Volume 17 (2017): Edition 1 (March 2017)

The paper presents a proposal for the treatment of river water based on expanded clay (ceramsite). It is a lightweight mineral aggregate containing components relative to phosphorus adsorption (calcium, iron, manganese, aluminum). A pilot plant on a fractional technical scale was built on a nutrient rich (phosphorus up to 0.4 mg dm⁻³, nitrogen up to 10.0 mg dm⁻³), small (mean annual flow about 0.04 m³ s⁻¹), natural watercourse (Młynówka River, a tributary of the Otok Channel, Noteć basin, the municipality of Strzelce Krajeńskie). The monitoring included quantitative and qualitative measurements of the water stream in 2014-2015. On the basis of the examinations, the calculated effectiveness of ceramsite filters in removing major contaminants from water was: for total nitrogen 5-6%, phosphorus 12-16%, and for suspensions 17-29%. The effectiveness of the treatment is highly influenced by hydraulic load, so this type application on a full-scale should occupy a sufficiently large volume. Taking into account simplicity of performance, ease of operation and low cost of construction and maintenance, such pretreatment plants based on expanded clay would seem to be a promising tool for the protection of surface waters in catchments of small rivers and streams.

Surface active agents (surfactants) are a group of chemical compounds, which are used as ingredients of detergents, cleaning products, cosmetics and functional products. After use, wastes containing surfactants or their degradation products are discharged to wastewater treatment plants or directly into surface waters. Due to their specific properties of SAAs, compounds are able to migrate between different environmental compartments such as soil, sediment, water or even living organisms and accumulate there. Surfactants can have a harmful effect on living organisms. They can connect with bioactive molecules and modify their function. Additionally, they have the ability to migrate into cells and cause their damage or death. For these reasons investigation of individual surfactants should be conducted. The presented research has been undertaken to obtain information about SAA contamination of sediment from the River Kłodnica catchment caused by selected anionic (linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS C₁₀-C₁₃)) and cationic (alkylbenzyldimethylammonium (BDMA-C_12-16), alkyl trimethyl ammonium (DTMA), hexadecyl piridinium chloride (HP) chlorides) surfactants. This river flows through an area of the Upper Silesia Industrial Region where various companies and other institutions (e.g. coal mining, power plants, metallurgy, hospitals) are located. To determine their concentration the following analytical tools have been applied: accelerated solvent extraction– solid phase extraction – high performance liquid chromatography – UV-Vis (anionic SAAs) and conductivity (cationic SAAs) detectors. In all sediments anionic SAAs have been detected. The concentrations of HTMA and BDMA-C₁₆ in tested samples were higher than other cationic analytes. Generally, levels of surfactants with longer alkyl chains were higher and this observation can confirm their higher susceptibility to sorption on solid surfaces.

Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii which belongs to the order of Nostocales has continuously been at the centre of interest of various research groups owing to its great ecological plasticity, wide distribution and potential to produce different metabolites known to be harmful for humans and animals. Over recent decades, Polish strains of C. raciborskii have also been studied with regard to these issues. The present paper is a brief review of the present state of knowledge respecting the occurrence and toxicity of this species with emphasis on Polish strains, and indicates potential directions for future research.

Scientists became professionally interested in Polish lakes in the early 1850s. They focused predominantly upon the measurements of depth, observations of water stages, optical properties, and water temperature. The first systematic observations of surface water temperature were carried out in 1956. At present these measurements are conducted in 29 lakes. Investigations of the vertical distribution of water temperature were initiated in the interwar period and they contributed to a better recognition of the processes and factors conditioning dynamics of water masses. In general, measurements of water temperature have constituted fundamental observations with respect to the studies of yearly and daily courses of the temperature of surface water and the entire water mass, the influence of basin morphometry upon water thermal conditions, heat balance and heat resources, thermal conditions of bottom deposits and thermal classification of the lakes. The introduction of automatic gradient probes gave a new impulse to the investigations of water temperature in the lakes. The foundation of the Polish Limnological Society in 2001 and 18 national and international limnological conferences stimulated integration of the circle of limnologists. Specialist journals (Limnological Review, Studia Limnologica et Telmatologica) have presented around 40 publications with the leading theme of water temperature.

The aim of the study was to investigate the morphogenesis of particular developmental stages of T. maritima fruits; from the stage of the bud to the ripe fruit with the use of a scanning electron microscope (SEM), to learn about the morphology and anatomy of ripe fruit, find new diagnostic features of the fruits and verify T. maritima. fruit diagnosis. An optic microscope and Met - Ilo 8 image analyzer were used in the research. In the final part of the research, the occurrence of two diagnostic features was confirmed and seven new diagnostic features of ripe T. maritima fruit were demonstrated. The morphological development of T. maritima fruits is characterized by significant qualitative and quantitative changes of diagnostic value. The range of the changes in the size of T. maritima generative structures is well characterized by the data obtained from the image analyzer. T. maritima fruit diagnosis: dry, indehiscent achene partly syncarpic.