Domestic Purposes Research Articles

Quantification of inorganic anions in surface and drinking waters using ion chromatography

The Republic of Bulgaria regulates the quality of surface waters for drinking and domestic purposes, monitoring anions like F-, Cl-, Br-, I-, BrO3-, NO2-, NO3-, SO42-, PO43-, and SCN-. The presence of NO3- and NO2- in water is undesirable, as they have a harmful effect on human health. It is also well known that CN- as opposed to SCN- has acute toxic and lethal effects on living organisms including humans. In the present study, an instrumental method was developed and optimized for the separation and quantification of inorganic anions in surface and drinking water using ion chromatography. The analytical characteristics of the proposed instrumental method were determined. The oxidation of CN- to OCN- was investigated, and the optimal experimental conditions for the oxidation were established. The achieved low LOD and LOQ of the analyzed inorganic anions allows their detection and quantification in surface and drinking waters. The applicability of the proposed chromatographic method was determined in the analysis of surface and bottled waters. The analyzed anions in bottled waters were close to the label's values, only one spring water showed significant deviations.

Water and Hydrology: Challenges, Sustainable Strategies and Future Trends

The paper gives a comprehensive review of how human activities influence normal hydrological forms by clarifying the diverse impacts on the accessibility, quality, and conveyance of water. The paper revealed the complex exchange between data and natural morals that are reconfiguring the worldwide water scene through conflicting facts of major causes like urbanization, deforestation, industrialization, and climate change. The natural areas are all disturbed by human activities and pollution and by these changes the impact is on run-off patterns, infiltration rates, and groundwater recharge processes. In metropolitan cities, there are more impermeable spaces which leads to more runoffs. In these areas, the water filtration rate and groundwater recharge are very low. Dams and other hydropower and water system processes that disturb the natural stream of waterways in addition to their aquatic habitat division have too changed stream morphology. Urban stormwater, industrial and farming runoff, are among numerous other sources contaminate freshwater systems with pathogens heavy metals, chemicals supplements, etc hence risking both human life and natural maintainability. Changes in precipitation and temperature impact the timing of snow melt, patterns of river flow, and restoration of groundwater; changes in disaster patterns together with sea level rise worsen coastal flooding and fresh-water salinization. These adjustments to common hydrologic processes have significant suggestions for biological systems, communities, and economies consisting of water accessibility for farming, industry, and domestic purposes, energy generation, and human well being. Among procedures aimed at reacting to these challenges is the Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) which contends for comprehensive approaches that accommodate competing requests over water resources while guaranteeing their supportability as well as adaptability to hydrological unpredictability of availability. Feasible water administration requires an extend of activities such as water preservation and proficiency measures, contamination control, watershed management, and climate alteration adjustment. As it may, social orders can explore these exceedingly complicated interconnected issues on their water assets by adopting administrative systems, innovative advancements, and shifts in social conduct that will be pointed at economical water utilization for the eras to come.

Utilization of solid residue from hydrothermal liquefaction of breadfruit pulp for the production of bio-briquette using cassava starch as binder

The generation of agro-waste as a result of increase in agro and food processing activities is on the increase due to rapid increase in human population. Hence the need to eliminate these waste by converting them into a useful product or energy source. This work presents the use of bio-char from hydrothermal liquefaction of breadfruit pulp to produce bio-briquettes with cassava starch as a binder. The response surface method using design expert was used to design the experiment with particle size, press pressure and binder dosage as factors, to determine the parameter combination that will produce briquettes of high energy density. The briquette with the highest calorific value 26.75 MJ/kg was produced at the parameter combination of 450 mm−6 particle size, 5 MPa press pressure, and 20 % binder dosage. The ultimate analysis carried on the produced briquette gave carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulphur content of 47.22 %, 3.88 %, 0.69 %, and 0.42 % respectively, with oxygen content of 4.79 % by percentage mass difference. While the proximate analysis gave moisture, ash, volatile matter, and fixed carbon content of 7.8 %, 3.9 %, 43.7 %, and 44.6 % respectively. Other characterization test carried out gave combustion rate of 4.5 g/min, ignition time of 3.5 min, density of 0.86 g/cm3, compressive strength of 8.31 N/mm2, shatter index of 0.89, and hydrophobicity of 61.3 %. These findings shows that briquettes produced with bio-char from HTL of breadfruit pulp can be used as solid fuel for domestic and mini-industrial heating purposes, as well as eliminate waste from processing of breadfruit.

Chemical composition and ecogeochemical assessment of water in quarry lakes of the Zavitinskоyе and Ermakovskoye beryllium deposits (Russia)

The study presents the results of research on the chemical composition of water in quarry lakes of the lithium-beryllium Zavitinskоyе and fluorite-beryllium Ermakovskoye deposits located in the Eastern and Western Transbaikalia, respectively. Currently, the mines are abandoned, and the quarry lakes are actively used by the population of nearby villages for domestic and recreational purposes. It was found that the water in the quarries of these deposits is brackish and fresh, belonging to the sulfate-magnesium-calcium and hydrocarbonate-sulfate-magnesium-calcium types with a neutral and slightly alkaline reaction and high contents of sulfates and certain metals (Li, Be, Zn, Al, Mn, Fe, Sr, etc.). Significant variations in the concentrations of trace elements in the identified types of water indicate the significant role of the hydrogeochemical environment (pH, Eh, mineralization, etc.) in their dispersion or accumulation. The beryllium content in the water of Zavitinskоyе deposit quarries ranges from 0.35 to 10.1 μg/l, while in the Ermakovskoye quarry it ranges from 0.024 to 0.026 μg/l. The content of some regulated components in the water exceeds the maximum permissible concentrations established for fishery ponds and sanitary-hygienic norms by several orders of magnitude.

Analysis and evaluation of proposals for rainwater harvesting systems for non-consumptive use in the city of Cuenca, Ecuador

Due to the current population increase, the demand for the use of natural resources is also increasing exponentially, one of them is drinking water, this resource is one of the vital elements for human beings and has become the most exploited and specifically underutilized in residential buildings. Currently, this vital element has been used in cleaning activities, irrigation of plants and other non-consumptive activities. The World Health Organization recommends that water consumption should be 100 liters/inhabitant/day to consider a sustainable society; however, in the city of Cuenca- Ecuador, consumption doubles the recommended limit. Studies show that this consumption can be reduced with the application of bioclimatic strategies, one of which is rainwater harvesting. Therefore, this research focuses on the analysis and proposal for rainwater harvesting to solve the underuse of potable water in residential buildings for non-consumptive use (laundry, garden irrigation, house cleaning and toilet flushing). Thus, for rainwater harvesting for domestic purposes, the roof surface is used, and this model is known as SCAPT. The research methodology is of an experimental type in that collection strategies and systems are proposed, analyzed, and evaluated. With these rainwater harvesting systems, more than 55 litres/inhab/day can be incorporated into the dwelling, thus contributing to the reduction and control of drinking water in residential buildings.

Hydrogeochemical Characterization of Groundwater of Field Y, Offshore Niger Delta

Hydrogeochemical analyses were carried out on groundwater samples in order to understand the hydrochemistry of the water. The results revealed that groundwater has a high electrical conductivity, which could be as a result of more chemicals dissolved in the water and total hardness observed in all samples shows that the water isn’t hard water. Major cations and anions were identified using Piper Trilinear diagram Durov diagrams and Stiff diagrams. The parameters studied include; Ph, Electrical conductivity, Temperature, Total Suspended Solid, Salinity as Chloride, Sulphate, Total Hardness, Total Hydrocarbon Content, Nitrate, Phosphate, Alkalinity, Calcium, Sodium, Magnesium, Potassium, Iron, Zinc. The major cations are: Sodium (Na+), Potassium(K+), Calcium (Ca2+), while the major anions are: Bicarbonate (HCO3–), Carbonate(C03–), Sulfate (SO4–), and Chloride (Cl–). TDS is the major physical parameter that is dominant in the Durov diagram, although the analysis in the Durov, Piper and Stiff diagram shows that Ca2+ and HCO3–, are the major cation and anion respectively which implies that the groundwater in the study area are Ca2+ and HCO3–. It was also observed that the quality of groundwater was suitable for domestic purpose and agricultural purpose.

Evaluation of Wastewater Suitability for Domestic Purposes in Ajegunle Community, Ogun State, Nigeria

The suitability of ten (10) wastewater samples for domestic purposes in Ajegunle community, Yewa South, Ogun State, Nigeria, was assessed. Wastewater samples were collected from one source, abattoirs in the Ajegunle community around the Papalanto environ, Yewa South, Ogun State, Nigeria. These were analyzed for physiochemical property determination. The parameters used for the evaluations include pH, nitrate (NO3), total dissolved solids (TDS), total solids (TS), and electrical conductivity (EC) using WHO (2004) standard guideline procedures. The wastewater samples (AJ1-AJ10) analyzed contained a reasonable degree of contamination, which showed that the wastewater is polluted for domestic purposes in the study area. The results for the wastewater samples indicated that the pH ranged from 5.38 to 7.68, Electrical Conductivity ranged from 741 to 928µs/cm, Total Dissolved Solid ranged from 1153 to 5143 mg/, Total Solid ranged from 1057 to 1725 mg/L, and Nitrate ranged from 4.32-18.1 mg/L. Most of the physiochemical parameter values were above the maximum permissible levels of WHO standards for domestic purposes. It is therefore recommended that wastewater treatment is required to achieve a minimum acceptable level for domestic reuse; public awareness on the dangers inherent in the possible re-use of the wastewater for domestic purposes needs to be carried out.

HEAVY METAL CONCENTRATION IN SEDIMENT AND WATER OF RIVER NYAMINDI, KIRINYAGA COUNTY, KENYA

Toxic heavy metals get into humans through absorption, inhalation and ingestion. All heavy metals are toxic to animals and plants when present in excessive amounts. The adverse effects of heavy metals in mammals may manifest in disorders such as growth retardation, decrease in longevity, changes in reproductive cycles, chronic diseases and formation of tumours. River Nyamindi flows from Mt. Kenya Forest passing through rocks, soil, agricultural land, residential areas and urban centres. Geological factors and human activities may have made heavy metals get into the river water. Since the water is used for domestic purposes and irrigation, it was necessary to determine if heavy metal concentration in river Nyamindi has reached alarming levels. Water and sediment samples were collected along river Nyamindi during wet and dry season. The samples were digested appropriately and the concentration of eight heavy metals determined using ICP-MS. The mean amount of Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn, As, Mn and Se in sediment were 0.0882, 41.1219, 91.7718, 10.7445, 54.3880, 2.4561, 1753.5587 and 5.7648 mg/kg respectively during wet season and 0.0590, 39.1176, 559.0917, 0.3781,76.3715, 3.0114, 1714.4195 and 6.5488 mg/kg respectively during dry season. The mean concentration of the same metals in water was 0.00005, 0.0167, 0.1943, 0.0223, below detection limit (BDL), 0.0002, 0.1379 and BDL ppm respectively during wet season and 0.0009, 0.0005, 0.0148, 0.0184, BDL, 0.00003, 0.0080 and 0.00003 ppm respectively during dry season. The mean amount of Cr, Ni and Mn in sediment were found to be above WHO and US EPA permissible limits during both seasons. The mean concentration of Cr and Mn in water were above WHO and KEBS/WASREB permissible limits during wet season. However, during dry season, all the eight heavy metal concentrations in water were below WHO, KEBS/WASREB permissible limits. Therefore, as far as the eight heavy metals are concerned, water from river Nyamindi was not be potable during rainy season but was potable during dry season. However, further investigations should be carried out to determine other water parameters to confirm it’s suitability as potable water.

The art of Inuit administration: Post-war Canada, cultural diplomacy and northern administration

Abstract In this paper, we expand on existing studies of Canadian Inuit art in the international arena by examining ways in which this new art served domestic purposes, focusing primarily on the 1950s and 1960s. The Canadian government developed and promoted Inuit art as part of its project to transform Inuit from semi-independent hunters into modern Canadian citizens. In this effort, Canada took up and assimilated Inuit art as a genuine Canadian cultural product, presenting it as diplomatic gifts and for other forms of international cultural diplomacy. Previous studies of Canadian Inuit art from that era have noted the ways that the promotion of Canadian Inuit art supported the young nation’s claims to a deep history, while simultaneously marking the country’s distinction from both the United States and the United Kingdom. In the context of the Cold War, the promotion of Canadian Inuit art also asserted Canada as an Arctic power. Labelled as “primitive modernist” fine art, Inuit sculpture and prints provided a stark contrast to the contemporaneous socialist realist art of the Soviet Union and its allies. We argue that the success of the Inuit art program sustained a belief among government officials that their programme to remake Inuit lives and livelihoods would succeed. Inuit art likely deflected attention from the many things that were going wrong with that northern modernisation project.

Assessment of Heavy Metal Pollution in Water and Sediment of River Thiba, Kirinyaga County, Kenya

Traceelementsfind their way into humans throughingestion, directabsorptionorinhalation. All tracemetals are toxic to animals and plants when present in excess amounts. The harmfuleffects of trace heavymetals in mammals may manifest asgrowth retardation, decrease in longevity, changes in reproductive cycles, chronic diseases and tumourformation. River Thibacatchment isMt. Kenya forestand thenflowsthrough rocks, soil, farmlands, residential areas and towncentres. Due to geological factors and human activities,traceheavy metals maybegettingin riverThibaand since the water is used for domestic purposes and irrigation, it was necessary to determine the heavy metal concentrationinthe river. Sedimentand watersamples were collected along river Thibaduring rainyand dry seasons. The samples were digested thenconcentrationsof eight heavy metals determined using ICP-MS. The mean amountsof Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn, As, Mn and Se in sedimentwere0.0908, 39.8969, 85.1085, 10.3918, 42.5555, 2.3679, 1678.3876and 5.4907mg/kg respectively during rainyseason and 0.0628, 42.6319, 396.4692, 3.2669,58.7585, 2.8139, 1766.4009 and 6.1059mg/kg respectively during dry season. The mean concentration of the same metals in water was 0.0002, 0.0916, 1.0066, 0.0434, BDL, 0.0025, 1.8484and0.0038ppm respectively during wet season and BDL,BDL, BDL,0.0068,BDL,0.00002, 0.0070 andBDL ppm respectively during dry season. The mean amount of Cr, Ni and Mn in sediment were found to be above WHO and US EPA permissible limitsduring both seasons.During rainy season, the mean concentration of Cr, Ni, Pband Mn in water were above WHO and KEBS/WASREB permissible limitsbut the concentrations of Cd, Zn, As and Se were below the limits. However, during dry season, all the eight heavy metal concentrations in water were below WHO, KEBS/WASREB permissible limits. As far as the eight heavy metals are concerned, water from river Thibamay not be potable during rainyseason but is potable during dry season. However, further investigations should be carried out to determine other water parameters.

Health Risks Associated With Sources of Water: An Exploratory Study From Turag-Tongi Riparian Areas, Bangladesh

The present study aims to investigate the available water sources for drinking and domestic purposes and their relationship with the occurrence of diseases in a given community. To accomplish this, 1826 households in the Turag River area of Tongi at twelve different locations were surveyed. Six focus group discussions (FGDs) and twelve key informant interviews (KIIs) were also conducted in six different Turag River locations. Data on water quality has been gathered from various government surveys (BNDWQS, 2011; BBS, 2017; SVRS, 2019, etc.), international reports (WHO, World Bank, etc.), individual studies, and other relevant sources. Of all the recorded (13) drinking water sources, motorized tubewells were the most common and were used by 73.8 percent of respondents. Other sources include pipe connections into the yard (16.7%) and dwelling (4.5%), deep and shallow tube wells (2.6%), public tap water (2.1%) etc. The study also revealed that a notable percentage (2.8%) of the survey population still depended on open sources such as rainwater, rivers, lakes, ponds, etc., for drinking and domestic purposes. The respondents also reported the presence of yellow crust (iron) and other unwanted components in their water sources, with foul odors and unpleasant tastes. It has also been documented that the communities have been suffering from various diseases, such as diarrhea, skin diseases, dysentery, malaria, jaundice, typhoid, tuberculosis, pneumonia, cholera, etc. diseases over the past year. The Spearman's rho (ρ’s) test showed significant associations between these diseases and the water sources. The issues identified by the present study are likely to aid policymakers in including water and health concerns in national policy and ensuring access to sustainable water resources, aligning with SDGs 6.1, 6.3, and 6.4. J. Asiat. Soc. Bangladesh, Sci. 49(2): 121-138, December 2023

Issues of Power Quality

Abstract: In this modern era, the electricity dependence for domestic, commercial and industrial purposes has been increasing day to day. The non-linear loads associated will leads to some of the power quality issues. Such Power Quality Issues viz., voltage sag, Interruptions, spikes in voltage, fluctuations etc. briefly discussed in this paper.

DEGRADATION OF POLYMER MATERIALS IN ENVIRONMENT

Environmental occurrence of the polymer-based materials (PBMs) and their associated chemical additives have been recognized as an emerging worldwide problem, and their impacts are now a subject of wider scientific and social interest. Production of PBMs have increased substantially over the last few yearsdue to their flexible nature, making them compatible for use in domestic, industrial and developmental purposes. PBMs can be released into the environment form a variety of sources. The principal introduction routes being general littering, dumping of waste materials, migrationfrom landfills, emissionduring refuse collection and air-blasting technologies. Once in the environment, PBMs can be broken down by thermal,biological and chemicalprocesses. A numberof literatures to date have addressed the impacts of PBMs in the environment and eventually on human health. Bulk PBMs are well documented as entanglement and ingestion hazards. Interaction of PBMs with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been shown to biomagnify in food webs causing traumatic injury and cardiovascular diseases in human body. This review summarizes up-to-date findings about the source and occurrence of PBMs in both aquatic and terrestrial environments, various degradation processes of PBMs and most important, the harmful effects of PBMs on environment and human.

Groundwater Quality Assessment in Iworoko-Ekiti Environs, South-Western Nigeria Using Chemical Indices: Implications for Irrigation and Household Utilities

Groundwater quality of Iworoko-Ekiti and environs for irrigation and domestic purposes has partly been established using chemical indices. Groundwater quality assessment in the area is of great importance because of the influence of various activities in the area. The area is thickly populated by citizens and higher institution students across Nigeria. At the moment, sanitary conditions are very poor as the main occupations are trading and farming. Nineteen hand-dug wells were randomly sampled within the settlement. Flame photometry and spectrometry were used for cations and anions analyses respectively. Average values of pH, EC and TDS are 7.02, 342µS/cm and 230ppm. The average trend of major cations and anions concentrations is Ca2+>Na+>Mg2+>K+ and HCO3->Cl‑>SO42->CO32- respectively. Average values of Degree of Contamination and Revelle Index are 14 and 0.6 respectively. SAR, MAR, %Na, KI, TH, CIA-1 and CIA-2 has an average value of 0.7, 37.4, 24.8, 0.3, 162ppm, 0.4 and 0.9 respectively. Based on these values, the water is suitable for irrigation. In general, 31.6% of the hand-dug wells are slightly acidic and 10.5% have Revelle index >1 above recommended values respectively. 10.5% from the hand-dug wells have KI above one, 5.3% has MAR above recommendation making them unfit for irrigation purposes. Hence, majority of the wells are suitable for irrigation with exception of a few wells. However, the elevated Cl- concentrations in all the wells, make them unfit for human consumption. Weathering of migmatite and granite gneisses together with anthropogenic activities really contributed to the chemistry of the groundwater.

Geophysical, hydrogeological and laboratory assessment of groundwater quality and its health implication in some urban communities in cross river state

The electrical resistivity technique which involved the Schlumberger depth sounding method, electrical resistivity tomography and geochemical analyses of water samples collected from boreholes were used to investigate the quality of groundwater in some urban communities in Cross River State, also the health implication of the said groundwater was also investigated. Forty nine electrical resistivity data were collected, modeled, and interpreted after calibration with lithologic logs. Ten electrical resistivity tomography data was were also collected, modeled and interpreted. Forty nine borehole water samples were collected and analyzed to determine anion, cation concentrations and some physical and chemical parameters, such as water colour, temperature, total dissolved solids, and electrical conductivity. The results show that the lithostratigraphy of the study area is composed of sands, sandstones (fractured, consolidated and loosed), siltstones, shales (compacted and fractured) of the Asu River Group, Eze-Aku Formation which comprises the aquifer units, and the Nkporo Shale Formation. The aquifer conduits are known to be rich in silicate minerals, and the groundwater samples in some locations show a significant amount of Ca2+, Mg2+, and Na+. These cations balanced the consumption of H+ during the hydrolytic alteration of silicate minerals. The geochemical analysis of groundwater samples revealed dominant calcium–magnesium–carbonate– bicarbonate water faces. The groundwater quality was observed to be influenced by the interaction of some geologic processes but was classified to be good to excellent, indicating its suitability for domestic and irrigation purposes.

Identification of Water Resource Potential Zones of Baghmundi Block in Purulia District, West Bengal

Remote sensing and GIS techniques have been broadly used to determine the water resource potentiality for the development and management of water resources. It is an important natural resource in our daily life and is used for domestic purposes. It’s amount varies from place to place and season to season. It is scarce during the dry season, but in the rainy season, it is plenty. Assessment of water resource potentiality is very important for the management of surface/groundwater resources. Water resource potential zones are delineated with the help of RS & GIS. In this paper, standard methodology has been used to delineate the water resource potential zones using Rs & GIS techniques. Different parameters have been considered for identifying the water resource such as drainage frequency, drainage density, geology, groundwater level, slope, soil, surface water bodies, and land use/land cover have been generated satellite data and Survey of India (SoI) toposheet of a scale 1:50,000. Suitable ranks are assigned to these parameters. Various thematic maps of each parameter have been prepared by using the 'Ordered Weighted Averaging' technique. Finally, the composite map is generated by assigning all the parameters to demarcate the water resource potential zones. The study area has been classified into five categories: very poor, poor, moderate, good and excellent. This suggested methodology has been used to achieve the goal of the objective of the study area. This paper will be helpful for the identification of suitable locations for agriculture and domestic use of surface and underground water resources.

Impact of Water Scarcity on Domestic Water Use in Drought-prone Barind Tract, Bangladesh: A Sociological Perspective

The Barind tract (northwest part of Bangladesh) is facing the prevailing disaster of drought due to extreme climatic conditions, including low rainfall. This research attempts to measure the character of the domestic water crisis and the adaptation capacity of the drought-affected Barind people. It also investigates the impact of climate-induced water scarcity on the socioeconomic livelihood of respondents in two villages of the Tanore sub-district in Rajshahi district, which is the most drought-prone area in the Barind tract. In the study area, face-to-face interviews (n = 246) through a structured questionnaire with the respondents of two villages were conducted in an affable environment to collect primary (quantitative) data. In-depth interviews were also conducted with two farmers to collect qualitative data for the study. So it is mixed-method research. All the gathered data were examined using Atlas TI, SPSS, and GIS software. The results of this research show an extended scenario of excessive use of groundwater for domestic purposes due to water table depletion. It presents a portfolio of the sufferings of domestic water users in the study area, not only during the load-shedding period but also during the lack of technical support. Few people are bound to use more contaminated pond water for applying artificial fish feed. Poor inhabitants who depend on others for domestic water are facing more critical conditions due to the inability to install deep-tube wells at a higher cost. As a result, people need to move further away to collect fresh groundwater for domestic use.

Evaluation of the bacteriological quality of underground well water in Oyi local government area of Anambra State, Nigeria

Background: Water is indispensable for man’s existence on earth. In urban and predominantly rural communities in Nigeria, with over 85% of the population living below an average income, traditional drinking water sources such as open reservoirs, springs and open wells are still being used. The study assessed the bacteriological qualities of underground well water in Oyi L.G.A of Anambra State. Methods: Water samples collected by random sampling from various wells in the selected thirteen (13) wards of the study area were subjected to bacteriological analysis using standard methods. The bacteriological analysis examined differential and presumptive coliform counts. Confirmatory coliform tests were carried out using a loopful of presumptive positive and negative tests already sub-cultured on MacConkey agar plate and incubated at 37 0c for 24 hours to obtain bacterial isolates. Results: Escherichia coli was the most frequently occurring isolate of all the bacteria identified. Other isolates include Streptococcus spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella spp., Enterococcus spp., Salmonella spp., Pseudomonas spp., Proteus spp. and Bacillus spp. The majority of these organisms are Gram-negative microorganisms which are most times implicated in gastrointestinal abnormalities. Conclusions: There is a high incidence of contamination of well waters by pathogenic organisms in most well waters from the Study area. Underground well water sources to be utilized for domestic purposes such as cooking should be treated or disinfected before use, either by boiling and filtration or by chemical sterilization or a combination of both.

Regional Aspects of Water Use and Management in the Republic of Moldova

Water is the most important environmental factor that has a direct influence on the health of the population and the development of society. There is a clear need to establish the supply of the population with sufficient quantities of drinking water as a priority direction in state policy and actions for the health of the population in relation to the environment, in the context of sustainable management of water resources. Although, currently, the national balance of water reserves - water consumption in the Republic of Moldova is adequate in relation to the available resources, in the context of climate aridity and inefficient management of water consumption, this balance may be affected in the future. In the period 2003-2022 that was taken into study, several periods with a maximum volume of water use (years 2007, 2009, 2020 and 2022) were highlighted as a result of droughts that affected the whole country. In all 6 development regions, most of the water used is abstracted from surface sources (85%). At district level, especially in rural localities, water use from underground sources, including wells and springs, predominates as a result of reduced access to public water supply systems. About 75% of the total volume of water used is attributed to technological uses. On the right side of the Dniester River, water is predominantly used for domestic (48%) and agricultural (38%) purposes. This research aims to highlight the dynamics and particularities of water resource use in regional aspect, highlighting the branch structure and some limiting factors in determining the correct volume of water used.

Pellet Combustion in Stove: Perfomance and Emissions Statistical Approach

Small scale stoves, producing heat and hot water, are suited for domestic purposes. A pilot 24 kWt fixed bed pellet stove has been developed for the study of pellet combustion in laboratory. Its design and construction was done in order to permit its maximum flexibility for the simulation of different stove configurations and operational circumstances. Temperatures, pressures, flows and gas compositions are measured and analysed. An extensive study of different load conditions is presented through the application of an experiment design technique and a subsequent statistical analysis of the results. It is shown that the main features of the plant are controlled mainly by fuel feed rate and by air-fuel equivalence ratio, being very low influenced by the temperature of the water. Very good correlation between the studied parameters have been found together with a great agreement between the predicted and the measured values.