Most people have been forced to throw away a pot-plant after its death. There are many reasons to the death of a plant, but mainly it?s because its owner forgets it, and therefore fails to water it. The purpose of this project is therefore to develop a product which can prevent this from happening, while the product has to have a low manufacturing cost to be able to compete whit other, similar, products on the market. During the project, a benchmarking has been done to give a clear picture of what the product has to compete with. The directives there are for CE-marking, and which of these who concerns the product has also been looked up.

The impact of the distribution in the soil volume of two farm manures on the net mineralization and immobilization processes of nitrogen were studied in an incubation experiment. Cattle slurry and broiler litter were placed in the soil with three procedures for incorporation including placement on top of the soil (TOP), in the middle of the soil (MID) and mixed homogenously with the soil (MIX). During the two weeks of incubation, few significant differences in net mineralization were seen between TOP, MID and MIX. However, there was a tendency that MIX led to a larger net immobilization of N than placement at one point (TOP and MID). This is also the result in the literature.

A literature study and a field trial have been carried out in order to investigate the physiological response of potato plants to different soil moisture levels. Higher yield, quality and number of tubers can according to the literature be obtained if constant high soil moisture is kept during major parts of the growing season. A field trial was set up where drip irrigation was used as an alternative to conventional irrigation techniques to maintain high and constant soil moisture. The application of water in the drip irrigated area was monitored and adjusted on a daily basis so that the soil moisture stayed as close as possible to the recommended level. The sprinkle irrigated area was irrigated according to traditional practices with approximately 35 mm every 7th to 10th day depending on the whether.

The purpose of this thesis has been to assess whether leaching from one particular Swedishlandfill site, Skörbytippen, is contributing to elevated levels of heavy metals in a ditch runningfrom the landfill site to the lake Mälaren in the communal region of Håbo kommun. Since theditch is stretching approximately five km downstream from the landfill site, in situ observationsand maps with known points of inflow was utilized to determine appropriate test points for thecollection of samples.Soil, water and sediment samples were collected and analyzed for content of organic material, pHand conductivity. Data on plant-available elements and total amounts of heavy metals wasacquired through ICP-analysis.The results show that the Skörby landfill is currently in the methane-forming anaerobedevelopment phase, which indicates that the concentration of free and complex-bound metals inthe leachate water should be low due to chemical binding with other landfill compounds. The pHof the sediment samples was generally one unit higher than the soil samples and some of themeasured data, such as pH and conductivity, show that an environmentally disturbing dischargeof some kind of strongly alkaline chemical(s) has been made from Benders? takpanneindustri inclose proximity to the landfill.

We all know that water is very important for both animals and humans. When we are weaning the piglets from the sow we must guarantee that the piglets can start to drink more water instead of sow milk. The first thing to check is always the quality of the water that is to be used. To secure that, you must take a water sample. If the water is inadequate it can bring a lot of problems and diseases.

Aluminium sulphate (Al2(SO4)3) is usually added during the drinking water treatment processin order to precipitate organic and inorganic material, resulting in aluminium-based drinkingwater treatment residual sludge (WTR). Since 2003 Swedish law no longer permits WTR tobe deposited in lakes, and there is an interest to explore the possibility to utilize WTR as soilamendment. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of WTR application on cropgrowth and concentrations of macronutrients and trace elements (including micronutrients andpotential toxic elements). A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted with three soils; a clayloam rich in phosphorous (P), a loamy sand rich in P, and a silty loam with a low soil Pconcentration, and two crop species Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam. cv.

Ensåsengruvan is a mine situated within Ljusdals municipality in central Sweden. Themine was in use from 1984 to 1991 and has since been undergoing a remediation program. Mine tailings from sulfide rich ore is a potential environmental hazard due to its tendency to cause acid waters and heavy metal leakage. Lake Ensjön is situated one kilometer from the mine area. Due to the hydrological conditions it was not expected to receive inflowing water from the mining area.

Water is an important food and an important natural resource. In order to protect these are the Environmental Code and the EU directive given to water protection and related water protection regulations will be established for all water sources until 2010. Those who will prepare a water protection and related water protection regulations is the municipality or person responsible for water supply. The person then decides and declares the area as water protection and related water protection regulations are municipal or provincial government. The idea of creating a water protection is to protect the water supply and the body of water against pollution caused by point sources, diffuse sources and accidents combined.

When building a house or similar the stress on the ground increases and deformations can arise. The deformations create a foundation that the building is not constructed for and damages on the building arise. The increased stress on the ground can be derived back to the building, but it is possible that the increased stress may well derive from different sources such as other buildings or trees.       The building is an older property, built in the late 19th century alternatively early 20th century, and is today used for rental housing and has suffered severe damages due to subsidence. The goal of the thesis is to find possible causes for these subsidences. The thesis was executed as a combination between literature- and casestudie. After careful studies it has been found that a probable cause for these subsidences is trees. Through field- and lab studies it has been found that the trees has effected the ground through there accumulation of water.

Hammarby Sjöstad is a new district in southern Stockholm. A main objective with the Sjöstad project was to halve the environmental impact compared to other construction work. The environmental goals involve a halved water consumption rate, a local treatment of storm water and trials aiming to extract nutrients from the waste water. Sjöstadsverket is an experimental treatment plant used for testing new treatment processes for domestic waste water from Hammarby Sjöstad. The results are to be compared with the conventional process used at Henrikdals treatment plant today.

To plan and build a garden in Dubai has other conditions and challenges than what you experience in Sweden. The heat, wind and lack of water makes the need for durable plants, a good design and landscaping important if you want to have the opportunity to use your garden during most of the year. The soil is poor of nutrients, alkaline and sometimes saline, witch makes supplying the soil with organic material and various fertilizers necessary if you want to be able to plant a bigger range of plant material in your garden. Another important part is to provide your garden with a good irrigation system that should be put into the ground before planting so that the plants are given a more even irrigation. It?s relatively green scenery you meet and to me it?s in a way surprising since the country with its climate is rather harsh for the purpose of supporting plant life.

The filters used today to purify water are often expensive and the need to find new filter materials is substantial. Studies of pine bark have shown that this is a material that may be used as an alternative to conventional filter materials, such as activated carbon. However, the study of pine bark has shown that a leakage of phenolic compounds may occur when using the material for water purification. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to investigate the release of phenols from pine bark, in order to evaluate the use of pine bark as a filter material. Another assignment is to investigate the amount of metals adsorbed by the filter material.

This work consists of a survey and risk classification of eleven metal industries including foundries, finishers and engineering industries in two industrial areas in Mora. The study follows a method called MIFO (Method of Surveying Contaminated Sites) composed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. In the method assessments of the degree of hazard posed by the pollutants, the level of pollution, the conditions of dispersal, sensitivity and the degree to which the area is worthy to protect are made for each contaminated site (object). The assessment classify the objects into four risk classes in which risk class 1 denotes a very large risk, 2 large risk, 3 moderate risk and risk class 4 little risk. The work of surveying using MIFO is divided into two phases.

Acid sulphate soils is a wide spread problem along the northern coast of Sweden. This is causing great damage through low pH and leaching of metals out into the streams. These soils are estimated to be found in several places in Sweden but also in many other areas in the world. One of these areas in Sweden that are believed to contain these sediments is Mälardalen. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the extension of the acid sulphate soils in this area.

The prevailing food and energy crisis of the world, due to the declining reserves of fossil energy and a never ending rise of consumption, forces us to look into new fields to supply our energy demand. The boom of bio energy is criticized, as food crops are used to provide biodiesel and ethanol and the volumes are ridiculously small to supply world demand. Algae are one of the world?s oldest life forms and exist in many different phyla, providing a great variety to choose from, for different purposes. Cultivating microalgae offer a way to produce energy at great volumes without competing with food production and at the same time the algae offer a way to use our expensive nutrients in a more efficient way, besides this the algae are carbon dioxide neutral since their carbon source can be supplied by the atmosphere and the additional energy required can be supplied by algal oil or other renewable sources.