Assessment of Trace Element Concentrations in Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant Discharges in North Carolina

摘要

This project was designed to identify the sources of problems faced by several Consortium members with regard to compliance on the levels of cadmium, mercury and cyanide in their wastewater treatment plant effluents. The goals of the project were set out in three parts as follows: to meticulously investigate the issue of non-compliance, to evaluate and modify where necessary the current analytical methodologies for these 3 components, and to establish exact and precise protocols for the future accurate determination of these components in wastewaters. Historical records were evaluated for the levels of each of the three components in the effluents of each wastewater treatment plant associated with Consortium members. The laboratory facilities at each site were explored, the supervisors questioned on their facilities and techniques and their documented procedures examined. Problems associated with mercury and cadmium compliance were identified to be associated primarily with practiced methodologies whereas elevated cyanide levels were often found to be formed either during wastewater treatment or from interferences in the analytical methodology.