This study presents an adsorbent material (activated carbon) used in the treatment of wastewater with the role of removing ibuprofen, acetaminophen, diclofenac and ketoprofen pollutants. The wastewater treatment efficiencies of the activated carbon were systematically investigated using adsorption kinetics. The parameters studied were: pH (4 and 6 values of pH), initial concentration of wastewater (1, 5, and 10 mg/L), contact time (10 min), adsorbent quantity (0.1, 0.5, and 1 g), and isotherm models (Langmuir and Freundlich). The highest wastewater treatment efficiency was obtained at the 6 pH value. The determination of four anti-inflammatory drugs, frequently monitored in wastewater, was performed by a simple and fast method using the HPLC-technique-type DAD (diode array detector). The method was linear when the concentration ranged between 0.5 and 20 m/L for all compounds. The equilibrium concentration was obtained after 8 min. The octanol/water coefficient influenced the removal efficiency of the four drugs by the adsorbent material (activated carbon). The dose of activated carbon (0.1 to 1 g) significantly influenced the efficiency of wastewater treatment, which increased considerably when the dose of the adsorbent material increased. Using 1 g of the adsorbent material for the treatment of wastewater containing 1 mg/L initial concentration of pollutant compounds, the efficiencies were 98% for acetaminophen, 92% for diclofenac, 88% for ketoprofen and 96% for ibuprofen.

The Danube River is the major source of drinking water supply for the cities in the southern part of Romania. The study was a descriptive-analytical one and lasted for 9 month. Samples were taken monthly between March 2016 and November 2016. Six sampling sites were selected to evaluate the spatial and temporal changes of water quality along the river. The samples were analyzed based on the standard methods for the following parameters: pH, conductivity (EC), NH4+, NO3-, Cl -, suspended solids, PO43-, SO42-, metals (Fe, Cd, Cr, Pb, Ni, Hg, As, Zn, Cu, Mn). The obtained values were compared with those imposed by the Romanian environmental legislation. An efficient and simplified method to express the quality of water used for consumption is provided by the Water Quality Index (WQI). WQI reflects the quality of water in a single value by comparing data obtained from the investigation of a number of physico-chemical parameters to the existing limits. The evaluation of water quality was performed using the Water Quality Index of the Canadian Council of Ministries of the Environment (CCME WQI). Water quality indices were classified as: excellent, good, medium, bad and very bad. The results indicated the water quality classification as �good� in all six sampling selected sites.

Environmental issues have a worldwide impact on water bodies, including the Danube Delta, the largest European wetland. The Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) implementation operates toward solving environmental issues from European and national level. As a consequence, the water quality and the biocenosis structure was altered, especially the composition of the macro invertebrate community which is closely related to habitat and substrate heterogeneity. This study aims to assess the ecological status of Southern Branch of the Danube Delta, Saint Gheorghe, using benthic fauna and a computational method as an alternative for monitoring the water quality in real time. The analysis of spatial and temporal variability of unicriterial and multicriterial indices were used to assess the current status of aquatic systems. In addition, chemical status was characterized. Coliform bacteria and several chemical parameters were used to feed machine-learning (ML) algorithms to simulate a real-time classification method. Overall, the assessment of the water bodies indicated a moderate ecological status based on the biological quality elements or a good ecological status based on chemical and ML algorithms criteria.

Iuliana Paun, Vasile Ion Iancu, Liliana Cruceru, Marcela Niculescu, Florentina Laura Chiriac - Simultaneous Determination of Anionic, Amphoteric and Cationic Surfactants Mixtures in Surface Water