Water bodies are critical in maintaining and sustaining ecosystems. However, urban water bodies are often ignored during development projects, and comprehensive plans for their revival and rejuvenation are not seen as priorities. This paper describes the rejuvenation project for a dry water body at Rajokri, Delhi, India. A “scientific wetland with active biodigester” (SWAB) system was developed to treat domestic wastewater, which was then used to fill the lake. The SWAB effectively removed about 89% removal of oil and grease, 86% biological oxygen demand (BOD), 85% chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 86% of total suspended solids (TSS) when the respective inlet concentrations were 18 ± 1.14 mg/L, 124 ± 2.9 mg/L, 480 ± 11.9 mg/L and 116 ± 1.82 from the raw wastewater. The SWAB system provides completely natural treatment with zero electrical consumption. The revival of the water body using a decentralized wastewater treatment system has immensely helped in management of urban wastewater, ground water recharge and enhanced ecosystem and biodiversity values. The project demonstrates the integration of socio-cultural, societal, ecological, ecosystem and technological aspects for the revival of the lake.

Second cheese whey (SCW) or “ scotta” in Italian, is a side-stream from the manufacturing of “ Ricotta” cheese, obtained after thermal coagulation of whey proteins residue in the cheese whey. Galdieria sulphuraria is a thermophilic red algae well known for its metabolic capabilities to grow on wastewater and other saline effluents. In this work, the valorisation of SCW as nutrient source for the growth of G. sulphuraria has been investigated using different concentrations of SCW. The biochemical and fatty acids composition of the biomass obtained has been evaluated too. Small differences have been observed in terms of biomass obtained after 12 days of cultivation between the SCW media and the relative control with the same amount of reducing sugars. The fatty acids composition of G. sulphuraria grown in SCW showed a higher content of polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to the control. The biomass productivity using SCW media has also been optimized through response surface methodologies with supplementation of nitrogen source obtaining a biomass dry weight higher than 10 g L⁻¹.

Radioactive liquid wastes are produced at hospitals from diagnostic and therapeutic applications of radionuclides. The most usual management of these wastes is temporary storage at the hospital for radioactivity decay and, then, discharge into sewage if not other pollutants are present in waste, always after authorization of the corresponding institution. In some cases, radioactive wastes have other hazards, such as chemical or biological ones, which can be more dangerous than radiological hazard, and do not allow direct discharge into sewage in spite of decaying activity below the clearance level. Therefore, these wastes have to be treated and condition before discharge in spite of activity decay below discharge limit. This is the case of liquid wastes from radioimmunoassay (RIA), a laboratory technique that allows to determine human substances in very low concentrations (below 10⁻¹² g/mL), like hormones, using¹²⁵I as radionuclide. This study summarizes the usual management of radioactive liquid wastes from hospitals, including conventional and recent treatments applied. Furthermore, based on experimental results obtained with real RIA wastes, this work exposes a proposal of treatment with ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis membranes, and determines the most suitable application of this treatment according to radiological and operational considerations.

Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORMs) and Technologically Enhanced NORMs (TENORMs) are among the principal sources of radiation exposure for humans and for the environment. Therefore, the assessment of the impact of NORMs and TENORMs waste on human health is a key issue for their management and for acceptance of disposal sites. The radiological doses to workers and public due to TENORMs disposal depend on the waste inventory, on the usage of the site during operational activities and post closure phase and on the presence of dwelling areas in the vicinity of the disposal site. In the present study it is presented a methodology to preliminary assess the feasibility of a disposal of TENORMs, mainly constituted by phosphate sludges, originated from phosphoric acid industry activities. The hypothetical case study here presented is inspired by a real case study. Different possible scenarios have been considered. The potential doses to workers and to the public on-site have been estimated by the use of the TSD Dose and the RESRAD on-site codes both during the production life cycle of the site and once it ended. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate the impact of some key parameters, such the coverage thickness and wind velocity, on potential risk for workers and public.

Wildfires are a prevalent natural disaster that can significantly impact human populations and result in considerable losses. With a changing climate, wildfires in many countries have increased in intensity and frequency, making effective restoration efforts in affected areas crucial. This paper aims to evaluate the efficacy of ordered weighted averaging (OWA), a GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis technique, in identifying priority areas for wildfire restoration. A case study using the 2009 Station Fire in California is presented, using the restoration criteria of slope, erodibility, proximity to forest cover, and proximity to surface water. By applying both importance and order weights, multiple OWA decision strategies with varying risk levels were examined. Different strategies greatly influence the spatial distribution of land considered high and low priority for wildfire restoration, each with varying levels of trade off. In the OWA decision space, placing full emphasis on the highest (best) values (using the risk-taking OR operator) or the lowest values (using the risk-averse AND operator) resulted in composite priority maps that cannot be recommended for practical use. More nuanced scenarios are achieved with the OWA operators representing a range of compromise decision strategies between these extremes. The OWA technique in GIS can thus help to explore the impact of decision-makers’ risk attitudes in a wildfire restoration setting.

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are created where a diverse array of microorganisms colonize the surface and upper few millimeters of the soil and create a consolidated crust. They were originally described from arid ecosystems where vascular vegetation is naturally sparse or absent. They have since been discovered in all terrestrial ecosystems. Where present, they perform a variety of important ecological functions, including the capture and accumulation of water and essential plant nutrients, and their release in forms useful to vascular plants. They also stabilize the soil surface against wind and water erosion. BSC organisms include fungi (free-living, lichenized, and mycorrhizal), archaea, bacteria (cyanobacteria and chemotrophic and diazotrophic bacteria), terrestrial algae (including diatoms), and bryophytes (mosses and worts). BSC organisms reproduce primarily asexually via thallus or main body fragmentation or production of asexual spores that are readily dispersed by water and wind. Asexual and sexual propagules of BSC organisms are commonly lifted into the air with vast quantities of dust from the world’s arid areas. BSC organisms and/or their propagules have been detected as high as the stratosphere. Some have also been detected in the mesosphere. Airborne dust, microorganisms, and their propagules contribute to the formation of essential raindrop and snowflake nuclei that, in turn, facilitate precipitation events. While airborne in the atmosphere, they also reflect the sun’s rays passing laterally through the troposphere and stratosphere at dawn and dusk, often causing brilliant colors at sunrise and sunset.