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Fea ures
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Investigating applications of effluents, sludge
35 mw of energy can be generated
15 tonne/d of compost can be produced
for agricultural applications
T
he
groundwater
along
Salalah coastal strip was
found not suitable for drinking purposes unless treated properly
A team of scholars at SQU have
carried out a research project aimed
at providing decision makers with a
complete picture about the current
situation of wastewater treatment effluents and sludge in Muscat, Sohar
and Salalah regions and any potential effects on the environment and
public health.
It should provide a reliable database that would help quantify the
amount of sludge usable to assess
the possibility of producing energy
from such end products.
Dr Mahad Said Baawain, the
team leader, said the work was intended to achieve a set of goals.
These are to examine major sources
of wastewater and sludge, investigate the current applications of the
effluent wastewater and sludge,
and identify the characteristics of
wastewater and sludge related to
each source. The project also sought
to estimate the risk associated with
Anaerobic (primary) treatment of wastewater
the application of effluent wastewater and sludge, propose quality control plan of such effluents through
identifying the required treatment
technologies, quantify the resultant sludge from the new treatment
methods, and estimate the biogas
production rate.
As to the methods applied by
the group, Dr Baawain pointed out
that field samples of wastewater and
sludge from wastewater treatment
plants in Muscat, Sohar and Salalah
were collected using the grab method technique which is very common for such research compared to
composite sampling method which
requires huge resources due to the
large number of samples, treatment
plants and locations.
“The sampling process included
four sewage treatment plants (STPs)
in Muscat, two STPs in Sohar and
three STPs in Salalah. For each
treatment plant, six to eight samples
were collected from the different
treatment stages. Additional water
and wastewater samples were collected from eight locations in Sohar
Aeration (biological) treatment of wastewater
industrial port and twenty-two wells
around the recharge line in Salalah.
All samples were collected in special
cool boxes and transported directly
to SQU laboratories within four
to eight hours of collection time to
analyse them directly. The analysis
methods for physical, chemical and
biological parameters (more than 25
tests per sample!) were conducted
according to international standard
methods for water and wastewater
samples. The collection and analysis
of the wastewater samples were carried over a period of two years.”
Findings
The investigation has come up
with significant results. The academic mentioned that “we had over
1,500 samples as well as 35,000
tests ranging between physical,
chemical and biological parameters.
All results for water, wastewater and
sludge samples showed high variation. However, the resultant treated
effluents have met most of regulatory limits stated by Omani standards except some parameters such
Nitrate, E coli and total suspended
solids (TSS) in certain plants. The
average obtained values of the
heavy metals in sludge samples
were within the Omani standards for
Dr Mahad Said Baawain
agricultural applications except for
Cd in Rusail Industrial Estate STP
and Zn in Sohar STP”.
More interesting is the fact that,
owing to high volatile content, an
Sick Building Syndrome under scrutiny
A
new research project has been
launched to assess factors that affect the
extent of sick building syndrome (SBS)
in Oman. The syndrome is caused poor indoor
air quality, a phenomenon which has become a
real concern because of its adverse effect on human health and comfort. SBS is a generic term
used to describe a range of common symptoms
which for no obvious reason are associated
with particular buildings. The symptoms are often physical without clearly identifiable causes,
and they are more prevalent in some buildings
than in others.
Dr Sabah Ahmed al Sulaiman, of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, will attempt to provide answers to questions regarding the possibility of SBS developing within
different types of buildings in Muscat. This will
be done through monitoring and assessment of
SBS indicators. Indoor air quality modelling
software will also be applied to simulate the
distribution of contaminants indoors within selected buildings.
The World Health Organisation has defined
SBS as a medical condition in which people in
a building suffer from symptoms of illness or
feeling unwell for no apparent reason. These
symptoms tend to increase in severity with the
time people spend in the building.
The symptoms are readily reversible and
are alleviated or even disappear when people
are away from the building without taking any
medication. SBS comprises a collection of
non-specific symptoms including headaches,
Sick building
tiredness, shortness of breath, and allergic reactions such as sinus congestion, irritation of the
eyes and throat, lack of concentration, sneezing, coughing and wheezing. In some cases,
an allergic reaction of the lungs has also been
reported. These symptoms may occur singly or
in combination with each other.
In the majority of cases of SBS, no physical
cause of the syndrome can be identified. There
are several factors contributing to SBS.
These include: inadequate ventilation;
chemical contaminants from indoor sources (eg,
adhesives, carpeting and pesticides); chemical
contaminants from outdoor sources (eg, motor
vehicle exhausts and plumbing vents); and biological contaminants (such as bacteria, moulds,
pollen and viruses).
Dr Al Sulaiman refers to statistics and current research that showed that the indoor air
could be five times more polluted than the outdoor air.
This explains why the indoor environmental
quality is an important issue, given the fact that
most people spend 80-90 per cent of their time
indoors, and around 65 per cent inside their
homes in particular.
She remarks that much less is known about
the health risks from indoor air pollution than
that of the outdoor air. Also, the specific causes
of SBS still remain unknown. This has directed
many researchers towards filling this significant data gap by addressing indoor air quality
in various types of buildings.
The academic emphasises that her work is
partly triggered by the lack of research under
local conditions in the Sultanate of Oman.
She suggests ideas that would hopefully be
useful in improving the design criteria for various buildings with a view to ensuring a health
and comfort inducing air quality of the buildings in general and in Oman in particular.
anaerobic digester followed by a
composting system for an STP with
a wastewater capacity of 20,000
m3/d can produce 35 Megawatt
of energy and around 15 tonne/d
of compost which can be used for
agricultural applications, said Dr
Baawain. The groundwater along
Salalah coastal strip was found not
suitable for drinking purposes unless treated properly. However, it
was found suitable for agricultural
and livestock requirements. Results
from Sohar industrial port showed
possible microbial contamination
of discharge effluents attributable to
possible discharge of sewage water
to the channel designed to convey
cooling water to the sea.
Relevance to Oman
One of the objectives of the
study was to examine the technical
impact of the wastewater effluents
and sludge. On this, the academic
states that his team managed to determine the quality of raw sewage,
treated wastewater, and produced
sludge in three regions in Oman
(Muscat, Sohar and Salalah). They
evaluated the quality of groundwater where treated wastewater is used
to recharge the groundwater aquifer,
measured the quality of discharge
effluents in industrial areas and
Sohar industrial port, and developed
a quality control plan to ensure high
quality treated effluent and stabilised sludge.
As to potential applications, he
suggested that the treated wastewater
and sludge could be potential sources of water and energy, respectively,
if properly treated. Thus, it can now
be emphasised that these resources
should be utilised in the right manner for proper management of the
country's natural resources.
“We can use the quality control
plan, through collaborative efforts
from different authorities, to implement and monitor wastewater and
sludge treatment”, he said.
Commenting on capacity building, the academic pointed out that
ten research assistants took part in
the project which gave them the opportunity to learn different research
methodologies and techniques in-
cluding physical, chemical and
biological parameters. They also
got full-time employment in various institutions including SQU. Two
of them obtained MSc within the
project and many undergraduate students (more than 20) benefited from
hands-on exposure to some of the
techniques used in processing the
samples and their follow-up through
final year research projects.
In his concluding remarks, Dr
Baawain said the study displayed
a broad picture of the current situation of wastewater and sludge in
Muscat, Sohar and Salalah. Modifications to STPs were suggested to
improve treated effluents and utilise
the resultant sludge through proper
treatment techniques for production
of energy and compost.
Moreover, a dynamic treatment
system for STPs was recommended
for better optimisation of resources
and treatment levels. Finally, a quality control plan was developed to
ensure proper treatment and monitoring of wastewater and sludge in
Oman.
Bone development and vitamin D
H
ealthy Omani children
are to be the sample of a
new study aimed at assessing
their health-related physical
fitness components. Hundred and
fifty children between 5 and 20
years old will be recruited from
Muscat vicinity to examine a
number of aspects related to their
bone density, bone development
and levels of vitamin D, among
others.
Dr Hashem al Ghaylani, of the
College of Medicine and Health
Sciences, SQU, summarises the
procedures to be followed in his
examining those children. He
says that they will be tested to
see their vitamin D level using
blood sample; their range body
composition (BMD, FAT, LEAN
MASS) status will be determined;
their psychological status using
Beck Depression Inventory will
be assessed; a profile of their data
based on active/inactive, depress/
non-depress, according to vitamin
D and BMD status will be sought;
and an exercise programme for
those who show sign of lack of
fitness will be prescribed.
He adds that data gathering will be done in line with the
standards of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Educa-
tion Recreation and Dance.
Recent studies have shown
that exercise is just as important
as diet for bone development and
maintenance. This is true throughout childhood and adolescence,
but especially more important
around the growth spurt at puberty. Because nutrition and exercise are modifiable pathogenic
factors of osteoporosis, which has
important practical and public
health implications, it is therefore
crucial to increase bone density
and bone development in children and up to age 20, the peak
bone development. Thus, active
life style and physical activity are
necessary for children and adults.
Many people in Oman do not expose their skin to sunlight due to
the modern society they are living
in, avoiding heat through shade
and by means of air conditioning
whether at home, work, or in cars
with shield windows. For both
sexes, if they have to be outside
for any reason they cover both
head and body with traditional
clothing.
Children who are kept safe
from sun exposure spend a great
deal of time indoors with video
hi-tech games, computers, play
stations, and watching TV. A tendency to become depressed is a
probability to occur. The question
of this study raised is whether
those children who have higher
fitness level are less susceptible
to be deficient in vitamin D and
BMD.
It is expected from the results
of this pilot case study to stand on
certain facts and to expand this
research to represent the completely Omani population in the
future.