Publication detail

Start-Up Phase of Pilot Plant Denitrifying Bioreactor Used for Simultaneous Removal of Pesticides

MALÁ, J. HRICH, K., KARÁSEK, P. SIGLOVÁ, M. BÍLKOVÁ, Z.

Original Title

Start-Up Phase of Pilot Plant Denitrifying Bioreactor Used for Simultaneous Removal of Pesticides

Type

article in a collection out of WoS and Scopus

Language

English

Original Abstract

Denitrifying woodchip bioreactors (DWB) are natural treatment systems that have been developed for the reduction of nitrates in agricultural runoffs without requiring any energy. A pilot plant DWB with a volume of 4.2 m3 filled with poplar chips was installed in October 2023 in an agricultural area near Brno, Czech Republic, with the intention of testing its ability to reduce concentrations of pesticide compounds in addition to nitrates. After minimum water discharge until January 2024, the DWB was operated from February to mid-May with an average hydraulic retention time of 11 h. The average influent NO3-N concentration was 10.4 mg/L. Maximum NO3-N removal of 84% was achieved. The water temperature did not exceed 11.6 °C, resulting in low concentrations of organic matter leached from the filling – chemical oxygen demand was typically below 50 mg/L. Microbiological analyses indicate that the predominance of microbial biomass is bound to the surface of the wood chips. Its abundance is 1 to 3 orders of magnitude higher than the amount of microorganisms in the liquid phase. Most of the denitrifying bacteria belong to the genera Pseudomonas and Flavobacterium. A wide range of pesticides (about 360 including both parent substances and their metabolites) were investigated in the DWB inlet/outlet water samples. The sampling campaigns ran from October to November 2023 and from February to May 2024. The majority of the pesticides analysed did not exceed the limit of quantification, with the exception of six pesticides (DNOC, fluazifop, glyphosate, chlorotoluron, isoproturon, and propamocarb) and eight metabolites (1,2,4-triazole, AMPA, dimethachlor ESA, metazachlor ESA, metolachlor ESA, metolachlor NOA 413173, metolachlor OA, and pethoxamid ESA). The sum of the concentrations of the identified substances in the inlet water was in the range of 0.7 to 3.1 μg/L. Metolachlor ESA, pethoxamid ESA, and AMPA accounted for the majority of these. Approximately 70% of the total amount of pesticides and their metabolites (Except for AMPA) were removed from water in the DWB. The concentrations of AMPA (a metabolite of glyphosate) was increased. One possible explanation for this phenomenon is the use of glyphosate as a weed herbicide in poplar cultivation.

Keywords

zero-energy, sustainable agriculture, pesticides

Authors

MALÁ, J.; HRICH, K., KARÁSEK, P.; SIGLOVÁ, M.; BÍLKOVÁ, Z.

Released

30. 8. 2024

Publisher

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Thessaly

Location

Thessaly, Greece

ISBN

978-618-5765-04-0

Book

11th International Conference on "Energy, Sustainability, and Climate Crisis" ESCC 2024

Pages from

65

Pages to

68

Pages count

4

URL

http://escc.uth.gr/escc-series/escc-2024/

BibTex

@inproceedings{BUT193972,
  author="MALÁ, J. and HRICH, K., KARÁSEK, P. and SIGLOVÁ, M. and BÍLKOVÁ, Z.",
  title="Start-Up Phase of Pilot Plant Denitrifying Bioreactor Used for Simultaneous Removal of Pesticides",
  booktitle="11th International Conference on {"}Energy, Sustainability, and Climate Crisis{"} ESCC 2024",
  year="2024",
  pages="65--68",
  publisher="Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Thessaly",
  address="Thessaly, Greece",
  isbn="978-618-5765-04-0",
  url="http://escc.uth.gr/escc-series/escc-2024/"
}