Water Pollution Management Research Articles

Overview of Amazon Basin Forest Roads Manual

A forest roads manual is being written to aid the Brazilian Forest Service in its tropical forestry operations and timber sale concessions in the Amazon basin. The objective of the manual is to develop standards, guidelines, and operational information that will help forest road operations meet best management practices. The manual includes information on transportation planning in conjunction with strategic and tactical timber sale planning; road design; road drainage considerations; roadway materials use; slope stabilization issues; road maintenance issues; and environmental issues, including water quality protection, erosion control, and pollution management. Discussion of each of these typical transportation system planning and design issues considers the unique circumstances and resources found in the Amazon basin. This project grew from the involvement of the Office of International Programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, and the newly created Brazilian Forest Service in the process of helping the new agency manage its large long-term logging concessions throughout the Amazon basin through use of prudent, sustainable management practices. Forest road design and operation are significant parts of overall forest management and major cost items. The manual development is based on many training courses that have been held over the past 10 years across the Amazon basin in the states of Pará, Acre, and Rondonia. In addition, many courses have been conducted and lessons learned in portions of the upper Amazon basin of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. This paper discusses the development of the Amazon Basin Forest Roads Manual and presents an overview of its content as well as many of the unique aspects of building roads in Amazon basin forests.

Preliminary analysis of the source reduced and sink increased for agricultural non-point source pollution by forest in Lake Taihu watershed:A case study of shelter belt in Yixing City

To inquire the control effect of agricultural non-point source pollution by the shelter forest of Lake Taihu in Yixing City,the soil samples in the shelter forest belt were collected and the contents of nutrient elements were determined. Combined with the fertilization conditions of surrounding agricultural production,the source reduced and sink increased for agricultural non-point source pollution by the shelter forest in Yixing City was analyzed. The results showed that the C,N,P and K which were fixed by the shelter forest were 2439. 48,18. 34,2. 48 and 13. 42 g / m2 in October 2009,and 3114. 12,23. 42,3. 16 and 17. 13 g / m2 in May 2011,respectively. The fixed values showed a trend of gradually increasing,reaching to 4722. 46,35. 53,4. 81 and 25. 99 g / m2 in C,N,P and K in August 2013. The increased proportions of C,N,P and K were 93. 6%,93. 7%,94. 0% and 93. 7%respectively when compared with October 2009. The above results showed that the control effect of agricultural non-point source pollution by the shelter forest belt in Yixing City around the Lake Taihu coast was significant,and it had a big contribution to the management of water pollution in Lake Taihu.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue<br>Tackling Diffuse Water Pollution from Agriculture in China: Drawing Inspiration from the European Union

Diffuse water pollution caused by agriculture is increasingly recognized as a major contributor to water pollution both in China and in Europe. A great deal of effort has been spent on mechanisms to address such pollution, especially through legislation and policy. The legal challenge for China is to develop an adequate legal framework to tackle diffuse pollution. By providing an overview of the current policy design regarding diffuse water pollution management in both China and the European Union, this article discusses the extent to which the EU legal framework could provide inspiration for China.

Application Research on Groundwater Circulation Exploration Based on Fluent Simulation

It is very important to study the groundwater circulation and water chemistry evolution in the management and protection of water pollution. We use the Fluent simulation technology and the isotope tracer method to do simulation on the flow and distribution of groundwater. In the simulation process we set the model of Fluent isotope labeling group, and enter the groundwater flow parameters in the boundary condition, including water viscosity, osmotic pressure, and the average flow velocity. We use isotope tracer method to simulate the water flow. Finally, according to the law of groundwater flow, we predict the evolution rules of groundwater chemical by using the inverse geochemical simulation technology. It provides a theoretical basis for the management and protection of groundwater pollution.

Conventional to Nano-Green Adsorbents for Water Pollution Management - A Review

Pure and clean water is a must for living a healthy life. However, the increasing influence of urbanization, industrialization, domestic and agricultural activities, is continuously adding both conventional and newly emerging pollutants to the earth's water bodies, seriously affecting both the terrestrial and aquatic flora and fauna. Thus water pollution has become a major issue in the global perspectives. In the last few decades, numerous methods, such as chemical precipitation, filtration, oxidation, ion exchange treatment and adsorption have been proposed for the purification of contaminated water. Among these methods, adsorption has taken an important position in water purification technology. This is because of its ease of operations, cost-effective maintenance, and availability of adsorbents in various forms with high surface area, porous structure and specific surface reactivity. Instead of having many attractive properties, many adsorbents have failed to achieve a good acceptability at commercial levels. In the recent years, nanotechnology approaches have introduced nanoadsorbent which is capable of removing water pollutants more efficiently. In this review, various water treatment techniques with their shortcomings followed by efficiency of adsorption and nanoadsorbent for pollutant removal are discussed with green chemistry perspectives.

A review of environmental characteristics and effects of low-molecular weight organic acids in the surface ecosystem

Low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOAs) are prevalent on the earth's surface. They are vital intermediate products during metabolic pathways of organic matter and participate in the tricarboxylic acid cycle during life activities. Photochemical reactions are pivotal for LMWOAs' origination and play a large role in determining their diversity and their ultimate fate. Within the long time that organic matter is preserved in sediments, it can be decomposed and converted to release organic and inorganic pollutants as well as C, N, and P nutrients, which are of potential ecological risk in causing secondary pollution to lake water. The sediment pool is a comprehensive and complex compartment closely associated with overlying water by various biochemical processes, during which LMWOAs play critical roles to transport and transform elements. This article elucidates geochemical behaviors of LMWOAs in the surface environment in details, taking natural water, soil, and aerosol as examples, focusing on reviewing research developments on sources and characteristics, migration and mineralization of LMWOAs and relevant environmental effects. Simultaneously, this review article depicts the categories and contents of LMWOAs or their contribution to DOC in environmental media, and evaluates their importance during organic matter early diagenesis. Through concluding and discussing the conversion mechanisms and influencing factors, the next research orientations on LMWOAs in lake ecosystems are determined, mainly concerning relationships with hydrochemical parameters and microorganisms, and interactions with pollutants. This will enrich the knowledge on organic matter degradation and related environmental effects, and help reconstruct a theoretical framework for organic compound succession and influencing factors, providing basic data for lake eutrophication and ecological risk assessment, conducive to better control over water pollution and proper management of water quality.

A Microeconomic Perspective on Water Resources Management: Analyzing the Effects on Optimal Land Rents Along a River Basin

Water scarcity is becoming an increasingly relevant issue in many regions of the world as demand for water continues to grow. As a result, the need for finding measures that efficiently allocate increasingly scarce water resources has become a primary topic on the agendas of many water resource management authorities. This paper presents an innovative approach that provides further insight into the connection between hydrological, environmental, and economic aspects along a river basin. In short, it analyzes how land rents along a river basin are affected by managing water pollution along a river basin, given certain hydrological characteristics of the river basin. Results show that, without the implementation of a water management system to control water quality, the negative external effects of upstream water discharges on downstream locations can be internalized through a decrease in downstream land rents. However, the analysis presented in this paper also reveals that it is not only the absence or the presence of a water management system that has a significant impact on the real estate market along the river basin. Moreover, the market outcome also varies with the type of water resources management system implemented.

Simulating the saturation threshold of a water environment’s response to tourist activities: A case study in the Liupan mountain eco-tourism area

The effect of tourism on water environments has received a high degree of interest in the study of eco-tourism. Based on the analysis of the relationship between tourist activities and the water environment in the Liupan Mountain eco-tourism zone, the case study area, a Water Environment of Tourism Area Model (WETAM) is built to simulate the temporal and spatial changes in water quality and the response saturation thresholds under four sewage treatment scenarios. The results imply the following: (1) WETAM performs well in modeling a water environment to represent the dynamic process of water quality change in response to tourist activities. (2) Under four sewage treatment scenarios (fundamental, low, medium, and high), the threshold shows an obvious uptrend. (3) The response threshold of water quality with respect to the interference of tourist activities fluctuates seasonally due to changes in tourist density. (4) The thresholds differ significantly among five tourism functional areas. According to the response saturation threshold of the water environment, effective control based on the scale and intensity of tourist activities is important for a successful transformation of this tourism destination’s development strategies. Therefore, the integrated management of water pollution in tourism areas plays a crucial role in sustainable tourism development.

Water Pollution: Sources, Effects, Control and Management

Human activities including industrialization and agricultural practices contributed immensely in no small measure to the degradation and pollution of the environment which adversely has an effect on the water bodies (rivers and ocean) that is a necessity for life. This paper tries to discuss basically what water pollution is and equally to address the source, effect control and water pollution management as a whole. Some recommendations such as introduction of environmental education were mentioned.

Water Pollution: Sources, Effects, Control and Management

Human activities including industrialization and agricultural practices contributed immensely in no small measure to the degradation and pollution of the environment which adversely has an effect on the water bodies (rivers and ocean) that is a necessity for life. This paper tries to discuss basically what water pollution is and equally to address the source, effect control and water pollution management as a whole. Some recommendations such as introduction of environmental education were mentioned.

Water security and national water law in Mexico

This article develop analyses water security in Mexico, a country where global environmental change requires social, political and economic actors to protect natural resources and ecosystem services in order to reduce the tension between anthropogenic demands and natural availability. The paper asks: How can overexploitation and inequality in the access and control of water be assessed using an integrated model of water management and how could the existing water resources in each river basin and aquifer be sustainably distributed by a new National Water Law that would encourage participation in order to overcome the conflicts over access to and control of water? With a model of integrated water management the article reviews the current use of water among different social and production sectors. Agriculture still consumes 77 per cent of the water, especially in the arid north, an area greatly affected by climate change (CC). Industry uses ten per cent and domestic users thirteen per cent of water. The growing megacities are also overexploiting their aquifers, producing subsidence and water pollution together with changes in land use, thus reducing water infiltration into the aquifers during the monsoon. Regional and temporal water stress is further aggravated by unsustainable production processes, where mining and agribusiness hog the water needed by indigenous people and small farmers, forcing them to migrate to the urban centres or illegally to the US. Within this arena of conflict in the field of water management, the article offers several guidelines for a sustainable and participative National Water Law. Food security, including dignified life conditions for the small-scale farmers in rain-fed regions affected by CC, could be achieved with small scale irrigation system in the Southeast of Mexico, where water is available for a second crop. Their sustainable agriculture and preventive management of water pollution by organic agriculture are central activity for conserving and restoring the natural condition of water infiltration. Without an integrated water management, reduction of soil erosion, early warning and resilience-building among the exposed people, Mexico will not reduce the existing and future threats related to global environmental change and particularly to CC.

Economic Instruments for Water Pollution Management: A Case Study

Although legal standards are in place for socially acceptable ambient concentration level of a pollutant, a firm has an incentive to shirk on pollution control as huge costs are at stake Profit being the objective of firm, which comes from a market price which does not reflect society`s preferences for environmental protection. Therefore, producer has no incentive to supply the socially optimal level of pollution control. Hence, it is imperative on the part of economists to provide an incentive based alternative to inflexible CAC regulations. Present study attempts to design pollutant specific tax rates to advocate the use of economic instrument for water pollution management.

Role of Spirituality in Watershed Management and Natural Capitalism

Hinduism believes that almighty created this universe on water mass; the basis for all living and non living product. Water is a pious element in the Hindu culture which is worshipped and highly respected. Despite of having this spirituality, rivers that are considered holy is degrading considerably in terms of its cleanliness and also holiness. Numerous projects and plans are implemented to conserve them but the bizarre situation still prevails. Government and donor agencies are adopting natural capitalism and inclusive green growth path to address the water security but the output is limited on paper documents. Water resource management is subject of social engineering than civil engineering. The better and cheapest method to manage water pollution is dilution and watershed approach can be appropriate on this method. Individual behavior and social culture related with water security is worsened than earlier. The root cause behind is absence of spiritual component on pillars of natural capitalism. Fear and fence approach on water security may cause additional cost thus self motivation in people could be fruitful in solving this problem. Spiritual approach on water resource management may prove its efficiency especially to manage quantity and quality of holy rivers such as Ganga. This paper focuses to emphasize the key role of spirituality that can play an effective role on managing the water sources by changing the behavior and attitude in people.

Managing Water Pollution to Revitalise the Shrimp Supply Chain in Tam Giang Cau Hai Lagoon, Vietnam

The area of shrimps farmed in the Tam Giang Cau Hai Lagoon expanded dramatically from 1995 to 2004, but then declined steadily. An exploratory investigation of the shrimp supply chain conducted in 2009 revealed that well- established relational contracts between shrimp farmers and wholesalers had succumbed to environmental risk following persistent and widespread outbreaks of disease in the Lagoon. These outbreaks have been attributed to water pollution, which - in turn - has been linked to the rapid expansion and intensification of shrimp production. While privatisation of the lagoon bed encouraged farmers to adopt more intensive production methods, over- intensification can be attributed to the open access nature of lagoon water, which allows farmers to externalise the cost of their water pollution. This study evaluates a range of pollution abatement instruments against well-known criteria and concludes that transferable quotas for shrimp seed would be the most effective policy instrument given prevailing social, institutional, organisational and political conditions. Even so, the introduction and administration of seed quotas pose major challenges that would require co-management with local user groups.

Water Pollution: Sources, Effects, Control and Management

Human activities including industrialization and agricultural practices contributed immensely in no small measure to the degradation and pollution of the environment which adversely has an effect on the water bodies (rivers and ocean) that is a necessity for life. This paper tries to discuss basically what water pollution is and equally to address the source, effect control and water pollution management as a whole. Some recommendations such as introduction of environmental education were mentioned. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n8p65

A decision-support system for cropland irrigation water management and agricultural non-point sources pollution control

In this paper, an agricultural water and nonpoint sources pollution management decision support system (AWPM) was developed in Tongzhou district and Daxing district, Beijing, China, where is relatively developed in economical but has severe water-lacking and water quality problems. The AWPM provided a dynamic decision to managers on irrigation water management and a decision scheme system on agricultural non-point sources pollution control from different perspective based on hydrological models and Geographic Information System (GIS) in the study areas. The AWPM was designed a user-friendly interface and the results adopted from AWPM can help managers make sound decision in the suburb of Beijing and similar areas.

Enzymatic synthesis of bromo- and chlorocarbazoles and elucidation of their structures by molecular modeling

3-Chlorocarbazole, 3,6-dichlorocarbazole, dibromocarbazole, and 1,3,6,8-tetrabromocarbazole are emerging environmental contaminants which have been detected recently in water, sediment, and soil samples. However, their sources and occurrence have not been explained. Here, we report an enzymatic synthesis of bromo- and chlorocarbazoles by chloroperoxidase from Caldariomyces fumago in water. Density functional theory (DFT) method was used to predict the most stable products. Carbazole and chloroperoxidase were assayed in vitro in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, bromide, and chloride ions in different substrate ratio treatments against constant and varying enzyme concentrations. Halogenated carbazoles formed were identified by high-resolution gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. In all treatments, bromination and chlorination took place, but the composition and concentration of compounds formed varied from one treatment to another. Mono-, di-, tri-, and tetra-substituted bromo- and chlorocarbazoles which include the reported environmental contaminants were synthesized. 3-Substituted and 3,6-substituted congeners were relatively higher in concentration. Enzyme concentration did not favor preferential formation of any of the compounds synthesized. However, their synthesis was influenced by halide concentration. Congeners with bromine and chlorine at position of C-3, C-3,6, C-1,3,6, and C-1,3,6,8 were calculated as the stable intermediate sigma complexes by DFT method. Regioselectivity in halogenation is discussed and hypothesis of the likely stable products in the environment explained. This study provides evidence that bromo- and chlorocarbazoles reported previously can be formed enzymatically in the environment, demonstrating the need to consider aromatic pollutants transformation and their potential toxicity enhancements in the management of water pollution and contaminated sites.

Crafting Sustainability? The Potential and Limits of Institutional Design in Managing Water Pollution from Vietnam's Craft Villages

Despite a raft of government initiatives, Vietnam's rapidly growing craft villages—rural hubs for small-scale industry—produce alarming levels of water pollution that seriously affects human health and the environment. Framing water quality as a commons dilemma creates the scope for appropriately designed, collaborative institutions that better address local conditions and the need for vertical and horizontal coordination. However, institutional and social theorists highlight that broader historical and social relationships can interact recursively with institutions and are not readily manipulated through institutional crafting. Our research in four craft villages of northern Vietnam finds that the challenge for managing water quality in craft villages is thus broader than institutional design, and requires an understanding of how regulations and policies emerge from and interact with broader societal processes.

Correction: Development of Models for Predicting the Predominant Taste and Odor Compounds in Taihu Lake, China

There was an error in the Funding statement. The correct statement is: This study was jointly supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (2008CB418101) [http://www.973.gov.cn/AreaAppl.aspx], National Water Pollution Control and Management Technology Major Project (2012ZX07101-010) [http://nwpcp.mep.gov.cn/] and State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology (2011FBZ07) [http://eastlake.ihb.ac.cn/]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Analysis of the hydrological behaviour of an urbanizing basin

AbstractSuburban areas undergo rapid land‐use changes due to urban growth. Consequently, the mitigation of hydrological impacts is a major issue in the field of flood and water pollution management. Nevertheless, suburban catchments have seldom been studied. This paper presents a method for analyzing the hydrological behaviour of suburban catchments; the particular method is tested on the Chézine catchment, located in a suburban area of Nantes (western France). Chézine provides a typical example of a suburban catchment, yet features the unique behaviour of a response time ranging from 1 to 6 h. It is proposed herein to classify rainfall‐runoff events in homogeneous groups according to their flow coefficient. A group of events is characterized by its mean flow coefficient and by its transfer function, which are considered as the signatures of the hydrological behaviour of these similar events. The transfer function is identified from the available series of rainfall and outflow data. The identified transfer functions serve to estimate the localization of contributing zones over the basin by estimating the basin transfer function from flowpaths. The consistency of these assumptions is then verified by comparing the estimated transfer function with the identified one. The application of this method to the Chézine catchment demonstrates that it is possible to distinguish various types of hydrological behaviour regimes associated with significantly different transfer functions. The joint analysis of the flow coefficient and transfer function of each group confirms that the Chézine catchment reacts like an urban basin with just the urban zones contributing to runoff under dry conditions. Otherwise, the wetter the initial state, the greater the tendency of this basin to react like a natural basin, as reflected by the different transfer function shapes. These results confirm the validity of the proposed method to analyse the various behaviour regimes of suburban catchments. In addition, this method helps define the specifications of hydrological models suited to suburban catchments. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.