The EU Water Framework Directive has led that management follows the boundaries of natural catchments.The Swedish waters suffer from a nutrient overload that originates mainly from diffuse sources such as agriculture and the subcatchment of Hackstabäcken in Vallentuna Kommun, just north of Stockholm, has been chosen for this study because of its high nutrient load and because it has undergone obvious changes in land use through the years.In this study, the land use in 1902 is compared with the land use in 2011 in order to investigate if it has influenced the ability of the landscape to produce ecosystem services related to nutrient removal. These services will continue to be produced as long as the system is stable and resilient, but when landuse changes and manure from horses increases it will lead to disturbances that can convert a system from one regime in to a completely different one. That will result in loss, or degradation, of ecosystem services such as denitrification, phosphor sedimentation and Adsorption, vegetation uptake and infiltration.The results of this study are based upon area calculations of landuse from old maps from 1902 and 2011. Through these maps it becomes clear that the forests in Hackstabäcken, has increased with 170 ha together with an urbanization of 311 ha, at the same time as wetlands and arable land has diminished and lakes has suffered from reductions. Wetlands have been reduced with 76 ha and the ones remaining are of insufficient quality from a nutrient removal perspective.Data from 1902 and 2011 regarding number of horses and bovines indicated a decrease in bovines and an increase in horses.

Svenska Aerogel AB has developed the material Quartzene® which is of the typeprecipitated silica and contains calcium - magnesium silicate ((Ca, Mg) SiO3). Thematerial is used for molecular filtration of contaminated air. Qartzene?, which is inpellet form, is porous and has a high internal surface which is a requirement for themolecular filtration. With the use of various impregnations, filtration can affect thedesired outcome.

Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea is a serious problem. A major contributing factor is diffuse losses of phosphorus (P) from agricultural land in surrounding countries. In order to estimate P losses, environmental monitoring of small agriculture-dominated catchments is being carried out in most of these countries. Evaluation of the risk of P leaching to waters is usually based on chemical tests originally developed to quantify the amount of soil P available for plant production. The tests are performed in different ways in the different countries and a number of different extraction agents are in use.

Kväve är ett element med både positiva och negativa effekter på ett kolståls egenskaper och det är därför av yttersta vikt att under tillverkningsprocessen kontrollera kvävehalten i stålet med hänsyn till kravet på slutproduktens egenskaper. Möjligheten att styra stålets slutliga kvävehalt påverkas i hög grad av förloppet i LD-processen, d.v.s. det processteg där högkolhaltigt råjärn konverteras till lågkolhaltigt råstål, i huvudsak genom tillförsel av ren syrgas. Både kol och syre har en stark inverkan på kvävets löslighet i flytande stål. Ett flertal planerade försök med provtagning under pågående LD-process och analys med LECO® har legat till grund för en kartläggning av kväveförloppet, särskilt med avseende på konvertering av stål som återanvänds i processen, s.k.

When establishing a groundwater protection area it is of great interest to be able to estimate the transit time of the groundwater from different places of the aquifer to the withdrawal well. These estimates can be uncertain due to heterogeneities in the aquifer. As a part of the work to develop methods for a more certain delineation of protection areas, a tracer test was performed in an esker located 25 kilometres NW of the town Uppsala.The purpose of this master thesis was to perform, describe and evaluate the tracer test. Travel times from the tracer test should then enable comparison against stochastic simulated travel times of the groundwater in the area.Three dyes (rhodamine WT, uranine and naphtionate) and a salt (NaBr) were used in the tracer test. The tracers were injected in four different wells located 25 meters from a pumping well.

Sveriges miljömål ?Begränsad klimatpåverkan? beskriver ambitionen att fram till år 2020 ska ha minskat utsläppen av växthusgaser med 40 % gentemot år 1990. Ett sätt för Sverige att lyckas med de uppsatta målen är att utveckla biogasproduktionen. Potentialen för biogasproduktion bedöms vara mycket stor och forskning för att ta fram nya substrat att använda inom biogasframställningen pågår. Ett möjligt substrat är alger, dock har tidigare forskning påvisat höga kadmiumhalter i alger vilket kan innebära problem för spridning av rötresten.

LevMacinstrumentet är ett analysinstrument under utveckling som utnyttjar leviterade droppar på 100 nl ? 2 ?l. Genom att använda leviterade droppar med den omgivande atmosfären som enda kontaktyta, undviker LevMac?en de vanligaste problemen associerade med miniatyrisering av analytiska tekniker, t.ex. kontaminering av provet genom desorption från provbehållaren eller andra gränsytor, Adsorption av analyten till omgivningen med minskat utbyte som följd, och optisk interferens vid väggarna av provbehållaren vilket resulterar i störningar av detektionen.Tillsatser till den leviterade droppen kan göras i pl-området och reaktioner i droppen kan följas med olika spektroskopiska tekniker.

The stability of railway embankment is essential for safe transport. In order to ensure safe transport, water should be allowed to freely drain. Furthermore, as the engine driver has to be able to see signs, and people working on the embankment are supposed to easily see flaws on the rails to ensure safety for the passing trains, plants should not be allowed to grow on the embankment. In Sweden there are 12 000 kilometers of railway tracks and 25?30 % of them are treated for weed control every year.

Geotextildukar används idag som tillfällig kontroll av sedimentgrumling vid vattenarbeten. Syftet med examensarbetet är att ge ökad kunskap kring olika geotextildukars genomsläpplighet med avseende på suspenderat material, PAH (Polycykliska aromatiska kolväten) och kvicksilver vid suspension av sediment från Karlbergskanalen. Detta har gjorts genom en laboration. Resultaten visar att det inom några minuter bildas en filterkaka på de tre undersökta dukarna. Dukarna blir täta då de utsätts för finpartikulärt suspenderat sediment med koncentrationen 57 g/l hämtat från Karlbergskanalen.

Storm water is defined as runoff from precipitation such as rain or snow. It is collected in sewage disposal systems and since it mainly originates from urban areas it can contain high levels of heavy metals, nutrients and oil etc. Polluted storm water is currently treated by different methods such as wet ponds, constructed wetlands and filter strips. This study investigates these methods, which in earlier studies have shown to give varying results regarding their treatment efficiency.This thesis has been written on commission of SWECO VIAK and was aimed at studying those parameters that may affect the treatment efficiency of nutrients and heavy metals in storm water treatment facilities (STF:s). Through literature studies the dominating treatment processes in ponds and wetlands were examined.

Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a group of environmental contaminants that have gained increasing attention due to their potential to bioaccumulate, environmental persistence and potential toxicity. PFASs have been found in surface water, sediment, air, soil, sludge and ice caps globally, as well as in wildlife and humans. Furthermore, PFASs have also been detected in drinking water, leading to raised concerns for human health, since drinking water is one of the most significant sources of PFASs for the general population. Conventional water treatment techniques have shown to be ineffective removing PFASs, highlighting the importance for further research to develop efficient removal techniques. The aim of this study was to investigate the removal efficiency of PFASs in water using two treatment techniques; granular activated carbon (GAC), type Filtrasorb 400®, and anion exchange (AE), type Purolite A-600. Additionally, the effect of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) on removal efficiency was studied.

Uranium (U) is a naturally occurring component in bedrock and under the "right" conditions it can dissolve and move into the ground water. Since many people in Sweden depend on drilled wells as their main drinking water supply, they may be exposed to the uranium in the water. Radioactive radiation is not the major concern associated with naturally occurring uranium. It is rather the chemical properties of uranium that make it a potential danger to human health. Uranium is proven to have toxic effects with respect to the functioning of the kidneys.

With the prospect of future construction on the Skutskär Pulp Mill property, Stora Enso Fine Paper has initiated an investigation of soil contaminants and a risk assessment of these contaminants. A soil and groundwater investigation has therefore been conducted on an open area of about 16 000 square meters, situated between the current wood room and digester house. To be able to integrate this study into an investigation for the whole industrial property, the study has been carried out as a phase 2 study according to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency?s Methods of Inventories of Contaminated sites (MIFO).The site investigation has involved soil and groundwater sampling, together with the analysis of heavy metals and organic contaminants. The degree of hazard posed by the contaminants, the level of contamination, the potential for migration of the contaminants, as well as the degree to which protection of human health and the environment is required in the area, have been weighed together for an overall risk assessment of the area with regard to human health and the environment.The investigated area was built up by filling in the coastal waters.

During 40 years of industrial production, from the end of the 1890?s until the end of 1930?s, coal and wood distillation products were manufactured in AB Carbo?s tar factory along the River Gimån in Grötingen, in the county of Jämtland, Sweden. In accordance with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency?s Methods for Inventories of contaminated sites, MIFO, the site in Grötingen has been identified as a potentially contaminated site. In order to determine whether toxic substances pose a threat to human health and ecological systems in the area, there was a need to investigate the presence of contaminants, their levels and potential for migration.

Water is our most important provision and its quality is above all dependent on the geological conditions in the area from where it is extracted. Due to geological properties there are certain areas with an elevated risk of high uranium levels in the ground water, which in turn constitutes a risk for human health. Consumption of water that contains a high concentration of uranium implies a health risk due to the chemical characteristics of uranium. Livsmedelsverket (The National Food Administration) and Socialstyrelsen (The National Board of Health and Welfare) therefore recommend that precautionary measures should be taken when the uranium concentration in ground water exceeds 15 micrograms per litre. In particular, drinking water collected from wells in areas with uranium-rich bedrock may have a harmfully high level of uranium. One of the wells of the Ärla water purification plant, located near Eskilstuna, Sweden, contains water that exceeds the guideline of 15 micrograms per litre. One interesting technique for removing uranium from drinking water is Adsorption to reactive filter materials.