Authors: Agata Gryta Magdalena Frąc Karolina Oszust
Publish Date: 2014/08/14
Volume: 174, Issue: 4, Pages: 1434-1443
Abstract
An increasing amount of sewage sludge requires reasonable management whereas its storage might be environmentally hazardous Due to the organic matter and nutrient presence in sediments it may be used as organic fertilizer However beyond the valuable contests sewage sludge can also contain toxic or dangerous ingredients like heavy metals Therefore there is a need to develop methods for rapid assessment of sediment ecotoxicity that will determine its possible applicability in agriculture The Biolog® EcoPlate enables the metabolic profile diversity evaluation of microbial populations in environmental samples which reflects the state of their activity It is regarded as a modern technology that by means of biological properties allows quick characterization of the ecological status of environmental samples such as sewage sludgeIn recent years an intensively occurring process of urbanization and economic development is observed It gives a reason to find novel solutions on to address the new ecological and biological issue related to the increasing amount of sewage sludge and their application or utilization 1 Communal and industrial sewage treatment plants continually produce the increasing amount of sludge 2 Therefore the storage of sewage sludge is a threat to the environment and its efficient use in various areas is essential The storage of sewage sludge carries the risk of the nutrient penetration into groundwater and consequently leads to its contamination 3 4 5
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