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Special Issue "Agricultural Environment and Water Technology"

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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water, Agriculture and Aquaculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2023 | Viewed by 7822

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Chang-Gu Lee

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Guest Editor

Department of Environmental and Safety Engineering, Ajou University, Suwon 16499, Republic of Korea
Interests: environmental functional materials; water treatment; fiber
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Seong-Jik Park

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Guest Editor

Department of Bioresources and Rural Systems Engineering, Hankyong National University, Anseong, Korea
Interests: water; soil; sediment; environment; nutrient management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Human habitation and industrial and agricultural activities are major sources of soil and water pollution. Globally, 80% of municipal wastewater is untreated and discharged into water bodies. The industry is also responsible for disposing of millions of tons of heavy metals, solvents, toxic sludge, and other waste each year.

Water use for agriculture accounts for 70% of global water use, and water is a critical input to agricultural production and plays an essential role in food security. Population growth, urbanization, and climate change are expected to increase competition for water resources, especially with agriculture. Agriculture activities produce large quantities of agrochemicals, organic matter, drug residues, sediments, and saline drainage, and consequently, soil and water pollution pose severe risks to aquatic ecosystems and human health. Therefore, addressing future water challenges requires a thorough reconsideration of how water is managed in agriculture and water security perspectives.

In this Special Issue, we invite you to submit papers on various agricultural environments and water technologies. The primary topics that we will consider are the following:

Water and wastewater treatment for the environmental, agricultural, urban, and industrial sectors;
Water reuse and recycling;
Water management in agriculture;
Nutrient recovery from wastewater;
Water-related nexus (energy, food, climate change);
Crop and water relationships, crop yields, and water productivity;
Irrigation, drainage, and salinity in agriculture;
Use of wastewater and other alternative water resources in agriculture;
Research on the effects caused by soil erosion;
Research, strategies, and technologies for prediction, prevention, and protection of sediment and soil.

Prof. Dr. Chang-Gu Lee
Prof. Dr. Seong-Jik Park
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

water treatment
wastewater treatment
water management
water resources
agriculture
biochar
adsorption

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Selenium Removal from Aqueous Solution Using a Low-Cost Functional Ceramic Membrane Derived from Waste Cast Iron

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Water 2023, 15(2), 312; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15020312 - 11 Jan 2023

Viewed by 457

Abstract

The high affinity of iron-based byproducts for anion removal can facilitate wastewater treatment using membranes functionalized with such byproducts. In this study, a low-cost functional ceramic membrane (LFCM) based on waste cast iron (WCI) was fabricated and applied to remove selenium from aqueous solutions. The effect of roasting (1250 °C) on the raw material properties was analyzed by X-ray diffraction and specific surface area measurements. Upon roasting, zero-valent iron (Fe⁰) present in WCI was oxidized to hematite (Fe₂O₃), while the specific surface area of WCI increased from 2.040 to 4.303 m²/g. Raw WCI exhibited the highest Se(IV) and Se(VI) removal capacity among the prepared materials, and Se(IV) could be removed faster and more efficiently than Se(VI). The selenium removal properties of the synthesized LFCM were similar to those of WCI. This membrane could simultaneously and efficiently remove Se(IV) and turbidity-causing substances through filtration. The results are expected to provide insights into the fabrication of ceramic membranes using industrial byproducts for the removal of ionic contaminants from wastewater. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Environment and Water Technology)

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Open AccessArticle

Disinfection of Outdoor Livestock Water Troughs: Effect of TiO₂-Based Coatings and UV-A LED

Heidi Dayana Pascagaza-Rubio

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Water 2022, 14(23), 3808; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233808 - 23 Nov 2022

Viewed by 624

Abstract

The control of pathogens is of great importance to maintaining safe water quality for animal consumption and reducing the spread of pathogens in the environment and throughout the production chain. Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is an attractive nanoparticle for disinfection purposes because it is easy to use, highly effective under UV radiation and cost effective. The goal of this study was to assess the disinfection effectiveness of TiO₂-coated materials (high-density polyethylene, HDPE and stainless steel, SS) and UV-A LED light of non-coated materials, and the impacts of temperature and bacteria concentration in disinfection. Three TiO₂ composites, two synthesized and one commercial (namely, TiO₂, Ag- TiO₂ and P25 TiO₂), were assessed for their removal photocatalytic efficiency of methylene blue (10 mg/L). P25 TiO₂ showed fast photocatalytic efficiency after two hours of treatment, reaching 98% efficiency after 4 h. The immobilization method M1 (fast cured epoxy) of particles in the material showed the best adhesion to substrates (scale = 4 ASTM D 3359) and for TiO₂-coated stainless steel in a pre-disinfection test at a temperature of 32.3 °C and efficiency of 55.2%. There were statistically significant differences in disinfection treatments between of TiO₂-coated and non-coated materials under the influence of UV-A LED light (p < 0.05) at a control temperature of 26 °C. The resulting disinfection efficiencies for typical trough materials (coated (C) or non-coated (NC) HDPE; and SS) were ranked as follows: SS-C-Light (100%) > SS-Light (81.4%) > HDPE-C-Light (63.9%) > HDPE-Light (51.3%). High ambient temperature and initial bacteria concentration tended to reduce the disinfection efficiency. The presence of TiO₂ on the coated surface was confirmed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray microanalyses (EDS). These results demonstrate the disinfection potential of TiO₂-coated materials and UV-A LED light, and thus, they should be considered as valuable alternatives to deal with persistent E. coli contamination of cattle troughs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Environment and Water Technology)

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Open AccessArticle

Removal of Phosphorus by Ferric Ion-Rich Solutions Prepared Using Various Fe(III)-Containing Minerals

Jueun Jung

Minhee Choi

Anil Kumar Reddy Police

Jungho Lee

and

Sungjun Bae

Water 2022, 14(22), 3765; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14223765 - 19 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 763

Abstract

Various biological, chemical, and physical technologies have been studied to effectively remove total phosphorus (T-P) from wastewater. Among them, some mineral suspensions and cations in the aqueous phase have shown great potential for promoting phosphorus removal via chemical precipitation. Herein, we investigated the efficiency of T-P removal using various chemical-based cations (Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺, Mg²⁺, and Al³⁺); ferric ions (Fe³⁺) showed the highest T-P-removal efficiency (33.1%), regardless of the type of anion (Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, and SO₄²⁻). To prepare natural Fe³⁺-rich solutions, three different Fe(III)-rich minerals (hematite, lepidocrocite, and magnetite) were treated with various HCl concentrations to maximize the dissolved Fe³⁺ amounts. Lepidocrocite in 2 N HCl showed the most effective Fe³⁺-leaching ability (L-Fe dissolved solution). Almost no significant difference in Fe³⁺ leaching was observed between HCl and H₂SO₄, whereas lepidocrocite-2 N H₂SO₄ showed the highest T-P-removal ability (91.5%), with the formation of amorphous Fe(III)-P precipitates. The L-Fe dissolved solution exhibited a higher T-P-removal efficiency than polyammonium chloride under real wastewater conditions. Our results can provide fundamental knowledge about the effect of cations on T-P removal in wastewater treatment and the feasibility of using the Fe³⁺ leaching solution prepared from Fe(III)-containing minerals for efficient T-P removal via chemical precipitation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Environment and Water Technology)

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Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Photodegradation Behavior of Agricultural Antibiotic Oxytetracycline in Water

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Water 2022, 14(21), 3379; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14213379 - 25 Oct 2022

Viewed by 614

Abstract

Due to their overuse in agriculture, antibiotics are discharged into the aquatic environment, which poses a threat to human health and aquatic organisms. The agricultural antibiotic oxytetracycline (OTC) persists in aquatic media for a long time due to its resistance to biological degradation. Photolysis is a main pathway for its degradation in the natural environment and wastewater treatment, and thus, the photolysis of OTC should be investigated. In this study, the effects of reaction conditions such as the irradiation conditions, the initial OTC concentration, and the water matrix on OTC photolysis were investigated. The most efficient degradation was observed when UV-C was used as the irradiation source (k = 0.0148 ± 0.0008 min⁻¹), and the removal ratio increased with higher light intensity. A lower initial OTC concentration and higher solution temperature were advantageous for the degradation of OTC. The presence of humic acid or inorganic ions negatively affected the degradation rate of OTC. In addition to the effects of the reaction conditions, the degradation kinetics of OTC in actual agricultural water and the photolysis of various antibiotics such as streptomycin, validamycin A, and oxolinic acid were further studied. This work proved that various factors could decrease the photodegradation of OTC, which raises the potential risks that are associated with the persistent use of antibiotics in the water environment. Therefore, the results of the present study can help to provide an understanding of the effects of various reaction conditions on the degradation of agricultural antibiotics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Environment and Water Technology)

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Open AccessArticle

Application of Activated Seashells and Sand Armor for Disrupting N and P Release from River Sediments

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Water 2022, 14(18), 2875; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14182875 - 15 Sep 2022

Viewed by 676

Abstract

We investigated the applicability of oyster (OS) and mussel shells (MS) as capping materials to inhibit the movement of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from river sediments. OS and MS are difficult to dispose of as waste, and have been used environmentally to clean up sediments contaminated with nitrogen and phosphorus. OS and MS increased the nutrient adsorption efficiency through simple heat treatment. The effectiveness of OS and MS capping with sand armor (SA) was evaluated in laboratory incubation experiments for 63 d. The sediments were capped with an active capping material (OS or MS) and then with either 1 cm or 3 cm SA. The pH and EC values were remarkably high under MS capping conditions because Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ were eluted from the MS material. The elution of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ negatively affected the inhibition of NH₄-N release by MS capping. OS capping demonstrated better performance for blocking the release of NH₄-N and T-N than that of MS capping; the efficiency was enhanced by adding a 3 cm SA layer on top of the MS layer. In contrast, the PO₄-P and T-P releases from the river sediments were effectively impeded by MS capping. OS capping with a 3 cm SA layer (OS/SA3) was recommended as the best capping strategy for inhibiting N and P releases from river sediments. The capping efficiencies of OS/SA3 for NH₄-N, T-N, PO₄-P, and T-P were 92.2%, 51.4%, 101.3%, and 93.3%, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Environment and Water Technology)

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Open AccessArticle

Digestate of Fecal Sludge Enhances the Tetracycline Removal in Soil Microbial Fuel Cells

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Water 2022, 14(17), 2752; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14172752 - 04 Sep 2022

Viewed by 818

Abstract

The soil pollution of agricultural lands is increasingly being caused by the widely used antibiotic tetracycline (TC) in the animal husbandry industry. Soil microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) provide a promising strategy for the bioremediation of contaminated soil. However, our current understanding of the bioremediation of TC-contaminated soil by SMFC is still limited. Here, we investigated the influence of fecal sludge (FS) digestate on TC biodegradation efficiency and extracellular electron transfer in SMFCs. The addition of FS digestate was beneficial to electricity generation by SMFC, and thus enhanced the removal efficiency of TC in the SMFC. After 25 days, the SMFC with fecal sludge digestate showed a TC removal efficiency of 64.5%, compared to values of 25.2% and 21.4% observed for a SMFC and an open-circuit SMFC operating without the addition of fecal sludge digestate, respectively. Moreover, the addition of FS digestate was favorable for electricity generation by SMFCs, and the average current density and the maximum power density of the SMFC with fecal sludge digestate were 0.054 A/m³ and 8.85 W/m³, respectively. The enrichment of Desulfuromonas and Pseudomonas in the electrode biofilms might account for their high TC removal efficiency and electricity generation. The SMFC with fecal sludge digestate provides a promising approach for the simultaneous disposal of fecal sludge digestate and the bioremediation of antibiotics-contaminated-soil. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Environment and Water Technology)

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Open AccessArticle

Adsorption of Arsenic from Water Using Aluminum-Modified Food Waste Biochar: Optimization Using Response Surface Methodology

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Water 2022, 14(17), 2712; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14172712 - 31 Aug 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 820

Abstract

Aluminum-impregnated food waste was selected as a filter medium for removing As(III) from aqueous solutions. The modification of food waste and its carbonization conditions were optimized using the Box–Behnken model in the response surface methodology. Pyrolysis temperature and Al content significantly influenced the As(III) adsorption capacity of aluminum-modified food waste biochar (Al-FWB), but the pyrolysis time was insignificant. Several factors affecting the adsorption capacity of the Al-FWB, including the pH, contact time, dosage, competitive anions, and reaction temperature, were studied. The low solution pH and the presence of HCO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, and PO₄³⁻ reduced the As(III) adsorption onto Al-FWB. The pseudo-second order model showed a better fit for the experimental data, indicating the dominance of the chemisorption process for As(III) adsorption. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models fit the adsorption data, but the Langmuir model with a higher (R²) value showed a better fit. Hence, As(Ⅲ) was adsorbed onto Al-FWB as a monolayer, and the maximum As(Ⅲ) adsorption capacity of Al-FWB was 52.2 mg/g, which is a good value compared with the other porous adsorbents. Thus, Al-FWB is a promising low-cost adsorbent for removing As(III) from aqueous solutions and managing food waste. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Environment and Water Technology)

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Open AccessArticle

Performance of Various Filtering Media for the Treatment of Cow Manure from Exercise Pens—A Laboratory Study

Elizabeth Álvarez-Chávez

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Water 2022, 14(12), 1912; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14121912 - 14 Jun 2022

Viewed by 1443

Abstract

During summer and winter months, pastures and outdoor pens represent the conventional means of providing exercise for dairy cows housed in tie-stall barns in the province of Québec, Canada. Unfortunately, outdoor pens require large spaces, and their leachates do not meet Québec’s environmental regulations. Therefore, there is a need to develop alternative approaches for these so-called wintering pens. A sustainable year-long approach could be a stand-off pad consisting of a filtering media to manage adequately water exiting the pad. Different filtering materials can be used and mixed (gravel, woodchips, biochar, sphagnum peat moss, sand, etc.). To find the best material and/or mixes, a laboratory study was carried out using 15 PVC pipes (5 cm in diameter and 50 cm long) to test five different combinations of materials over a 3-week period. Different contaminant-removal efficiencies were achieved with the alternative materials, including for chemical oxygen demand (11–38%), phosphates (8–23%), suspended solids (33–57%), and turbidity (23–58%). Alternative treatments with sand, sphagnum peat moss, and biochar improved the filtration capacity when compared to the conventional material (woodchips). However, after three weeks of experimentation, the treatment efficiency of sand gradually decreased for pollutants such as suspended solids and phosphates. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Environment and Water Technology)

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Open AccessArticle

Effects of Fertilizer Reduction and Straw Application on Dynamic Changes of Phosphorus in Overlying and Leaching Water in Rice Fields

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Water 2022, 14(8), 1250; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14081250 - 13 Apr 2022

Viewed by 919

Abstract

In the process of rice cultivation, fertilizer reduction can effectively reduce the concentration of phosphorus (P) in overlying water and leaching water. In this study, the variation characteristics of P in overlying and leaching water under the conditions of fertilizer reduction and straw application and its impact on the environment were studied through a two-season rice field experiment. Four treatments were set, including no fertilizer without straw (CK), conventional fertilization (CF), 20% reduction in nitrogen (N) and P fertilization (RF), and 20% reduction in N and P fertilization with the wheat straw (RFWS). The results showed that RF could effectively reduce the risk of P loss due to its ability to decrease the concentration of P in overlying and leaching water. RFWS increased P concentrations in overlying and leaching water of rice fields. Total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) was the main form of total phosphorus (TP), and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) was the main form of TDP. The concentration of TP, TDP, and SRP in the overlying and leaching water peaked on the first day after fertilization, and then gradually decreased. The high-risk period of P loss was 0 to 10 days after fertilization. This study could provide appropriate strategies to reduce the risk of P loss during local rice cultivation and protect local water resources from eutrophication. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Environment and Water Technology)

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