Marsh Bulletin

A two-stage hybrid system with a continuous flow rate was constructed to treat
highly polluted industrial wastewater of Al-Najibiyia Power Plant in Basrah city,
Iraq. The system consisted of a Horizontal Subsurface Flow System (HSSF) planted
with Phragmites australis (Cav.) followed by a Surface Flow System (SF) planted
with Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle in series and there were two similar systems
on the opposite side representing the contaminated control system. The experiment
was conducted for 72 days. Several water quality parameters were measured in both
raw and treated wastewaters, including pH, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5),
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), and turbidity, in
addition to some ions such as Sulfate ion (SO4
-2
) and Chloride ion (Cl). The system
performance results showed that the pollutants removal rate in the presence of plants
was high reached to: BOD5(65.85%), COD (91%), TSS (88.83%), turbidity
(83.65%), SO4ˉ
2
(55.11%) and Clˉ (23.88%) as compared to the systems without
plants which achieved BOD5(44.72%), COD (64.54 %), TSS (68.73%), turbidity
(66.05%), SO4ˉ
2
(33.41%) and Clˉ (9.9%). The results revealed that constructed
wetlands (CWs) are a good option for industrial wastewater treatment compared to
other expensive conventional treatment technologies. It is also revealed that the
presence of plants has an influential role in wastewater treatment. Moreover, it could
be concluded that a hybrid CWs system could enhance the pollutants removal
efficiency better than single constructed wetlands.

Water samples were taken seasonally from February to November 2018, at ten stations in
Al-Delmaj marsh, the stations were selected to cover most marsh area, the regional and seasonal
study of seven heavy metals Cd, Cr, Cu, Zn, Ni, Pb, Fe were determined in Dissolved and
Particulate phases. The results showed that there were variations in the values of the elements,
ranged as follows: Cd: Diss. 0.123 - 0.182 μg/l, Par. 0.129 - 0.195 μg/g, Cr: Diss.1.207-
1.429 μg/l, Par. 1.276 - 1.435 μg/g, Cu: Diss. 0.228 - 0.571 μg/l ,Par. 0.237 - 0.295 μg/g, Zn:
Diss. 1.611 - 2.339 μg/l, Par. 1.843 – 2.648 μg/g, Ni:Diss.1.419 - 1.767 μg/l, Par.1.458 -
1.933 μg/g, Pb: Diss. 3.105- 3.903 μg/l, Par. 3.332 - 4.268 μg/g, Fe: Diss. 7.166 - 9.313 μg/l, Par.
7.964 - 9.850 μg/g, the recorded concentrations of heavy elements are very important to know
the locations of pollution, its percentage, causes, and sources.

This study was conducted to show the effects of electrofishing on fish species caught by
the electricity method widely common in Basrah province. The study was carried out in the
Qarmat Ali River East Hammar marsh, which focused on the kinds of damages and injuries
caused by this method to capture the fishes and based on the Reynolds Criteria (severity
classification) divides the injuries into three ranks of the skeletal deformation and
hemorrhagic injuries. Eight fish species were caught: Poecilia latipinna, Carassius auratus
(Prussian carp), Planiliza abu, P. subviridis , Silurus triostegus (Catfish), and three species
of Tilapia are Coptodon zillii, Oreochromis aureus, O. niloticus. The injuries varied
depending on the species and the size and surface area of the fishes. It was noted that the P.
latipinna, P. abu, P. subviridis in this way were not affected by electrofishing, while the first
category injuries which include hemorrhage outside the spinal column and fusion or
deformity of the vertebrae, and the second category injuries which included hemorrhage near
the spinal column for one or two vertebrae or misalignment in the vertebrae or spine
curvature distributed on Tilapia species and Prussian carp. The third degree of injuries,
which included hemorrhage in the spine area of more than two vertebrae found in catfish
only, while not seen any case of crashes or vertebrae separation of the spine of the third
category of vertebral injury.

There is an international tendency towards more comprehensive specifications for a more
numbers of indicators of pollution resulting from the water of industrial activities, even more
stringent, so that it imposes minimum limits for some high-risk pollutants on humans, environment
and environment of plant and animal life, thus, the industry looks at the treatment of industrial
wastewater is it an urgent necessity .
The current study included assessing the impact of industrial wastewater and its potential
for the chemical fertilizer plant in Khor Al-Zubair area by geophysical interpretation which is
completed by a resistivity method integrating measurement of some hydrochemical variations of
this water, these included electrical conductivity (EC), (pH) and the concentration of Ammonia
NH3 and Nitrates (NO3
-
), as well as measuring some of the chemical variations of groundwater in
the study area. The results revealed that the depth of groundwater in the study area is about 5 m,
and the study area is affected by the intrusion of saline water more than it is affected by industrial
wastewater, in addition, the study area is not suitable for agriculture purposes because of the
abundance of debris and existence of transported soil, sediment and debris in the area, as well as
existence remains of ancient military sites.
The results of measurement of the chemical variations of industrial wastewater for three
sites and for many periods of time with different operating conditions of the plant revealed that the
values of these variables are somewhat fluctuating for these periods due to the production
efficiency and different operating conditions of the plant. The most prominent factor that affected
in these waters are NH3 concentrations, which recorded some dangerous levels.

Due to the importance of Lilium longiflorum plant as crop produced for flowering bulbs of beautiful
colors and aromatic scent, which gives purity and beauty to the environment in it, and spread it cultivated
in America, Europe, and Japan as flowering plants and cut flowers, not to mention cultivation in the
provinces of Lilium longiflorum plant as a Syria (Hama - Damascus – Lattakia)
The research was conducted to study the effect of the type of fertilizer and the bulbs’ size planted on the
number and length of leaves and the number of flowers of the fleshy lily plant under Hama’s conditions.
The experiment was designed according to the splinter sectors. The main factor is the type of fertilizer,
and its number is(5) / sheepskin manure, poultry manure, metallic balanced, metallic high phosphorus,
(without fertilization), the splinter factor, the size of the bulbs is / 2 / large bulbs with a circumference
(21 - 25 cm), and small bulbs with a circumference (17 - 20 cm), and the following is shown :
1- Plants planted in soil fertilized with organic and mineral fertilizers significantly outperformed plants
cultivated in soil that was not fertilized in the number and length of leaves, the ratio of flower stem and
length, and the flowering number buds.
2- The lily plants responded positively to the organic fertilizer and the high-phosphorous mineral
fertilization, as it led to a significant increase in each of the vegetative growth indicators (number of
leaves, leaf length)
3- The treatment of using large bulbs (21-25 cm) was significantly superior to using small bulbs (17-20
cm) in all indicators of vegetative growth. At the same time, it was not significantly superior to the
number of flowering buds.
4-The combined effect of both the large size of the bulb used in agriculture and the high-phosphorous
mineral fertilizer showed significant superiority in most studied indicators.

Twenty-six fungal species were isolated from different dead plant substrates submerged in aquatic
habitats southern Iraq. These isolates were screened for their ability to produce five extracellular
enzymes on solid media. Exoenzymes detected included (cellulase, laccase, lipase, ligninase and
amylase). Two species, Clavatospora bulbosa and Lentithecium sp. 3 were positive for all enzymes
tested. Acremonium sclerotigenum, Cladosporium xanthochromaticum, and Lentithecium
varaginesporum were positive for all enzymes except laccase and Exserohilum rostratum was positive
for all enzymes except cellulase. Lignase enzyme was produced by 22 species, while laccase was
screeted only by 7 species. The study observed significant differences between the different fungal
species in their enzymatic activities.

A laboratory experiment was conducted using the anvils to study the effect of watertightening induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG) and the effect of interference between
PEG and trehalose sugar biochemical parameters of Iraqi rice plant Anbar 33. Rice
seeds were planted in plastic anvils 12 cm in diameter and weighing 700 g of a mixture
of 1: 2 with dates and sand, respectively, were added to the anvils with watering water
PEG substance with three (5, 10 and 15) g / l and trehalose sugar at three concentrations
(0, 5 and 10) mmol / L and the experiment continued for 10 weeks, after which the
concentrations of each of Proline and sucrose sugar amino acid, also estimated the
efficacy of the catalase and Peroxidase enzymes, the results showed a significant
increase in the concentration of both proline and sucrose and the activity of the
catalyzes (CAT) enzyme as well as the decrease in the effectiveness of peroxidase
(POD) while improved trehalose added externally on the leaves the effectiveness of an
enzyme (POD) as well as a reduction of both sucrose and proline and the effectiveness
of the enzyme (CAT) Especially at the 5 and 10 mmol / L concentrations of trehalose
sugar. The study aims to determine the role of trehalose sugar when interacting with
polyethylene glycol in improving rice plant tolerance to water stress.

The current experiment was conducted in Al- Hartha District, about 16 km northeastern
Basrah Governorate, during the period 28th February to 26th June 2020. earthen ponds
of the Agricultural Research Station, referring to Aquaculture Unit- Agriculture
College- Basrah University, were used to investigate the effects of fish density on
growth criteria and condition factor for grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella. The fish
were cultivated in six earthen ponds (600 m2
for each one) using three different stocking
densities (T1-250 fish in ponds 1 and 2; T2- 500 fish in ponds 3 and 4 and T3- 750 fish
in ponds 5 and 6). The range of fish weight at the beginning of the experiment was 19-
203 g, while the range of total length was 12.8-27.0 cm. Fish were fed daily using
commercial pellets manufactured by Agricultural Consultant Office belonging to
Agriculture College (fishmeal 20%, soybean meal 20%, wheat flour 35%, wheat bran
23%, and vitamin-minerals premix 2%). Results of the current experiment revealed that
the best growth and lowest feed conversion rate achieved by fish reared in T1. The
length-weight relationship proved a negative allometric growth pattern for grass carp
cultivated in all stocking densities (b=2.9702, 2.8140, and 2.7414 for T1, T2, and T3,
respectively). The results showed that the increase of modified condition factor (Kb=
1.15-2.72) with increasing stocking densities, while there was no difference in the range
of relative condition factor (Kn= 1.00-1.02) and Fulton’s condition factor (K= 1.06-
1.20).