Affordable Water Research Articles

The Possibilities of Capturing Rainwater and Reducing the Impact of Floods: A Proposal for the City of Beira, Mozambique

Modern societies face various challenges, including climate change, rapid urbanization, and sometimes inadequate urban planning policies. In recent years, extreme weather events have received increasing attention for their impacts on cities, humans, and ecosystems worldwide, particularly on coastal towns in Mozambique, such as cyclones, floods, water pollution, and water scarcity, demonstrating their vulnerability to climate change. Cities must adapt to cope with the pressure on their water resources, and it is essential to ensure that communities have access to safe, reliable, and affordable water. A viable way to promote this resilience and simultaneously reduce costs in domestic budgets is to use rainwater to meet daily needs where water quality parameters are not required for consumption. According to the results of this study, it is possible to significantly reduce potable water use from the municipal water supply network by harvesting rainwater, up to 40% when the use does not require potable water at all, proactively protecting this vital resource. In addition to these direct benefits, the large-scale deployment of rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems in densely urbanized areas can also provide indirect benefits, such as reducing peak flow volumes in stormwater drainage systems and potentially reducing the frequency of urban floods. These benefits result from the reduction in the volume and duration of water sent to the drainage network, which can help to improve the overall resilience of communities in the face of climate change and other challenges.

Sustainable Water Treatment with Induced Bank Filtration

This study demonstrates that an induced bank filter (IBF) system can treat raw water polluted with Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. Similar to riverbank filtration (RBF), induced or reversed bank filtration relies on natural processes to clean water, including filtration through layers of allochthone alluvial sediments and a bioactive layer that forms on top of the filter after a ripening period. At the study site, located in Southwestern India, villagers rely on a mountain spring for their water supply. Although of generally high quality, the spring water contains E. coli bacteria (up to ~2000 MPN/100 mL). Raw water diverted from this spring was gravity-fed into the IBF system, which consisted of a (1) flow regulator, (2) pre-filter and (3) the actual IBF filter. Designed and constructed based on pilot testing of prototype filters, a full-scale filter (5 m by 7 m by 2 m) was built and its performance and maintenance requirements were studied during both the monsoon season and the dry season. The data show that the IBF significantly improved the water quality. Turbidity and E. coli concentrations were reduced to or below the detection limit (approximately 2.5 log unit reduction). During the peak of the monsoon season (August), E. coli was present in the IBF effluent after a storm destroyed the cover of the IBF tank. The IBF construction and maintenance costs were documented. Extrapolated over a 10-year period, the cost of IBF water was 3 and 10 times lower than reverse osmosis or water supplied by truck, respectively. This study demonstrates that IBF can be part of an affordable water supply system for rural villages in mountainous terrain where conventional RBF systems cannot be installed or where other water treatment technologies are out of financial reach.

Impact Assessment of Seaweeds Culture of the Inter-island Seaweeds Association in Cawayan-placer, Masbate

Part of the FishCORAL project is the roll out of the livelihood projects which would respond to the objective of reducing poverty incidence of fishing communities. One of these livelihood projects was inter-island seaweeds culture of Cawayan and Placer in Masbate. Descriptive research design and purposive sampling were used in the study. Structured survey-questionnaire was utilized and employed interview and focus group discussion as means of collecting information from the target respondents. Data revealed that the majority of the respondents’ dwell in a single house with five members and have a monthly income of P10,252.00 which is not enough to finance household expenditures due to a large number of dependents. They don’t have possession of the lot where their houses are situated. Many are challenged for sources of safe and affordable drinking water. Women empowerment in the area is fair, although disempowerment is high at 51%. Seaweeds project in inter-island barangays does not have significant impacts on the lives of the beneficiaries because poverty incidence is higher than the set poverty threshold. Its effectiveness and efficiency could not be fully assessed although there are glaring pieces of evidence of the major challenges along with these criteria. Putting suitable intervention on the target coastal communities with close coordination on concerned agencies and proper monitoring of the project should be considered by the implementing agency to address the findings in this study. Insurance coverage is recommended to alleviate impacts to the livelihood during inclement weather conditions. Capability development of livelihood beneficiary association along with financial literacy, basic business management, and record keeping shall be carried out.

Knowledge–Behavior Gap in Tap Water Consumption in Puerto Rico: Implications for Water Utilities

The impacts of climate-related hazards are becoming a major concern for many people worldwide, especially those in vulnerable areas such as Puerto Rico. In September 2017, Hurricane Maria caused severe disruption to the island’s drinking water supply due to power outages, causing major problems for utility companies. This led to water insecurity, particularly among residents, who could not access safe, reliable, adequate, and affordable drinking water. Disaster-related water insecurity challenges are coupled with widespread public mistrust of tap water, yet some residents still consume tap water despite the mistrust. Alternatively, a portion of those who trust the tap water quality choose not to consume it. This knowledge–behavior gap needs to be explored to understand tap water consumption behaviors in the context of mistrust and insecurity. This study’s main goal was to identify why residents mistrusted their tap water and their behaviors in response to or despite mistrust. Data collection included household surveys and interviews with residents (n = 154) from May 2022 to July 2022. Thematic qualitative analysis shows residents generally mistrust tap water because of its poor quality over the past decade based on its palatability properties (taste, color, and smell). In addition, people trust or mistrust tap water because of their lived personal positive or negative experiences with the water utility service in Puerto Rico. This study can be used to develop strategies to address water insecurity and understand public trust in the tap water supply provided by water utilities. Ultimately, this research emphasizes the need for more studies to explore the knowledge–behavior gap in order to understand why some people consume tap water despite the mistrust and vice versa.

Bacteriological Study of Some Sachet Water Sold in Ogbomoso Metropolis and its Public Health Significance

The introduction of sachet water to consumers was to provide safe, hygienic and affordable instant drinking water to the public. Although this is a laudable idea, current trends seem to suggest that sachet drinking water could be a route of transmission of diseases. The objective of this study was to check the bacteriological safety or otherwise of some sachet water packaged in Ogbomoso metropolis. Using a simple random procedure, fifteen brands of sachet water were bought from vendors at different locations. The samples were analyzed using multiple tubes methods and biochemical assays. Results were recorded as Most Probable Number (MPN) of coliform per 100ml of water. The bacteriological quality of the samples was assessed based on the World Health Organization (WHO) classification system for drinking water. Zero (0%) of the sample was Excellent, two (2) (13.3%) were Satisfactory, one (1) (6.7%) was Suspicious and twelve (12) (80%) were Unsatisfactory using the MPN values recorded. The samples were contaminated with faecal coliform. Escherichia coli was detected in some of the samples which could have caused diarrhea, cramps, nausea and other symptoms in the consumers. The level of contamination could be due to inadequate treatment of water samples by the producers, improper use of filters or post-production contamination. The findings suggest the need to enforce the laws that govern the operation of such production outfits as well as educating consumers on the need to purchase sachet water from manufacturers that have been licensed to produce water and whose product bears the stamp of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC). And producers should ensure proper purification of water and maintain hygienic environment for producing the sachet water.

Recent advances in bio-based polybenzoxazines as an interesting adhesive coating.

Polybenzoxazine (PBz) is an excellent and highly intriguing resin for various sophisticated uses. Benzoxazines have piqued the curiosity of academics worldwide because of their peculiar properties. Nonetheless, most benzoxazine resin manufacturing and processing methods, notably bisphenol A-based benzoxazine, rely on petroleum resources. Because of the environmental consequences, bio-based benzoxazines are being researched as alternatives to petroleum-based benzoxazines. As a result of the environmental implications, bio-based benzoxazines are being developed to replace petroleum-based benzoxazines, and they are gaining traction. Bio-based polybenzoxazine, epoxy, and polysiloxane-based resins have piqued the interest of researchers in coatings, adhesives, and flame-retardant thermosets in recent years due to their anticorrosion, ecologically friendly, affordable, and low water absorption properties. As a result, numerous scientific studies and patents on polybenzoxazine continues to rise in polymer research. Based on its mechanical, thermal, and chemical characteristics, bio-based polybenzoxazine has several applications, including coatings (anticorrosion and antifouling), adhesives (highly crosslinked network, outstanding mechanical and thermal capabilities), and flame retardants (with the high charring capability). This review reports an overview of polybenzoxazine, highlighting the current advances and progress in synthesizing bio-based polybenzoxazine, their properties, and their use in coating applications.

Designing an Alternate Water Security Strategy for Rural Communities in South Africa – Case Study of Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces

Short of affordable and clean potable water poses high risk to health of human beings globally. Water scarcity is a challenge that affects all countries across the globe and this is more prominently felt in rural communities of poorer countries. In recent years, South Africa has faced severe droughts limiting portable water supply to rural areas of the country. Developing an alternate water security strategy for rural communities in South Africa can assist local government to manage water systems successfully. This paper illustrates the process of building a water supply strategy using the case of water management in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa. These provinces experience a high challenge of water supply and access due to lack of water services, and challenge of building stakeholder support for resource management strategies. A number of rural communities were visited, water samples collected from boreholes, rivers, dams and taps around the two provinces. From chemical and other test, we established the quantity and quality of water sources around the two provinces. System dynamics and system analysis approach are used in this paper to model the existing water resource management and map out its frailties and limitations. A model to connect a system of boreholes and nearby water sources was then developed. The results, it is observed that the reliability and improvement of water system for rural areas was achieved through these approaches. The results show enhanced abstraction of water from sources within the communities that can secure water in these rural communities.

Analysisof Solar Distillation System for CleanWater Distribution: A Review

Different solar stills technologies is widely reviewed to digest their pros and cons.Solar still is a natural phenomenon of purifying sea and brackish water to provide affordable and reliable potable water. For the technology to be sustainable and utilised on a large scale, productivity needs to be improved. The factors that contribute tothe performance of a still were highlighted and analysed. And the energy and mass balance that takes place in solar still wasexpressed and defined bydifferent researchers.The efficiency of a still is determinedby the temperature variation of the evaporated water in the basin and the outside temperature of the glass cover. The insulation material plays a vital role in the prevention of heat loss and conservation of heat energy to increase the overnight yield when solar energy is not available

Comparison of Reverse Osmosis and Non Reverse Osmosis Disinfection Methods for Drinking Water Depot

Drinking Water Depot (DWP) offers cheap and affordable drinking water, so it becomes an option for the society. However, the large number of public interest is not accompanied by qualified water quality. The test result by Bandung Public Health Office on DWP quality indicated that 55.22% were not eligible. The study aimed to determine the effective disinfection method to reduce microbiology in Reverse Osmosis (RO) and Non-RO methods. It was an analysis with a cross-sectional design. The population was all DWPs in Bandung and obtained 659 DWPs as samples. Sampling used two different tests and obtained 30 samples consisting of 30 DWP using RO and 30 Non-RO in average. Data analysis was done through univariate and bivariate using Wilcoxon Rank Sum test. The analysis result showed that polluted water raw quality was 48.33%; the bacteria reduction by RO method was 100% and Non-RO was 43.33%. The bivariate analysis result indicated that p-value was 0.033 which means that there was a difference between disinfection method using RO and Non-RO with the coliform presence. The RO disinfection is the best method which was able to be used by DWP owners. Thus, the society is suggested to choose DWP using RO disinfection method which verified by Public Health Department.

The Right to Water and Sustainable Consumption in EU Law

The right to water has gathered momentum in recent years in Europe, having become the subject of the first European citizens’ initiative and emerging as a human right. The right to water, however, is in constant, and not always linear, evolution as it faces fundamental trade-offs; on the one hand, access to clean and affordable water is essential to ensure a basic standard of living. On the other, water is an increasingly limited resource, so unfettered access to it increases the threat of scarcity and pollution. This article examines the interplay between the right to water and sustainable consumption objectives, exploring how innovation in regulation and best practice could reduce the risks to health and water scarcity. As water regulation affects multiple areas of law, the article will examine the right to water and sustainable consumption from a human rights’ angle and taking a consumer law and environmental protection perspective. A particular focus will be on the Water Framework Directive and the recently revised Drinking Water Directive, examining incentives that promote water rights and sustainable water use. Key regulatory instruments will be evaluated, ranging from information and education tools to economic and social incentives. Finally, the article will propose new measures to align the right to water with the objective of sustainable consumption.

Water security in rural Eastern Cape, SA: Interrogating the impacts of politics and climate change

Achieving water security remains one of the central challenges to many developing countries today. According to the South African Water Research Commission, the availability of safe and affordable water is crucial in ensuring a healthy and productive life for all. Despite the national standards set to measure the quality of water in South Africa, the sources and ‘quality standards’ of water in rural Eastern Cape remain a major concern. Based on empirical research with 140 respondents and interactions; this paper highlights that most rural residents in the Eastern Cape still access water from dams, rivers and streams for domestic and agricultural purposes. Again, the availability of water throughout the year is not guaranteed due to changing global climatic conditions with both humans and livestock accessing water from same sources. The paper concludes that climate change and politico-administrative ‘negligence’ compound water insecurity in most of South Africa's rural communities.

Electrodeposition of Ni - Fe on graphite rod as an efficient and binder-free electrocatalyst for oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions

In this paper, nickel-iron (Ni-Fe) on a graphite substrate was electrodeposited as an effective electrocatalyst for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions using the cyclic voltammetry method for the first time. Some important factors such as the range of applied potential, scan rate, and the number of cycles were optimized. In addition, the used substrate is a graphite rod, which is cheap, stable, and has good electrical conductivity. The main results show that the improved Ni-Fe coating on graphite rod has promising hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity, which exhibits small over voltages of − 191.2, − 394.0, and − 687.3 mV at the current densities of − 10, − 100, and − 400 mA. cm−2, respectively. Furthermore, the synthesized Ni-Fe electrocatalyst only needs 284 mV overpotentials to operate at a current density of 10 mA. cm−2, indicating its great performance for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). This paper offers a method for generating a bifunctional, binder-free, affordable, and fast water splitting electrocatalyst that has excellent performance.

Skating on Thin Ice: The Human Right to Water in Investor-State Dispute Settlement

Abstract In a number of investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) cases between the 2000s and the 2010s, a tension arose between the State’s duty to protect its inhabitants by means of policy measures aimed at safeguarding the environment and human health, ensuring that people can enjoy clean, available, and affordable water, and the State’s commitment to protect foreign direct investment under international investment treaties. This paper discusses the right to water as acknowledged by international agreements and United Nations Resolutions, retraces the evolution of foreign direct investment in water services management, examines the interests at stake in investment disputes, and suggests options for balancing the rights of investors and the right to water.

3D graphene‐based materials and their potential application on wastewater management

AbstractIncreasing demand for pure, safe, and affordable water is one of the biggest challenges worldwide. Various pollutants such as dyes, heavy metals, bacteria, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals are present in water and their removal is the major challenge for us. In this respect, various materials have been developed to remove the various types of pollutants from wastewater. Recently, 3D graphene‐based materials (3D GBMs) have received a great deal of attention in wastewater treatment due to their extraordinary properties. The large surface area, porous structure, versatile surface chemistry with exceptional physiochemical properties such as mechanical and electrical properties, and excellent thermal and chemical stability make them excellent absorbent candidates for wastewater treatment. The materials properties of 3D graphene‐based materials (3D GBMs) and their environmental performance as well as the key parameters that influence their capacities for removal of pollutants from the wastewater have also been discussed. The aim of this review is to provide the recent progress in removing several water pollutants like dye, oil, organic solvents, heavy metal ions, bacteria, and pathogens from wastewater. Furthermore, this review also contains the future development opportunities and technical challenges of 3‐D graphene‐based materials in wastewater treatment.

Societal Impact Analysis of Community-managed Potable Water Supply System in Rural India

Lack of accessibility and affordability to safe and affordable drinking water remains a major challenge in fulfilling sustainable development goals. Community-based water management emerged as a policy response to address the issues. However, the impact of producing community-based water supply institutions on the community is hardly noticed in this context. This paper tries to fill the gap through the relational understanding between the provision of safe water and communities’ socioeconomic upliftment, which remains the main reason behind the establishment of the potable water facility in Porapara village located in West Midnapur district of the state of West Bengal, India. The study findings revealed that community participation through the process of empowerment results in good governance of the potable water project and the socioeconomic well-being of the community in Porapara village. This kind of intervention study may help policymakers in evaluating the societal impact to achieve socioeconomic well-being.

Recent developments of magnetic nanoadsorbents for remediation of arsenic from aqueous stream

One of the emerging environmental concerns is the high levels of arsenic ions found in groundwater and other water sources. Decontaminating water that contains arsenic is crucial for environmental and health reasons. Nano-adsorbents have gained much interest recently for the adsorptive removal of arsenic species from wastewater. On the other hand, for their prospective use in natural water treatment, current nano-adsorbents must be separated from treated fluids. Researchers studied nanocomposite iron oxide-based adsorbents to overcome these problems and to design effective sorbents for removing arsenic. This study provides a summary of current developments in the field of magnetic nanoadsorbents for the removal of various arsenic compounds from wastewater. Adsorption of arsenic from groundwater has been found to be very promising for magnetic nanoadsorbents. In order to eliminate arsenic from the aqueous phase, magnetic nanocomposite adsorbents may offer practical and affordable water purification solutions.

Estimating the cost efficiency and marginal cost of carbon reductions in the production of drinking water

Access to safe, reliable and affordable drinking water is a human right that should be achieved without neglecting Sustainable Development Goal 13 of the United Nations related to climate action. The production of drinking water involves using a non-negligible amount of energy, leading to relevant economic costs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Here, we employed a parametric method to assess the cost efficiency of a sample of drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) and to estimate the marginal cost of reducing GHG emissions. The average cost efficiency was 0.386, indicating that the evaluated DWTPs had notable room (61.4%) to save costs. The average marginal cost was estimated at 30€ per ton of CO2eq. When comparing this value with the current carbon costs of carbon trading systems, reducing the GHG emissions of DWTPs might be cost-effective. The parametric approach enabled us to evaluate the influence of several environmental variables on the cost efficiency and marginal cost of reducing GHG emissions. Specifically, the size of the facility and source of raw water significantly influenced DWTP performance. In conclusion, this study provides a novel tool to obtain insights on the water-energy nexus for informed decisions towards a more sustainable urban water cycle.

How ‘smart’ are we with smart technology: comparison of water ATMs in Nairobi and Delhi

Abstract New forms of decentralized water infrastructure with digital projects driven by private investment are being introduced in low-income urban neighborhoods in the global south with the aim of increasing the coverage of affordable and safe water. These ‘smart’ water-vending machines are gaining popularity to meet water demand in growing cities as they are low-cost, transparent, revenue generating and replicable. However, field evidence from Nairobi and Delhi shows that similar technologies implemented to solve similar problems in different geographical and social settings can have completely different outcomes. Smart technologies can offer better outcomes when the implementing agencies and policy makers make smart choices about implementation, setting aside utopian hype.

The willingness to pay for agricultural irrigation water and the influencing factors in the Dujiangyan irrigation area: An empirical double-hurdle model analysis

Water prices are an efficient way to manage and allocate water resources. A scientific and reasonable water price standard can assist farmers to optimize their water allocations and ensure an efficient agricultural water system. However, under the current agricultural water pricing policy, it is difficult for water resource management departments to achieve sustainable operation because of unreasonable water price standards and the unwillingness of farmers to pay for agricultural irrigation water. Therefore, to ensure the sustainable management of agricultural water departments, it is important to design scientific and reasonable water price mechanisms that give full play to the regulatory role of agricultural water prices and encourage farmers to pay agricultural water fees. Based on survey data from 335 farming households in the Dujiangyan Irrigation Area, Sichuan, China, in 2019, a double-hurdle model was used to assess the willingness to pay for agricultural irrigation water. The willingness to pay was positively impacted by age, education level, willingness to participate, the arable land area, the water fee proportion, and water-saving awareness but negatively impacted by the water price standard and the farmers’ perceptions of the water price standard. Based on these results, to encourage farmers to participate in and afford agricultural water payments and to give full play to the water price adjustment function and other countermeasures, it is proposed that 1) water-saving awareness training be strengthened; 2) agricultural modernization be promoted; and 3) water price standards be scientifically and rationally formulated.

Recent Advances on Membranes for Water Purification Based on Carbon Nanomaterials.

Every year the problem of water purification becomes more relevant. This is due to the continuous increase in the level of pollution of natural water sources, an increase in the population, and sharp climatic changes. The growth in demand for affordable and clean water is not always comparable to the supply that exists in the water treatment market. In addition, the amount of water pollution increases with the increase in production capacity, the purification of which cannot be fully handled by conventional processes. However, the application of novel nanomaterials will enhance the characteristics of water treatment processes which are one of the most important technological problems. In this review, we considered the application of carbon nanomaterials in membrane water purification. Carbon nanofibers, carbon nanotubes, graphite, graphene oxide, and activated carbon were analyzed as promising materials for membranes. The problems associated with the application of carbon nanomaterials in membrane processes and ways to solve them were discussed. Their efficiency, properties, and characteristics as a modifier for membranes were analyzed. The potential directions, opportunities and challenges for application of various carbon nanomaterials were suggested.