The presence of micropollutants, such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products, in surface and ground water has escalated globally, leading to adverse effects on aquatic organisms in receiving waters. Untreated or inadequately treated wastewater is the main source of micropollutants entering the environment. In South Africa, the consumption of antibiotics and antiretroviral drugs is relatively higher than other nations; however, little data exists on the identification and remediation of micropollutants in domestic wastewater. In this study, a novel method to detect and measure 71 micropollutants using online solid phase extraction liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry was developed. To test the method in the South African context, grab samples of the influent and anaerobically treated effluent (AF effluent) from a demonstration-scale decentralised wastewater treatment system in eThekwini (Durban) were taken over 3 consecutive days at 2 time points. The presence of 24 micropollutants was detected in the raw wastewater, with analgesics/anti-inflammatory drugs, antiretrovirals, and antibiotics showing the highest concentrations and with the majority of compounds still present in the AF effluent. One antibiotic, ciprofloxacin, exceeded its predicted no-effect concentration in all influent and AF effluent samples. This suggests that the anaerobic treatment of the raw wastewater was not effective in removing micropollutants. Preliminary data from lab-scale adsorption experiments using biochar produced from a set of 4 feedstocks – olive residues, tomato residues, rice husks, and the African palm tree Raphia farinifera – showed average removal rates for 4 compounds of up to 62%. The application of biochar is thus recommended as a secondary treatment step in decentralised wastewater treatment for the removal of micropollutants in South Africa.
A new species of Cucumella, C. triperforata, with simple, digitate tentacles is described from deep waters off the east coast of South Africa. Since C. triplex, the type species of this genus, also has simple, digitate tentacles, the genus Cucumella together with its type species is removed from the Dendrochirotida and re-assigned to a new family, Cucumellidae, within the Dactylochirotida. The remaining species of Cucumella, with the exception of C. decaryi Cherbonnier (= Neostichopus grammatus (H.L. Clark, 1923)) are assigned to Neoamphicyclus Hickman, 1962 within the dendrochirotid subfamily Thyonidiinae. The ossicles of the new species bear a striking resemblance to those of the molpadid Cherbonniera utriculus Sibuet, but ordinal differences readily separate the taxa.
The design principles of decentralised wastewater treatment systems (DEWATS) make them a practical sanitation option for municipalities to adopt in fast-growing cities in South Africa. Since 2014, a demonstration-scale DEWATS with a modular design consisting of a settler, anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR), anaerobic filter (AF), vertical down-flow constructed wetland (VFCW) and horizontal flow constructed wetland (HFCW) has been in operation in eThekwini. A performance evaluation after the long-term operation was undertaken in 2019 by comparing the final effluent with national regulatory requirements. Despite limitations in characterising the raw wastewater, a comparison of the settler and final effluent quality indicated high (≥ 85%) removal efficiencies of total chemical oxygen demand (CODt), ammonium-N (NH4-N) and orthophosphate-P (PO4-P), 75% removal of total suspended solids (TSS) and 83.3% log10 removal of Escherichia coli. Lack of exogenous and endogenous carbon and high dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations (> 0.5 mg‧L−1) inhibited denitrification in the HFCW, resulting in 12.5% of the effluent samples achieving compliance for nitrate-N (NO3-N). Moreover, mixed aggregate media and low residence times in the HFCW may have also contributed to poor NO3-N removal. During the COVID-19 lockdown, an unexpected shutdown and subsequent resumption of flow to the DEWATS indicated a 16-week recovery time based on achieving full nitrification in the HFCW. Although design modifications are necessary for the HFCW, the installation of urine diversion flushing toilets at the household will reduce the nutrient loading to the DEWATS and potentially achieve fully compliant effluent. Alternatively, the application of two-stage vertical flow constructed wetlands to improve denitrification should also be explored in the South African context. With an improved design, DEWATS has the potential to fill the gap in both urban and rural sanitation in South Africa, where waterborne sanitation is still desired but connections to conventional wastewater treatment works (WWTWs) are not possible.
Thyone neofusus Deichmann, 1941, Thyone adinopoda Pawson & Miller, 1981and Havelockia obunca (Lampert, 1885) are referred to the genus Sclerothyone Thandar, 1989, and a taxonomic key is provided to all species currently contained in the family Sclerothyonidae Thandar (sensu Smirnov 2012). Since the nomen Neothyone in the family Thyonidae (sensu Smirnov 2012), is preoccupied [(having been used by Hampson (1914) for a group of moths belonging to the family Arctiidae)], the name Lisacucumis nomen nov. is here proposed, with Stolus gibber Selenka as type species, as designated for Neothyone by Deichmann (1941).
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