Livestock Waste Pollution & Remediation

Bion Environmental discusses their waste remediation & renewable energy production during an Exclusive Interview at the FSX Investment Conference.

(PRWEB) December 10, 2012 -- During this exclusive interview...Scott expanded on the livestock waste problem in the US. “You got 9 million dairy cows in this country, you got about a hundred million beef cattle and calves, about 60 million swine and about 2 billion chickens and turkeys,” says Scott “and they create far more organic waste than the humans in the United States. In the US we spend about $60 billion a year cleaning up our human waste and we spend essentially no money cleaning up that larger source.” He states the issue has been ignored so far but that at this point the US EPA has recognized the scope of the problem and is now working on incentivizing the agricultural industry to address the issue and save money for tax payers. He adds that Bion has taken the best aspects of municipal waste water treatment and scaled it down to a very specific application of treating the livestock waste stream at its source. Scott indicates this biological treatment system allows Bion to clean the problem up at the source instead of having to have a municipal waste water treatment plant make up for those reductions downstream at a much higher cost.

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EPA recommends new Recreational Water Quality Criteria

EPA recommends new Recreational Water Quality Criteria to better protect public health

WASHINGTON -- Pursuant to an order from a U.S. District Court and as required by the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today recommended new recreational water quality criteria for states that will help protect peoples’ health during visits to beaches and waters year round. The science-based criteria provide information to help states improve public health protection by addressing a broader range of illness symptoms, better accounting for pollution after heavy rainfall, providing more protective recommendations for coastal waters, encouraging early alerts to beachgoers and promoting rapid water testing. The criteria released today do not impose any new requirements; instead, they are a tool that states can choose to use in setting their own standards.

The criteria provide states and communities with the most up to date science and information that they can use to determine whether water quality is safe for the public and when to issue an advisory or a beach closure. EPA has provided a variety of other tools to help states evaluate and manage recreational waters.

The new criteria are based on several recent health studies and use a broader definition of illness to recognize that symptoms may occur without a fever, including a number of stomach ailments. EPA also narrowed from 90 days to 30 days the time period over which the results of monitoring samples may be averaged. This produces a more accurate picture of the water quality for that given time, allowing for improved notification time about water quality to the public. This shortened time period especially accounts for heavy rainfall that can wash pollution into rivers, lakes or the ocean or cause sewer overflows.

The strengthened recommendations include:
A short-term and long-term measure of bacteria levels that are to be used together to ensure that water quality is properly evaluated.
Stronger recommendations for coastal water quality so public health is protected similarly in both coastal and fresh waters.
A new rapid testing method that states can use to determine if water quality is safe within hours of water samples being taken.
An early-alert approach for states to use to quickly issue swimming advisories for the public.
Tools that allow states to predict water quality problems and identify sources of pollution, as well as to develop criteria for specific beaches.

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Strategic Business Initiative To Accelerate Organic Waste Management Solutions

Penton Waste Industry Group Launches Strategic Business Initiative To Accelerate Organic Waste Management Solutions

Centerpiece is wide-ranging content partnership with former US Composting Council leader, Dr. Stuart Buckner

STAMFORD, Conn., Nov. 27, 2012 /PR Newswire/ -- In response to rising public and private-sector demand for more sustainable management of organic waste, Penton's Waste Industry Group today announced a strategic business initiative to bring new information, insights and thought-leadership to this fast-growing global market segment.

The centerpiece of the initiative is an exclusive partnership with former US Composting Council Executive Director, Dr. Stuart Buckner, to create original content, promote professional education and lead a new industry conversation about innovation and opportunities to responsibly manage organics residuals.

Penton's Waste Industry Group is a network of business information services that includes WasteExpo, North America's largest solid waste and recycling tradeshow, and WasteAge/waste360.com, the online hub for the $75 billionsolid waste industry.

Dr. Buckner, who now heads Buckner Environmental Associates, will work with the Waste Age/waste360.com editorial staff to expand conference program workshops at the upcoming WasteExpo 2013 in New Orleans. He'll also produce a quarterly webcast and bi-monthly articles for Waste Age/waste360.com.

'From waste handlers and municipalities to business owners and environmentalists, the effective management of organic waste is rapidly becoming a major industrial issue,' said Waste Age/waste360.com Content Director and Editor, Steven Averett. 'The ongoing debate over how best to handle this material, be it through composting, anaerobic digestion or disposal in gas-to-energy landfills, will be a defining issue for the industry in the coming years. Our work with Dr. Buckner will frame the debate.'

Waste Industry Group Managing Director, Rita Ugianskisnoted the initiative adds a significant new leadership channel to the group's business.

'Now solid waste and organics professionals can gain the high-level education, training, equipment and product solutions and networking access they need across our entire service portfolio,' said Ugianskis. 'particularly at WasteExpo, which, beginning at our 2013 show in New Orleans, promises to become a one-stop event for the organics industry, too.'

'I'm excited to work with Penton's Waste Industry Group on this leadership initiative,' said Dr. Buckner. 'Our unique partnership will extend the reach of my life's work in composting and organics management to help more waste industry professionals better understand this critical area of our industry.'

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MUCKBUSTER Micro Anaerobic Digestion Technology

SEaB Energy’s MUCKBUSTER Micro Anaerobic Digestion Technology is Centrepiece for 6 leading UK University teams entering dynamo enterprise challenge 2012

SOUTHAMPTON, UK -- SEaB Energy (SEaB), the global market leader in on-site containerised anaerobic digestion is providing the technology content and business challenge to entrepreneurial students from universities in the South UK who are preparing to take part in a competition to hone their business skills and promote eco-friendly energy production. Sixty students from 6 universities will compete in this year’s Dynamo Enterprise Challenge 2012, sponsored by the University of Southampton Science Park and WSX Enterprise – Fusion.

Rosalind Davies from Career Destinations at the University of Southampton is organising the event in collaboration with local partner universities, says: “This is an opportunity for students to demonstrate their skills in business and enterprise and gain valuable experience to show potential employers what they can achieve.”

The teams of young people from the universities of Bournemouth, Chichester, Portsmouth, Southampton, Southampton Solent and Winchester will be provided a set of challenges by SEaB to devise routes to market and compelling market propositions. Special emphasis will be in new ways to work with social media and the global “consumer empowerment” possibilities for recycling their food waste. Also the market disruption for transportation as the shift goes to a decentralised processing of organic waste and the elimination of the current carbon footprint for centralised organic waste disposal will be included. Presentations will feature MUCKBUSTER the on-site containerised anaerobic digestion solution – which turns manures, food and other organic waste into biogas, electricity, heat and high-grade organic fertiliser.

Sandra Sassow, CEO at SEaB, comments: “MUCKBUSTER is a game changing technology in waste management and decentralised green energy generation. It offers great customer benefits and huge export potential. We are really looking forward to seeing how the students would want to apply this technology in fresh and compelling ways.”

The students will also hear from guest speakers with expertise in entrepreneurship, marketing and business start-up. Peter Birkett, Chief Executive of the University of Southampton Science Park, adds: “The Science Park is all about enterprise and growing business. By hosting this event, we hope to enthuse and inspire a new generation of talent and perhaps meet some of the business leaders of the future.”

This year’s Dynamo Enterprise Challenge, an annual inter-university enterprise competition, will be hosted at the University of Southampton Science Park in Chilworth on Wednesday 14 November 2012, during Global Entrepreneurship Week (12-18 November).

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Hydrogen-gas leak shuts Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant

DTE Energy's Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant is shut down for an indefinite period because of a hydrogen gas leak in the plant’s water cooling system.

The cause is under investigation, Guy Cerullo, a DTE Energy spokesman, said Thursday. The utility will receive power from other plants until the problem is resolved, he said, adding, “There was no safety issue.” Officials shut down the plant at 9:21 a.m. Wednesday as a precautionary step to keep equipment from overheating.

The plant’s main generator is on the non-nuclear side of the plant and has two separate cooling systems — one uses water and the other uses hydrogen, Mr. Cerullo said. The problem is that a higher-than-normal level of hydrogen gas was leaking into the water cooling system and decreasing its effectiveness.

Viktoria Mitlyng, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said the situation is “not a safety concern for the public as far as nuclear energy goes.”

Source: http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2012/11/09/Hydrogen-gas-leak-shuts-Fermi-2-Nuclear-Power-Plant.html

How safe is Fluoride in our drinking water?

Corey Sturmer didn't know much about fluoride in his drinking water until a year ago, when his dentist told him he has fluorisis, a condition that causes white spotting, yellowing and browning of the teeth, and erosion of the enamel.

"I asked my dentist ... is there fluoride in the drinking water? And he said, yeah ... it's good for your teeth. So then I began to wonder, if it's so good for your teeth, why am I, at 25 years old, having all these issues with my teeth?" Sturmer said.

Sturmer was a college athlete. He eats healthy food and exercises.  He started doing research and found evidence that convinced him fluoride might not be as safe as he was led to believe. He came across an I-Team story ABC11 did five years ago in which a Durham dentist told us he believed we're getting too much Fluoride.

"Fluoride in the water is essentially a drug. It's an uncontrolled use of a drug," offered dentist Michael Fleming.

Sturmer said what he learned made him take action.

"That motivated me to reach to you and to continue spreading the word and building up the website and talking to people," said Sturmer.

Sturmer developed a http://www.durhamagainstfluoride.com website and took his cause to the Durham County Health Department. He's also raising awareness by putting information on cars in downtown Durham.

Sturmer said he's so concerned about the issue that he filters his tap water. His crusade may be limited to Durham, but he's not alone in his fight. A movement to ban fluoride in drinking water is heating up across the country.

In Portland, Oregon this fall, residents protested a city council vote to begin  fluoridating tap water next year. They have enough signatures on a petition to take the issue  to the ballot box next year. In Wichita, Kansas last week, voters rejected a plan to add fluoride to their public water supply.

"Our task was essentially one of just education.  Myself, I thought fluoride was a good thing not long ago," explained Jonathan Hall with Wichitans Opposed to Fluoride.

As the I-Team dug into the science behind the fluoride controversy, we found study after study dating back to the 80s from respected academic and scientific institutions that connect fluoride to health dangers. Some of the studies were funded by the government. They  suggest fluoride can be linked to brain, blood and bone deficiencies in humans. This past summer, Harvard University released a report after reviewing 27 studies of children in China exposed to fluoride. It concluded the higher the fluoride exposure, the lower the child's IQ.

One of the most recognized reports was published in 2006 by The National Academy of Sciences. It found fluoride can affect the thyroid gland and potentially lower the intelligence of children.

"EPA's drinking water standards are supposed to protect all persons against anticipated adverse health effects of the contaminant in question," explained Kathleen Thiessen - one of the scientists who worked on the 400-page study. "And we concluded after three years worth of work that the drinking water standard for fluoride was not protected and cannot be assumed to be safe for humans."

Thiessen  said the EPA was warned about potential fluoride health dangers by one of its own chemists more than a decade ago. Dr. William Hirzy testified before a Senate subcommittee in 2000.  He was representing the views of EPA scientists and staff who analyze hazards in the environment.

"In 1997, we voted to oppose fluoridation, and our opposition has grown stronger as more adverse data on the practice has come in," said Hirzy.

"The CDC and others say whatever beneficial effect there is from fluoride is from topical use. It's not from swallowing it. It never has been from swallowing it," said Thiessen.

The I-Team discovered most western countries do not fluoridate their water. Dental records kept by the World Health Organization show tooth decay in those countries has declined at the same rate as here in the United States - where we do fluoridate our water. The American Dental Association has endorsed fluoridation since it began in this country more than 50 years ago.

"[It] has been shown to be a very safe and very effective preventive measure for treating a disease that is rampant in our population," said Dr. Tim Wright with the UNC School of Dentistry. "There is no public health measure that is as cost effective as water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay ... Fluoride is like so many things that in the right amount it's very beneficial, and if you have too much, too much is not a good thing. So are we getting too much?"

Six years ago, the ADA thought infants  might be getting too much fluoride and it warned parents not to use fluoridated water - but bottled water - to mix  baby formula. Dentists also want to make sure children don't get too much when they brush their teeth.

"That is why we currently recommend a smear or a grain-sized amount. So a very small amount in a child from the time they first get their teeth - which is six months to a year - until they turn 3. And then at 3, the recommendation is to go to more of a pea-sized amount so there's a little bit more," Dr. Wright explained.

Sturmer points to the warning label on toothpaste.

"If you look on the other side of that toothpaste tube, it says 'Do not swallow.' We've been taught as kids, when you're brushing your teeth, do not swallow the toothpaste foam. Why is that?" he asked. "Because fluoride is poisonous ... So why is it in the water? Why do we need to drink it?"

The EPA doesn't believe the amount of fluoride in water is causing harm. It has not changed fluoride standards for drinking water more than six years after the report by The National Academy of Sciences, and that frustrates scientist Kathleen Thiessen.

"There probably never was a beneficial effect. Certainly by now when we have fluoride in toothpaste, we have fluoride in mouth rinse, we have fluoride in a number of sources. It is extremely easy to have too much fluoride. It's much harder to control it," she said.

"I think all city governments ... need to reconsider water fluoridation. The science is out there, the citizens who are concerned are out there, and they are making their voices known," said Sturmer.

Sturmer has convinced the Durham County Public Health Department to look into the safety of fluoride in the water.

The National Institutes of Health - for the first time ever - is currently funding an animal study to assess fluoride's effect on the brain.

Source: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/abc11_investigates&id=8887007

Natural gas leak started Mannford apartment fire

Investigators have determined that a natural gas leak was the cause of a huge fire that destroyed several apartments in Mannford and injured 6 people, including a volunteer firefighter.

The blaze broke out Monday night at the Salt Creek Apartments in Mannford.

In a sign of the times perhaps, firefighters first focused their attention on the possibility of a meth lab as the cause.

"They had kind of looked toward that initially, and then with the type of explosion that we had and how extensive it was, they started looking elsewhere," said Mannford firefighter Carolyn Smythe.
She said it was the largest fire in recent memory in Mannford, excluding the recent wildfires.

"We were anticipating an apartment fire, just one, got out there and 'holy cow', it was much larger than that," Smythe said.

Source: http://www.krmg.com/news/news/local/natural-gas-leak-started-mannford-apartment-fire/nS5zb/

Nitrogen plant explosion shakes multiple counties

CHEROKEE, AL (WAFF) -

An explosion at a chemical plant in Colbert County sent a man to the hospital late Tuesday night.

Emergency crews responded to the explosion at the Cherokee Nitrogen plant on Industrial Road around 10 p.m.

Colbert County EMA officials said the explosion was a small one.

Residents from as far as Lauderdale County reported they heard a loud boom. Some residents reported the noise shook their homes.

Cherokee Plant General Manager Don Phillips said one employee was injured and sent to Helen Keller Hospital. The employee's name and condition have not been released but Phillips said his injuries were minor.

The explosion happened when a high pressure line ruptured as ammonia was being produced, according to Phillips.

He said there has been some damage to the plant, including some broken windows.

Phillips said the plant is conducting an investigation to determine what exactly caused the pressure line to burst.

The investigation could take days and repairs to the plant could take weeks.

Phillips attributed the loud explosion to the high-pressure nature of the ruptured line.

EMA Director Mike Melton said nothing leaked into the environment and any smells were from fumes. He said there should not have to be any testing done.

No details yet on whether surrounding homes sustained damage.

The Cherokee Fire Department was on the scene along with Colbert County Sheriff's deputies. Crews cleared the area by 1 a.m. Wednesday morning.

Melton said he was pleased with the response of both the plant workers and emergency responders.

Plant management estimates a three to five month outage at the ammonia plant while repairs are made.

Copyright 2012 WAFF. All rights reserved.

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Water-quality ruling to be fought

An attorney representing the Great Bay Coalition communities intends to challenge a judge's recent ruling declining to give a judgment in the coalition's lawsuit against the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.

Earlier this year, the coalition communities of Portsmouth, Exeter, Newmarket, Dover and Rochester filed suit in Merrimack Superior Court against N.H. DES, claiming they failed to conduct a formal and inclusive public rule-making process, as required by law, to establish scientifically defensible water quality standards in its 2009 criteria for the Great Bay estuary.

However, in a Nov. 7 ruling, Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Richard McNamara declined to rule on the suit, saying that it's a federal matter and is nothing he can rule on.

At the heart of the issue for the coalition communities is the cost of upgrading their respective waste water treatment plants. The Environmental Protection Agency is suggesting a nitrogen limit of 3 milligrams per liter, in draft permits issued to Exeter, Newmarket and Dover. The EPA considers this standard the limit of technology and the most costly to implement.

The coalition communities claim N.H. DES is proposing arbitrary water quality standards, which are being followed by the EPA in issuing the permits, and that N.H. DES blocked efforts to allow public participation in an open peer review.

However, McNamara ruled that the EPA could issue stringent nitrogen permits, even without using the N.H. DES 2009 criteria. The 2009 criteria is part of the "Numeric Nutrient Criteria for the Great Bay Estuary," which sets out water quality criteria for nitrogen, algal growth and water clarity for all tidal waters of the estuary.

"Ultimately, the entity that makes any decisions that may harm Petitioners is the EPA. This court has no jurisdiction over the actions of federal administrative agencies such as the EPA," McNamara said in his ruling. "Even if this court ruled that a declaratory judgement is appropriate and that the 2009 criteria constitutes a rule that was improperly promulgated, this ruling would not assist Petitioners. The ruling would prohibit DES from relying on the 2009 criteria or enforcing water effluent limitations based on the 2009 criteria."

Tupper Kinder, attorney for the coalition communities, said he will likely file a motion for reconsideration at the end of this week

Drinking Water Chlorination
A Review of Disinfection Practices and Issues

The treatment and distribution of water for safe use is one of the greatest achievements of the twentieth century. Before cities began routinely treating drinking water with chlorine (starting with Chicago and Jersey City in 1908), cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery and hepatitis A killed thousands of U.S. residents annually. Drinking water chlorination and filtration have helped to virtually eliminate these diseases in the U.S. and other developed countries.

Meeting the goal of clean, safe drinking water requires a multi-barrier approach that includes: protecting source water from contamination, appropriately treating raw water, and ensuring safe distribution of treated water to consumers taps.

During the treatment process, chlorine is added to drinking water as elemental chlorine (chlorine gas), sodium hypochlorite solution or dry calcium hypochlorite. When applied to water, each of these forms free chlorine, which destroys pathogenic (disease-causing) organisms.

Almost all U.S. systems that disinfect their water use some type of chlorine-based process, either alone or in combination with other disinfectants. In addition to controlling disease-causing organisms, chlorination offers a number of benefits including:

•     Reduces many disagreeable tastes and odors;
•     Eliminates slime bacteria, molds and algae that commonly grow in water supply reservoirs, on the walls of water mains and in storage tanks;
•     Removes chemical compounds that have unpleasant tastes and hinder disinfection; and
•     Helps remove iron and manganese from raw water.

As importantly, only chlorine-based chemicals provide residual disinfectant levels that prevent microbial re-growth and help protect treated water throughout the distribution system.

The Risks of Waterborne Disease
Where adequate water treatment is not readily available, the impact on public health can be devastating. Worldwide, about 1.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and twice that many lack adequate sanitation. As a result, the World Health Organization estimates that 3.4 million people, mostly children, die every year from water-related diseases.

Even where water treatment is widely practiced, constant vigilance is required to guard against waterborne disease outbreaks. Well-known pathogens such as E. coli are easily controlled with chlorination, but can cause deadly outbreaks given conditions of inadequate or no disinfection. A striking example occurred in May 2000 in the Canadian town of Walkerton, Ontario. Seven people died and more than 2,300 became ill after E. coli and other bacteria infected the town�s water supply. A report published by the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General concludes that, even after the well was contaminated, the Walkerton disaster could have been prevented if the required chlorine residuals had been maintained.

Some emerging pathogens such as Cryptosporidium are resistant to chlorination and can appear even in high quality water supplies. Cryptosporidium was the cause of the largest reported drinking water outbreak in U.S. history, affecting over 400,000 people in Milwaukee in April 1993. More than 100 deaths are attributed to this outbreak. New regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will require water systems to monitor Cryptosporidium and adopt a range of treatment options based on source water Cryptosporidium concentrations. Most water systems are expected to meet EPA requirements while continuing to use chlorination.

The Challenge of Disinfection Byproducts
While protecting against microbial contamination is the top priority, water systems must also control disinfection byproducts (DBPs), chemical compounds formed unintentionally when chlorine and other disinfectants react with natural organic matter in water. In the early 1970s, EPA scientists first determined that drinking water chlorination could form a group of byproducts known as trihalomethanes (THMs), including chloroform. EPA set the first regulatory limits for THMs in 1979. While the available evidence does not prove that DBPs in drinking water cause adverse health effects in humans, high levels of these chemicals are certainly undesirable. Cost-effective methods to reduce DBP formation are available and should be adopted where possible. However, a report by the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS 2000) strongly cautions:

The health risks from these byproducts at the levels at which they occur in drinking water are extremely small in comparison with the risks associated with inadequate disinfection. Thus, it is important that disinfection not be compromised in attempting to control such byproducts.

Recent EPA regulations have further limited THMs and other DBPs in drinking water. Most water systems are meeting these new standards by controlling the amount of natural organic material prior to disinfection.

Chlorine and Water System Security
The prospect of a terrorist attack has forced all water systems, large and small, to re-evaluate and upgrade existing security measures. Since September 11th, 2001, water system managers have taken unprecedented steps to protect against possible attacks such as chemical or biological contamination of the water supply, disruption of water treatment or distribution, and intentional release of treatment chemicals.

With passage of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Response Act of 2002, Congress required community water systems to assess their vulnerability to a terrorist attack and other intentional acts. As part of these vulnerability assessments, systems assess the transportation, storage and use of treatment chemicals. These chemicals are both critical assets (necessary for delivering safe water) and potential vulnerabilities (may pose significant hazards, if released). Water systems using elemental chlorine, in particular, must determine whether existing protection systems are adequate. If not, they must consider additional measures to reduce the likelihood of an attack or to mitigate the potential consequences.

Disinfection is crucial to water system security, providing the front line of defense against biological contamination. However, conventional treatment barriers in no way guarantee safety from biological attacks. Additional research and funding are needed to improve prevention, detection and responses to potential threats.

The Future of Chlorine Disinfection
Despite a range of new challenges, drinking water chlorination will remain a cornerstone of waterborne disease prevention. Chlorine's wide array of benefits cannot be provided by any other single disinfectant. While alternative disinfectants (including chlorine dioxide, ozone, and ultraviolet radiation) are available, all disinfection methods have unique benefits, limitations, and costs. Water system managers must consider these factors, and design a disinfection approach to match each system's characteristics and source water quality.

In addition, world leaders increasingly recognize safe drinking water as a critical building block of sustainable development. Chlorination can provide cost-effective disinfection for remote rural villages and large cities alike, helping to bring safe water to those in need.
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Recycling Ammonia Emissions as Fertiliser

One of the costs of running a farm can include buying nitrogen in the form of anhydrous ammonia to fertilise crops. But there are other agricultural costs associated with nitrogen, especially when the nitrogen in livestock waste produces pungent - and potentially harmful - ammonia emissions. 

But on 20 June 2011, Agricultural Research Service soil scientists, Matias Vanotti and Ariel Szogi, filed US Patent Application #13/164,363 for an invention that could help change on-farm nitrogen management. It is a system that uses gas-permeable membranes to capture and recycle ammonia from livestock wastewater before the ammonia goes into the air. The two scientists, who work at the ARS Coastal Plains Soil, Water, and Plant Research Center in Florence, South Carolina, found that they could use these membranes to reduce ammonia emissions from livestock waste and capture concentrated liquid nitrogen that could be sold as fertiliser.

The membranes are similar to materials already used in waterproof outdoor gear and in biomedical devices that add oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from blood. Using these materials, the scientists recorded an average removal rate of 45 to 153 milligrams (mg) of ammonia per litre per day when manure ammonia concentrations ranged from 138 to 302mg ammonia per litre. 

When manure pH increased, ammonia recovery also increased. For instance, the scientists were able to recover around 1.2 per cent of the total ammonia emissions per hour from manure with a pH of 8.3. But the recovery rate increased 10 times - to 13 per cent per hour - when the pH was 10.0. 

In a follow-up study, Vanotti and Szogi immersed the membrane module into liquid manure that had 1,290mg of ammonia per litre. After nine days, the total ammonia concentration decreased about 50 per cent to 663mg per litre, and the pH decreased from 8.1 to 7.0. This meant that the gaseous, or free, ammonia in the liquid - the portion of the total ammonia linked to ammonia emissions - decreased 95 per cent from 114.2 to 5.4mg per litre. Using the same process in 10 consecutive batches of raw swine manure, they recovered concentrated nitrogen in a clear solution that contained 53,000mg of ammonia per litre. 

"When we started this research more than 10 years ago, the membranes were very expensive," Dr Vanotti says. "But the prices have come down, so its use for recovering the ammonia in manure is now much more cost-effective." 

The scientists want to scale up the process to see whether the membrane modules would lower ammonia emissions when installed in manure pits below the slotted floors in swine barns or in manure tanks and lagoons. If so, they believe that livestock producers could use the technology to help meet air-quality regulations, save fuel, protect the health of livestock and their human caretakers, improve livestock productivity and recover nitrogen that can be sold as fertiliser.


Source: http://www.thepigsite.com/articles/4130/recycling-ammonia-emissions-as-fertiliser

A15/81 Dissolved Sulfide Monitor

Sulfides can be found naturally in well water and can build up in wastewater collection systems due to anaerobic conditions that frequently occur. They are also used in mercury removal processes and are frequently found in tanning wastes. In drinking water systems, sulfides cause taste and odor problems. In wastewater systems, they can cause damage to concrete structures in collection systems and contribute to odor problems in treatment facilities.

Measurement of dissolved sulfide concentrations has been done primarily by the use of analyzers employing selective ion electrodes (SIE) for sensing. While providing adequate sensitivity, SIE based systems require frequent zero and span adjustments to maintain measurement accuracy. Because of this, most SIE based monitoring systems are relatively expensive and require frequent service.

ATI’s Model A15/81 Dissolved Sulfide Monitor provides an improved method for measuring sulfides in solution. Rather than using an SIE sensor, the A15/81 employs a polarographic H2S gas sensor that is isolated from the sample. The result is a system that can operate continuously on many types of water and wastewater streams with minimal maintenance and adjustment.

The A15/81Monitor takes a unique approach to the measurement of sulfide in solution. In operation, a small amount of sample is pumped into the system and mixed with acid. In acidic solution, hydrosulfide and sulfide ions (HS- and S-2 ) are converted to hydrogen sulfide.  The mixed sample flows into a special chamber where the hydrogen sulfide is stripped from the sample. A sensor located in the gas stream measures the released H2S concentration and displays the results in terms of equivalent sulfide ion concentration in mg/l.

Because sulfide measurements are often made in samples of poor quality, fouling of the analytical system has been a major concern. An important feature of the A15/81 system is the fact that the sensor never comes in contact with the sample. Only the gas stream containing the stripped H2S reaches the sensor. The result is a system that will continue to function, regardless of the quality of the sample. The only requirement is that large particulate be strained from the sample. The analytical system will easily pass particulate as large as 100 microns, so only course screening is required.

Learn more here

City watches water quality following vote

There’s no chloramine going into city drinking water just yet.

City voters narrowly, 3,402 to 3,178, rejected a bond issue for a new filtration system Tuesday. The $5.5 million project was one of two options for bringing the city into compliance with federal drinking water standards. With the bond having failed, Public Works Commissioner Evan Pilachowski is poised to implement the other option, a change of the disinfectant from chlorine to chloramine.

But not quite yet.

At issue is the level of haloacetic acids and other byproducts of the disinfection process in the water. The byproducts are created when chlorine reacts with organic matter in the source water.

The byproduct levels were roughly constant, but the EPA lowered the acceptable maximum several years ago, putting the city in violation and on the path that eventually led to Tuesday’s vote.

However, the last two quarterly tests showed the levels had dropped below the federal threshold.

A recount of Tuesday’s vote is a possibility.

Opposition to chloramine was motivated by claims about health problems supposedly linked to the chemical in other water systems using it. 

Even if a petition for a second vote were circulated, it would not be binding. 

A recount of Tuesday’s vote is also a possibility. 

Costello said the 3.4 percent margin of the vote falls within the 5 percent margin that allows any city voter to request a recount. A request would need to be made to the city clerk with 10 days of the election, the city attorney said.

Source: http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20121108/NEWS01/711089891

Fire breaks out at chlorine products company

Tulsa police shut down roads around the industrial area northeast of 41st and South Sheridan early Tuesday morning after a fire broke out at a spa-supply store, which contained chemicals.

Just before 4 a.m. smoke was spotted coming from the Nature's Choice Spa Products facility in the 6900 block of East 38th Street, just northeast of the 41st and Sheridan intersection.
Fire and HAZMAT officials were concerned because chlorine and other pool-related chemicals are stored in the building.

Several streets in the area were shut down while officials monitored wind conditions.
Chlorine is a toxic gas the irritates the respiratory system.

Officials still urge people with breathing problems are to stay indoors and away from the area.
Drivers were urged to avoid Sheridan from 36th to 41st and Memorial from 36th to 41st for about two hours.


Source: http://www.kjrh.com/dpp/news/local_news/fire-breaks-out-at-chlorine-products-company#ixzz2BYFMcO6r

Q45N Dissolved Ammonia Monitor

Continuous monitoring of ammonia in water and wastewater streams is becoming increasingly important for plant operations and process control. Unfortunately, on-line ammonia monitors are generally very expensive, complex, and labor intensive instruments. Most are automated versions of ammonia selective ion electrodes methods better suited to laboratory measurements. Others are automated colorimetric devices or instrumental methods that are difficult to justify on a cost basis.

ATI has developed a completely new approach to on-line monitoring of ammonia that is far less expensive and much simpler than conventional monitoring equipment. The Q45N Dissolved Ammonia Monitor uses reaction chemistry that converts ammonia in solution to a stable monochloramine compound equivalent in concentration to the original ammonia level. The chloramine concentration is then measured with a unique amperometric sensor that responds linearly to chloramines while eliminating interference from excess free chlorine in solution.

Learn more at: http://www.analyticaltechnology.com/public/product.aspx?ProductID=1048

Hurricane Sandy speeds towards landfall

A superstorm threatening 50 million people in the most heavily populated corridor in the nation gained strength Monday, packing winds of 90 mph and picking up considerable speed just hours before it is expected to make landfall, forecasters said.

The National Hurricane Center said Monday morning that the Category 1 hurricane is moving northwest at 28 mph - up from 18 mph a few hours earlier. At 2:00 p.m. ET the storm was centered about 175 miles south-southeast of New York City, or about 110 miles southeast of Atlantic City, N.J. Hurricane-force winds extend up to 175 miles from the storm's center, with tropical storm-force winds extended outward up to 485 miles.

Maximum sustained winds of 90 mph, with higher gusts, were measured.

Gale/tropical storm-force force winds were reported from North Carolina to southern New England.

Hours before the storm made landfall, high winds had already knocked out power to more than 100,000 customers in several states by mid-day Monday.

Sandy is expected to hook inland Monday, colliding with a wintry storm moving in from the west and cold air streaming down from the Arctic. Forecasters say the storm's center will make landfall along or just south of the Southern New Jersey coast Monday evening.

CBS News hurricane consultant David Bernard reports that wind gusts of 38 mph and 41 mph have already been reported in New York City and Boston, respectively.

Sandy is likely going to strengthen even more as it approaches the East Coast, Bernard reports, with hurricane-force winds reaching land by Monday afternoon. The storm's pressure is dropping, which means it's growing in strength.

Flooding will be a huge threat, with many areas potentially seeing rainfall amounts between 5 and 8 inches over a 48-hour period.

The full moon will make storm surges worse, as high tides along the Eastern Seaboard will rise about 20 percent higher than normal.

Correspondent Chip Reid reports from Ocean City, Md., that sea levels could rise 8 feet above normal - enough to flood much of the city.

In addition to rains and flooding, about 2 to 3 feet of snow is forecast for mountainous parts of West Virginia.

The tempest could endanger up to 50 million people for days. "This is the worst-case scenario," said Louis Uccellini, environmental prediction chief for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

President Barack Obama delivered a sober warning to millions in the path of the storm on Monday, appealing to those who have not evacuated to do so.

"Please listen to what your state and local officials are saying. When they tell you to evacuate, you need to evacuate. Don't delay, don't pause, don't question the instructions that are being given, because this is a powerful storm."

From Washington to Boston, big cities and small towns were buttoned up against the onslaught of Sandy, with forecasters warning that the New York area could get the worst of it -- an 11-foot wall of water.

"There's a lot of people that are going to be under the impacts of this," Federal Emergency Management Administrator Craig Fugate said on "CBS This Morning" Monday.

"You know, we've got blizzard warnings as far west as West Virginia, Appalachian Mountains, but I think the biggest concern right now are the people in the evacuation areas. They're going to face the most immediate threats with the storm surge."

"The biggest challenge is going to be not knowing exactly where the heaviest-hit areas are going to be," said Fugate, "and the fact the storm's going to take several days to move through the area with heavy rain and wind, so that's going to slow down recovery activities like utility crews getting out and putting power back up."

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 14 members of a crew forced to abandon a tall shipabout 90 miles off the North Carolina coast and continued to search for two other crew members. The storm lashed barrier islands and rendered several homes and businesses nearly inaccessible.

Forecasters said the hurricane could blow ashore Monday night along the New Jersey coast, then cut across into Pennsylvania and travel up through New York State on Wednesday.

Forecasters said the combination of Sandy with the storm from the west and the cold air from the Arctic could bring close to a foot of rain in places, a potentially lethal storm surge of 4 to 11 feet across much of the region, and punishing winds that could cause widespread power outages that last for days. The storm could also dump up to 2 feet of snow in Kentucky, North Carolina and West Virginia.

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57541877/hurricane-sandy-speeds-towards-landfall/

Water Funding May Help Avoid Drought Losses, Analyst Says

The worst U.S. drought in more than five decades shows a global need to improve water management to prevent crop disasters, university researchers and policy experts said.

Governments should encourage investment in irrigation, which is more costly than the improved seeds and fertilizers often advocated to increase food production, Roberto Lenton, a professor of water management and head of the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Institute at the University of Nebraska, said today at the World Food Prize Conference.

“Those farmers who were already using conservation techniques to conserve water, they fared best in the drought,” Lenton said during a panel discussion at the conference in Des Moines, Iowa. “One of the clear lessons is the importance of irrigation.” Farming without tilling, which keeps more water in the soil, drought-resistant crops, and technology that irrigates plants with less water all preserved yields this year, he said.

Competition for increasingly scarce water in the next decade will fuel instability in regions such as South Asia and the Middle East that are important to American national security, according to a U.S. intelligence report released this year. As nations increase water-related projects to gain influence, vulnerable dams, irrigation projects and reservoirs could become targets for terrorists or military strikes, the authors of the report said.

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-18/water-funding-may-ease-drought-losses-analyst-says

What We Really Save by Recycling

1. Americans use billions of aluminum beverage cans every year. The good news is that aluminum can be infinitely recycled back into new cans, and a great deal of energy and other resources can be saved by recycling it.

Last year, Americans recycled 61 billion aluminum cans, saving the energy equivalent of 17 million barrels of crude oil. That's a whole lot of recovered resources!

So, how was all that energy saved? To put it simply, manufacturing cans from recycled aluminum consumes 95 percent less energy than using virgin materials.

To put those figures in perspective, recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to keep a 100-watt bulb burning for almost four hours or run your television for three hours.

2. Producing new plastic from recycled material uses only two-thirds of the energy required to manufacture it from raw materials, meaning we can save a whole lot of energy by recycling plastic.

The energy conserved by tossing just one plastic bottle in the blue bin can light a 60-watt light bulb for six hours or power a computer for 25 minutes, according to the EPA.

3. According to the American Petroleum Institute, more than 600 million gallons of motor oil is purchased in the U.S. each year. Most auto shops recycle used motor oil, but about half of all motor oil sold is to "do-it-yourself" car owners.

If you change your own oil, don't forget to recycle the leftovers when you're finished. Recycling a mere 2 gallons of used motor oil can:

1. Power an average home for one day
2. Cook 48 meals in a microwave oven
3. Blow dry a person’s hair at least 216 times
4. Vacuum a house for 15 months
5. Power a television for more than seven days straight

4. The environmental footprint of clothing and textiles is substantial. Americans throw away a whopping 68 pounds of clothes on average each year, and we only buy 10 pounds of recycled clothes annually. 

But on the brighter side of things, reclaiming clothing and textiles for reuse and recycling saves staggering amount of energy and natural resources. 

Remanufacturing or reusing textiles can save up to 85 percent of the energy required to produce the same product from virgin materials, according to a study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Ideally, clothing that is still wearable should be donated or "freecycled" to a friend so the product can achieve the longest life-cycle possible.

5. On average, each person in the U.S. discards eight dry-cell batteries per year. Recycling both rechargeable and single-use batteries saves water, energy and natural resources. But the No. 1 reason to avoid tossing batteries in the trash is to prevent potentially toxic metals from contaminating local ecosystems. 

Batteries that are thrown in the trash produce most of the heavy metals that are found in household waste, including lead, arsenic, zinc, cadmium, copper and mercury. If discarded batteries end up in landfills, these metals can seep into the ground water and harm local plants, animals and even humans. 

For this reason, both rechargeable and single-use batteries should be taken to your local household hazardous waste (HHW) facility or recycled through available mail-in and take-back programs.

6. Like aluminum, glass can be infinitely recycled back into new containers. An estimated 80 percent of reclaimed glass is processed through bottle-to-bottle recycling, and it can take as little as 30 days for a glass bottle to go from the recycling bin to a supermarket shelf. 

Recycled glass is substituted for up to 70 percent of raw materials in manufacturing. Bottle-makers benefit from recycling in several ways - it reduces emissions and consumption of raw materials, extends the life of plant equipment, such as furnaces, and saves energy. 

Recycling just one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt light bulb for four hours, power a computer for 30 minutes or a television for 20 minutes, according to the Glass Packaging Institute. 

7. According to the EPA, approximately 33 percent of the municipal solid waste stream is paper and paperboard products. Paper makes up the largest portion of the municipal waste stream and is also one of the most recovered materials in the nation. 

Producing recycled paper requires about 60 percent of the energy used to make paper from virgin wood pulp, but energy isn't the only thing we save through paper recycling. 

By recycling 1 ton of paper, we save: 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 463 gallons of oil, 3 cubic yards of landfill space and enough energy to heat an average home for 6 months. 

8. Americans dispose of more than 200 million tires every year, adding up to a whole lot of trashed rubber - not to mention wasted energy. But we can change all that simply by recycling. 

On average, 22 gallons of oil are required to create one new truck tire. However, to retread a tire (a process in which a new tread is applied to a used tire casing), only seven gallons of oil are required. 

Retreading a tire also costs anywhere from 30 to 70 percent less than manufacturing a new tire, reducing the cost to the consumer.

9. Americans use 100 million steel cans every day, amounting to a whole lot of potential landfill waste. Luckily, steel is one of the nation's most recycled materials, with more than 65 percent of steel produced in the states recycled into new steel each year. 

Recycling steel saves 75 percent of the energy that would be used to create steel from raw materials, meaning the steel we recycle saves enough energy to power 18 million homes annually. 

Recycling 1 ton of steel also saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal and 120 pounds of limestone. 

10. Electronics are made from valuable natural resources, including metals, plastics and glass - all of which require loads of energy to mine and manufacture. 

For example, if the 100 million cell phones ready for end-of-life management in 2006 were recycled, we would have saved enough energy to power approximately 194,000 U.S. households for a year. 

Like batteries, electronics also contain heavy metals that are potentially hazardous if leached into the environment. Although e-waste only accounts for about 4 percent of municipal waste, it may be responsible for as much as 70 percent of the heavy metals in landfills, including 40 percent of all lead. 

To save energy and natural resources - and prevent potentially hazardous metals from entering local ecosystems - be sure to donate, reuse or recycle your unwanted electronics every time. 

Source: http://earth911.com/news/2012/10/17/how-much-energy-water-saved-by-recycling/

Chlorine Leak at La Grange Pumping Station Tuesday Morning

A Hazmat team responded to a chlorine leak at the La Grange pumping station at 5038 East Ave. on Tuesday morning between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m.

La Grange personnel said that elevated chlorine levels came from a leak on one of the fittings on the chlorine gas system.

“The reason to initiate a box alarm was just to manpower in just to make sure everything was safe,” said La Grange fire chief Bill Bryzgalski. “There was no harm to any residents; no need for evacuation. This was just a small, minor leak.”

Bryzgalski said that only a trace amount of chlorine would have escaped the building, posing no danger, and that crews had repaired the problem before 9:00 a.m.

“There was no danger to anyone in the area,” Director of Public Works Ryan Williamson told the La Grange Suburban Life.

The Doings La Grange reported that traffic was rerouted around the corner of East Avenue and Plainfield Road for about two hours.

Source: http://westernsprings.patch.com/articles/chlorine-leak-repaired-at-pumping-station

Ammonia leak poisons

Twenty-six people remained in hospital Tuesday in the city of Honghu, Central China's Hubei Province, after an ammonia gas leak at an aquaculture company poisoned 479 people late Monday night, the China News Service reported Tuesday.

Some 1,000 people were evacuated from the area after the leak in Deyan Aquaculture Company around 11 pm Monday night, firefighters who joined the rescue were quoted by the Xinhua News Agency as saying.

Three of those who remained in hospital were suffering from severe poisoning.Hundreds of people were treated and released from five area hospitals.

Local authorities said a firefighter named Ji Junsong was the most severely poisoned.

Local police in Honghu received a call Monday night that ammonia gas used by thecompany as a refrigerating agent had leaked. 

A large-scale evacuation of a neighborhood was immediately ordered.

A worker surnamed Li, who lives in company housing with his family, said the evacuation was rushed and caused some of his coworkers to fall. 

The firefighting officers told Xinhua the leakage had been controlled, and the concentration of ammonia in the air had been declared safe.

The company's operations were restarted late Tuesday, after a suspension ordered by local authorities was lifted, the local news portal cnhubei.com reported.

Lu Deyan, owner of the company, said the decision to return to work was not compulsory, as some workers were still showing signs of stress.

The cause of the investigation was ongoing as of late Tuesday.

Source: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/7988952.html

Legionnaires warning over cleaning of swimming pools and AC in the UAE

Swimming pools and air-conditioning systems are being treated with chemicals that could allow deadly diseases to persist and even thrive in the summer, experts warn.

Many still use chlorine in liquid form, as sodium hypochlorite or calcium hypochlorite solution, rather than the safer powdered chlorine dioxide.

Chlorine cannot only fail to kill disease-causing bacteria but cause harmful side effects.

Hypochlorites react with any organic matter, especially in swimming pools or cooling systems, to form by-products, most notably carcinogenic trihalomethanes (THMs).

"Powdered chlorine dioxide is safer than [hypochlorite] chlorine in terms of generating less by-products," said Prof Walid El Shorbagy, the director of the water resources programme at UAE University.

"Chlorine has more by-products which are more hazardous."

For that reason, the chlorine dose is limited to stop it reaching the level where THMs form.

But at low doses it does not work as well as a disinfectant.

It also leaves room for more serious bacteria such as Legionella pneumophila, which causes Legionnaires disease. Legionellathrives in water and in humans is caught by inhaling its droplets.

Dormant in winter, the bacteria thrives at temperatures above 25°C, making it a hazard during summer.

And with the countless air-conditioning systems, the bug has more chance of growing in roof tanks, taps, pipes and showers.

In 2010, 80 of 100 samples from Dubai households where people had suffered unexplained health complaints tested positive for Legionella.

Chlorine dioxide can be used as a preventative measure against the bacteria.

"If the dosage of chlorine dioxide is enough, then it can definitely take care of Legionella," said Prof El Shorbagy.

"When it comes to cooling systems and fountains, it can be very useful and safer than chlorine. The UAE should really consider adopting it in the future."

But chlorine remains the disinfectant of choice for many, including the Wild Wadi Waterpark.

"Chlorine is the preferred and safest method of disinfectant for the rides at Wild Wadi Waterpark," said Gary Pogharian, its director of engineering.

"We can create what we need onsite when we need it. As long as the proper operating conditions and applications are adhered to, each will do the job well."

The Wonderland theme park still uses chlorine for its nine pools and nine slides, but plans to start testing chlorine dioxide within the next couple of months.

"Chlorine dioxide might be more expensive but it is better and safer," said Shaji Rajan, Wonderland's maintenance manager.

"Our plant is treated by Metito, [a wastewater company in Dubai], so if they switch to chlorine dioxide, then so will we."

Metito is pushing the switch on many of its clients.

"Using chlorine as a disinfectant is becoming increasingly difficult because there are many restrictions on its import, export and handling," said Bassem El Halabi, its group business development director.

"Being such an aggressive and dangerous material - chlorine gas by itself is poisonous - we had to look for alternatives."

Powdered chloride dioxide is sold as Metoxide, two powders that are mixed on-site. It avoids the harmful by-products of traditional chlorine and kills Legionella.

It can also be continuously applied at a single point in a water circuit, unlike chlorine, which has to be applied at several points to prevent microorganisms from building up throughout the whole system.

"Its handling is very easy," said Mr El Halabi. "It can be used anywhere needed for disinfection, from household to industries."

So far, its most common application is in district cooling, including chillers, coolers and cooling towers, which are the most exposed to the atmosphere and microorganisms.

"Metoxide will be very effective in treating that," said Mr El Halabi.

"It can also be used in aquaparks. It is not dangerous like normal chlorine products if swallowed."

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/health/legionnaires-warning-over-cleaning-of-swimming-pools-and-ac-in-the-uae#ixzz2A8FIpX00