED REAGENTS SOLUTIONS WHEN PREPARING DRINKING WATER

Currently, attention is paid to the intensification of the process of natural and wastewater treatment, improvement of technology, development of new effective methods of intensification of water treatment. This will simplify the existing technology of water treatment, reduce labor-intensive processes of preparation and dosing of reagents, reduce the cost of operating treatment plants, increase their productivity, improve quality and reduce the cost of treated water. Treatment of water with a modified coagulant solution allows to increase the hydraulic size of the coagulated suspension. The strongest effect of the modified coagulant solution has on the hydraulic suspension size of 0.2 mm/s and less, i.e. the smallest and the suspension, which is difficult to remove, which creates conditions for more intensive sedimentation in settling tanks and improve the quality of water clarification and fed to fast filters. It has been experimentally determined that the treatment of water with a modified solution of aluminum sulfate coagulant should be performed when the content of suspended solids in the clarified water is up to 100–150 mg / dm3. The color of the clarified water during treatment with a modified solution of aluminum sulfate coagulant does not depend on the content of suspended solids and is 1.5-1.6 times lower than the color than when using a conventional coagulant solution. It is established that the use of a modified solution of aluminum sulfate coagulant in water purification can reduce the residual aluminum content in clarified water by an average of 50-60%. The results of researches of the modified solutions of reagents which are used at preparation of drinking water are presented. It is established that water treatment with a modified solution of aluminum sulfate coagulant allows to improve the quality of drinking water preparation by suspended solids, color, reduce the content of aluminum salts in the clarified water, thereby increasing the environmental safety of drinking water.

Vaccine containing immunologic adjuvants with a wide range of activity to provide protection against COVID-19

This paper proposes a wide spectrum immunologic adjuvant for vaccine development against COVID-19 which is the current global problem. It has been reported that a wide range of immune cells are involved in the body's response to SARS CoV2 infection. Therefore, vaccine with a wide-spectrum immunologic adjuvant can be used to provide protection against COVID-19. Lack of adjuvants that can induce the required immune responses is a serious impediment to vaccine development against this devastating virus. The approved adjuvants such as aluminum salts and MF59 exhibit a narrow range of activity. In an attempt to solve this problem, it is crucial to develop new adjuvants which can trigger a wide range of immune cells.

Vaccine containing immunologic adjuvants with a wide range of activity to provide protection against COVID-19

This paper proposes a wide spectrum immunologic adjuvant for vaccine development against COVID-19 which is the current global problem. It has been reported that a wide range of immune cells are involved in the body’s response to SARS CoV2 infection. Therefore, vaccine with a wide-spectrum immunologic adjuvant can be used to provide protection against COVID-19. Lack of adjuvants that can induce the required immune responses is a serious impediment to vaccine development against this devastating virus. The approved adjuvants such as aluminum salts and MF59 exhibit a narrow range of activity. In an attempt to solve this problem, it is crucial to develop new adjuvants which can trigger a wide range of immune cells.