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Books > Business & Economics > Industry & industrial studies > Energy industries & utilities > Water industries
Water resources and services are integrated measures of social systems that range beyond the technical world and the IWRM requires a balance between competing views of social and political issues. This volume focuses on increased awareness of the human dimension, women's role, environmental protection, sustainability and food security aspects in achieving sustainable water management. Understanding the strategies used by small farmers, as well as how small farming systems work or why they fail, could shed light on the constraints they face and the measures to be taken to overcome them. It also draws key insights on movements promoting the involvement of grassroots communities in the sustainable management of their resources.
The aim of this book is to present the potential benefits as well as the challenges of introducing a more formal economic regulatory process into the urban water sector arena in lower-income countries. There is a particular focus upon the impact this may have on the poorest, the informal, slum and shanty dwellers of the rapidly growing cities. Economic regulation, usually introduced in the context of private operation of monopoly water supply, can deliver objectivity and transparency in the price-setting process for public providers also. But this is not, as is commonly assumed, primarily to protect the customer from the provider; rather it is to allow the service provider to set something approaching cost-reflective tariffs. These charges, almost certainly higher than previously, perversely can benefit the poor who have been paying far more for informal access to any piped supplies. With the addition of a regulatory duty to achieve some form of adaptive Universal Service Obligation, economic regulation could contribute significantly to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in urban areas.The book describes and analyzes these issues through a consideration of ten country case studies. As a starting point, the current situation for the provision of water and sanitation services for the poorest through non-regulated public providers in India and Uganda is reviewed. Comparative chapters are then presented on Argentina, Ghana, Philippines, Bolivia, Jordan, Zambia and Indonesia, all with varying degrees of private sector involvement and regulation. Finally, the experiences of the two richest countries, Chile and England, are considered, investigating service to the poor inthese examples with the longest experience of economic regulation and the "most privatized" suppliers. In all cases there is a focus on the very necessary role of customer involvement in price-setting and service monitoring and on the role of alternative (private) service providers within the context of the need for least cost utility service provision to all.
Key drinking water issues include problems caused by specific contaminants, such as the gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), perchlorate, and lead, as well as the related issue of the appropriate federal role in providing financial assistance for water infrastructure projects. Congress last reauthorised the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) in 1996, and although funding authority for most SDWA programs expired in FY2003, broad reauthorization efforts are not expected as EPA, states, and water utilities remain busy implementing the requirements of the 1996 amendments. Concerns about perchlorate in drinking water also have returned to the congressional agenda, after the past Congress enacted several provisions on this issue. H.R. 213 has been introduced to require EPA to set a drinking water standard for perchlorate in 2007, and a January 2005 National Academy of Sciences report on the health effects of perchlorate has increased oversight interest in perchlorate regulatory activities at EPA. Concerns over the security of the nation's drinking water supplies were addressed by the 107th Congress through the Bioterrorism Preparedness Act (P.L. 107-188), which amended SDWA to require community water systems to conduct vulnerability assessments and prepare emergency response plans. Subsequent congressional action has involved oversight and funding of water security assessment and planning efforts and research. An ongoing SDWA issue involves the growing cost and complexity of drinking water standards and the ability of water systems, especially small, rural systems, to comply with standards. The issue of the cost of drinking water standards, particularly the new arsenic standard, has merged with the larger debate over the federal role in assisting communities with financing drinking water infrastructure - an issue that has become more challenging in a time of tightened budgets. Congress authorized a drinking water state revolving fund (DWSRF) program in 1996 to help communities finance projects needed to meet standards. For FY2005, Congress provided $843 million for the DWSRF program, and the President has requested $850 million for FY2006. Notwithstanding this program, studies show that a large funding gap exists and will grow as SDWA requirements increase and infrastructure ages.
For over a century, the federal government has constructed water resource projects for a variety of purposes, including flood control, navigation, power generation, and irrigation. While most municipal and industrial water supplies have been built by non-federal entities, most of the large, federal water supply projects in the West, including Hoover and Grand Coulee dams, were constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation (Department of the Interior) to provide water for irrigation. Growing populations and changing values have increased demands on water supplies and river systems, resulting in water use and management conflicts throughout the country, particularly in the West, where the population is expected to increase 30% in the next 20-25 years. In many western states, agricultural needs are often in direct conflict with urban needs, as well as with water demand for threatened and endangered species, recreation, and scenic enjoyment. Debate over western water resources revolves around the issue of how best to plan for and manage the use of this renewable, yet sometimes scarce and increasingly sought after, resource. Some observers advocate enhancing water supplies, for example, by building new storage or diversion projects, expanding old ones, or funding water reclamation and reuse facilities. Others emphasise the need to manage existing supplies more efficiently through conservation, revision of policies that encourage inefficient use of water, and establishment of market mechanisms to allocate water. Recent proposals to expand the Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway (UMR-IWW) a major transportation route for products moving to and from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin have met with significant controversy. Some of this controversy centres on the cumulative environmental effects of the current navigation system and the proposed expansion. The Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS), which includes the navigation channel and surrounding floodplain supports an unusually large number of species for a temperate river. The UMR-IWW navigation system alters UMRS habitat and contributes to a decline in the abundance of some species. For example, locks, dams, and other channel structures inhibit the movement of fish between and within river segments; fill side channels, backwaters, and wetlands with sediment; and suppress plant growth by reducing water clarity.
Comprehensive coverage of the drinking water regulatory climate The Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 instituted wide-ranging regulatory changes to the seminal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)–such as providing funding to communities facing health risks, focusing regulatory efforts on contaminants posing such health risks, and adding flexibility to the regulatory process– and the amendments continue to shape regulations and regulatory policy to this day. Editor Frederick Pontius’s Drinking Water Regulation and Health provides a comprehensive, up-to-date resource on the current regulatory landscape. Drinking Water Regulation and Health serves as a guide for water utilities, regulators, and consultants, forecasting future trends and explaining the latest developments in regulations. A diverse group of contributors covers topics such as water treatment, water protection, how some of the regulations have been interpreted in the courts, how water utilities can stay in compliance, and how to satisfy customer expectations, especially sensitive subpopulations. Divided into four sections – The SDWA and Public Health, Regulation Development, Contaminant Regulation and Treatment, and Compliance Challenges – the book includes chapters on:
Drinking Water Regulation and Health is a timely, one-stop resource on the current water regulatory climate.
International tensions around water are rising in many of the world's most volatile regions. The policy recipe pursued by the West, and imposed on governments elsewhere, is to pass control over water to private interests, which simply accelerates the cycle of inequality and deprivation. California, as well as China, South Africa, Mexico and countries on every continent already face a crisis. This book exposes the enormity of the problem, the dangers of the proposed solution and the alternative, which is to recognize access to water as a fundamental human right, not dependent on ability to pay.
Make sure your boiler runs at maximum efficiency!
The discussion on arsenic in the environment is complex and must grasp the importance of very many, mostly unrelated works on individual aspects. This volume represents one of the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary examinations into arsenic's behaviour in air, water, soils, sediments, plants and the human body. Based on state-of-the-art investigations into the global arsenic cycle, the related human toxicology and available remediation technologies, arsenic is assessed holistically in all the environmental compartments. Using the results of primary research, the authors offer concrete suggestions for risk reduction and management of environmental pollution that allow the reader to successfully tackle similar problems and find sustainable solutions. The book consists of three essential parts: Review of the current knowledge of arsenic behaviour in the environment (global biogeochemical cycles), toxicology, remediation techniques, immobilization technologies and environmental legislation Case studies for mining-related arsenic problems Discussion of mitigation and remediation technologies and approaches such as environmental education, hygiene training, backed by real experience and successful implementation in the study area In a highly coherent manner, the book makes use of 120 tables and figures, a large number of literature citations, and very detailed subject index (that encompasses references) to provide rapid and up-to-date access to all relevant information. Cross-references provide a great manoeuvrability between the chapters. The book delivers very insightful and hands-on approaches for graduate students and professionals working on arsenic questions not only in environmental science, but also in the fields of environmental engineering, medicine and social science.
This book addresses ways to provide the highest quality water services at the lowest possible cost, and examines the major finance issues that system managers face. It deals with grants, loans, municipal bonds, tariffs/rates and subsidies, as well as the major government finance programs offered by the Department of Agriculture and the EPA. It also provides managers with the tools to devise innovative financial strategies to make their systems much more efficient. This fully revised edition presents an easy-to-read guide for understanding the myriad options available for financing water and wastewater projects and how to evaluate the most appropriate options.
Since the thirteenth century, quay walls of significant retaining height have been built in the Netherlands in urban environments. Over time, structural revisions were often carried out due to excessive deformations or the use of increasingly larger and deeper vessels. These historic quay walls were seldom designed for the current functional requirements they are subjected to. These mostly older quay walls require more maintenance and revisions to secure a certain degree of safety. In some cases they need to be demolished and completely rebuilt. Urban Quay Walls offers safety protocols and a clear approach on how to inspect, design and maintain urban quay walls. The book offers: - an insight on the development of urban quay walls; - a description of the main forms (as used in The Netherlands); - quicksteps for the inspection of existing quay walls. Urban Quay Walls presents a proposal for a uniform and standardised method to verify the actual state of current quay walls in urban environments. This handbook presents an overview of the development of urban quay walls over the course of time and describes the main types in use in the Netherlands. Subsequently, a method is presented for deciding whether or not a historic quay wall needs to be renovated, renewed or maintained.
UN studies show that high-income, developed nations treat about 70 percent of their wastewater. However, in low-income developing nations, only 8 percent of wastewater undergoes any kind of treatment. Inadequate water treatment has serious consequences for both human health and the environment. The articles in this compendium provide a representative cross sample of both developing and developed nations' water treatment facilities. Included are the following topics: Reclaimed water for irrigation reuse in developing countries Sludge-handling practices in Micronesia The removal of phthalate esters from Chinese water sources Disposal of domestic wastewater in Nigeria Ameba-enrichment in a South African water treatment plant Bioenergy from wastewater produced by a Brazilian meat-processing plant The presence of various pharmaceutical contaminants in the River Thames Wastewater recycling in Greece The impact on surface water from contaminants released from German water treatment plants A Canadian constructed wetland's effectiveness for the removal of various contaminants from wastewater Accessing irrigation from treated wastewater in the United States The spacial distribution of fecal indicator bacteria in the groundwater beneath two American water treatment plants Detection of contamination from retinoid acid reception agonists in Japanese water treatment plants The editor, a respected international expert in the field, has selected investigations that offer essential information for ongoing research at the graduate and professional levels, as well as for environmental engineers and others responsible for choosing the most efficient water treatment technologies.
Rivers are complex entities. In addition to being valuable wildlife habitats, they support human activities by providing water for human usage, renewable energy and convenient transportation. Rivers may also pose threats to riverine communities, in the form of floods and other natural or man-induced hazards. Contemporary societies recognize their responsibility in ensuring the sustainable use of rivers and in preserving river's intrinsic ecological and landscape values. This obligation is often in conflict with riverine economic exploitation and with risk management concerns. As a discipline, Fluvial Hydraulics makes a significant contribution to the development of strategies for sustainable river use by providing new modelling tools and engineering techniques based on advances in phenomenological understanding and in computational modelling. River Flow 2012 comprises the Proceedings of the sixth edition of the International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics, organized under the auspices of the Committee on Fluvial Hydraulics of the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR). The book covers issues such as river hydrodynamics, morphodynamics and sediment transport. Other contributions describe interdisciplinary approaches and experiences, particularly regarding interfacial activities involving environmental sciences and information technologies. River Flow 2012 contains the most recent theoretical accomplishments, numerical developments, experimental investigations and field studies in Fluvial Hydraulics. It is an excellent resource for researchers, civil and environmental engineers, and practitioners in river-related disciplines.
The congress "Arsenic in the Environment" offers an international, multi- and interdisciplinary discussion platform for arsenic research aimed at short-term solutions of problems with considerable social impact, rather than only focusing on cutting edge and breakthrough research in physical, chemical, toxicological, medical and other specific issues on arsenic on a broader environmental realm. The congress "Arsenic in the Environment" was first organized in Mexico City (As 2006 ) followed by As 2008 in Valencia, Spain. The Third International Congress As 2010 was held in Tainan, Taiwan from May 17-21, 2010 entitled: "Arsenic in Geosphere and Human Diseases". The session topics comprised: 1. Geology + hydrogeology of arsenic; 2. Ecological effects: Arsenic in soils, plants and food chain; 3. Marine + terrestrial biota; 4. Health effects on humans: Epidemiology + biomarkers; 5. Toxicological effects; 6. Assessment and remediation; 7. Analytical methods. Hosting this congress in Taiwan was especially relevant, because the endemic Blackfoot Disease, related to the arsenic uptake from drinking water supplied by artesian wells, was discovered here half a century ago. Since then Taiwan has become an important region specializing in arsenic research. This volume presents the extended abstracts of the congress and will give the latest state of the art knowledge based on current research performed by the global scientific community.
Modern society too often views water as a convenient vehicle for disposing of waste and the results are becoming increasingly apparent. Analysis of freshwater supplies frequently reveals disturbing levels of pollution, including human waste, heavy metals and synthetic chemicals, to the detriment of our health, and the health of entire ecosystems. The Water Crisis examines the roots of freshwater pollution urbanization, industrialization and intensive farming supported by case studies from the Rhine and the Great Lakes. It explores the impact of major pollutants and discusses methods of prevention. The final section provides a detailed overview of possible solutions, including soil-based treatment systems and constructed wetlands. A separate chapter is devoted to the important issue of groundwater pollution. Practical concise and accessible, this is ideal for students in environmental studies and environmental science, biology and geography, and general readers. Originally published in 1998
The relation between the Dutch and the Japanese has been a productive one for over more then 400 years. It started with a trade around 1600 and became more intimate in 1641 when the Netherlands became the sole trade partners for over 300 years. After Japan opened up to the world during the Meiji restoration in which Japan was modernized, Dutch water experts were invited to work on river management and polders. Till today the Dutch and the Japanese have a special relationship and a great shared interest: urban water management. Especially now with the climate change and continuing urbanization they rely a lot on each other. It is interesting to bring the expertise together in this publication because the Japanese approach and boldness - the Dutch used to have - is a great example for the Dutch (and international) world of urban water management.
Focusing primarily on understanding the steady-state hydraulics that form the basis of hydraulic design and computer modelling applied in water distribution, Introduction to Urban Water Distribution elaborates the general principles and practices of water distribution in a straightforward way. The workshop problems and design exercise develop a temporal and spatial perception of the main hydraulic parameters in the system for given layout and demand scenarios. Furthermore, the book contains a detailed discussion of water demand, which is a fundamental element of any network analysis, and principles of network construction, operation, and maintenance. The attached CD contains all spreadsheet applications mentioned in the text, and the network model used in the design exercise. Written in a manner that is easily understood by those who know little about the subject, this introductory text will also benefit experts dealing with advanced problems who wish to refresh their knowledge.
Contaminated Ground Water and Sediments: Modeling for Management and Remediation provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art review of the theory and practice of computer modeling as applied to the monitoring and remediation of contaminants in the subsurface. It also explores important theoretical and technical issues, methodological controversies, and future research needs. It also covers four "hot" topics in subsurface contamination and remediation: discharge of contaminated groundwater into surface waters; fate and transport of contaminated sediments; optimization modeling for remediation and monitoring; and simulation of halogenated hydrocarbons in the subsurface.
About one third of the land surface of the world is either arid or semi-arid. The lack of freshwater resources in these regions constitutes a major deterrent to their sustainable development. Notwithstanding the water shortage, water continues to be used unwisely, wasted and polluted. This book begins with a discussion about data collection and processing, and continues with a discussion of the effect of climate change on water resources, rainfall simulators and analysis of precipitation, evaporation and evapotranspiration, infiltration, runoff modeling, transport of sediment and agricultural chemicals, flood and drought frequency analysis, stochastic analysis and hydrologic applications. Surface Water Hydrology will be of interest to researchers and practitioners in the field of hydrology, environmental engineering, agricultural engineering, and watershed and range sciences, as well as to those engaged in water resources planning, development and management in arid and semi-arid areas.
This book is an outcome of the international conference on water resource management in arid regions at Kuwait in 2002. It focuses on areas encompassing major aspects of surface water hydrology. The book is useful for researchers, practitioners and graduate students.
Radionuclide distribution and transport in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems is Volume 5 of a critical review of data (Prepared for the Commission of the European Communities) in 1984.
Assessment of freshwater sediments can determine whether chemical concentrations are sufficient to cause adverse effects on aquatic organisms or organisms higher in the food chain, including humans. This book presents methods for assessing sediments and includes an integration of physical, chemical, and biological information. It examines the elements of quality assurance and control programs, considerations for the conduct of field surveys, screening-level analyses, chemical analyses, toxicity tests for assessing biological impacts, assessments of benthic invertebrate community structure, surveys of fish tumors and abnormalities, and data presentation and interpretation techniques.
Your Guide to Effective Groundwater Management Groundwater Assessment, Modeling, and Management discusses a variety of groundwater problems and outlines the solutions needed to sustain surface and ground water resources on a global scale. Contributors from around the world lend their expertise and provide an international perspective on groundwater management. They address the management of groundwater resources and pollution, waste water treatment methods, and the impact of climate change on groundwater and water availability (specifically in arid and semi-arid regions such as India and Africa). Incorporating management with science and modeling, the book covers all areas of groundwater resource assessment, modeling, and management, and combines hands-on applications with relevant theory. For Water Resource Managers and Decision Makers The book describes techniques for the assessment of groundwater potential, pollution, prevention, and remedial measures, and includes a new approach for groundwater modeling based on connections (network theory). Approximately 30 case studies and six hypothetical studies are introduced reflecting a range of themes that include: groundwater basics and the derivation of groundwater flow equations, exploration and assessment, aquifer parameterization, augmentation of aquifer, water and environment, water and agriculture, the role of models and their application, and water management policies and issues. The book describes remote sensing (RS) applications, geographical information systems (GIS), and electrical resistivity methods to delineate groundwater potential zones. It also takes a look at: Inverse modeling (pilot-points method) Simulation optimization models Radionuclide migration studies through mass transport modeling Modeling for mapping groundwater potential Modeling for vertical 2-D and 3-D groundwater flow Groundwater Assessment, Modeling, and Management explores the management of water resources and the impact of climate change on groundwater. Expert contributors provide practical information on hydrologic engineering and groundwater resources management for students, researchers, scientists, and other practicing professionals in environmental engineering, hydrogeology, irrigation, geophysics, and environmental science.
Climate change and its impact on water resources in agriculture pose one of the biggest challenges for food, energy, fiber, and water security worldwide and, as a consequence, for society. This book presents a multidisciplinary approach towards climate change and water resources in agriculture and provides a comprehensive perspective about the core points central to this subject. Other topics that are covered in this book include important insights concerning hydrological cycle, forests, land use change and water, low carbon agriculture, green economy concepts, as well as the state of the art on United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Global Research Alliance are provided. |
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