Sustainable Drinking Water Research Articles

Numerical investigations to identify environmental factors for field-scale reactive transport of pathogens at riverbank filtration sites

While induced bank filtration is a proven method for facilitating sustainable drinking water production, it is at risk from surface water contaminations (e.g., pathogens). Induced bank filtration and pathogen transport in groundwater have been studied extensively. However, long-term studies that consider real-world conditions are missing. These conditions include seasonal changes to environmental conditions and waterworks operations. Therefore, to analyze the effect of seasonal changes on the transport of human pathogenic viruses and their indicators in induced bank filtration, concentrations of adenoviruses and pathogen indicators were monitored over 16 months at an active bank filtration plant at the Rhine River, in Düsseldorf (Germany). Based on this data, a 2D groundwater model was created in PFLOTRAN that simulated flow, heat transport, conservative transport of chloride and the resulting electrical conductivity, reactive transport of oxygen and nitrate, and colloid-based transport of coliforms, somatic coliphages, and adenoviruses. The results show that reduced travel time was the key factor determining periods with a low removal of coliforms and somatic coliphages in the aquifer. Travel time was controlled by river level variations during rainy seasons, and the waterworks extraction rates during dry seasons. For adenovirus transport, travel distance in the subsurface appeared to be the key factor, while travel time had no significant impact. Coliform removal increased when the colmation layer permeability decreased, while coliphage and adenovirus removal was unaffected by the colmation layer permeability. Seasonal changes in temperature and oxygen content did not significantly impact the removal of coliphages and adenoviruses in groundwater. Denitrifying conditions correlated with a lowered coliform removal, but the modelling could not establish a connection between denitrifying conditions and coliform removal. Our study showed that removal of pathogens and pathogen indicators at induced bank filtration plants varies greatly in time and space (e.g., for coliforms from 1 to 4 log-levels at 20 m travel distance), and that adenovirus transport differs considerably from transport of coliforms and somatic coliphages

Model of Sustainable Drinking Water Governance at Tirta Kualo Regional Drinking Water Corporate in Tanjungbalai City, Indonesia

Tirta Kualo is the only regional drinking water corporate (herein after PDAM Tirta Kualo) that provides drinking water to the people of Tanjungbalai city, which has yet to be able to serve the entire community. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential availability of the Silau river, to meet the water needs of the people, to know the condition of drinking water supply governance of PDAM Tirta Kualo, and to design a model of sustainable drinking water governance at PDAM Tirta Kualo, Tanjungbalai city. A mixed method approach was used in this study. The population was customers of PDAM Tirta Kualo who have been domiciled in Tanjungbalai city for more than 10 years. The analysis shows that based on the area of Tanjungbalai city around 60.62 km2 with population 169.367 inhabitants and coverage services of PDAM Tirta Kualo in 2019 was only 68.86%. The projection of drinking water supply demand for each house connection in the next 5 years, assumed to be 2% increase, is an average of 14.79 liters/second. The condition of drinking water supply governance in PDAM Tirta Kualo is still low, and it is proven that there are still many issues in all working units. The design of a sustainable water supply governance model in PDAM Tirta Kualo refers to the regional spatial plan of Tanjungbalai city year 2013 until 2033.

Optimization of solar still equipped with TEC by Taguchi and genetic algorithm methods: A case study for sustainable drinking water supply in the villages of Sistan and Baluchestan with new technologies

In the present study, during a series of numerical simulations, the process of dimensional optimization of the solar still along with the optimization of the thermoelectric cooling system features connected to it was studied. This method, which is one of the new methods of water production, can be considered as one of the solutions for sustainable water supply to the dominant rural population of Sistan and Baluchestan province located in Iran. Using the Taguchi method as a known method in experimental design, the number of simulations required to perform the optimization process was reduced from 256 modes to 16 modes (16 numerical simulations). The capabilities of the NSGA-II algorithm were also used to find the optimal performance and geometric conditions for solar still. Four effective factors (design variables) were selected in the optimization process, which are cooling rate (Q), LTEC, Hlow, and solar still length, which is indicated by L. By calculating the signal to noise (S/N ratio), the importance of design variables on the quality of solar still performance was determined so that the cooling rate parameter has the highest impact on desalination efficiency and the length of the thermoelectric cooling system as the least important. The L and Hlow parameters were also ranked 2nd and 3rd in importance. Also, signal-to-noise calculations show that increasing the Q parameter (increasing the cooling rate value) alone will lead to an upward trend in desalination production, but this was not observed in other parameters; for example, despite the positive effect of increasing the L on the process of water production has sometimes caused problems with this increase in production, and the opposite is true for the Hlow parameter, and despite the inverse effect of increasing this parameter on the rate of water production, sometimes increasing this parameter leads to increased production. Therefore, it is very important to pay attention to the relative extremes in the mathematical relationship between the design parameters and the target parameter. Also, based on the simulation results of the optimal solar stills introduced by the genetic algorithm, in the right sloping part of the studied geometry, which is the installation site of TEC, the production of fresh water was 20–60% higher than the left part of the geometry. In addition, in the optimal models introduced by the genetic algorithm, the water production efficiency is 25–55% higher than the water production efficiency in the reference solar still studied in the present study.

Saving water by returning to a constant water supply in Chihuahua

ABSTRACT A sustainable drinking water system is essential to ensure the availability of water. Efficient management is developed by maintaining a positive and continuous pressure. However, in developing countries, the conception is that a constant water supply is unsustainable and the preferred alternative is to modify to an intermittent water supply. In this paper, a methodology for gradually transforming several sectors to a constant supply to decrease the quantity of water supplied is developed. Network sectorization and pressure management were achieved, indicating that the operation of 19% of the households under this methodology generates 24% of the water-saving of the city.

Can prechlorination improve the permeate flux and water quality of gravity-driven membrane (GDM) filtration?

Gravity-driven membrane (GDM) filtration is currently limited by the relatively low permeate flux and poor water quality. This study was aimed to investigate the effects of prechlorination (3 and 5 mgCl2/L) on the permeate flux and water quality in GDM filtration by analyzing the compositions and morphologies of the fouling layer and by evaluating virus removal and trihalomethane (THM) formation for short (7 cycles) and long (32 cycles) periods. Prechlorination showed an increased permeate flux, contributing to enhanced cumulative water production (15–68%), which was achieved by lowering the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) content (14–31%) and the formation of a relatively thinner and looser fouling layer. Prechlorination effects lessened with longer GDM operation time owing to bacterial regrowth and formation of a thick (178–227%) and dense (57–66%) fouling layer. It also changed the dominant phylum in the eukaryotic community and limited its activities in the fouling layer. In terms of the permeate water quality, the prechlorination ensured microbial safety with a 3.2 log10 reduction of MS2 bacteriophage and negligible formation of THMs. These results demonstrate the potential of using prechlorination in GDM filtration for sustainable drinking water treatment.

Adsorption and thermal degradation of Atenolol using carbon materials: Towards an advanced and sustainable drinking water treatment

With the aim to present an alternative material that can be used in adsorption/degradation processes to remove pharmaceutical pollutants present in water, a biocarbon was designed from Melia Azedarach stones. Material has a high surface area (1230 m2 g−1) with mainly oxygenated groups; these properties give it exceptional characteristics for removing Atenolol. To show the versatility of the material, the adsorption of Atenolol in different water matrices was tested: Ultrapure water (0 mg L−1 CaCO3), solution model (200 mg L−1 CaCO3), and tap water from Lisbon city (80 mg L−1 CaCO3). The pseudo-second-order model can well describe the adsorption kinetics; kinetic constants obtained were: 75.70, 46.18, and 42.58 g mmol h−1, respectively. The adsorption isotherms are correctly described by the Langmuir model, obtaining maximum adsorption capacities of 1.83, 2.00, and 1.81 mmol g−1, respectively. Physisorption phenomena carry out the adsorption mechanism (E < 1 kJ mol−1) between the atenolol molecule, positively charged, and the material's surface, negatively charged, forming a monolayer onto the material's surface. Once the material was saturated, its regeneration was studied by employing thermal treatment at 450 °C. Results show a decrease in the surface area after treatment, resulting in a loss of adsorption capacity (30 %). This procedure makes it possible to achieve repeat cycles of adsorption-degradation until the adsorbent is completely exhausted. The results obtained show this new material as a promising adsorbent for wastewater treatment contaminated with pharmaceutical pollutants since it has higher adsorption capacities than those reported in the literature in different water matrices.

It's a Long Way to the Tap: Microbiome and DNA-Based Omics at the Core of Drinking Water Quality.

Microbial communities interact with us and affect our health in ways that are only beginning to be understood. Microorganisms have been detected in every ecosystem on Earth, as well as in any built environment that has been investigated. Drinking water sources, drinking water treatment plants and distribution systems provide peculiar microbial ecological niches, dismantling the belief of the “biological simplicity” of drinking water. Nevertheless, drinking water microbiomes are understudied compared to other microbiomes. Recent DNA sequencing and meta-omics advancements allow a deeper understanding of drinking water microbiota. Thus, moving beyond the limits of day-to-day testing for specific pathogenic microbes, new approaches aim at predicting microbiome changes driven by disturbances at the macro-scale and overtime. This will foster an effective and proactive management of water sources, improving the drinking water supply system and the monitoring activities to lower public health risk. Here, we want to give a new angle on drinking water microbiome research. Starting from a selection of 231 scientific publications on this topic, we emphasize the value of biodiversity in drinking water ecosystems and how it can be related with industrialization. We then discuss how microbiome research can support sustainable drinking water management, encouraging collaborations across sectors and involving the society through responsible research and innovation.

Assessment of groundwater quality in parts of Bikaner District, Rajasthan

Rajasthan's Bikaner District, part of the Thar Desert, is experiencing problems with falling groundwater levels, high salinity, fluoride and nitrate concentrations. Therefore, groundwater quality studies are underway to determine the suitability of groundwater for drinking purposes in the Bikaner district. Quality analysis is performed using parameters such as Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), pH, Calcium, Potassium, Sodium, Nitrate, Sulfate, Chloride, Fluoride, magnesium, total hardness (TH) and Bicarbonate. Conductivity, TDS and TH increases were observed in the post-monsoon period. No such changes were observed in the sulphate, nitrate and fluoride concentrations after the rains. Most of the study areas have high salinity and are therefore unsuitable for consumption. However, all other chemical parameters are within the maximum allowable limits according to the BIS standard. Unconventional energy use desalination of groundwater is proposed to provide sustainable drinking water. Various industrial and mining man-made recharge structures (Pits with Borehole Technique) near the villages, resulting in higher groundwater levels and improved quality in neighboring areas. Success stories can be replicated in similar geographic environments. Large-scale artificial rainwater harvesting/storage/replenishment of potential aquifers is another management alternative, which can improve the chemical quality of groundwater.

A Resilient and Nature-Based Drinking Water Supply Source for Saline and Arsenic Prone Coastal Aquifers of the Bengal Delta

Salinity causes a hostile environmental impact throughout the year in the coastal region of Bangladesh, and its severity increases day by day. Because of upstream freshwater flow reduction and massive groundwater extraction, salinity has increased substantially over the last three decades. Moreover, arsenic contamination in shallow groundwater makes the groundwater unsuitable for potable use. Consequently, the coastal area suffers from acute storage of safe water supply. Salinity also negatively impacts human activities, livelihood, agricultural production, and the aquatic ecosystem. Though the shallow aquifer contains high salinity and a small amount of Arsenic (As), the very shallow aquifer (within 3m to 8m) contains fresh water in many areas in the rainy season due to the direct recharge of rainwater. However, rainfall recharge varies significantly depending on the geological and hydrogeological settings. Specifically, up to 50% of annual rainfall is stored in shallow aquifers of Quaternary sands through direct infiltration. The research’s principal objective is to identify the safe and sustainable drinking water source in the arsenic and saline-prone coastal region. Groundwater samples were collected from the different locations of the study area during both dry and wet seasons and examined seasonal variations in groundwater table and salinity levels. The chemical analyses and Physico-chemical parameters indicate that the groundwater samples are suitable for drinking. Except for some groundwater samples from the wet season, the salinity of all samples was under the allowable limit for Bangladesh (&lt;2000 µS/cm), and the targeted aquifer was almost arsenic (50 µg/l) free. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis has been made to accomplish the study goals. Particularly, the groundwater’s electrical conductivity (EC) values of most samples were measured within the limit of fresh or brackish water (&lt;2000 μS/cm). Overall, the results indicate the prospect of a very shallow aquifer as a source of freshwater for drinking purposes throughout the year, considering both arsenic and salinity, which effectively solve the freshwater shortage, especially in the saline-arsenic prone area.

Livelihood, WASH related hardships and needs assessment of climate migrants: evidence from urban slums in Bangladesh

Bangladesh, being the world's most climate-vulnerable country, is affected by plenty of climate-related hazards every year, mostly along its south-western coast. As a consequence, many people relocated from these regions' worst-affected neighborhoods to Khulna city, and began to live as slum dwellers. They faced a variety of issues in these informal settlements, particularly regarding water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities and livelihood options, but no research has been conducted in Bangladesh. With an emphasis on WASH services and livelihood prospects, this study therefore aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the challenges/hardships and needs of climate migrants living in urban slums in both general and COVID-19 contexts. Qualitative methods were applied to collect data from the climate migrants of slums in five wards (3, 12, 17, 21, and 30) of the Khulna City Corporation. Nine focus group discussions and four key informant interviews were conducted to collect the data from primary (community people) and secondary (local government and non-government and community-based organizations officials) stakeholders. The thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that climate migrants experienced significant water scarcity, insufficient drainage systems, a lack of toilets, tube wells, and bathing facilities, inadequate hygiene management, a lack of core skills required for urban jobs, low payment, and an income shortage. Similarly, sustainable drinking water sources, sanitary toilets with WASH blocks, personal hygiene materials and awareness building, skill development for diverse livelihood opportunities, and income-generating capacity development were their top priorities. Overall, the findings of this study provided a holistic overview of the challenges/hardships and needs of climate migrants in urban slums regarding WASH services and livelihood opportunities. The authorities should intervene and develop policy initiatives to alleviate the hardships and meet the needs of climate migrants.

Assessing The Role of Water-Related Regulations and Actors in The Operation of PDAM (Local Drinking Water Company)

Water management in Indonesia has not been addressing water problems and challenges needed in achieving SDG 6, especially in the provision of sustainable drinking water services. Based on the condition, this research starts with a hypothesis that current performance of PDAM (Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum – Local Drinking Water Companies) – that have significant roles in drinking water provision in Indonesia regions – is influenced by water-related regulations and actors. With the aim to analyse the influence of regulations and actors related to the operation of PDAM, and to formulate recommendations that helps better PDAM performance in providing sustainable drinking water services, this study analyses regulations underlying PDAM governance and performance. Using content analysis on regulations, reports, and documents related to PDAM, this research has figured out that the operation of PDAM has not been supported with effective regulations, which is exacerbated by poor implementation and low enforcement of the regulations at the operational level by determined parties: local governments and PDAM. Therefore, to improve PDAM performance, this study recommends the Government of Indonesia to integrate and simplify PDAM-related regulations to avoid overlapping regulations and regulatory obesity and to review, analyse, state and disseminate clearly the status of existing PDAM-related regulations in the hierarchy of repealed and ineffective regulations to avoid confusion, stagnation and wrong decision making in the operation of PDAM. This study also finds out that further research on internal and external factors of water utilities (environment, biology, water and human resources, public policy, public services etc.) is necessary for sustainable provision of drinking water services and water security purposes and to ensure that the use or the implementation of those factors be clearly regulated.

Drinking water attribute preferences for sustainable management in Andahuaylas, Peru

The management of sustainable drinking water is oriented under the framework of the alignments of economic development. The objective was to determine the preferences of the attributes of drinking water for an improvement in the management of the service, in the province of Andahuaylas, Peru. A quantitative research was carried out through the method of experiments of choice of the mixed logit type. The experimental design was descriptive and cross-sectional with a sample of 375 randomly selected households. The technique applied was the survey with cards of choice included socioeconomic characteristics, attributes of drinking water and availability to pay. The results show attribute preferences; have water 24 hours a day, recover lagoon or spring water sources and water pressure, with a positive impact on the user. Likewise, users have a positive impact of willingness to pay with an additional increase in their monthly billing with a preference in improving the continuity of drinking water 24 hours a day and the recovery of lagoons or manantes Households are willing to pay an additional amount in their rates for the management of safe and sustainable water.

A new framework for experimental design using Bayesian Evidential Learning: The case of wellhead protection area

Groundwater management practices, such as sustainable drinking water extraction or contamination protection, can have significant socioeconomic impacts. A complete uncertainty analysis should ideally be performed to anticipate all possible outcomes and assess any risk. Uncertainties arise as a result of our limited understanding of the physical processes involved, as well as a scarcity of measurement data, whether directly or indirectly related to the physical parameters of interest. In this paper, we use a small number of tracing experiments (predictor) to predict the wellhead protection area (WHPA, target), the shape and extent of which are influenced by the distribution of hydraulic conductivity (K). Our first goal is to make stochastic predictions of the WHPA within the Bayesian Evidential Learning (BEL) framework, which uses machine learning to find a direct relationship between predictor and target. This relationship is learned using a small number of training models (400) drawn from the prior distribution of K. Forward modelling is used to obtain the 400 pairs of simulated predictors and targets. Newly collected field data can then be used directly to predict the approximate posterior distribution of the corresponding WHPA, obviating the need for the traditional step of data inversion. The number and location of data sources (injection wells) influence the posterior WHPA distribution's uncertainty range. Our second goal is to extend BEL to determine the optimal design of data source locations that minimises the WHPA's posterior uncertainty. Because the BEL model, once trained, allows the computation of the posterior uncertainty corresponding to any new input data, experimental design can be done explicitly, without averaging or approximating. We estimate the WHPA's posterior uncertainty range using the Modified Hausdorff Distance (MHD) and Structural Similarity (SSIM) index metrics. Because the breakthrough curves store information on a large area of the K field surrounding the pumping well, increasing the number of injection wells reduces the derived posterior WHPA uncertainty. Our method can also estimate which injection wells are more informative than others, as demonstrated by a k-fold cross-validation procedure. Overall, the application of BEL to experimental design allows for identifying data sources that maximise the information content of any measurement data while keeping budget constraints and computational costs to a minimum.

District Drinking Water Planning for Sustainability in Maharashtra: Between Local and Global Scales

Sustainable rural drinking water is a widespread aim in India, and globally, from the household to district, state, and national scales. Sustainability issues in the rural drinking water sector range from increasing water demand to declining groundwater levels, premature deterioration of village schemes and services, inadequate revenues for operations and maintenance, weak capacity of water operators, frequently changing state and national policies, and destabilizing effects of climate change. This paper focuses on the special role of district-scale drinking water planning, which operates at the intersection between bottom-up water demand and top-down water programs. After surveying the challenges associated with bottom-up and top-down planning approaches, we present recent efforts to strengthen district and block drinking water planning in the state of Maharashtra. A combination of district interviews, institutional history, village surveys, GIS visualization, and planning workshops were used to advance district planning goals and methods. Results assess bottom-up processes of water demand; top-down water programs and finance; and intermediate-level planning at the district and block scales. Discussion focuses on potential improvements in district planning methods in Maharashtra.

Groundwater suitability estimation for sustainable drinking water supply and food production in a semi-urban area of south India: A special focus on risk evaluation for making healthy society

The main objective of the present investigation is to estimate groundwater suitability for sustainable drinking water supply and food production in a semi-urban area of south India with a focus on risk assessment for making healthy society. As urbanization and industrialization make the water unfit for water supply and crop rising in most parts of the world this study is very much significant for the fast growing Edappadi region in the southern part of India. A total of sixty-nine groundwater samples were obtained during May 2019 (summer season) and analyzed for Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Electrical Conductivity (EC), pH, potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg2+), sodium (Na+), calcium (Ca2+), bicarbonate (HCO3−), nitrate (NO3−), sulphate (SO42-), chloride (Cl−), and fluoride (F−). Fluoride and nitrate ranged from 0.38 to 3.23 mg/L and 12 to 136 mg/L with an average of 1.7 mg/L and 62 mg/L, respectively. About 36 % of samples occupying 80.74 km2 area surpass the allowable limit of fluoride (1.5 mg/L). Similarly, 42 % of samples occupying 98.75 km2 area surpass the allowable limit of nitrate as per WHO and BIS standards (45 mg/L). Correlation studies point out that groundwater contamination is happening due to manmade activities. The Improved Water Quality Index (IWQI) suggested that about 57% of groundwater samples can be used for drinking utility. The alkalinity of groundwater is within the suitable level for crops but groundwater salinity is high to very high in most of the areas. The Total Hazard Index (THI) showed that 72%, 59%, 33% and 29% and 86%, 77%, 51% and 43% of groundwater samples are within the non-carcinogenic health risk category based on fluoride and nitrate contents, respectively, for infants, children, teens, and adults. This study will help the decision and policymakers such as municipal corporation, pollution control board, public works department, water supply and drainage boards, agricultural and public health departments, etc., to use appropriate groundwater resources for providing safe drinking water supply and food production from crops. The findings of this study can aid in the development of appropriate management strategies by the above government departments for ensuring safe water supply and health protection measures for inhabitants.

A framework for drinking water basin protection

AbstractMany countries have applied many measures, including preventing inappropriate activities in areas where drinking water is abstracted to protect drinking water resources. However, reaching good water quality based on human health has not been achieved in drinking water basins. Drinking‐Water Protected Areas Determination has been defined as a powerful protection method to restrict inappropriate activities affecting water quality and quantity. These areas are determined based on basin properties to provide sustainable drinking water management. This study aims to present a framework for drinking water protection by giving methodological study steps. Strengths, deficiencies and inadequacies in drinking water protection practices were shown by examining the implementations of Turkey and European Union member countries. Thus, by adding new methods to these applications, a standard approach was created to be applied to each different drinking water basin.

Towards the Green Analytics: Design and Development of Sustainable Drinking Water Quality Monitoring System for Shekhawati Region in Rajasthan

Towards the Green Analytics: Design and Development of Sustainable Drinking Water Quality Monitoring System for Shekhawati Region in Rajasthan

Tuning ANN Hyperparameters for Forecasting Drinking Water Demand

The evolution of smart water grids leads to new Big Data challenges boosting the development and application of Machine Learning techniques to support efficient and sustainable drinking water management. These powerful techniques rely on hyperparameters making the models’ tuning a tricky and crucial task. We hence propose an insightful analysis of the tuning of Artificial Neural Networks for drinking water demand forecasting. This study focuses on layers and nodes’ hyperparameters fitting of different Neural Network architectures through a grid search method by varying dataset, prediction horizon and set of inputs. In particular, the architectures involved are the Feed Forward Neural Network, the Long Short Term Memory, the Simple Recurrent Neural Network and the Gated Recurrent Unit, while the prediction interval ranges from 1 h to 1 week. To avoid the problem of the Neural Networks tuning stochasticity, we propose the selection of the median model among several repetitions for each hyperparameter’s configurations. The proposed iterative tuning procedure highlights the change of the required number of layers and nodes depending on Neural Network architectures, prediction horizon and dataset. Significant trends and considerations are pointed out to support Neural Network application in drinking water prediction.

Uncertainty Analysis and Identification of Key Parameters Controlling Bacteria Transport Within a Riverbank Filtration Scenario

AbstractManaged aquifer recharge through bank filtration is an important method to produce sustainable drinking water. Yet, water quality related to transport of pathogens (bacteria and viruses) into groundwater systems from surface waters can be a matter of concern, especially in urbanized regions. Based on a 1‐year monitoring campaign, a reactive transport model was developed for bacteria transport at a riverbank filtration site located in Germany. The model allows simulating advective‐dispersive transport and relies on the colloid filtration theory to mimic attachment and detachment of bacteria to and from the sediment in addition to inactivation, straining and blocking of bacteria. Due to the complexity of the investigated processes, the reactive transport model is characterized by a high level of parametrization, encompassing parameters driving flow as well as solute and colloid transport. A global sensitivity analysis has been applied to identify the most relevant model parameters with respect to piezometric pressure heads, groundwater temperature, and concentrations of chloride, oxygen, coliforms, and Escherichia coli. The model has been calibrated within a stochastic framework, to provide model parameter estimates and to quantify their uncertainty. Our results suggest that bacteria transport models are highly sensitive to inactivation coefficients, straining coefficients, and bacteria size. Permeability of the colmation layer at the riverbank is a key factor for bacteria transport through its influence on residence times. Seasonal variability of boundary conditions, especially anoxic aquifer conditions in the summer and high groundwater flow velocities during flooding periods, resulted in a reduction of inactivation and increased bacteria concentrations at observation wells.

Water Resource Management and Sustainability: A Case Study in Faafu Atoll in the Republic of Maldives

This paper contributes to the existing literature in proposing an integrated approach to water management and energy renewable production in a fragile environment. After the 2004 tsunami, in many outer islands in The Republic of Maldives, the lens freshwater natural reservoir was deeply damaged. Currently, the populations of rural atolls use rainwater and water in plastic bottles imported from the mainland for drinking. To provide safe and sustainable drinking water, we analyze the feasibility of two different actions: a desalination system fed by a diesel plant or by a photovoltaic (PV) plant with batteries. The current situation (business as usual, (BAU)) is also evaluated and taken as a benchmark. After illustrating the technical and economic features of desalination and PV plants, a financial and environmental analysis is conducted on the two alternatives plus BAU, showing that the desalination fed by the PV plant results in optimization both on the financial and the environmental side. The levelized cost of water (LCOW) and the CO2 levelized emissions of water (LEOW) are calculated for each alternative. The case study is developed in Magoodhoo Island, Faafu Atoll and can be extended to other islands in The Republic of Maldives and in general to small island developing states (SIDS).