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  • Regulation in Hungary of the Use of Waste Water and Sewage Sludge in Agriculture
    143-149
    Views:
    104

    Regulating the use of waste water and sewage sludge in agriculture in such a way as to prevent harmful effects on soil, vegetation, animals and man.
    In European Union there is a Council Directive (86/278/EEC) on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture.
    In the enlargement process of the European Union the Hungarian Government created a new rule (50/2001. (IV. 3.) Government regulation) which regulate using of waste water and sewage sludge in agriculture. This Hungarian rule is legal and reconcilable with the Council Directive.
    The Regulation lays down limit values for concentrations of heavy metals in the soil, in waste water, in sludge and for the maximum annual quantities of heavy metals which may be introduced into the soil.
    Waste water, sludge and soil on which it is used must be sampled and analysed.
    Sewage sludge must be treated for six months before being used in agriculture.
    The use of waste water and sludge prohibited on grassland, on nature reserved areas, in ecological farming, and soil in witch fruit and vegetable crops are growing, with the exception of fruit trees.
    The states soil conservation authority must keep records registering the following:
    – the quantities of waste water and sludge produced;
    – the composition and properties of sludge;
    – the type of treatment carried out;
    – the names and addresses of the recipients of the sludge and places where the sludge is to be used.
    The Government every four years must prepare a consolidated report on the use of sludge in agriculture, specifying quantities used, criteria followed and any difficulties encountered. This report must be forwarded to the Commission.
    Last but not least in the light of Member States reports, the Commission will if necessary submit appropriate proposals for increased protection of the soil and the environment.

  • Examination and statistical evaluation of physico-chemical parameters of windrow composting
    33-38
    Views:
    189

     

    The treatment and utilization of plant and animal waste and by-products from agriculture is very diverse. Traditional environmental management practices for waste management have been retained through soil conservation and the applied of recycle degradable organic substances in soil. The management of by-products from agriculture (animal husbandry) is important because a closed loop can be created to utilize by-products (manure, feathers) from the production of the main product (eggs, meat, milk) and to form a raw material for a new product. It is important to treat the resulting by-products, especially deep-litter manure, as it has served as a basis for compost-treated manure to develop an organic-based, soil-conditioning product line. Poultry manure by itself is not suitable as a substrate for aerobic decomposition, so it has to be mixed with other substances (zeolite, bentonite, soil), because of its high nutrient capacity, it is an acidifying substance.

    The aim of this study was to compost the mixture of poultry manure and hen manure by the addition of zeolite and to monitor the composting process. It was also our aim to statistically determine the effect of the zeolite on parameters describing the composting process.

    The windrow composting experiments were set up in the composting area of the University of Debrecen, Institute of Water and Environmental Management. The composting experiment was 62 days long, during which the main parameters describing the composting process were continuously monitored: temperature (°C), moisture content (w/w%), electrical conductivity (mS/cm), organic matter content (w/w%), examination of nitrogen forms (w/w%). In this study, three factors were investigated: temperature, humidity, and pH. For statistical evaluation, R software and RStudio user interface were used. We developed a repeated measurement model, in which the fixed and random effects were determined for our parameters under study, and the resulting relationships were shown on interaction plots.

    Based on our results, the temperature of the prisms has become independent of the ambient temperature and the composting stages can be separated in both the control and the zeolite treated prisms. In the repeated measurement model, we proved that treatment, time and treatment: time interaction were significant at both temperature and pH.

  • Analysis of the Environmental Status of Nagykálló Subregion
    362-367
    Views:
    83

    The third smallest region of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county is the Nagykálló subregion. Its territory is 377 km2 and its inhabitants number 32.526. Due to the fact that industrial development arrived late, the environmental status of this subregion was saved from serious ecological degradation. The quality of the environment shows a reasonable picture in many respects, comparing to the general survey of the country. The air quality of the region can be qualified as acceptable. Leaving some critical points out of consideration, it is better than the national average. It is favourable from the human environment point of view that the region is free of extremes, and has a balanced climate. The supply of drinking water is above 95%, and the remainsing water requirements are supplied by artesian wells. The water supply network is fully extended in the subregion. The most significant environmental noise source is traffic, including public road traffic, which causes a problem in the town of Nagykálló. The situation of the collection, transportation, and placement of the settlement’s solid wastes show a similar picture to the status of the country. The environmental status of the region is included in the SWOT analysis.

  • Practical experiences of a designing and operating a pilot aquaponic system
    27-32
    Views:
    237

    Aquaponics is the combination of fish farming (aquaculture) and the soilless cultivation of plants (hydroponics). The aquaponics system is an artificial, recirculating ecosystem, in which bacterial processes convert the waste materials in the water used for fish rearing into plant nutrients, and therefore with the generated heat it is suitable for culturing economically valuable plants, and thus it mitigates the nutrient laden and quantity of the intensive fish producing systems’ effluent water.

    The primary goal of our 12 separate unit’s aquaponics system was to gain experience. We would like to find the right plant species, which are fit for that medium, and their crop can be sold. Besides the plants, our attention focused on the fish. Two fish species were included in the experiments, the common carp and barramundi. It was difficult to create them a perfect living space, besides a constantly changing conditions temperature. Apart the above mentioned we had a problem with the number of individuals per tank, the deformity of the fish body and the too high volume of pH (we registered continuous values above 8.4). We get by carps 4.7 grams of weight gain during 15 weeks, because of the bad conditions.

    The main problems at the plants are caused by aphesis and protection against sunburn. Even so we have got the multiples of field yields for each plant species. At salad has grown twice of field yields, tomatoes one and half, kohlrabi than 3.5 times more. The causes of multiple yields are the continuous balanced water and the nutrient uptake of plants. Each plant species fit for cultivating in aquaponics and their crops are delicious, chemical -free, safe and marketable. The plants should be more concentrated. After the experiment, it has been determinated that the carp is suitable for aquaponics, but greater weight gain could be achieved with optimal selection of size of rearing units.

  • Examination of compost maturity using reflectance
    29-34
    Views:
    120

    Composting is one of the most popular recycling processes for organic waste. Composting plays an important role in waste and by-product management and is becoming increasingly important in both sustainable energy management and circular economy. Composting transforms organic matter to produce a safe and stable by-product (compost) that can be applied to arable land in a similar way to fertilizer. Physical, chemical and biological methods can be used to monitor the process and to determine the maturity of the compost, as spectrometric/spectroscopic methods play an important role in the analysis of different environmental samples.

    Our aim was to (1) non-destructively detect the effects of different additive ratios on the spectral properties of the composting process and the spectral data of different compost mixtures, (2) to find the wavelength ranges of the reflectance curve (inflection points) sensitive to compost maturity, (3) to determine the correlation between the inflection points and the chemical and physical parameters measured in compost by conventional methods.

    The mixture of broiler and hen manure and zeolite was composted 62 days in windrow composting. In the composting experiment, the moisture content and temperature (°C) were measured every three days and compost samples were taken and in 10% destillated aquaeous suspension were measured the pH and electrical conductivity (mS cm-1). Compost samples dried to mass stability were spectrally analyzed in the wavelength range 400–1000 nm with AvaSpec 2048 spectrometer.

    Based on the results, the reflectance of mature compost were smaller in the last days of composting than the reflectance values of day 0 samples, thus compost maturity can be detected spectral in the VIS-NIR wavelength range. For the tested compost prisms, the reflectance of each sampling day shows a constant slope, with a significant overlap of the reflectance curves up to 400–700 nm wavelength range, and there was a breakpoint in the 700–750 nm wavelength range which was proved by binary encoding.

  • Effect of compost/water ratio on some main parameter of compost solutions
    117-121
    Views:
    185

    Composting is an efficient technology for the utilisation of by-products and waste. It is also suitable for treating raw materials to convert fertilisers that are not recommended for application without pre-processing. Such is the case with poultry manure, which is very important to pre-treat due to its hazardous properties. An increasingly common form of compost is compost tea, which is made by soaking compost in water. In our experiment, we made compost tea from a composted and granulated poultry manure product. Three mixing ratios were used (1/5, 1/10, 1/10) and compost teas were set for three different extraction times (24–48–72 hours). After elimination of the experiment, the pH, EC, and nitrate and ammonium contents of the samples were measured. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a difference between each mixing ratio and different extraction times. Based on our results, it can be said that the fluctuation of pH values during the experiment was low. Regardless of the mixing ratio and extraction time, the samples were in the slightly acidic range. The electrical conductivity, nitrate and ammonium content follow a similar trend, the values decrease significantly with the increase of the mixing ratio. Similar tendency was observed at the incubation time. The concentrations of both EC and nitrogen forms increase with increasing incubation time, in most cases significantly.

  • The Importance of Environmental Research of the Great Hungarian Plain
    9-16
    Views:
    65

    The research of the Great Hungarian Plain has been going on for a long time and there are a lot of information could be used by environmental protection too. The connection between the two topics are diversified, that is why it is necessary to choose a few subject to explain. The chosen subjects are:
    The protection of the geological media cannot be solved, either practically and legally, with the protection of the separated elements of that, just if we see it as a system.
    The prevention, which is the most effective (and also the most inexpensive) way of environmental protection, can be supported by the compilation of vulnerability- and risk maps (i.e. risk of inland water, erosion vulnerability, deflation vulnerability, contamination sensibility).
    Survey on the environmental state containing indispensable geological information for the optimal land use and country planning of a region, county or settlement.
    Marking out of the possible areas for waste depositing.