Ninth International Conference on Water Pollution Research focuses on the methods, measures, and technologies involved in the treatment of wastewater, including the treatment of sludges and pollutants in bodies of water. The selection first offers information on carbon adsorption as an advanced wastewater treatment process, nitrification of surface water, and methods for measuring the thickenability of sludges. Topics include factors that influence adsorption, principle of biological nitrification, and characterization of sludges. The text also discusses the utilization of pulped newsprint as a conditioning aid in the vacuum filtration of a municipal sludge and the purification of pulp-bleaching wastewater with aluminum oxide. The publication reviews the properties and treatment of lime-algae sludge, concept of filterability, prediction of bacterial pollution in sea water, and the role of retained particles in deep bed filtration. The text also describes the immediate and continuous measurement of activated sludge quantity in sewage biological treatment tanks; comparative assessment of pollution loadings from non-point sources in urban land use; and wastewater control technology in steam-electric power plants. The book is a vital reference for readers interested in water pollution research.

Applications of New Concepts of Physical-Chemical Wastewater Treatment deals with novel concepts of physical-chemical wastewater treatment, with particular reference to their engineering applications. Topics covered range from ultrahigh rate filtration of municipal wastewater to the applicability of carbon adsorption in the treatment of petrochemical wastewaters, along with regeneration of activated carbon and dewatering of physical-chemical sludges. Comprised of 31 chapters, this volume begins with a discussion on the use of physical-chemical methods for the treatment of municipal wastes and for direct wastewater treatment. The following chapters focus on the interrelationships between biological treatment and physicochemical treatment; some problems associated with the treatment of sewage by non-biological processes; treatment of wastes generated by metal finishing and engineering industries; and the principles and practice of granular carbon reactivation. The precipitation of calcium phosphate in wastewaters is also considered, together with the use of surface stirrers for ammonia desorption from ponds. This book will be a valuable resource for chemists, engineers, government officials, and environmental policymakers.

Perturbations linked to the direct and indirect impacts of human activities during the Anthropocene affect the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems to varying degrees. Some perturbations involve stress to aquatic life, including soil and water acidification, soil erosion, loss of base cations, release of trace metals/organic compounds, and application of essential nutrients capable of stimulating primary productivity. Superimposed onto these changes, climate warming impacts aquatic environments via altering species’ metabolic processes and by modifying food web interactions. The interaction stressors is difficult to predict because of the differential response of species and taxonomic groups, interacting additively, synergistically, or antagonistically. Whenever different trophic levels respond differently to climate warming, food webs are restructured; yet, the consequences of warming-induced changes for the food web structure and long-term population dynamics of different trophic levels remain poorly understood. Such changes are crucial in lakes, where food web production is mainly due to ectotherms, which are highly sensitive to changes in their surrounding environment. Due to its remarkable physical inertia, including thermal stability, global warming also has a profound effect on groundwater ecosystems. Combining contemporary and palaeo data is essential to understand the degree to which mechanisms of stressors impact on lake biological communities and lake ecosystem functioning. The degree to which alterations can affect aquatic ecosystem structure and functioning also requires functional diversity to be addressed at the molecular level, to reconstruct the role different species play in the transfer of material and energy through the food web. In this issue, we present examples of the impact of different stressors and their interaction on aquatic ecosystems, providing long-term, metabolic, molecular, and paleolimnological analyses.

Water Pollution 2010 is the 10th International Conference in the series on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Water Pollution. The conference, which has always been very successful, provides a forum for discussion amongst scientists, managers and academics from different areas of water contamination. The wealth of information exchanged in this international meeting will be of great benefit to all involved with water pollution problems. The environmental problems caused by the increase of pollutant loads discharged into natural water bodies requires the formation of a framework for regulation and control. This framework needs to be based on scientific results that relate pollutant discharge with changes in water quality. The results of these studies allow industries to employ more efficient methods of controlling and treating waste loads, and water authorities to enforce appropriate regulations regarding this matter.