Veysel Demir

The purposes of this work are to monitor certain operating parameters in influent and effluent of domestic wastewater treatment plant in Tunceli, Turkey, to determine the relationships among these parameters, and also to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment plant. The mean values of the parameters measured in the samples taken from the plant influent like pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids, suspended solids, the total solids, volatile suspended solid, biological oxygen demand, and chemical oxygen demand, are 7.60 ± 0.07, 11.66 ± 0.74°C, 1,070.75 ± 10.67 μs/cm, 3.78 ± 0.32 mg/L, 524.42 ± 5.28 mg/L, 390.58 ± 40.22 mg/L, 857.50 ± 61.30 mg/L, 496.17 ± 82.30 mg/L, 195.33 ± 8.11 mg/L, and 653.67 ± 42.12 mg/L, respectively. The values of these parameters after the treatment are 7.68 ± 0.08, 10.61 ± 0.70°C, 1,041.25 ± 15.31 μs/cm, 8.38 ± 0.10 mg/L, 510.17 ± 7.49 mg/L, 49.17 ± 8.88 mg/L, 443.08 ± 38.95 mg/L, 152.33 ± 27.95 mg/L, 13.67 ± 2.33 mg/L, and 44.66 ± 12.72 mg/L, respectively. Correlation analyses conducted to explain the potential relationship between the analyzed parameters demonstrated that there were both negative and positive correlations between the influent and effluent operational parameters. Results supported the fact that there were significant improvements in wastewater quality after treatment.

In this study, the effects of exposure to engineered nickel oxide (NiO 40–60 nm) and cobalt oxide (CoO Artemia salina. Aggregation and stability of the aqueous NP suspensions were characterized by DLS and TEM. Acute exposure was conducted on nauplii (larvae) in seawater in a concentration range from 0.2 to 50 mg/L NPs for 24 h (short term) and 96 h (long term). The hydrodynamic diameters of NiO and CoO NPs in exposure medium were larger than those estimated by TEM. Accumulation rate of NiO NPs were found to be four times higher than that of CoO NPs under the same experimental conditions. Examinations under phase contrast microscope showed that the nanoparticles accumulated in the intestine of Artemia, which increased with increasing exposure concentration. Differences were observed in the extent of dissolution of the NPs in the seawater. The CoO NPs dissolved significantly while NiO NPs were relatively more stable. Oxidative stress induced by the NP suspensions was measured by malondialdehyde assay. Suspensions of NiO NPs caused higher oxidative stress on nauplii than those of CoO NPs. The results imply that CoO and NiO NPs exhibit toxicity on Artemia (e.g., zooplankton) that is an important source of food in aquatic food chain.

Tunceli, Turkey is one of the small cities in the Eastern Anatolian Region with substantial natural, cultural and historical heritage that is suitable to be a slow city. Water sources are abundant in the area due to rain and heavy snowfall in the mountains, which seeps into the ground or flows into the rivers. Therefore monitoring and conservation of city’s drinking water quality is one of the main issues in the city. The present study was conducted to investigate several heavy metals and cyanide, arsenic, and selenium concentrations of drinking water samples taken from 100 different locations in the city and towns of Tunceli, Turkey during the years 2011 and 2012. In three locations, high levels of copper was found with a range of 2.1–11.5 mg/L, and high levels of arsenic was detected in five locations with a range of 10.5–78.0 μg/L, exceeding the action levels for copper and arsenic. For health risk assessment, the average daily dose and hazard quotient (HQ) were calculated. The region mean values of HQ were found above 1 for arsenic in the samples collected from Mazgirt, while HQ values were below 1 in the rest of the samples.

Environmental monitoring of leachate quality from an open municipal solid waste dumping site in Tunceli, Turkey was studied in this research. The most commonly examined pollution parameters were determined on a seasonal basis. The annual average 5-day biological oxygen demand (BOD₅) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) values of station points were measured as 70 and 425 mg/L, respectively, and also the average BOD₅/COD ratio (a measure of biodegradability) was calculated as 0.20. The low ratio of biodegradability and slightly alkaline pH values in the leachate samples indicated that the site was characterized by methanogenic conditions. The mean ammonium-nitrogen (NH₄ ⁺-N) and corresponding phosphate (orthophosphate) values were assayed as 70 and 11 mg/L, respectively. The average solids content in the leachates was measured as 4,681 mg/L (total solids) and 144 mg/L (suspended solids). Very low concentrations of iron, manganese, copper, and zinc in the leachate samples were found and the concentration of cadmium was measured below detection limits. Excessive amount of nutrients and high organic and inorganic pollutant content in the leachates pose serious pollution potential to the environment. Since no drainage system or bio treatment exists in this open dumping site, high permeability of natural soil at the site and in the surrounding area and very fractured and crackled rocks under natural soil are indicators of high groundwater pollution potential in this site.

The objective of this study was to analyze drinking water samples from 21 sites in the city center and seven municipalities of Tunceli, Turkey, in order to determine the presence of nitrate, nitrite, fluoride, bromate, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), trihalomethanes (THMs), and some other chemicals. In all locations, the concentrations of chemicals investigated were below the permissible limits set by local and international organizations for drinking water. Low levels of nitrate (4.79 ± 4.20 mg/L), fluoride (0.11 ± 0.08 mg/L), and THMs (6.63 ± 5.14 μg/L) were detected in all locations. A low level of tetra, chloroethane, which is suspected to be a human carcinogen, was also detected in 8 locations in the range of 0.26–0.43 μg/L. These contaminants may pose adverse health effects or minimum hazard due to long‐term exposure. In all locations, bromate, benzene, total PAH, 1‐2 dichloroethane, vinyl chloride, acrylamide, and epichloridine levels in drinking water samples were under detection limits.