Application of anaerobic salt-tolerant microorganisms to treatment of saline waste streams

该项目的目标是建立技术，从被污染的水中去除污染物，否则这些污染物可能被认为是不可处理的。可持续发展社会的一个重要方面是水的供应。对饮用水进行处理以去除不健康的污染物对实现这一目标至关重要，在工业废水排入环境之前将其去除也是如此。拟议研究的一个重点是去除饮用水中的高氯酸盐和硝酸盐。高氯酸盐是一种污染物，在整个北美和欧洲的饮用水源中越来越频繁地被发现，这是军事和工业活动（如火箭、烟花和汽车安全气囊的制造和使用）造成的污染。最近的研究还表明，高氯酸盐可能是天然存在的，在莴苣和牛奶等许多食物中都发现了高氯酸盐。从农业水源中去除高氯酸盐对保护食物来源可能很重要。高氯酸盐对健康的影响与甲状腺的功能有关，甲状腺控制着早期发育和终身代谢过程。最近的研究表明，即使饮用水中的高氯酸盐含量很低，也会导致人体甲状腺功能下降。人们早就知道硝酸盐会导致婴儿血液携氧能力的变化，从而导致“蓝宝宝”综合症。硝酸盐通常是高氯酸盐的共污染物。开发从受污染的水中去除高氯酸盐和硝酸盐的处理工艺对于保护加拿大公民的健康至关重要。该提案的另一个重点是开发能够从石油勘探和采出水中去除石油污染物的技术。采出水是含盐的，不适合常规的生物处理。从这类废物中去除污染物的能力将极大地有助于恢复加拿大过去受到不良做法影响的自然环境的工作，并提供一种防止进一步污染的机制。

The objectives for this project are to establish technologies that can remove contaminants from contaminated waters that might not otherwise be considered treatable.  An important aspect of a sustainable society is its water supply.  The treatment of drinking water to remove unhealthy contaminants is crucial to this goal, as is the removal of contaminants from industrial wastewaters before discharging them to the environment.  One thrust of the proposed research is the removal of perchlorate and nitrate from drinking water.  Perchlorate is a contaminant that is being found more and more frequently in drinking water sources throughout North America and Europe as a result of contamination from military and industrial activities such as the manufacture and use of rocketry, fireworks, and automobile airbags.  Recent studies also suggest that perchlorate may occur naturally and it has been found in many foods such as lettuce and milk.  Removing perchlorate from agricultural water sources may be important to protect the food sources.  The health effects of perchlorate are related to the function of the thyroid gland, which controls early development and life long metabolic processes.  Recent studies suggest that even very low levels of perchlorate in drinking water correlate with decreased thyroid function in humans.  Nitrate has long been known to cause changes in the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood of infants causing "blue baby" syndrome.  Nitrate is typically a co-contaminant with perchlorate.  The development of treatment processes to remove perchlorate and nitrate from contaminated water is imperative to protect the health of Canadian citizens.  The other thrust of the proposal is the development of technology capable of removing oil contaminants from oil exploration and recovery operations produced water.  Produced water is saline and not amenable to regular biological treatment.  The ability to remove contaminants from this type of waste will greatly aid in the work underway to restore natural environments in Canada exposed to the poor practices of the past and provide a mechanism to prevent further contamination.