مجله محیط زیست و مهندسی آب
سال دهم شماره 3 (پاییز 1403)

Pharmaceutical waste is one of the considerable problems of the environment. Membrane contactors are used to treat various of wastewater. This study compared the effectiveness of polyvinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) and polysulfone (PSF) membrane contactors in separating antibiotics from pharmaceutical wastewater. For this purpose, PVDF-HFP hollow fiber membranes were prepared using the non-solvent phase separation (NIPS) method. Hollow fiber membranes were characterized. Penicillin G was extracted from pharmaceutical wastewater with a liquid-liquid membrane contacting system. Optimizing the operational variables of penicillin G extraction was done using the response surface method. The results showed that the PVDF-HFP membrane has an open structure with large finger-like cavities, fragile outer skin, and an inner skinless layer. This membrane has an average surface pore size, total porosity, and water contact angle of 0.04 µm, 84%, and 94°, respectively. PVDF-HFP membrane showed the maximum penicillin G extraction flux of 1.54 × 10-3 kg/m2s in the optimal operating conditions of aqueous phase flow rate of 51 ml/min and organic phase flow rate of 144 ml/min. By comparing the characteristics and using the response surface method, it was determined that the PVDF-HFP membrane contactor has a higher extraction flux than PSF in separating penicillin G from pharmaceutical wastewater.

Wastewater reuse has become a common practice in many industries to manage water resources effectively. The objective of this research was to investigate the possibility of reusing treated wastewater from the Urmieh 2 industrial state an integrated approach combining industrial and agricultural water harvesting. In this study, a pilot-scale IFAS system was used for wastewater treatment, which included an anaerobic reactor. The effective parameters evaluated included efficiency in removing COD, BOD, TSS, pH and HRT. The adaptation of microorganisms in biofilm formation to reach a stable state in the IFAS occurred within a maximum of 35 days. After this period, no noticeable change in COD removal efficiency was observed. The optimal HRT for anaerobic reactor was 1 day with 4 hr of aerobic activity. The highest removal efficiencies of COD, BOD and TSS, respectively, were observed with HRTs of 2 days anaerobic and 8 hr aerobic 88.71%, 3 days anaerobic and 8 hr aerobic 92.11%, and 2 days anaerobic and 8 hr aerobic 97.90%. According to the Wilcox classification, the effluents from the process are categorized as medium-quality waters and are suitable for irrigation purposes. The output pH values indicate that the treated wastewater can also be used in agricultural applications.

In response to the increasing color pollution in industrial wastewaters and the need for effective treatment methods, this research investigates the application of the Fenton and microwave-enhanced Fenton processes for color removal. The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of these two processes and to identify the optimal conditions for the maximum removal of color pollutants. This study evaluates the efficiency of the Fenton and microwave-enhanced Fenton processes in dye removal from wastewater. To examine the impact of parameters such as pH, dye concentration, Fe2+, and H2O2 on the efficiency of removing the Reactive Red 198 dye and COD, these variables were altered during the experiments. The mechanism of dye molecule removal was analyzed through UV-Vis spectroscopy. The optimal conditions for the microwave-enhanced Fenton process included an initial dye concentration of 300 mg/l, a pH of 3.5, an Fe2+ concentration of 20 mg/l, and an H2O2 concentration of 100 mg/l. Under these conditions, a COD reduction of up to 85% and dye removal of over 98% were observed. The findings suggest that the microwave-enhanced Fenton process can effectively reduce color pollutants and improve the quality of industrial wastewater. This method offers high reaction speed and remarkable efficiency under various treatment conditions, making it a suitable solution for treating wastewater with high dye loads.

Rivers, where there is a large concentration of human activities, receive a large amount of pollution. The purpose of this study was to monitor and model the water quality of the Atrak River in the geographical area of ​​Bojnurd and to investigate the effect of polluting sources on the river using the QUAL2KW model. After the field visit a study area of ​​33 km length, with 16 reaches, 11 main sampling stations, 10 sampling stations of point sources, and 2 sampling stations of non-point sources were selected and specified. In this study, four qualitative parameters of temperature, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) were measured and simulated in the spring of 2022. Hydraulic geometric data, qualitative data and meteorological data were entered into the QUAL2KW model. The simulation error was calculated using Absolute Mean Error (AME), Mean Absolute Percentage Error (%MAPE), and Root Mean Squared Error (%RMSE). The RMSE for temperature, DO, BOD and COD parameters was determined as 3.68, 4.51, 6.5, and 4.47, respectively. According to the amount of calculated errors, it was found that the QUAL2KW model had a very good accuracy in the qualitative simulation of Atrak River.

Predicting future landuse changes is an important step in the proper planning and management of watersheds. Therefore, in this study, the land use modeling of the Doroodzan Dam watershed was discussed. First, the land use maps of 1996, 2005, 2016 and 2021 were extracted using Envi software, and the maximum likelihood method. The transition potential maps were modeled for each of the sub-models by using multi-layer perceptron artificial neural network and 6 variables and Markov chain was used to calculate the allocation change to each land use. Then, the land use map for 2021 was predicted using Land Change Modeler (LCM) and 2005-2016 calibration period. To verify modeling accuracy, Hits 1.92%, Misses 8.8%, False Alarms 2.94% were calculated. The ratio of Hits to the total pixels has changed 14% indicates that model results are acceptable. Then, the land use map for the year 2050 was predicted. The results showed that given the predicted LC for year 2050 in comparison with the year 2021, bare land, agricultural land, residential areas and orchards will increase by 54290, 7621, 4494, and 2391 ha, respectively. Whereas grassland and forest cover will decrease 68441, and 689 ha, respectively.

Precipitation is one of the essential parameters of the water cycle, the estimation of which is effective in water and soil resources management. In this study, the SM2RAIN-NWF algorithm was used to estimate irrigation water consumption at the field scale based on satellite soil moisture data. Satellite soil moisture observations obtained from Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR2) along with GLEAM products and rainfall were used for the period of 2012-2020 as model inputs. Precipitation estimation was performed for three different sites including an agricultural land in Miandoab, a vegetated surface in Malekan, and a barren land in Bonab. Using this model, the coefficient of determination (R2) of precipitation estimation was between 0.53 and 0.70. A comparison of the results revealed that the model exerted much better results in regions with no vegetation. The results of irrigation estimation in Miandoab plain showed that although the model systematically over/under-estimated irrigation data in some seasons compared to the in-situ data, the average performance of the model in irrigated regions (NS = 0.55, R2 = 0.63, and PRMSE = 2.48%) proved that the proposed approach can provide a suitable prediction of irrigation pattern.

To reduce soil erosion, one of the most important issues is to quantify the amount of erosion and sediment so that planners can make correct decisions in line with the integrated management of watersheds. In this research, in order to evaluate the rate of erosion in the Gaushan watershed, we used the global equation of soil erosion in three dimensions and the geographic information system and remote sensing. The results of RUSLE 3D model were compared with the results of RUSLE model and real values. The rain erosivity factor was calculated using rainfall data and interpolation techniques. Soil erodibility was obtained using the soil map of the region. Land cover factor was calculated using NDVI index. The LS factor was also obtained using the DEM. The main difference between the RUSLE 3D model and the RUSLE model is the difference in how to calculate the LS factor in the RUSLE 3D model. The obtained results showed that the annual average erosion is 5.02 ton/ha/y. In the detailed studies of Gaushan watershed, the rate of erosion is 4.5 ton/ha/y. These results show that the RUSLE 3D model, in which the LS factor has been modified, has been able to estimate the basin erosion well.

Persian Gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa subgutturosa) is one of the most important herbivores of the steppes of Iran, which is found in different plains and desert areas. Today, the distribution of this species is limited to special areas, which has caused it to be placed in the Vulnerable Class (VU) of the IUCN Red List. In this condition, the phenomenon of climate change as one of the biggest challenges of the current century has affected the habitat conditions and the range of distribution of large mammals such as Persian Gazelle and caused it to change. This research aimed to assess climate change impacts on the efficiency of protected areas and to model the distribution of Persian Gazella. In order to predict the distribution of this species in current and future conditions, the weighted Mahalanobis modeling approach was used. Based on the model used, about 31% of the studied area was identified as a suitable habitat at the present. The overlap between protected areas and suitable habitats was 16%. The research findings showed that by 2070, under the pessimistic scenario of the MRI-ESM2-0 model, 2% of the suitable habitat of the Gazella species will be lost.

Climate change is the biggest ecological and social challenge of the current century, which is worth sociological investigation. The purpose of this article is to present general perspectives and highlights regarding sociological approaches concerning adaptation to climate change. The study investigated social approaches based on adaptation with perspectives of sociological research on the drivers of climate change and its consequences. The results were classified in the form of sociological approaches in three scales: macro, medium, and micro. The results showed that structural, institutional, and social adaptation measures are three important options for reducing vulnerability and increasing adaptation capacity. In addition, measures associated with adaptation to climate change to reduce present and future vulnerabilities are under three elements; Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive Capacity. Government solutions to correct climate injustices are still unclear from the perspective of social justice, and there are still many questions that require further study.

One of the challenges of the world today is the water shortage crisis. With the occurrence of droughts and indiscriminate harvesting of water reserves, the livelihood of local communities has faced critical conditions. The purpose of this research was to know some crimes related to water and the main causes and factors of committing crimes and finally practical strategies to deal with them. In order to determine the amount of factors affecting the commission of water crimes by using the oral judgment of research experts and pairwise comparison of the main indicators measured in the region, the relative weight of each indicator is determined by Expert Choice software, then strategies to reduce the water crisis and achieve sustainable development was presented. The results showed that the economic index and then the management index with relative weights equal to 0.334 and 0.263 respectively have the most importance in committing crimes in the water area in Kurdistan province, Iran. Finally, management strategies and requirements were presented to reduce the effects of water crisis. The main emphasis of this research is on increasing investments and economic issues in the discussion of water resources.