This SpringerBrief focuses on Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) in the three basins in the Witwatersrand, South Africa. It provides a background to AMD and its impactsfrom a social science perspective.The South African government and non-governmental organizations' response to AMD is assessed, as well the socio-economic and developmental effects of AMD. This volume, which is based on the author's Master's dissertation at UNISA, involves interviews with a range of experts in the field from government departments, environmental organisations (activists), the private sector (mining), tourism sector and the agricultural sector. The book discusses existing policy documents on AMD and provides recommendations in response to the many socio-economic impacts which have not been fully addressed. A literature review on the global context of AMD is provided. South Africa's water systems are already severely harmed by climate change, different forms of pollution, and poorly managed sanitation systems. For these reasons, the country is becoming increasingly water-stressed and therefore, water will continue to become much scarcer in the future. As a result of AMD's continued impact on South Africa's water systems, as a technical or scientific matter as well as the policy implications for the mining sector, water security and socio-economic sustainability has become a highly contested issue.

The various safety organizations working on drinking water all warn about unhealthy constituents, as well as elements that can cause corrosion or scaling on pipes and installations. However, drinking water may also provide a substantial portion of the daily mineral intake, especially for the elderly and children, or those at risk of deficiencies due to unhealthy eating habits or starvation. Thus, a holistic approach to drinking water is presented in this book and the scope is extended from standards for undesirable substances to the basic mineral composition of water, examining 22 nutrient elements and ions and 21 toxic substances. The function of the nutrients in the body, symptoms of deficiency and overload, and advantages of the minerals from drinking water are presented, as well as symptoms of toxic elements from drinking water. The authors also suggest healthy ranges of minerals and mineral ratios for drinking water. The book offers a valuable resource for the health evaluation of drinking waters, for private well owners, public water producers and safety organizations alike.

This book examines the role of The International Maritime Organization (IMO) in the prevention and control of pollution of the marine environment from vessels with a particular reference to the current north-south tensions regarding the strategy for combating climate change in the maritime sector as well as the prevention of marine pollution from the ship-breaking industry. The IMO, a United Nations specialized agency, has been entrusted with the duty to provide machinery for cooperation among governments for the prevention and control of pollution of the marine environment from vessels. The organization is responsible for drafting legal instruments as well as for facilitating technical cooperation for the protection of the marine environment. Although IMO legal instruments are mainly targeted at the prevention of pollution of the marine environment from vessels, there is a trend towards a liberal interpretation of this, and the organization has expanded its work to areas like shipbreaking, which is essentially a land-based industry.

This book explores the industrial use of secure, permanent storage technologies for carbon dioxide (CO2), especially geological CO2 storage. Readers are invited to discover how this greenhouse gas could be spared from permanent release into the atmosphere through storage in deep rock formations. Themes explored here include CO2 reservoir management, caprock formation, bio-chemical processes and fluid migration. Particular attention is given to groundwater protection, the improvement of sensor technology, borehole seals and cement quality. A collaborative work by scientists and industrial partners, this volume presents original research, it investigates several aspects of innovative technologies for medium-term use and it includes a detailed risk analysis. Coal-based power generation, energy consuming industrial processes (such as steel and cement) and the burning of biomass all result in carbon dioxide. Those involved in such industries who are considering geological storage of CO2, as well as earth scientists and engineers will value this book and the innovative monitoring methods described. Researchers in the field of computer imaging and pattern recognition will also find something of interest in these chapters.

This book focuses on land and disaster governance in Asian countries. The Asian region has become increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters, including floods, cyclones, storms, earthquakes, drought, typhoons and tsunamis. Further, as a result of unsustainable changes being made in patterns of land use, catchment and coastal zones, increasing population density, migration patterns, and the spread of consumer culture across countries, the impact of natural disasters has increased manifold. The book addresses two major concerns in this field. Firstly, it discusses topics intended to raise awareness among all stakeholders of the critical aspects of disaster management in the context of Asia. Secondly, it calls upon policymakers, researchers, academics, practitioners, private enterprises and civil society organizations, as well as all those who have been, are and will be affected by natural disasters to search for innovative and novel approaches to reducing risk and managing disasters.

This book highlights research in flood related areas and sustainable management conducted by researchers around the world, compiling their innovative work in order to share best practices for managing floods and recommended flood solutions. The individual papers cover the fundamentals and latest advances in the areas of flood research and management, providing in-depth coverage complemented by illustrations, diagrams and tables. The book offers a valuable source of information on methods and state-of-the art technology for effective flood management.

This book presents the application of pulsed electrical discharges in water and water dispersions of metal nanoparticles in medicine (surgery, dentistry, and oncology), biology and ecology. The intensive electrical and shock waves represent a novel technique to destroy viruses and this way to  prepare anti-virus vaccines. The method of pulsed electrical discharges in water allows to decontaminate water from almost all known bacteria and spores of fungi being present in human beings. The nanoparticles used are not genotoxic and mutagenic. This book is useful for researchers and graduate students.

This volume provides a comprehensive perspective on geomorphic approaches to management of lowland alluvial rivers in North America and Europe. Many lowland rivers have been heavily managed for flood control and navigation for decades or centuries, resulting in engineered channels and embanked floodplains with substantially altered sediment loads and geomorphic processes. Over the past decade, floodplain management of many lowland rivers has taken on new importance because of concerns about the potential for global environmental change to alter floodplain processes, necessitating revised management strategies that minimize flood risk while enhancing environmental attributes of floodplains influenced by local embankments and upstream dams. Recognition of the failure of old perspectives on river management and the need to enhance environmental sustainability has stimulated a new approach to river management. The manner that river restoration and integrated management are implemented, however, requires a case study approach that takes into account the impact of historic human impacts to the system, especially engineering. The river basins examined in this volume provide a representative coverage of the drainage of North America and Europe, taking into account a range of climatic and physiographic provinces. They include the 1) Sacramento (California, USA), 2) San Joaquin (California), 3) Missouri (Missouri, USA), 4) Red (Manitoba, Canada and Minnesota, USA), 5) Mississippi (Louisiana, USA), 6) Kissimmee (Florida, USA), 7) Ebro (Spain), 8) Rhone (France), 9) Rhine (Netherlands), 10) Danube (Romania), and 11) Volga (Russian Federation) Rivers. The case studies covered in these chapters span a range of fluvial modes of adjustment, including sediment, channel, hydrologic regime, floodplains, as well as ecosystem and environmental associations.

This book deals with water management, one of the most challenging issues of contemporary society. Research and innovation in the field of water management must address certain fundamental aspects: access to water, water quality, water treatment, transboundary effect of water, etc. A comprehensive analysis was performed in a national research program of Moldova, entitled “Research and management of water quality�. The main goal of the research program was to create and improve the legal, scientific and methodological, technological basis and sustainable development of water, implementation of modern technologies in water supply, treatment and reuse. Other priorities include expansion of access to water sources, improvement of environmental protection, especially water protection against pollution and depletion, efficient water use and establishing an effective monitoring system for disaster prevention. The topics concern research of water structure and quality, surface water, groundwater, water treatment, irrigation technologies and water pollution by remains from industry, one of the main environmental problems of our time. The book helps to get to coherent water policies of states.

This book pursues a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach in order to analyze the relationship between water and food security. It demonstrates that most of the world’s economies lack sufficient water resources to secure their populations’ food requirements and are thus virtual importers of water. One of the most inspiring cases, which this book is rooted in, is Italy: the third largest net virtual water importer on earth. The book also shows that the sustainability of water depends on the extent to which societies recognize and take into account its value and contribution to agricultural production. Due to the large volumes of water required for food production, water and food security are in fact inextricably linked. Contributions from leading international experts and scholars in the field use the concepts of virtual water and water footprints to explain this relationship, with an eye to the empirical examples of wine, tomato and pasta production in Italy. This book provides a valuable resource for all researchers, professionals, policymakers and everyone else interested in water and food security.

Contamination of the different components of environment through industrial and anthropogenic activities have guided new eras of research. This has lead to development of strategies/methodologies to curtail/minimize environmental contamination. Research studies conducted all over the globe established that bioremediation play a promising role in minimizing environmental contamination. In the last decade, phytoremediation studies have been conducted on a vast scale. Initial research in this scenario focused on screening terrestrial plant species that remove contaminants from soil and air. Later, scientific community realized that water is a basic necessity for sustaining life on earth and quality of which is getting deteriorated day by day. This initiated studies on phytoremediation using aquatic plants. Role of aquatic plant species in cleaning water bodies was also explored. Many of the aquatic plant species showed potential to treat domestic, municipal and industrial wastewaters and hence their use in constructed wetlands for treating wastewaters was emphasized. The present book contains five chapters. First two chapters provide information about types of contaminants commonly reported in wastewaters and enlists some important and well studied aquatic plant species known for their potential to remove various contaminants from wastewater. Subsequent chapters deal with mechanisms involved in contaminant removal by aquatic plant species, and also provide detailed information about role of aquatic plant species in wetlands. Potential of constructed wetlands in cleaning domestic and industrial wastewaters has also been discussed in detail. The strategy for enhancing phytoremediation capacity of plants by different means and effectiveness of phytoremediation technology in terms of monitory benefits has been discussed in last chapter. Last chapter also emphasizes the future aspects of this technology.  

This book provides a detailed examination of how two key concerns in many communities across the globe- power and water- can be simultaneously addressed through the coupling of Concentrating Solar Power and Desalination (CSP+D) plants. It undertakes a technological and economic evaluation of the integration of Multi-effect Distillation Plants into CSP plants based on Parabolic Trough solar collectors (PT-CSP+MED), as compared to independent water and power production through Reverse Osmosis unit connection to a CSP plant (CSP+RO). Through this compare and contrast method of analysis, the author establishes guidelines to assist readers in identifying cases wherein PT-CSP+MED systems provide greater benefits from a thermodynamic and economic point of view. The text outlines efficiencies and challenges derived from the combination of PT-CSP power generation with four different desalination plant scenarios, beginning with a description of the equations used in the modeling and validation of a pilot MED plant and followed by detailed thermodynamic analysis of several currently operating CSP+D systems. Comparative thermodynamic assessments are based on a sensitivity analysis from which the overall efficiency of the cogeneration system is determined. The author outlines all the equations used for the modeling of each component and includes 97 comparative tables obtained from the sensitivity analysis, showing the variation of the overall thermal efficiency of the CSP+D as a function of fundamental parameters of the cogeneration cycle, such as the specific electric consumption of the desalination plants, and the turbine outlet temperature of the power cycle. These findings are then placed in practical context through a complete thermo-economic analysis, which is carried out for two specific locations in the Middle East and Europe in order to identify the most practically and economically viable CSP+D system in each region as informed by actual operating conditions, meteorological data and real cost figures for each location.

The past 30 years have seen the emergence of a growing desire worldwide that positive actions be taken to restore and protect the environment from the degrading effects of all forms of pollution - air, water, soil, and noise. Since pollution is a direct or indirect consequence of waste, the seemingly idealistic demand for "zero discharge" can be construed as an unreal- tic demand for zero waste. However, as long as waste continues to exist, we can only attempt to abate the subsequent pollution by converting it to a less noxious form. Three major questions usually arise when a particular type of pollution has been identi?ed: (1) How serious is the pollution? (2) Is the technology to abate it available? and (3) Do the costs of abatement justify the degree of abatement achieved? This book is one of the volumes of the Handbook of Environmental Engineering series. The principal intention of this series is to help readers formulate answers to the last two questions above. The traditional approach of applying tried-and-true solutions to speci?c pollution p- blems has been a major contributing factor to the success of environmental engineering and has accounted in large measure for the establishment of a "methodology of pollution control. " However, the realization of the ever-increasing complexity and interrelated nature of current environmental problems renders it imperative that intelligent planning of pollution abatement systems be undertaken.

Wetland Systems covers broad water and environmental engineering aspects relevant for the drainage and treatment of storm water and wastewater. It provides a descriptive overview of complex 'black box' treatment systems and the general design issues involved. Standard and novel design recommendations for predominantly constructed wetlands and related sustainable drainage systems are given to take into account the interests of professional engineers and environmental scientists. Wetland Systems deals comprehensively with not only the design, operation, maintenance and water quality monitoring of traditional and novel wetland systems, but also covers: * Analysis of asset performance * Modelling of treatment processes * Performances of existing infrastructure * Sustainability and economic issues Solutions to pressing water quality problems associated with constructed treatment wetlands, integrated constructed wetlands, farm constructed wetlands and storm water ponds, and other sustainable biological filtration and treatment technologies linked to public health engineering are explained. Case study topics are diverse: natural wetlands and constructed treatment wetlands; sustainable water management; and specific applications, such as wetlands treating hydrocarbons. The research projects discussed are multi-disciplinary, holistic, experimental and modelling-orientated. Wetland Systems is a useful reference for the design and operation of wetland systems by engineers and scientists working for the water industry, non-governmental organisations, local authorities and governmental bodies. It is also a valuable text for undergraduate and postgraduate students, lecturers and researchers in civil and environmental engineering fields.

This book pursues a comprehensive approach so as to arrive at a better understanding of the implications of climate change on sustainable development, focusing on the perspective of water. Climate change is one of today's most pressing global issues and will become increasingly important in the decades to come, as societies will feel its pervasive impacts in many aspects of their lives. Given that the majority of these climate change impacts will be felt through the medium of water, the book explores the interrelationships and inter-linkages between water, climate change and sustainable development.

This volume provides a detailed overview of water pollution and control of several selected Chinese reservoirs. It explores sediment contamination as well as algal blooms and their impact on water quality. Several chapters also discuss various methods of quality control, such as mixing-oxygenation combined with microbial remediation technologies. Due to their broad geographical distribution and different nutrition levels, the investigated reservoirs, the Jinpen, Shibianyu, Fenhe, Zhelin and Zhoucun reservoirs, can be regarded as representative for China. This comprehensive work will appeal to researchers, advanced students and reservoir managers.

Natural saline water, waste water, and irrigation return flow endanger the groundwater aquifers in the Rift. In the long run this will ruin the socio-economic backbone of the settlements in the area. Sustainability of the water resources will only be achieved when the process of water replenishment and its underground flow is understood and water extraction is regionally controlled. Rare earth element and spider patterns are presented as new tools for studying the hydrology. Progress in 3-D modelling of groundwater flow proved successfully the impact of pumping on the surroundings of wells and overexploitation of aquifers.

Urban water and wastewater systems have an inherent vulnerability to both manmade and natural threats and disasters including droughts, earthquakes and terrorist attacks. It is well established that natural disasters including major storms, such as hurricanes and flooding, can effect water supply security and integrity. Earthquakes and terrorist attacks have many characteristics in common because they are almost impossible to predict and can cause major devastation and confusion. Terrorism is also a major threat to water security and recent attention has turned to the potential that these attacks have for disrupting urban water supplies. There is a need to introduce the related concept of Integrated Water Resources Management which emphasizes linkages between land-use change and hydrological systems, between ecosystems and human health, and between political and scientific aspects of water management. An expanded water security agenda should include a conceptual focus on vulnerability, risk, and resilience; an emphasis on threats, shocks, and tipping points; and a related emphasis on adaptive management given limited predictability. Internationally, concerns about water have often taken a different focus and there is also a growing awareness, including in the US, that water security should include issues related to quantity, climate change, and biodiversity impacts, in addition to terrorism. This presents contributions from a group of internationally recognized experts that attempt to address the four areas listed above and includes suggestions as to how to deal with related problems. It also addresses the new and potentially growing issue of cyber attacks against water and waste water infrastructure including descriptions of actual attacks, making it of interest to scholars and policy-makers concerned with protecting the water supply.

Uranium is an element to be found ubiquitous in rock, soil, and water. Uranium concentrations in natural ground water can be more than several hundreds g/l without impact from mining, nuclear industry, and fertilizers. Considering the WHO recommendation for drinking water of 15 g/l (has been as low as 2 g/l before) due to the chemical toxicity of uranium the element uranium has become an important issue in environmental research. Besides natural enrichment of uranium in aquifers uranium mining and milling activities, further uranium processing to nuclear fuel, emissions form burning coal and oil, and the application of uranium containing phosphate fertilizers may enrich the natural uranium concentrations in soil and water by far. In October 1995 the first international conference on Uranium Mining and Hydrogeology (UMH I) was held in Freiberg being organized by the Department of Geology at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg by the support of the Saxon State Ministry of Geology and Environment. Due to the large scientific interest in the topic of uranium a second conference (UMH II) took place in Freiberg in September 1998. Furthermore, in September 2002 scientists working on the topic of uranium mining and hydrogeology attended the third conference (UMH III) which was jointly held together with the International Mine Water - sociation (IMWA) Symposium 2002. The reviewed papers and posters of the 2002 conference have been published by Springer entitled Uranium in the aquatic en- ronment (edited by Merkel, Planer-Friedrich and Wolkersdorfer).

This book provides comprehensive research findings related to the environmental monitoring of radiation, levels of radioactive nuclides in various environments and dose estimation in residents after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident caused severe environmental contamination with radioactive nuclides. At the beginning of the book, a technical review written by a leading researcher of nuclear reactor technology explains what happened at the power plant. The review is followed by a commentary from a former member of the International Commission on Radiological Protection, providing the reader with easily understandable information about the concept of radiation dosage. In the main part of the book, a series of scientific reports presents valuable data on the radiation surveys of the environment, environmental radioactivity, transfer models and parameters of radioactive nuclides and dose assessment among residents. These reports present a wide range of findings from the research carried out in a variety of activities by large governmental organizations as well as by small private groups and individuals. The reader thus will find a large collection of valuable and interesting data related to the environmental contamination by radioactive nuclides after the Fukushima accident. Although earlier reports on this issue have been made public, this book is the only publication to fully depict the actual situation by providing comprehensive data obtained by diverse organizations and individuals.

Contributing to the growing debate on the need for sustainable water use and management, with concrete examples of new approaches, concepts, arguments, methods and findings which illustrate how this can be achieved, this book will be attractive for large groups of readers familiar with one or more of the themes it tackles, and to the general public. Within this context, the book makes use of many tables and graphics, which bring the many messages together. This approach is intended not only for those working on water matters (e.g. bureaucrats, water managers, policymakers, journalists, etc.) and interested in water management issues and sustainability at large, but also for students of water management, water politics, environmental policy, water economics, water engineering and sustainability studies. Located at the crossroads of two key phenomena: sustainability and water, this book brings forward academic research and discussions on water efficiency, new technologies, and the water-agriculture nexus. It also benefits readers by tackling matters related to trans-boundary cooperation on water (including rainwater) and river-basin management, pricing issues, participatory water management, and the role of women in sustainable water use, amongst others.

This comprehensive book provides a unique overview of advances in the biology and ecology of marine protists. Nowadays marine protistology is a hot spot in science to disclose life phenomena using the latest techniques. Although many protistological textbooks deal with the cytology, genetics, ecology, and pathology of specific organisms, none keeps up with the quick pace of new discoveries on the diversity and dynamics of marine protists in general. The bookMarine Protists: Diversity and Dynamics gives an overview of current research on the phylogeny, cytology, genomics, biology, ecology, fisheries, applied sciences, geology and pathology of marine free-living and symbiotic protists. Poorly known but ecologically important protists such as labyrinthulids and apostome ciliates are also presented in detail. Special attention is paid to complex interactions between marine protists and other organisms including human beings. An understanding of the ecological roles of marine protists is essential for conservation of nature and human welfare. This book will be of great interest not only to scientists and students but also to a larger audience, to give a better understanding of protists' diverse roles in marine ecosystems.

"Wetland Restoration: Shanghai Dalian Lake Project" introduces the whole Shanghai DaLian wetland restoration project, including the background investigation of the wetland, the overall planning of wetland restoration, its detailed design, engineering construction and engineering effects. This book appeals to readers especially due to its detailed data on wetland restoration. Readers can carry out a similar project step by step from the initial investigation to the last assessment by following the structure presented in this work. Through this book, we can get first-hand information on a wetland restoration, but it can also be valuable for other projects. Professor Shuqing An works at Nanjing University, China.

This book provides essential background knowledge on a wide range of hydrological processes governing contaminant transport from soil to surface water across a range of scales, from hillslope to watershed. The mathematical description of these processes is based on both well-known and unique analytical solutions of different initial and boundary problems (primarily using methods from the kinematic wave theory and the reservoir/lumped-parameter concept), supported by numerical modelling studies. Some research topics, in particular several case studies, are illustrated by monitoring and experimental data analysis to show the importance of the research's applications in environmental practice and environmental education. Specific results concern the recognition of: (a) the effect of transient rainfall-runoff-infiltration partitioning on the chemical response of drainage areas to excess precipitation under certain field conditions related to the soil, hillslope characteristics, and contaminant properties; (b) soil erosion as a key factor that enhances the potential of adsorbed chemical transport in runoff; and (c) common tendencies in radionuclide behaviour in the near-surface environment contaminated by radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl (1986), Fukushima (2011) and the less known Kyshtym (1957) accidents, as well as from nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere since 1952. The book's goal is to provide a conceptual foundation enabling readers to apply scientific knowledge to solve practical problems in environmental hydrology and radiology. More specifically, the book presents the state-of-the-art approaches that scientists and natural resources experts need in order to significantly improve the prediction of changes in the soil-water system chemistry due to human activities.

Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology provides concise, critical reviews of timely advances, philosophy and significant areas of accomplished or needed endeavor in the total field of xenobiotics, in any segment of the environment, as well as toxicological implications.