Effects of in situ biological treatments on heavy metal release of urban river sediment

Abstract

A typical river in Yangzhou City was used to study the effects of artificial aeration, eco-brick cover, biological packing cover, and low-sited plant floating beds on the release of heavy metals from urban river sediments. This work showed that 1) the Cr release rate was decreased by 50.3%–89.6%, with an average of 59.3%, thereby reducing the Cr pollution load to the overlying water by 36.6%–82.7%, with an average of 53.3%; 2) the Zn release rate was reduced by 21.0%–88.9%, with an average of 42.3%, and the Zn pollution load of the overlying water was reduced by 38.0%–67.1%, with an average of 55.0%; 3) the Cu release rate was reduced by 27.5%–91.0%, with an average of 55.3%, and the Cu load of the overlying water was reduced by 57.1%–83.7%, with an average of 71.7%; 4) the Pb release rate was reduced by 11.8%–79.3%, with an average of 41.2%, and the Pb pollution load of the overlying water was reduced by –1.3%–70.7%, with an average of 29.8%. We also found that the effects of in situ biological treatments on the release of heavy metals were affected by the extent of sediment disturbance. For integrated applications, high-disturbance treatments should be combined with low-disturbance treatments to reduce the explosive release of pollutants caused by sediment disturbance during the treatment operation to achieve better overall treatment effects.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

in situ biological treatments / urban river sediment / heavy metal pollution

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