Search results for: household water usage

Authors: Amidu Owolabi Ayeni

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Studies have shown that spatio-temporal distribution and variability of climatic variables, urban land use, and population have had substantial impact on water supply. It is based on these facts that the impacts of climate, urbanization, and population on water supply in Lagos State Nigeria remain the focus of this study. Population and water production data on Lagos State between 1963 and 2006 were collected, and used for time series and projection analyses. Multi-temporal land-sat images of 1975, 1995 and NigeriaSat-1 imagery of 2007 were used for land use change analysis. The population of Lagos State increased by about 557.1% between 1963 and 2006, correspondingly, safe water supply increased by 554%. Currently, 60% of domestic water use in urban areas of Lagos State is from groundwater while 75% of rural water is from unsafe surface water. Between 1975 and 2007, urban land use increased by about 235.9%. The 46years climatic records revealed that temperature and evaporation decreased slightly while rainfall and Relatively Humidity (RH) decreased consistently. Based on these trends, the Lagos State population and required water are expected to increase to about 19.8millions and 2418.9ML/D respectively by the year 2026. Rainfall is likely to decrease by -6.68mm while temperature will increase by 0.950C by 2026. Urban land use is expected to increase by 20% with expectation of serious congestion in the suburb areas. With these results, over 50% of the urban inhabitants will be highly water poor in future if the trends continue unabated.

Keywords: challenges, climate change, urbanization, water supply

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Authors: Muneeza Anwar, Muniba Raza, Zunahs Khalid

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The study discusses the communication gap that has been created due to excessive use of social networking websites such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber etc. In this growing world of technology and awareness among people about social media it has also increased its usage. The objective of this study is to measure the ways the internet is affecting the communications among individuals through social media and to check whether this is affecting the society in a positive manner. The study signifies the theoretical and practical aspects of communication gaps among the individuals through social media. The study is conducted to check whether social networking websites are the main causes of creating communication gap among individuals. In this world of fast growing technology every day, there is a new invention, affecting the lives of people both directly and indirectly. Moreover with the usage of technology people keep updating about themselves, about different events happening around their surrounding by creating events, uploading pictures, checking in different place, and creating awareness among people who are not aware of people about what is happening. From the study, we deduced how social media is affecting individual’s life. The findings suggest that social media is although creating communication gaps among people but is also bridging them. Showing that social media is one of the causes that is creating communication gap among the individuals. Communication gap has although increased on a daily basis but on average it has remained the same as they are communicating on social networking websites but eventually decreasing the communication on personal grounds.

Keywords: communication gaps, usage of social networking websites, interaction with friends and family, social media

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Authors: Mduduzi Nhlozi

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Food insecurity continues to persist in rural areas of South Africa today. A number of factors can be attributed to this including declining rural economies, rising unemployment, natural disasters such as drought as well as shifting cultural norms, values, traditions and beliefs. This paper explores mechanisms used by rural households to achieve food security in the midst of various threats and risks to their livelihoods. The study used semi-structured questionnaire to collect information on lived experiences of households in their quest to access and ensure availability of food. The paper finds that households use a number of food strategies namely economy-related, culture-related and rite-of-passage related strategies to achieve food security. The thrust of argument in the paper is that there is a need for food security studies to move beyond the orthodox, economic analytic framework, towards new institutional economics, focusing on local governance and socio-cultural systems supporting households to achieve food security. It advocates for localised food security plans to be developed by local municipalities to improve food security status for rural households.

Keywords: household, food insecurity, food strategies, new institutional economics, umkhanyakude

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Authors: Yu-Yao Wang, Xiao-Meng Hu, Joanne Yeung, Xiao-Yan Li

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The high private cost and unquantified external cost limit the development of reclaimed water. In this study, an integrated framework comprising life cycle assessment (LCA), quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA), and life cycle costing (LCC) was developed to evaluate both costs of reclaimed water supply in water systems of various scales. LCA assesses the environmental impacts, and QMRA estimates the associated pathogenic impacts. These impacts are monetized as external costs and analyzed with the private cost by LCC to count the total life cycle cost. The framework evaluated the Hong Kong urban water system in the baseline scenario (BS) and five wastewater reuse scenarios (RS). They are RSI: substituting freshwater for toilet flushing only, RSII: substituting both freshwater and seawater for toilet flushing, RSIII: using reclaimed water for all non-potable uses, RSIV: using reclaimed water for all non-potable uses and indirect potable uses, and RSV: non-potable use and indirect potable use by conveying 100% reclaimed water to recharge the reservoirs. The results show that substituting freshwater and seawater for toilet flushing has the least total life cycle cost, exhibiting that it is the most cost-effective option for Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the evaluation results show that the external cost of each scenario is comparable to the corresponding private cost, indicating the importance of the inclusion of comprehensive external cost evaluation in private cost assessment of water systems with reclaimed water supply.

Keywords: life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, quantitative microbial risk assessment, water reclamation, reclaimed water, alternative water resources

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Authors: Aliyu Mohammed Lawal, Dahiru Ya'u Gital

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The problems placed on the environment as a result of energy generation and usage in Nigeria are: Potential damage to the environment health by Co, Co2, Sox and Nox effluent gas emissions and global warming. For instance in the year 2004 in Nigeria energy consumption was 58% oil and 34% natural gas but about 94 million metric tons of Co2 was emitted out of which 64% came from fossil fuels while about 35% came from fuel wood. The findings from this research on how to alleviate these problems are that long term sustainable development solutions should be enhanced globally; energy should be used more rationally renewable energy resources should be exploited and the existing emissions should be controlled to tolerate limits because the increase in energy demand in Nigeria places enormous strain on current energy facilities.

Keywords: energy generation, environmental health, effluent gas emission, global warming, fossil fuel

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Authors: Hong Li, Haiyang Yu, Shiqing Cheng, Nai Cao, Zhiliang Shi

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Unconventional resources have gradually become the main direction for oil and gas exploration and development. However, the productivity of gas wells, the level of water production, and the seepage law in tight fractured gas reservoirs are very different. These are the reasons why production prediction is so difficult. Firstly, a three-dimensional multi-scale fracture and multiphase mathematical model based on an embedded discrete fracture model (EDFM) is established. And the material balance method is used to calculate the water body multiple according to the production performance characteristics of water-producing gas well. This will help construct a 'virtual water body'. Based on these, this paper presents a numerical simulation process that can adapt to different production modes of gas wells. The research results show that fractures have a double-sided effect. The positive side is that it can increase the initial production capacity, but the negative side is that it can connect to the water body, which will lead to the gas production drop and the water production rise both rapidly, showing a 'scissor-like' characteristic. It is worth noting that fractures with different angles have different abilities to connect with the water body. The higher the angle of gas well development, the earlier the water maybe break through. When the reservoir is a single layer, there may be a stable production period without water before the fractures connect with the water body. Once connected, a 'scissors shape' will appear. If the reservoir has multiple layers, the gas and water will produce at the same time. The above gas-water relationship can be matched with the gas well production date of the Xujiahe gas reservoir in the Sichuan Basin. This method is used to predict the productivity of a well with hydraulic fractures in this gas reservoir, and the prediction results are in agreement with on-site production data by more than 90%. It shows that this research idea has great potential in the productivity prediction of water-producing gas wells. Early prediction results are of great significance to guide the design of development plans.

Keywords: EDFM, multiphase, multilayer, water body

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Authors: Farnaz Alborzi, Angelika Schmitz, Rainer Stamminger

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Reducing water temperatures in the wash phase of a washing programme and increasing the overall cycle durations are the latest trends in decreasing energy consumption of washing programmes. Since the implementation of the new energy efficiency classes in 2010, manufacturers seem to apply the aforementioned washing strategy with lower temperatures combined with longer programme durations extensively to realise energy-savings needed to meet the requirements of the highest energy efficiency class possible. A semi-representative on-line survey in eleven European countries (Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom) was conducted by Bonn University in 2015 to shed light on consumer opinion and behaviour regarding the effects of the lower washing temperature and longer cycle duration in laundry washing on consumers’ acceptance of the programme. The risk of the long wash cycle is that consumers might not use the energy efficient Standard programmes and will think of this option as inconvenient and therefore switch to shorter, but more energy consuming programmes. Furthermore, washing in a lower temperature may lead to the problem of cross-contamination. Washing behaviour of over 5,000 households was studied in this survey to provide support and guidance for manufacturers and policy designers. Qualified households were chosen following a predefined quota: -Involvement in laundry washing: substantial, -Distribution of gender: more than 50 % female , -Selected age groups: -20–39 years, -40–59 years, -60–74 years, -Household size: 1, 2, 3, 4 and more than 4 people. Furthermore, Eurostat data for each country were used to calculate the population distribution in the respective age class and household size as quotas for the consumer survey distribution in each country. Before starting the analyses, the validity of each dataset was controlled with the aid of control questions. After excluding the outlier data, the number of the panel diminished from 5,100 to 4,843. The primary outcome of the study is European consumers are willing to save water and energy in a laundry washing but reluctant to use long programme cycles since they don’t believe that the long cycles could be energy-saving. However, the results of our survey don’t confirm that there is a relation between frequency of using Standard cotton (Eco) or Energy-saving programmes and the duration of the programmes. It might be explained by the fact that the majority of washing programmes used by consumers do not take so long, perhaps consumers just choose some additional time reduction option when selecting those programmes and this finding might be changed if the Energy-saving programmes take longer. Therefore, it may be assumed that introducing the programme duration as a new measure on a revised energy label would strongly influence the consumer at the point of sale. Furthermore, results of the survey confirm that consumers are more willing to use lower temperature programmes in order to save energy than accepting longer programme cycles and majority of them accept deviation from the nominal temperature of the programme as long as the results are good.

Keywords: duration, energy-saving, standard programmes, washing temperature

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Authors: Prami Sengupta, Randall A. Cantrell, Tracy Johns

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A typical US household consumes more energy than households in other countries and is directly responsible for a considerable proportion of the atmospheric concentration of the greenhouse gases. This makes U.S. household a vital target group for energy conservation studies. Positive household behavior is central to residential energy conservation. However, for individuals to conserve energy they must not only know how to conserve energy but be also willing to do so. That is, a positive attitude towards residential conservation and an intention to conserve energy are two of the most important psychological determinants for energy conservation behavior. Most social science studies, to date, have studied the relationships between attitude, intention, and behavior by building upon socio-psychological theories of behavior. However, these frameworks, including the widely used Theory of Planned Behavior and Social Cognitive Theory, lack a spatial component. That is, these studies fail to capture the impact of the geographical locations of homeowners’ residences on their residential energy consumption and conservation practices. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore geospatial relationships between homeowners’ residential energy conservation-attitudes, conservation-intentions, and consumption behavior. The study analyzes residential conservation-attitudes and conservation-intentions of homeowners across 63 counties in Florida and compares it with quantifiable measures of residential energy consumption. Empirical findings revealed that the spatial distribution of high and/or low values of homeowners’ mean-score values of conservation-attitudes and conservation-intentions are more spatially clustered than would be expected if the underlying spatial processes were random. On the contrary, the spatial distribution of high and/or low values of households’ carbon footprints was found to be more spatially dispersed than assumed if the underlying spatial process were random. The study also examined the influence of potential spatial variables, such as urban or rural setting and presence of educational institutions and/or extension program, on the conservation-attitudes, intentions, and behaviors of homeowners.

Keywords: conservation-attitude, conservation-intention, geospatial analysis, residential energy consumption, spatial autocorrelation

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Authors: Fariba Ebrahimi, Mehdi Ghorbani

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Comprehensive water management considers economic, environmental, technical and social sustainability of water resources for future generations. Integrated water management implies cooperative approach and involves all stakeholders and also introduces issues to managers and decision makers. Solving these issues needs integrated and system approach according to the recognition of actors or key persons in necessary to apply cooperative management of water resources. Therefore, social network analysis can be used to demonstrate the most effective actors for environmental base decisions. The linkage of diverse sets of actors and knowledge systems across management levels and institutional boundaries often poses one of the greatest challenges in adaptive water management. Bridging stakeholder can facilitate interactions among actors in management settings by lowering the transaction costs of collaboration. This research examines how network connections between group members affect in co- management. Cohesive network structures allow groups to more effectively achieve their goals and objectives Strong; centralized leadership is a better predictor of working group success in achieving goals and objectives. Finally, geometric position of each actor was illustrated in the network. The results of the research based on between centrality index have a key and bridging actor in recognition of cooperative management of water resources in Darbandsar village and also will help managers and planners of water in the case of recognition to organization and implementation of sustainable management of water resources and water security.

Keywords: co-management, water management, social network, bridging stakeholder, darbandsar village

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Authors: Yasser Elhenaw, A. Farag, Mohamed El-Ghandour, M. Shatat, G. H. Moustafa

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This study investigates the performance of two spiral-wound Air Gap Membrane Distillation (AGMD) units. These units are connected in two different configurations in order to be tested and compared experimentally. In AGMD, the coolant water is used to condensate water vapor leaving membrane via condensing plate. The rejected cooling water has a relativity high temperature which can be used, depending on operation parameters, to increase the thermal efficiency and water productivity. In the first configuration, the seawater feed flows parallel and equally through both units then rejected. The coolant water is divided into the two units, and the heat source is divided into the two heat exchangers. In the second one, only the feed of the first unit is heated while the cooling rejected from the unit is used in heating the feed to the second. The performance of the system, estimated by the water productivity as well as the Gain Output Ratio (GOR), is measured for the two configurations at different feed flow rates, temperatures and salinities. The results show that at steady state condition, the heat recovery configurations lead to an increase in water productivity by 25%.

Keywords: membrane distillation, heat transfer, heat recovery, desalination

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Authors: Jia Xue, Frederica G. Lamar, Siyu Lin, Jennifer G. Lamori, Samendra Sherchan

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Brackish water samples from Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana were assessed for the presence of pathogenic amoeba Naegleria fowleri, which causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). In our study, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) methods were used to determine N. fowleri, E. coli, and Enterococcus in water collected from Lake Pontchartrain. A total of 158 water samples were analyzed over the 10-month sampling period. Statistically significant positive correlation between water temperature and N. fowleri concentration was observed. N. fowleri target sequence was detected at 35.4% (56/158) of the water samples from ten sites around the Lake ranged from 11.6 GC/100 ml water to 457.8 GC/100 ml water. A single factor (ANOVA) analysis shows the average concentration of N. fowleri in summer (119.8 GC/100 ml) was significantly higher than in winter (58.6 GC/100 ml) (p < 0.01). Statistically significant positive correlations were found between N. fowleri and qPCR E. coli results and N. fowleri and colilert E. coli (culture method), respectively. A weak positive correlation between E. coli and Enterococcus was observed from both qPCR (r = 0.27, p < 0.05) and culture based method (r = 0.52, p < 0.05). Meanwhile, significant positive correlation between qPCR and culture based methods for E. coli (r = 0.30, p < 0.05) and Enterococcus concentration was observed (r = 0.26, p < 0.05), respectively. Future research is needed to determine whether sediment is a source of N. fowleri found in the water column.

Keywords: brackish water, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, Naegleria fowleri, primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), qPCR

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Authors: Chetan Apurav

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In this journal the behavioural analysis of pressure and velocity has been done over the blade profile of Well’s turbine. The blade profile that has been taken into consideration is NACA 0006. The analysis has been done in Ansys Workbench under CFX module. The CAD model of the blade profile with certain dimensions has been made in CREO, and then is imported to Ansys for further analysis. The turbine model has been enclosed under a cylindrical body and has been analysed under a constant velocity of air at 5 m/s and zero relative pressure in static condition of the turbine. Further the results are represented in tabular as well as graphical form. It has been observed that the relative pressure of the blade profile has been stable throughout the radial length and hence will be suitable for practical usage.

Keywords: Well's turbine, oscillating water column, ocean engineering, wave energy, NACA 0006

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Authors: Meeta Ratawa Tiwary

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Damaturu is the capital of Yobe State in northeastern Nigeria where civic amenities and facilities are not adequate even after 24 years of its existence. The volatile security and political situations are most significant causes for the same. The basic facility for the citizens in terms of drinking water and electricity are not available. For the drinking water, they have to rely on personal bore holes or the filtered borehole waters available in packaged sachets in the market. The present study is concerned with the environmental impact of indiscriminate disposal of drinking synthetic polythene water sachets in Damaturu. The sachet water is popularly called as ‘pure water’, but its purity is questionable. Increased production and consumption of sachet water has led to indiscriminate dumping and disposal of empty sachets leading to a serious environmental threat. The evidence of this is seen in the amount of disposed sachets littering the streets and also the drainages blocked by ‘blocks’ of water sachet waste. Sachet water gained much popularity in Nigeria because the product is convenient for use, affordable and economically viable. The present study aims to find out the solution to this environmental problem. The field-based study has found some significant factors that cause environmental and socio-economic effect due to this. Some recommendations have been made based on research findings regarding sustainable waste management, recycling and re-use of the non-biodegradable products in society.

Keywords: civic amenities, non-biodegradable, pure water, sustainable environment, waste disposal

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Authors: Ejoh Nonso Francis

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: Irrigation scheduling is a critical aspect of sustainable agriculture as it ensures optimal use of water resources, reduces water waste, and enhances crop yields. This paper presents a case study of a farm in Onitsha, Anambra State, Nigeria, where irrigation scheduling was optimized using a combination of soil moisture sensors and weather data. The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach in improving water use efficiency and crop productivity. The results showed that the optimized irrigation scheduling approach led to a 30% reduction in water use while increasing crop yield by 20%. The study demonstrates the potential of technology-based irrigation scheduling to enhance sustainable agriculture in Nigeria and beyond.

Keywords: irrigation scheduling, sustainable agriculture, soil moisture sensors, weather data, water use efficiency, crop productivity, nigeria, onitsha, anambra state, technology-based irrigation scheduling, water resources, environmental degradation, crop water requirements, overwatering, water waste, farming systems, scalability

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Authors: N. Tavakoli Shirazi

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This study investigates the effects of pipe-wall viscoelasticity on water hammer pressures. Tests have been conducted in a reservoir-pipe-valve system configured of a main viscoelastic pipeline and two short steel pipes placed upstream and downstream of the main pipe. Rapid closure of a manually operated valve at the downstream end generates water hammer. Experimental measurements at several positions along the pipeline have been collected from the papers. Computer simulations of the experiment have been performed and the results of runs with various options affecting the water hammer are provided and discussed. It is shown that the incorporation of viscoelastic pipe wall mechanical behavior in the hydraulic transient model contributes to a favorable fitting between numerical results and observed data.

Keywords: pipe system, PVC pipe, viscoelasticity, water hammer

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Authors: Abdullah Al. Morshed, Mohammad Nahid Mia

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Introduction: Food security refers to the availability of food and a person’s access to it. It is a complex sustainable development issue, which is closely related to under-nutrition. Food security, in turn, can widely affect the living standard, and is rooted in poverty and leads to poor health, low productivity, low income, food shortage, and hunger. The study's aim was to identify the most vulnerable women who are in insecure positions. Method: 17,842 married women were selected for analysis from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2011. Food security defined as dichotomous variables of skipped meals and eaten less food at least once in the last year. The outcome variables were cross-tabulated with women's socio-demographic characteristics and chi2 test was applied to see the significance. Logistic regression models were applied to identify the most vulnerable groups in terms of food security. Result: Only 18.5% of women said that they ever had to skip meals in the last year. 45.7% women from low socioeconomic status had skip meal for at least once whereas only 3.6% were from women with highest socioeconomic status. Women meal skipping was ranged from 1.4% to 34.2% by their educational status. 22% of women were eaten less food during the last year. The rate was higher among the poorest (51.6%), illiterate (39.9%) and household have no electricity connection (38.1) in compared with richest (4.4%), higher educated (2.0%), and household has electricity connection (14.0%). The logistic regression analysis indicated that household socioeconomic status, and women education show strong gradients to skip meals. Poorest have had higher odds (20.9) than richest and illiterate women had 7.7 higher odds than higher educated. In terms of religion, Christianity was 2.3 times more likely to skip their meals than Islam. On the other hand, a similar trend was observed in our other outcome variable eat less food. Conclusion: In this study we able to identify women with lower economics status and women with no education were mostly suffered group from starvation.

Keywords: food security, hunger, under-nutrition, women

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Authors: Mehmet Bulent Topkaya, Mustafa Yildirim

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Wastewater treatment systems are designed and used to minimize adverse impacts of the wastewater on the environment before discharging. Various treatment options for wastewater treatment have been developed, and each of them has different performance characteristics and environmental impacts (e.g. material and land usage, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emission, water and soil emission) during construction, operation or maintenance phases. Assessing the environmental impacts during these phases are essential for the overall evaluation of the treatment systems. In this study, wastewater treatment options, such as vegetated land treatment, constructed wetland, rotating biological contactor, conventional activated sludge treatment, membrane bioreactor, extended aeration and stabilization pond are evaluated. The comparison of the environmental impacts is conducted under the assumption that the effluents will be discharged to sensitive and less sensitive areas respectively. The environmental impacts of each alternative are evaluated by life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. For this purpose, data related to energy usage, land requirement, raw material consumption, and released emissions from the life phases were collected with inventory studies based on field studies and literature. The environmental impacts were assessed by using SimaPro 7.1 LCA software. As the scale of the LCA results is global, an MS-Excel based decision support tool that includes the LCA result is developed in order to meet also the local demands. Using this tool, it is possible to assign weight factors on the LCA results according to local conditions by using Analytical Hierarchy Process and finally the most environmentally appropriate treatment option can be selected.

Keywords: analytical hierarchy process, decision support system, life cycle assessment, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Ayshan Gurbanova

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Despite based on the fact that drill bit which is the smallest part of bottom hole assembly costs only in between 10% and 15% of the total expenses made, they are the first equipment that is in contact with the formation itself. Hence, it is consequential to choose the appropriate type and dimension of drilling bit, which will prevent majority of problems by not demanding many tripping procedure. However, within the advance in technology, it is now seamless to be beneficial in the terms of many concepts such as subsequent time of operation, energy, expenditure, power and so forth. With the intention of applying the method to Azerbaijan, the field of Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula has been suggested, where the mainland has been located 15 km away from the wildcat wells, named as “NKX01”. It has the water depth of 22 m as indicated. In 2015 and 2016, the seismic survey analysis of 2D and 3D have been conducted in contract area as well as onshore shallow water depth locations. With the aim of indicating clear elucidation, soil stability, possible submersible dangerous scenarios, geohazards and bathymetry surveys have been carried out as well. Within the seismic analysis results, the exact location of exploration wells have been determined and along with this, the correct measurement decisions have been made to divide the land into three productive zones. In the term of the method, Electric Impulse Technology (EIT) is based on discharge energies of electricity within the corrosivity in rock. Take it simply, the highest value of voltages could be created in the less range of nano time, where it is sent to the rock through electrodes’ baring as demonstrated below. These electrodes- higher voltage powered and grounded are placed on the formation which could be obscured in liquid. With the design, it is more seamless to drill horizontal well based on the advantage of loose contact of formation. There is also no chance of worn ability as there are no combustion, mechanical power exist. In the case of energy, the usage of conventional drilling accounts for 1000 𝐽/𝑐𝑚3 , where this value accounts for between 100 and 200 𝐽/𝑐𝑚3 in EIT. Last but not the least, from the test analysis, it has been yielded that it achieves the value of ROP more than 2 𝑚/ℎ𝑟 throughout 15 days. Taking everything into consideration, it is such a fact that with the comparison of data analysis, this method is highly applicable to the fields of Azerbaijan.

Keywords: drilling, drill bit cost, efficiency, cost

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Authors: Nahlah Abbas, Saleh A. Wasimi, Nadhir Al-Ansari

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The Greater Zab and Lesser Zab are the major tributaries of Tigris River contributing the largest flow volumes into the river. The impacts of climate change on water resources in these basins have not been well addressed. To gain a better understanding of the effects of climate change on water resources of the study area in near future (2049-2069) as well as in distant future (2080-2099), Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was applied. The model was first calibrated for the period from 1979 to 2004 to test its suitability in describing the hydrological processes in the basins. The SWAT model showed a good performance in simulating streamflow. The calibrated model was then used to evaluate the impacts of climate change on water resources. Six general circulation models (GCMs) from phase five of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) under three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5 for periods of 2049-2069 and 2080-2099 were used to project the climate change impacts on these basins. The results demonstrated a significant decline in water resources availability in the future.

Keywords: Tigris River, climate change, water resources, SWAT

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Authors: Mimoza Canga, Irene Malagnino, Vergjini Mulo, Alketa Qafmolla, Vito Antonio Malagnino

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Background: Dental caries is the most common dental disease and pregnancy represents a special process of physical, hormonal and metabolic changes in pregnant women, which is accompanied by an imbalance in the oral cavity. Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate caries reduction after dental visits, the scaling of teeth, fluoridated water, brushing of the teeth and using fluoride toothpaste before and during pregnancy. Materials and methods: This study was conducted in the time period March 2018- September 2021, the age range of the participants was: 18-41 years old. The sample taken under observation was composed of 84 pregnant women. The questionnaire included the demographic characteristics of the sample, such as age, women's education level was primary, secondary, and higher education. Based on women's education level, our analysis found that 25.9% of pregnant women had completed primary education, 35.2% of them had secondary education and 38.9% of pregnant women had higher education. The descriptive and analytical research analysis is formulated as a longitudinal study. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0. The significance level (α) was set at 0.05, whereas P-value and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data. Results: In the present study, it was observed that there is a strong relationship between dental visits and the scaling of the teeth with the value of P˂ .0001. While the number of teeth with caries before pregnancy and fluoridated water have a P-value=0.002. If we compare the same factor with the number of teeth with dental caries during pregnancy, the correlation is P-value = 0.0001. The number of teeth with caries before pregnancy and carbohydrates consumption has a strong relation with P-value=0.05. According to the present research, the number of teeth with dental caries before pregnancy in relation to brushing the teeth has a P-value ˂ 0.05. Furthermore, in the actual research, it was established that using fluoride toothpaste doesn’t affect the number of teeth with caries before pregnancy with a P-value= .314. Conclusion: According to the results of the present study performed in Albania, it was found out that the periodical dental visits, scaling of the teeth, fluoridated water, brushing of the teeth influenced caries reduction before and during pregnancy. In comparison, the usage of fluoride toothpaste did not have any effect on dental caries reduction in the same time period. The recommendations are as follows: maintaining oral hygiene, using fluoridated water and brushing the teeth regularly. Healthcare providers should inform pregnant women about the importance of oral health and the implementation of measures to manage dental caries.

Keywords: brushing of the teeth, dental visits, dental scaling, fluoridated water, pregnancy

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Authors: Chuang-Chang Chang, Keng-Yu Ho, Yu-Jen Hsiao, Hsin-Ni Yang

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Using a sample of detailed ownership data of 1,032 listed commercial bank observations in 30 European countries from 2004 to 2010, we explore what categories of shareholder are more likely to use derivatives and how different types of owners affect the bank value. We find that a shift in equity from bank investors to either non-financial companies or institutional investors have increase incentives to use derivatives. Moreover, we have significant evidence that a shift in equity from bank investors to either family or manager shareholders who attend derivative activities will decrease bank value. However, a shift in equity from bank investors to non-financial companies who use derivative instrument will increase the bank value. Our results are also robustness to address for the potential endogeneity problems.

Keywords: derivative usage, ownership structure, bank value

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Authors: Chica Riska Ashari, Yoli Farradika

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Background: Nutritional problems arise due to food security problems in the family, such as the ability of families to obtain food which is common in poor people due to lack of economic access to buy food. For this reason, it is hoped that there will be actions or behaviors that can be taken to fulfill their food or known as the Food Coping Strategy. The purpose of this study is to identify the eating patterns and Food Coping strategies of household students of prof. DR. HAMKA Muhammadiyah University Jakarta during the covid-19 pandemic. Methods: This study is a quantitative observational study with a cross-sectional approach. The dependent variable in this study is food coping strategies and eating patterns. The location of this research is Prof. DR. Hamka Muhammadiyah University. The population in this study were all students of Prof. DR. HAMKA Muhammadiyah University. The sampling technique is purposive sampling. The minimum number of samples in this study is 97 people with a response rate or drop out an estimate of 10%, so the total number of samples was 107 people. Statistical analysis with descriptive analysis. Results: The results showed that most of the food coping strategies were carried out by the students of the household of Prof. DR. HAMKA Muhammadiyah University, were buying the cheaper food (91.6%), then changing the priority of buying food (75.7%) and household members who carry out this food coping strategy are mothers (59.8%) then followed by students themselves (57, 9%). The diet of most students at the Prof. DR. HAMKA Muhammadiyah University in a day was fond of consuming sugar and foods containing sugar (candy, sugar, honey, sweet drinks) (98.1%) then eggs (97.2%). Conclusion: Food coping strategies are mostly used by households students at Prof. DR. HAMKA Muhammadiyah University who were buying the cheaper food and the member who did this behavior the most were the mothers. The diet of most students at Prof. DR. HAMKA Muhammadiyah University in a day was fond of consuming sugar and foods containing sugar (candy, sugar, honey, sweet drinks).

Keywords: behavior, eating patterns, food coping strategies, food security, students

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Authors: Shyh-Ming Chern, Kai-Ting Hsieh

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Organic solvents find various applications in many industrial sectors and laboratories as dilution solvents, dispersion solvents, cleaners and even lubricants. Millions of tons of Spent Organic Solvents (SOS) are generated each year worldwide, prompting the need for more efficient, cleaner and safer methods for the treatment and resource recovery of SOS. As a result, acetone, selected as a model compound for SOS, was gasified in supercritical water to assess the feasibility of resource recovery of SOS by means of supercritical water processes. Experiments were conducted with an autoclave reactor. Gaseous product is mainly consists of H2, CO, CO2 and CH4. The effects of three major operating parameters, the reaction temperature, from 673 to 773K, the dosage of oxidizing agent, from 0.3 to 0.5 stoichiometric oxygen, and the concentration of acetone in the feed, 0.1 and 0.2M, on the product gas composition, yield and heating value were evaluated with the water density fixed at about 0.188g/ml.

Keywords: acetone, gasification, SCW, supercritical water

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Authors: Dalia Bednarska, Marcin Koniorczyk

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This paper presents results of experiments aimed at studying hygro-thermal properties of red clay brick. The main objective of research was to investigate the relation between thermal conductivity coefficient of brick and its water or Na2SO4 solution content. The research was conducted using stationary technique for the totally dried specimens, as well as the ones 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% imbued with water or sodium sulfate solution. Additionally, a sorption isotherm test was conducted for seven relative humidity levels. Furthermore the change of red clay brick pore structure before and after imbuing with water and salt solution was investigated by multi-cycle mercury intrusion test. The experimental results confirm negative influence of water or sodium sulphate on thermal properties of material. The value of thermal conductivity coefficient increases along with growth of water or Na₂SO₄ solution content. The study shows that the presence of Na₂SO₄ solution has less negative influence on brick’s thermal conductivity coefficient than water.

Keywords: building materials, red clay brick, sodium sulfate, thermal conductivity coefficient

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Authors: Endalew Jibat, Feyera Senbeta, Tesfaye Zeleke, Fitsum Hagos

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Institutions can play a key role in coordinating how natural resources are effectively used without over-exploitation. Institutions are the laws, policies, and organizational arrangements that permit, forbid or regulate human action. The aim of this study was to look into the roles of formal and informal institutions, as well as their interactions, in water resource governance in Ethiopia's Central Rift Valley (CRV), where water scarcity is a concern. Key informant interviews, group discussions, in depth-interview, and secondary data sources were used to generate relevant data. The study revealed that formal and informal institutions were involved in water resource governance in the study area. However, the influence of informal institutions on formal institutions or vice versa is trivial to change the action of water users. Lack of clear roles and responsibilities of actors, weak capacity and lack of meaningful decentralization and participation of key actors in policy development, lack of synergy and incongruence between formal and informal institutions, and absence of enforcement mechanisms including incentives are attributed to inefficient use of water resources in the CRV. Enhancing the interplay of formal and informal institutions in the water resource policy development and meaningful decentralization and key stakeholders' engagement is recommended for sustainable water use.

Keywords: institutions, governance, institutional interplay, water users

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Authors: Sarah M. Asar, Nabeel M. Elhady

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Egypt’s current per capita water share indicates that the country suffers and has been suffering from water poverty. The abundant utilization of turfgrass in Egypt’s new urban settlements, the reliance on freshwater for irrigation, and the inadequate plant selection increase the water demand in such settlements. Decreasing the surface area of turfgrass by using alternative landscape features such as mulching, using ornamental low-maintenance plants, increasing pathways, etc., could significantly decrease the water demand of urban landscapes. The use of Ammochloa palaestina, Cenchrus crientalis (Oriental Fountain Grass), and Cistus parviflorus (with water demands of approximately 0.005m³/m²/day) as alternatives for Cynodon dactylon (0.01m³/m²/day), which is the most commonly used grass species in Egypt’s landscape, could decrease an area’s water demand by approximately 40-50%. Moreover, creating hydro-zones of similar water demanding plants would enable irrigation facilitation rather than the commonly used uniformed irrigation. Such a practice could further reduce water consumption by 15-20%. These results are based on a case-study analysis of one of Egypt’s relatively new urban settlements, Al-Rehab. Such results emphasize the importance of utilizing native, drought-tolerant vegetation in the urban landscapes of Egypt to reduce irrigation demands. Furthermore, proper implementation, monitoring, and maintenance of automated irrigation systems could be an important factor in a space’s efficient water use. As most new urban settlements in Egypt adopt sprinkler and drip irrigation systems, the lack of maintenance leads to the manual operation of such systems, and, thereby, excessive irrigation occurs.

Keywords: alternative landscape, native plants, efficient irrigation, low water demand

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Authors: Yasmeen Saleem, Pedro Berliner, Nurit Agam

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The most severe limitation for plant production in arid areas is water. Rainfall events are rare but can have pulses of high intensity. As a result, crusts are formed, which decreases infiltration into the soil, and results additionally in erosive losses of soil. Direct evaporation of water from the wetted soil can account for large fractions of the water stored in the soil. Different kinds of mulches have been used to decrease the loss of water in arid and semi-arid region. This study aims to evaluate the effect of polystyrene styrofoam pellets mulch on soil infiltration, runoff, and evaporation as a more efficient and economically viable mulch alternative. Polystyrene styrofoam pellets of two sizes (0.5 and 1 cm diameter) will be placed on top of the soil in two mulch layer depths (1 and 2 cm), in addition to the non-mulched treatment. The rainfall simulator will be used as an artificial source of rain. The preliminary results in the prototype experiment indicate that polystyrene styrofoam pellets decreased runoff, increased soil-water infiltration. We are still testing the effect of these pellets on decreasing the soil-water evaporation.

Keywords: synthetic mulch, runoff, evaporation, infiltration

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Authors: Hicham Maklache, Rajae Delhi, Fatiha Benzha, Mohamed Tahiri

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In Morocco, where semi-arid climate is dominant, the supply of industrial and drink water is provided primarily by surface water. Morocco has currently 118 multi-purpose dams. If the construction of these works was a necessity to ensure in all seasons, the water essential to our country, it is impartial to control and protect the quality of running water. -Most dam reservoir used are threatened by eutrophication due to increased terrigenous and anthropogenic pollutants, coming from an over-fertilization of water by phosphorus and nitrogen nutrients and accelerated by uncontrolled development of microalgae aging. It should also be noted that the daily practices of citizens with respect to the resource, an essential component involved in almost all human activities (agriculture, agro-industries, hydropower, ...), has contributed significantly to the deterioration of water quality despite its treatment in several plants. Therefore, the treated water, provides a legacy of bad tastes and odors unacceptable to the consumer. -The present work exhibits results of water quality watershed Oum Erbia used to supply drinking water to the whole terraced area connecting the city of Khenifra to the city of Azemmour. The area south west of Great Casablanca (metropolis of the kingdom with about 4 million inhabitants) supplied 50% of its water needs by sourcing Dam Sidi Said Maachou located, last anchor point of the watershed before the spill in the Atlantic Ocean. The results were performed in a spatio-temporal scale and helped to establish a history of monitoring water quality during the 2009-2011 cycles, the study also presents the development of quality according to the seasonal rhythmicity and rainfall. It gives also an overview on the concept of watershed stewardship.

Keywords: crude surface water quality, Oum Er Rbia hydraulic basin, spatio-temporal monitoring, Great Casablanca drink water quality, Morocco

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Authors: Ilona Pavlovska, Aneka Klavina, Agris Auce, Ivars Vanadzins, Alise Silova, Laura Komarovska, Linda Paegle, Baiba Silamikele, Linda Dobkevica

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Freshwater sapropel is a common material formed by complex biological transformations of Holocene sediments in the water basement of the lakes in Latvia that has the potential to be used as medical mud. Sapropel forms over a long period in shallow waters by slowly decomposing organic sediment and has different compositions depending on the location of the source, surroundings, the water regime, etc. Official geological survey of Latvia lakes, from Latvian lake database (ezeri.lv), used in the selection of the area of the exploration. The multifunctional effect of sapropel on the whole organism explained by its complex chemical and biological structure. This unique, organic substance and its ability to maintain heat for a long time ensures deep tissue warming and has a positive effect on the treatment of various joint and skin diseases. Sapropel is a valuable resource with multiple areas of application. Investigation of sapropel sediments and survey of the five sites selected according to the criteria performed in the current study. Also, our study includes sampling at different depths and their initial treatment, evaluation of external signs, and study of physical-chemical parameters, as well as analysis of biochemical parameters and evaluation of microbiological indicators. The main selection criteria were sapropel deposits depth, hydrological regime, the history of agriculture next to the lake, and the potential exposure to industrial waste. One hundred and five sapropel samples obtained from five lakes (Audzelu, Dunakla, Ivusku, Zielu, and Mazars Kivdalova) during the wintertime. The main goal of the study is to carry out detailed and systematic research on the medical properties of sapropel to be obtained in Latvia, to promote its scientifically based use in balneology, to develop new medical procedures and services, and to promote the development of new exportable products. Latvian freshwater sapropel could be used as raw material for getting sapropel extract and use it as a remedy. All mentioned above brings us to the main question for sapropel usage in medicine, balneology, and pharmacy “how to develop quality criteria for raw sapropel and its extracts. The research was co-financed by the project "Analysis of characteristics of medical sapropel and its usage for medical purposes and elaboration of industrial extraction methods" No.1.1.1.1/16/A/165.

Keywords: balneology, extracts, freshwater sapropel, Latvian lakes, medical mud, sapropel

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Authors: Dohwan Kim, Dongchoon Ryou, Pyungjong Yoo

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In public water facilities, drinking water distribution systems have played an important role along with water purification systems. The water distribution network is one of the most expensive components of water supply infrastructure systems. To improve the reliability for the drinking rate of tap water, advanced water treatment processes such as granular activated carbon and membrane filtration were used by water service providers in Korea. But, distrust of the people for tap water are still. Therefore, accurate diagnosis and condition assessment for water pipelines are required to supply the clean water. The internal corrosion of water pipe has increased as time passed. Also, the cross-sectional areas in pipe are reduced by the rust, deposits and tubercles. It is the water supply ability decreases as the increase of hydraulic pump capacity is required to supply an amount of water, such as the initial condition. If not, the poor area of water supply will be occurred by the decrease of water pressure. In order to solve these problems, water managers and engineers should be always checked for the current status of the water pipe, such as water leakage and damage of pipe. If problems occur, it should be able to respond rapidly and make an accurate estimate. In Korea, replacement and rehabilitation of aging drinking water pipes are carried out based on the circumstances of simply buried years. So, water distribution system management may not consider the entire water pipeline network. The long-term design and upgrading of a water distribution network should address economic, social, environmental, health, hydraulic, and other technical issues. This is a multi-objective problem with a high level of complexity. In this study, the thickness of the old water pipes, corrosion levels of the inner and outer surface for water pipes, basic data research (i.e. pipe types, buried years, accident record, embedded environment, etc.), specific resistance of soil, ultimate tensile strength and elongation of metal pipes, samples characteristics, and chemical composition analysis were performed about aging drinking water pipes. Samples of water pipes used in this study were cement mortar lining ductile cast iron pipe (CML-DCIP, diameter 100mm) and epoxy lining steel pipe (diameter 65 and 50mm). Buried years of CML-DCIP and epoxy lining steel pipe were respectively 32 and 23 years. The area of embedded environment was marine reclamation zone since 1940’s. The result of this study was that CML-DCIP needed replacement and epoxy lining steel pipe was still useful.

Keywords: drinking water distribution system, water supply, replacement, rehabilitation, water pipe

Procedia PDF Downloads 248