Browsing by Author "Barbosa, Marta"
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- Ecotoxicological evaluation of wastewater in a municipal WWTP in Lisbon area (Portugal)Publication . Mendonça, E.; Picado, Ana; Paixão, Susana M.; Silva, Luís; Barbosa, Marta; Cunha, Maria AnaWastewater management has a central role in sustainable development, and, in this context, an integrated management of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) can be important. WWTP discharge complex effluents and for a new strategy in environmental protection ecotoxicological evaluation should complement the usual chemical evaluation. The EU project WW4Environment was set up for a WWTP located in Lisbon area and discharging into Tagus estuary (Portugal). One of the main objectives of the project is to optimize the management of the WWTP in terms of environmental impact. A battery of toxicity tests with organisms bearing different functions at the ecosystem level (the bacterium Vibrio fischeri, the alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, the crustaceans Thamnocephalus platyurus and Daphnia magna, and the plant Lemna minor) was used to characterize the wastewater in the different treatment phases. V. fischeri, test organism for Microtox test, was the most sensitive species in WWTP samples evaluation. Microtox, Alga, and Daphnia tests were able to distinguish two levels of treatment and to assess toxicity removal efficiency. The results demonstrated not only that the treatment efficiently reduced wastewater toxicity, but also that the use of an ecotoxicological approach can contribute to the environmental management of the treatment plant.
- The role of ecotoxicological evaluation in changing the environmental paradigm of wastewater treatment managementPublication . Mendonça, E.; Picado, Ana; Paixão, Susana M.; Barbosa, Marta; Cunha, Maria Ana; Silva, LuísWastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) discharge complex effluents raising special concern and direct toxicity assessment can be an added value strategy in WWTP environmental protection. The EU project “Integrated approach to energy and climate changes: changing the paradigm of wastewater treatment management” was set up for a WWTP discharging into Tagus estuary (Portugal). The main objectives of the project are to implement a tool to optimize the management of WWTP in terms of energy efficiency and environmental impact and to reduce the environmental costs of the treatment process. Setting up adequate ecotoxicological methodologies and selecting a battery of ecotoxicity tests to be used in the characterization of WWTP wastewaters are the aim of this study. The results of a battery of tests demonstrated not only that the treatment efficiently reduced wastewater toxicity, but also that the use of an ecotoxicological approach can contribute to the environmental management of the Treatment Plant.