VTEI / Water technology, water supply, waste water treatment

Water technology, water supply, waste water treatment

Atmospheric deposition as a possible source of surface water pollution (Preliminary results of the project, part 1 – heavy metals)

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Concentrations of selected heavy metals in collected atmospheric precipitation
and surface water were monitored at pilot sites in the Jizera Mountains, the Moravian‑Silesian
Beskydy Mountains and the Bohemian‑Moravian Uplands (CZ) over the course of one year to determine the significance of the impact of precipitation on surface water quality in an otherwise relatively low anthropogenically influenced environment. The measurements show that for some
metals, atmospheric deposition in heavily loaded areas can cause significant inputs to streams and reservoirs, but the resulting balance is strongly influenced by the environment and its past loading.

Risk assessment as a comprehensive approach to protection of drinking water sources

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Drinking water supply as well as its quality form one of the basic pillars of modern society. This corresponds to the goal of the International Water Association (IWA) – good, safe and drinkable water, which enjoys consumer confidence and can be not only drunk without fear, but in which the consumer also appreciates its taste and… Read more »

Centrum Voda (Center Water)

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Centrum Voda je výzkumný projekt, který hledá řešení problémů vyplývajících z klimatické změny a jejího vlivu na vodní poměry. Snažíme se nalézat odpovědi na základní otázky, jestli dokážeme zajistit dostatek kvalitní vody nejen pro potřeby člověka, ale i pro naši krajinu, zda se zvládneme vyrovnat s přívalovými povodněmi a jak dále snižovat znečištění vodního prostředí.

Testing of a prototype separation device designed for rainwater treatment

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Článek shrnuje poznatky získané v rámci řešení výzkumného projektu „Technologie separace specifických polutantů ze srážkových vod“ (TH03030223), který se zabýval čištěním srážkových vod ze zpevněných ploch a komunikací zatížených nerozpuštěnými látkami (NL), polycyklickými aromatickými uhlovodíky i těžkými kovy. Projekt si kladl za cíl vyvinout účinnou technologii, která by uvedené polutanty ze srážkových vod separovala.

Grey water footprint of pollution discharged from wastewater treatment plants in the Czech Republic registered in the water balance in the period 2002–2018 – data set

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Koncept vodní stopy byl představen v roce 2002 [1] a dnes je jedním z rozšířených nástrojů pro hodnocení udržitelnosti užívání vodních zdrojů [2]. Vodní stopa patří do rodiny environmentálních stop [3], které umožňují podívat se na problémy užívání přírodních zdrojů z jiné perspektivy. Šedá vodní stopa je kvalitativní ukazatel převádějící vypouštěné znečištění na objem vody potřebný k jeho naředění na koncentrace neškodné pro životní prostředí [4].

The influence of Prague on water quality in the Vltava and the Czech Elbe

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This paper deals with the development of water quality in the Elbe in the section between its confluence with the Vltava and the Hřensko border profile in 1980–2020, and with the influence of Prague on its pollution levels. After a significant improvement in 1985–2000, the quality of water discharged through the Hřensko profile today is at least at the level of the Federal Republic of Germany. Evaluation of substance transport shows that the Vltava contributes a larger share of pollution to the Elbe simply because it has higher flows. Prague contributes to pollution of the Vltava and the Elbe by discharging phosphorus.
As for other long-term indicators, it is an insignificant source.
In 2010–2020, there is a significant level of concentrations of pharmaceuticals, which come exclusively from the discharge of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Many pharmaceuticals regularly occur in concentrations of tens to hundreds of [ng/l], and resistant pharma-ceuticals (gabapentin, metformin, oxipurinol, carbamazepine) are transported to Prague from the Vltava basin through the Orlík and Slapy reservoirs with a high theoretical retention time. The transport of resistant pharmaceuticals through relevant profiles corresponds mainly to the number of inhabitants in their river basins because they obviously pass through WWTP and do not degrade further in the river either.

A retrospective view of the Šumperk water supply system from the 1960s to the present

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In the second half of the 20th century, the long-term problem of supplying the town of Šumperk with drinking water was finally solved. New sources of drinking water supplemented the missing capacities in the form of surface abstraction from Divoká Desná within the newly built collec-tive water supply system, together with the use of sources in Rapotín and Olšany. A significant contribution to solving the problem was the recon-struction of the water supply network, water reservoir, and intake facilities, which reduced losses. An important factor that has reduced the water consumption of the population is, of course, the significant increase in water and sewerage prices in the last 20 years, which had an impact on Šumperk as well. The operational and organizational conditions of the town’s drinking water supply were negatively affected by society-wide de-velopment, which ultimately meant an increase in operating losses in the water supply network due to limited funds for the renewal and upgrading of the water supply network. The political changes in 1989 and the following period were reflected not only in the organizational conditions of the town’s drinking water supply, but also in the final consumption and price of drinking water, both in the Šumperk region and across the whole of the Czech Republic. With the example of Šumperk, it is also possible to illustrate the transformation of the water industry after 1989 and possible diffi-culties, new starting points, and challenges for its future development.

Balance evaluation of selected water quality indicators on the tributaries of Vranov reservoir

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Most of the reservoirs in the Czech Republic have been built as multifunctional reservoirs, with the basic functions being storage and protection. The way the catchment area upstream of a reservoir is used has a significant impact on water quality. Pollution sources can be divided into point, area, and diffuse sources. Being continuous or recurrent, point pollution is not significantly influenced by meteorological factors and it is linked to narrowly delimited areas such as settlements, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), industrial plants, agricultural facilities, etc. Area pollution is difficult to observe as it is irregular and depends on meteorological, soil, morphological, and vegetation characteristics [4]. The category of diffuse sources usually includes small diffuse point sources of pollution, namely municipal, agricultural, industrial, as well as traffic pollution, leachates from landfills, etc.

Study of the effectiveness of the small municipal sourcess sewage sludge extensive stabilization for their use as a fertilizer

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The article is devoted to the presentation of partial results of a study aimed at determining the potential use of extensive sludge dewatering technology for small municipal WWTPs (up to 1000 PE) in the conditions of the Czech Republic. The study has shown that the use of technology based on extensive sludge dewatering and their stabilization in sludge dewatering reed beds with suitable wetland vegetation can be an alternative to other technologies. Especially in combination with constructed wetland (CW) based WWTPs, which are characterized by lower sludge production.

A retrospective view of the Šumperk water supply system up to the 1960s

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The article focuses on the water industry sector. It deals with the development of drinking water supply in Šumperk town from the Middle Ages to the 1960s. According to the water supply network development, the text is structured into individual chapters, focusing on the interesting period of the late 19th century, when a municipal water plant was established. The water plant was also the first company managed by the city council at its establishment. It was an excellent good practice example for similar towns in the Czech lands, both technologically and operationally. Subsequent chapters focus on expanding the water supply network, reservoirs, and intake areas, which had to be sized for the increasing water consumption associated with the city‘s dynamic development in the late 19th and first half of the 20th century. The final chapter summarises the development of the municipal waterworks project from 1945 until the year when the town of Šumperk was connected to the water intake sources from the Kouty-Šumperk group water supply system. The paper is an inspiring retrospective look into the history of the municipal water supply. It can also be a helpful comparison with the current state, building possibilities and limits of the water supply infrastructure.

Concentration and enumeration methods of somatic coliphages in water samples

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Somatic coliphages are a new indicator for monitoring the efficiency of water treatment and purification in the Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on the quality of water intended for human consumption and in Regulation (EU) 2020/741 of the European Parliament and of the Council from 25 May 2020 on minimum requirements for water reuse.

Change of microbial community in tertiary wastewater treatment

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The aim of this contribution is the presentation of partial results of testing tertiary technology for recycling of treated urban wastewater. The obtain water will be used for watering of greenery, playgrounds, or for street cleaning. The quality of the treated water depends on the purpose of the use.

Search for suitable molecular markers for species differentiation of enterococci

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Enterococci, together with representatives of the species Escherichia coli, belong to the so-called indicators of faecal pollution, which are used in the evaluation of the microbiological quality of bathing waters. Their determination is governed by the Decree of the Ministry of Health No. 238/2011 Coll. and performed by culture on selective agar media.

Use of Earth remote sensing methods to monitor the condition of bathing sites

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The Ministry of Health in cooperation with other related bodies compiles, on an annual basis, the List of outdoor bathing sites on surface waters where the bathing service is offered by the operator, and other surface waters used for bathing. It is compiled based on the long-term monitoring, performed, exclusively as in-situ measurements, by the regional hygiene stations. With respect to the fact that this way of monitoring is not only time-consuming but also financially demanding, the need for minimizing these expenses naturally arises.

Possibilities of combined ways of treatment for selected waste types using an experimental equipment for physical waste treatment with the intention of their further use

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This article presents possibilities of a unique device for industrial waste treatment using a patented process, and outlines possible future directions. This device, using different physical processes, individually or in synergy, e.g. combined effects of ultrasonic waves, focused microwave field, arc discharges, electrostatic field and the exposure to ultra-violet radiation, is intended to degrade dangerous substances in waste, reducing its hazardous properties for the environment and to prepare the waste for future applications (material or energy), i.e. separately or in combination with other technology processes, such as biotechnology.

Determination of selected illicit drugs in wastewater using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

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The wastewater-based epidemiology approach to the analysis of illicit drugs was conceptualized in 2001 and for the first time was applied in 2005 for cocaine estimation in Italy. Further, other illicit drugs as heroine, cannabis and amphetamine have been estimated.

Municipal wastewater as a diagnostic medium of the City of Prague

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The article informs about regular, almost two-year long monitoring of municipal wastewater at selected sampling points of the Prague sewerage network. Selected illicit drugs (e.g. methamphetamine, MDMA, THC, cocaine), nicotine and its metabolites and the ethanol metabolite ethyl sulphate are monitored in municipal wastewater.

Space-time dynamic of pesticide loading in the drinking water reservoir Švihov

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The article deals with space-time dynamic of non-polar and polar compounds load into the drinking water reservoir Švihov in Želivka river basin during the whole vegetation season by passive sampling techniques. The monitoring on the nine tributaries of the Švihov water reservoir and on the raw water inlet to the Želivka drinking water treatment plant took place for eight months from April to November 2018.

Test of sorption filters on the base of granular activated carbon for drinking water cleaning

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The contribution presents model tests of sorption efficiency and elimination of organic substances, especially pesticides from five different exposed granular activated carbon (GAC). Results can contribute to the understanding of suitable filter lines for the realized investment project GAC filtration.

Determination of basic typology of elevated water tanks

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This paper introduces an initial effort at a systematic approach to the typology of elevated water tanks for the purpose of solving the research project Elevated water tanks – identification, documentation, presentation, new use. It builds on the previous definition of the terminology of the problem and the definition of the object of interest. From a typological point of view, elevated water tanks are seen as an integral part of larger technological units – water supply systems. In the framework of the basic division, the typology of elevated water tanks is based on the selection of parameters – the building situation of the tower reservoirs in relation to other objects, the function of elevated water tanks, the supporting structure, the shape and material of the accumulation tank, the number of tanks and the purpose of the object.

Constructed wetlands clogging

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Clogging is a quite natural process, but it is an undesirable phenomenon in artificial wetlands used for treatment and tertiary treatment of wastewaters. Due to this, it is necessary, during proposal preparation and operation of artificial wetlands, to keep the principles that might significantly restrict the rise and progress of clogging.

Use of wastewater­‑based epidemiology for monitoring of illicit drugs consumption in Czech and international context

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This paper presents a brief summary of information about the project Determination of the amount of illicit drugs and their metabolites in municipal wastewater – new tool for obtaining of complementary data on illicit drug consumption in the Czech Republic and about the 2nd International Conference on “Wastewater‑based drug epidemiology“, which was held from 11.–15. 10. 2015 in Ascona, Switzerland.

Water quality in drinking water reservoir Švihov on Želivka river and its river basin, with focus on specific organic compounds

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River basin of the largest drinking water reservoir Švihov on the Želivka River is distinctly anthropogenically affected both by direct human activities and also by the agriculture. The quality of the surface water is endangered in long-term period mainly by the eutrophication, pesticides pollution and erosion.