Mar 2008, Volume 2 Issue 1
    

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  • Development and prospects of municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration in China
    NIE Yongfeng
    2008, 2(1): 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0028-6
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    With the lack of space for new landfills, municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration is playing an increasingly important role in municipal solid waste management in China. The literatures on certain aspects of incineration plants in China are reviewed in this paper, including the development and status of the application of MSW incineration technologies, the treatment of leachate from stored MSW, air pollution control technologies, and the status of the fly-ash control method. Energy policy and its promotion of MSW-to-energy conversion are also elucidated.
  • Effects of temperature on pyrolysis products of oil sludge
    LIU Jianguo, SONG Wei, NIE Yongfeng
    2008, 2(1): 8-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0030-z
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    Temperature is the determining factor of pyrolysis, which is one of the alternative technologies for oil sludge treatment. The effects of final operating temperature ranging from 350 to 550°C on pyrolysis products of oil sludge were studied in an externally-heating fixed bed reactor. With an increase of temperature, the mass fraction of solid residues, liquids, and gases in the final product is 67.00%–56.00%, 25.60%–32.35%, and 7.40%–11.65%, and their corresponding heat values are 34.4–13.8 MJ/kg, 44.41–46.6 MJ/kg, and 23.94–48.23 MJ/Nm3, respectively. The mass and energy tend to shift from solid to liquid and gas phase (especially to liquid phase) during the process, and the optimum temperature for oil sludge pyrolysis is 500°C. The liquid phase is mainly composed of alkane and alkene (C5–C29), and the gas phase is dominantly HCS and H2.
  • Role of rural solid waste management in non-point source pollution control of Dianchi Lake catchments, China
    LU Wenjing, WANG Hongtao
    2008, 2(1): 15-23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0006-z
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    In recent years, with control of the main municipal and industrial point pollution sources and implementation of cleaning for some inner pollution sources in the water body, the discharge of point source pollution decreased gradually, while non-point source pollution has become increasingly distressing in Dianchi Lake catchments. As one of the major targets in non-point source pollution control, an integrated solid waste controlling strategy combined with a technological solution and management system was proposed and implemented based on the waste disposal situation and characteristics of rural solid waste in the demonstration area. As the key technology in rural solid waste treatment, both centralized plant-scale composting and a dispersed farmer-operated waste treating system showed promise in rendering timely benefits in efficiency, large handling capacity, high quality of the end product, as well as good economic return. Problems encountered during multi-substrates co-composting such as pathogens, high moisture content, asynchronism in the decomposition of different substrates, and low quality of the end product can all be tackled. 92.5% of solid waste was collected in the demonstration area, while the treating and recycling ratio reached 87.9%, which prevented 32.2 t nitrogen and 3.9 t phosphorus per year from entering the water body of Dianchi Lake after implementation of the project.
  • Performance of landfill leachate treatment system with disc-tube reverse osmosis units
    WANG Baozhen, LIU Shuo, LIU Yanping, LI Xiujin
    2008, 2(1): 24-31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0024-x
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    Reverse osmosis system with the disc-tube module (DT-RO) was applied to treat landfill leachate on full scale at the Changshengqiao Sanitary Landfill, Chongqing City, China. In the first six-mouth operation phase, the treatment performance of DT-RO system had been excellent and stable. The removal rate of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), electrical conductivity (EC), and ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) reached 99.2–99.7%, 99.2%, 99.6%, and over 98%, respectively. The rejection of Ca2+, Ba2+, and Mg2+ was over 99.9%, respectively. Suspended solid (SS) was not detected in product water. Effective methods had been adopted to control membrane fouling, of which chemical cleaning is of utmost importance to guarantee the long smooth operation of the DT-RO system. The DT-RO system is cleaned in turns with Cleaner A and Cleaner C. At present, the 1st stage cleaning cycle by Cleaner A and Cleaner C is conducted every 100 and 500 h, respectively, depending on raw the water quality.
  • Sludge reduction during brewery wastewater treatment by hydrolyzation-food chain reactor system
    LI Lijie, YANG Shuo, WANG Qunhui, LI Xuesong
    2008, 2(1): 32-35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0025-9
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    During brewery wastewater treatment by a hydrolyzation-food chain reactor (FCR) system, sludge was recycled to the anaerobic segment. With the function of hydrolyzation acidification in the anaerobic segment and the processes of aerobic oxidation and antagonism, predation, interaction and symbiosis among microbes in multilevel oxidation segment, residual sludge could be reduced effectively. The 6-month dynamic experiments show that the average chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal ratio was 92.6% and average sludge production of the aerobic segment was 8.14%, with the COD of the influent at 960–1720 mg/L and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 12 h. Since the produced sludge could be recycled and hydrolyzed in the anaerobic segment, no excess sludge was produced during the steady running for this system.
  • Mechanism on minimization of excess sludge in oxic-settling-anaerobic (OSA) process
    WANG Jianfang, ZHAO Qingliang, JIN Wenbiao, LIN Jikan
    2008, 2(1): 36-43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0001-4
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    The oxic-settling-anaerobic (OSA) process is a promising wastewater treatment technique for efficiently reducing sludge production and improving the stability of process operation. In this paper, the possible factors of sludge reduction such as sludge decay, uncoupled metabolism, and anaerobic oxidation with low sludge production were discussed in the OSA process. It has been confirmed that sludge decay is the decisive cause in the OSA process, accounting for 66.7% of sludge production reduction. Sludge decay includes hydrolysis and acidogenesis of dead microorganisms and particle organic carbon adsorbed in sludge floc and endogenous metabolism. By batch experiments, it has been proven that there is energetic uncoupling in the OSA system since microorganisms were exposed to alternative anaerobic and aerobic environment. It accounts for about 7.5% of sludge production reduction. Soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) released from the anaerobic sludge tank in the OSA process was used as the substrate for cryptic growth. The substrate was used for anoxic denitrifying, anaerobic phosphorus release, sulfate reduction, and methane production. These anaerobic reactions in the sludge anaerobic tank have lower sludge production than in the aerobic oxidation when equivalent SCOD is consumed, which may lead to approximately 23% of sludge reduction in the OSA process. It has been concluded that multiple causes resulted in the minimization of excess sludge in the OSA system. The microbial community structure and diversity of sludge samples from the CAS (conventional activated sludge) and OSA systems were investigated by 16 SrDNA PCR-DG-DGGE (polymerase chain reaction-double gradient-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis). DGGE profile and cluster analysis showed more abundant species in the OSA system contrasting to microbial communities in the CAS system.
  • Experimental study on oxidative decomposition of nitrobenzene in aqueous solution by honeycomb ceramic-catalyzed ozonation
    ZHAO Lei, MA Jun, LIU Zhengqian, YANG Yixin, SUN Zhizhong
    2008, 2(1): 44-50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0012-1
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    The ozonation of nitrobenzene in aqueous solution was carried out in a semi-batch reactor to investigate the degradation efficiency, the effect factors, and the reaction mechanism, where honeycomb ceramic was used as a catalyst. The presence of honeycomb ceramic could improve the degradation rate of nitrobenzene by 15.46% compared to the results of ozonation alone. Under the conditions of this experiment, the degradation rate of honeycomb ceramic-catalyzed ozonation increased by 12.94% with the increase of the amount of catalyst from 1 to 5 blocks. The degradation rates all increased greatly with the increase of temperature and pH of the solution in the processes of honeycomb ceramic-catalyzed ozonation and ozonation alone. But, when the pH of the solution increased to 9.50, the advantage of the honeycomb ceramic-catalyzed ozonation process would be lost. The experimental findings indicated that in the processes of ozonation alone and honeycomb ceramic-catalyzed ozonation, nitrobenzene was primarily oxidized by OH free radical in aqueous solution. The adsorption of nitrobenzene was too limited to have an important influence on the degradation rate of nitrobenzene. With the same total dosage of applied ozone, the multiple step addition of ozone showed much higher removal efficiency than that obtained by one step in the two processes.
  • Kinetics of hexavalent chromium reduction by iron metal
    QIAN Huijing, WU Yanjun, LIU Yong, XU Xinhua
    2008, 2(1): 51-56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0010-3
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    The kinetics of Cr(VI) reduction to Cr(III) by metallic iron (Fe0) was studied in batch reactors for a range of reactant concentrations, pH and temperatures. Nearly 86.8% removal efficiency for Cr(VI) was achieved when Fe0 concentration was 6 g/L (using commercial iron powder (< 200 mesh) in 120 min). The reduction of hexavalent chromium took place on the surface of the iron particles following pseudo-first order kinetics. The rate of Cr(VI) reduction increased with increasing Fe0 addition and temperature but inversely with initial pH. The pseudo-first-order rate coefficients (kobs) were determined as 0.0024, 0.010, 0.0268 and 0.062 8 min-1 when iron powder dosages were 2, 6, 10 and 14 g/L at 25°C and pH 5.5, respectively. According to the Arrehenius equation, the apparent activation energy of 26.5 kJ/mol and pre-exponential factor of 3 330 min-1 were obtained at the temperature range of 288–308 K. Different Fe0 types were compared in this study. The reactivity was in the order starch-stabilized Fe0 nanoparticles > Fe0 nano-particles > Fe0 powder > Fe0 filings. Electrochemical analysis of the reaction process showed that Cr(III) and Fe(III) hydroxides should be the dominant final products.
  • Hydraulic model for multi-sources reclaimed water pipe network based on EPANET and its applications in Beijing, China
    JIA Haifeng, WEI Wei, XIN Kunlun
    2008, 2(1): 57-62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0013-0
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    Water shortage is one of the major water related problems for many cities in the world. The planning for utilization of reclaimed water has been or would be drafted in these cities. For using the reclaimed water soundly, Beijing planned to build a large scale reclaimed water pipe networks with multi-sources. In order to support the plan, the integrated hydraulic model of planning pipe network was developed based on EPANET supported by geographic information system (GIS). The complicated pipe network was divided into four weak conjunction subzones according to the distribution of reclaimed water plants and the elevation. It could provide a better solution for the problem of overhigh pressure in several regions of the network. Through the scenarios analysis in different subzones, some of the initial diameter of pipes in the network was adjusted. At last the pipe network planning scheme of reclaimed water was proposed. The proposed planning scheme could reach the balances between reclaimed water requirements and reclaimed water supplies, and provided a scientific basis for the reclaimed water utilization in Beijing. Now the scheme had been adopted by Beijing municipal government.
  • Natural ecological water demand in the lower Heihe River
    FU Xinfeng, HE Hongmou, JIANG Xiaohui, WANG Guoqing, YANG Shengtian
    2008, 2(1): 63-68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0022-z
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    The ecological environment in the lower Heihe River has been deteriorating due to large water consumption in the upper and middle reaches, and less available water downstream. To restore the ecological environment in the lower Heihe River, the ecological water demand should be guaranteed. The natural vegetation area in the lower Heihe River was first obtained through the interpretation of remote sensing images taken in 1998. Based on the analysis for the Quota of the natural ecological water demand in the lower Heihe River and the determination of the natural ecological water demand calculation method, the ecological water demand in the lower Heihe River was calculated. Finally, the natural ecological water demand in the lower Heihe River under the current situation was calculated with the groundwater storage volume change method, Aweliyongrufe method and the measured water volume method. In comparison, the natural ecological water demand in the lower Heihe River is 3.91–4.05 × 108 m3.
  • Isolation of a strain that degrades 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene and characterization of its degradative plasmid
    SONG Lei, WANG Hui, SHI Hanchang, HU Hongying
    2008, 2(1): 69-72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0019-7
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    The genetic information encoding metabolic pathways for xenobiotic compounds in bacteria often resides on catabolic plasmids. The aim of the present work was to know the location of the genes for degrading 1,2,4-trichlorobenzen. In this paper a 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene-degrading strain THSL-1 was isolated from the soil of Tianjin Chemical Plant using 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene as the sole carbon source. The strain was identified as Pseudomonas stutzeri through morphologic survey and 16S rDNA sequence determination. A plasmid was discovered from strain THSL-1 by using the alkali lysis method. When the plasmid was transformed into E. coli. JM109 by the CaCl2 method, the transformant could grow using 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene as the sole carbon source and had the degradation function of 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene. Therefore, it could be deemed that the plasmid carried the degradative genes of 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene. The average size of the plasmid was finally determined to be 40.2 Kb using selectively three kinds of restricted inscribed enzymes (HindIII, BamHI, and XholI) for single cutting and double cutting the plasmid pTHSL-1, respectively.
  • Eco-environmental water demands for the Baiyangdian Wetland
    YANG Zhifeng, CUI Baoshan, LIU Jingling, ZHONG Ping
    2008, 2(1): 73-80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0015-y
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    In recent years, the hydrological characters of Baiyangdian Wetland have changed greatly, which, in turn, influence the biotic component, the structure and function of the wetland ecosystem. In order to determine the demands for water resources of ecological wetland system, a method of ecological water level coefficient was suggested to calculate the water resources demands for wetland environment use. This research showed that the minimum coefficient is 0.94 and the optimal coefficient is more than 1.10. According to these two coefficients, the ecological water level and water quantity can be estimated. The results indicate that the amount of the minimal and optimal eco-environmental water requirements are 0.87 × 108 and 2.78 × 108 m3 in average monthly, respectively, with the maximum eco-environmental water requirement in summer and the minimum in winter. The annual change of eco-environment water demand is in according with the climate change and hydrological characters. The method of ecological water level emphasizes that wetland ecosystem adapts to the hydrological conditions, so it can be used in practice well.
  • Analyzing and quantitatively evaluating the organic matter source at different ecologic zones of tidal salt marsh, North Jiangsu Province, China
    GAO Jianhua, YANG Guishan, OU Weixin
    2008, 2(1): 81-88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0016-x
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    In order to explore the effect of different ecological zones and their above plants in the organic matter cycling of the whole tidal salt marsh, indicators such as total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), C/N ratio, ?13C and ?15N of surface, core sediments, and plants of tidal salt marshes in North Jiangsu Province are analyzed. Subsequently, distribution regularities of these measurement indicators are discussed, and the biogeochemistry processes between sediments and plants are also analyzed. Lastly, the organic matter sources of different ecologic zones in tidal salt marsh are evaluated, and the organic matter accumulations in different ecologic zones induced by their plants are also compared. These results indicate that TOC, TN, C/N ratio and ?13C showed obvious zonal distribution. The organic matter sources are dominated by marine input in the silt flat, artemisia schrenkiana flat, and the transition zone between silt and spartina alterniflora flat, and are controlled by terrigenous input in spartina alterniflora flat. Spartina alterniflora plays an important role in the accumulation of organic matter in the whole tidal salt marshes ecosystem. In the study area, the annually increased TOC, organic matter and TN in the spartina alterniflora, artemisia schrenkiana and reed flats reach 6,451, 12,043 and 536 t, respectively. The amount of TOC, organic matter and TN accumulated in the spartina alterniflora flat is more than that in other ecological zones, which shows that the spartina alterniflora flat exert a non-replaceable effect on the material cycle and exchange in the whole tidal salt marshes ecosystem.
  • Relationships between loading rates and nitrogen removal effectiveness in subsurface flow constructed wetlands
    ZHANG Rongshe, LI Guanghe, ZHANG Xu, ZHOU Qi
    2008, 2(1): 89-93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0002-3
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    Nitrogen removal of wetlands under 40 different inflow loadings were studied in the field during 15 months. The removal efficiency of four different sets of beds, namely the reed bed, the Zizania caduciflor bed, the mixing planting bed, and the control bed were studied. The outflow loading and total nitrogen (TN) removal rate of these beds under different inflow loadings and pollution loadings were investigated. The inflow loadings of 4 sub-surface flow systems (SFS) ranged from 400 to 8000 mg·(m2·d)-1, while outflow loadings were less than 7000 mg·(m2·d)-1. The results showed that the inflow and outflow loading of TN removal rate in SFS presented an obvious linear relationship. The optical inflow loading to run the system was between 2000 to 4000 mg·(m2·d)-1. Average removal rate was between 1062 and 2007 mg·(m2·d)-1. SFS with plant had a better removal rate than the control. TN removal rates of the reed and Zizania caduciflora bed were 63% and 27% higher than the control bed, respectively. The results regarding the TN absorption of plants indicated that the absorption amount was very limited, less than 5% of the total removal. It proved that plants clearly increase TN removal rates by improving the water flow, and increasing the biomass, as well as activities of microorganisms around the roots. The research provided a perspective for understanding the TN removal mechanism and design for SFS.
  • Nitrification and denitrification in biological activated carbon filter for treating high ammonia source water
    LIU Jianguang, ZHANG Xiaojian, WANG Zhansheng
    2008, 2(1): 94-98. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0020-1
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    Since the ammonia in the effluent of the traditional water purification process could not meet the supply demand, the advanced treatment of a high concentration of 4+-N micro-polluted source water by biological activated carbon filter (BACF) was tested. The filter was operated in the downflow manner and the results showed that the removing rate of NH4+-N was related to the influent concentration of NH4+-N. Its removing rate could be higher than 95% when influent concentration was under 1.0 mg/L. It could also decrease with the increasing influent concentration when the 4+-N concentration was in the range from 1.5 to 4.9 mg/L and the dissolved oxygen (DO) in the influent was under 10 mg/L, and the minimum removing rate could be 30%. The key factor of restricting nitrification in BACF was the influent DO. When the influent NH4+-N concentration was high, the DO in water was almost depleted entirely by the nitrifying and hetetrophic bacteria in the depth of 0.4 m filter and the filter layer was divided into aerobic and anoxic zones. The nitrification and degradation of organic matters existed in the aerobic zone, while the denitrification occurred in the anoxic zone. Due to the limited carbon source, the denitrification could not be carried out properly, which led to the accumulation of the denitrification intermediates such as NO2-. In addition to the denitrification bacteria, the nitrification and the heterotrophic bacteria existed in the anoxic zone.
  • On-line controlling system for nitrogen and phosphorus removal of municipal wastewater in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR)
    LI Jun, NI Yongjiong, WEI Su, CHENG Guobiao, OU Changjin, PENG Yongzhen, GU Guowei, LU Jingen
    2008, 2(1): 99-102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0017-9
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    The objectives of this study were to establish an on-line controlling system for nitrogen and phosphorus removal synchronously of municipal wastewater in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The SBR for municipal wastewater treatment was operated in sequences: filling, anaerobic, oxic, anoxic, oxic, settling and discharge. The reactor was equipped with on-line monitoring sensors for dissolved oxygen (DO), oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) and pH. The variation of DO, ORP and pH is relevant to each phase of biological process for nitrogen and phosphorus removal in this SBR. The characteristic points of DO, ORP and pH can be used to judge and control the stages of process that include: phosphate release by the turning points of ORP and pH; nitrification by the ammonia valley of pH and ammonia elbows of DO and ORP; denitrification by the nitrate knee of ORP and nitrate apex of pH; phosphate uptake by the turning point of pH; and residual organic carbon oxidation by the carbon elbows of DO and ORP. The controlling system can operate automatically for nitrogen and phosphorus efficiently removal.
  • Degradation of chlorinated phenols by nanoscale zero-valent iron
    CHENG Rong, WANG Jianlong, ZHANG Weixian
    2008, 2(1): 103-108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0009-9
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    Chlorophenols (CPs), as important contaminants in groundwater, are toxic and difficult to biodegrade. Recently nanoscale zero-valent iron received a great deal of attention because of its excellent performance in treating recalcitrant compounds. In this study, nanoscale zero-valent iron particles were prepared using chemical reduction, and the reductive transformations of three kinds of chlorinated phenols (2-CP, 3-CP, and 4-CP) by nanoscale zero-valent iron under different conditions were investigated. The transformation process of the CPs was shown to be dechlorination first, then cleavage of the benzene ring. The removal efficiency of the CPs varied as follows: 2-CP > 3-CP > 4-CP. The reactivity of CPs was associated with their energy of lowest unoccupied molecular orbit (ELUMO). With the increase in initial concentrations of CPs, removal efficiency decreased a little. But the quantities of CPs reduced increased evidently. Temperature had influence on not only the removal efficiency, but also the transformation pathway. At higher temperatures, dechlorination occurred prior to benzene ring cleavage. At lower temperatures, however, the oxidation product was formed more easily.
  • Experimental study on the control of black smoke pollution from the ceramic kilns based on the mechanism of the surfactant and coagulant
    CUI Xiao, LI Caiting, WANG Fei, LI Shanhong, XIAO Chenchang, PENG Yu, ZHAI Yunbo
    2008, 2(1): 109-115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0021-0
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    Aiming at the characteristics of carbon black, a new method of controlling the black smoke from the industrial coal-burning ceramic kilns by wetting was brought forward. The carbon black in the flue of coal-burning ceramic kiln was collected for the experiments, and its physical and chemical properties were studied in detail. In order to change the sedimentation and wettability state of the carbon black, the complex solution of the coagulant and surfactant was applied. After a series of orthogonal experiments, the complex solutions with better effects were chosen. Then, the sedimentation percentage of carbon black treated by the selected complex solutions was measured. The optimized complex solutions included Na2SO4 (100 mmol/L), sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate (SDBS) (1.2 mmol/L) and polyacrylamide (PAM) (40 mg/L). After carbon black was absorbed, the complex solutions were clear and colorless. The complex solutions can be recycled, and the sedimentation percentage of carbon black is 94%.
  • Microbial community structure in different wastewater treatment processes characterized by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) technique
    ZHAO Yangguo, WANG Aijie, REN Nanqi, ZHAO Yan
    2008, 2(1): 116-121. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0018-8
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    In order to investigate microbial community structures in different wastewater treatment processes and understand the relationship between the structures and the status of processes, the microbial community diversity, variety and distribution in five wastewater treatment pro cesses were studied by a culture-independent genetic fingerprinting technique single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). The five processes included denitrifying and phosphate-removal system (diminished N), Chinese traditional medicine wastewater treatment system (P), beer wastewater treatment system (W), fermentative biohydrogen-producing system (H), and sulfate-reduction system (S). The results indicated that the microbial community profiles in the wastewater bioreactors with the uniform status were very similar. The diversity of microbial populations was correlated with the complexity of organic contaminants in wastewater. Chinese traditional medicine wastewater contained more complex organic components; hence, the population diversity was higher than that of simple nutrient bioreactors fed with molasses wastewater. Compared with the strain bands in a simulated community, the relative proportion of some functional microbial populations in bioreactors was not dominant. Fermentative biohydrogen producer Ethanoligenens harbinense in the better condition bioreactor had only a 5% band density, and the Desulfovibrio sp. in the sulfate-reducing bioreactor had less than 1.5% band density. The SSCP profiles could identify the difference in microbial community structures in wastewater treatment processes, monitor some of the functional microbes in these processes, and consequently provide useful guidance for improving their efficiency.
  • Effect of streambed substrate on macroinvertebrate biodiversity
    DUAN Xuehua, WANG Zhaoyin, TIAN Shimin
    2008, 2(1): 122-128. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-008-0023-y
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    Macroinvertebrates are important components of stream ecosystems, and are often used as indicator species for the assessment of river ecology. Numerous studies have shown that substrate is the primary physical environmental variable affecting the taxa richness and density of macroinvertebrates. The aim of this work is to study the effects of the characteristics of streambed substrate, such as grain size, shape, and roughness, on the composition and biodiversity of macroinvertebrates. A field experiment was done on the Juma River, a second-order mountain stream in northern China. Substrata of cobbles, hewn stones, pebbles, coarse sand, and fine sand were used to replace the original gravel and sand bed in a stretch of 30 m in length. The sampling results indicated that the macroinvertebrate assemblage is significantly affected by the grain size, porosity and interstitial dimension of the substrate, while it is rarely affected by the shape and the surface roughness of the experimental substrata. Macroinvertebrate compositions in cobbles and hewn stones were stable and changed least over time. The taxa richness and density of individuals in the substrata of cobbles, hewn stones, and pebbles are much higher than in those of the coarse sand and fine sand.