Abstract:

Pesticides are the major pollutant parameters for the lakes. As a result of agricultural applications, pesticides remaining on the surface of the soil, reach at the surface waters by runoff or to the ground water table by leaching through the soil and other sources of water. Pesticides reach wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by domestic and industrial wastewaters through collecting sewer systems and eventually they are carried to the lakes which are receiving environment, due to the lack of adequate treatment. Turkish environmental regulations do not contain a limit value for the discharge of pesticides. Since the treatment facilities are not designed for removal of such significant pollutants, effluents of wastewater treatment systems can be considered as pesticide sources. In the study, in order to determine the pesticide removal efficiencies of treatment processes, pesticide removal performances of plants with different treatment processes were analyzed and a state analysis was carried out. In addition, treated wastewaters discharged into the lakes within agricultural basins were evaluated in terms of pesticide parameters. It has been determined by the study that the pesticide species in the wastewater are diversified according to the watershed, the selected treatment processes have different pesticide removal efficiencies from wastewater, and that pesticide-induced pollution can be reduced by adding advanced treatment processes to the wastewater treatment facilities.

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