Water Coverage Research Articles

Neighbors’ use of water and sanitation facilities can affect children’s health: a cohort study in Mozambique using a spatial approach

BackgroundImpact evaluation of most water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions in health are user-centered. However, recent research discussed WASH herd protection – community WASH coverage could protect neighboring households. We evaluated the effect of water and sanitation used in the household and by household neighbors in children’s morbidity and mortality using recorded health data.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort including 61,333 children from a district in Mozambique during 2012–2015. We obtained water and sanitation household data and morbidity data from Manhiça Health Research Centre surveillance system. To evaluate herd protection, we estimated the density of household neighbors with improved facilities using a Kernel Density Estimator. We fitted negative binomial adjusted regression models to assess the minimum children-based incidence rates for every morbidity indicator, and Cox regression models for mortality.ResultsHousehold use of unimproved water and sanitation displayed a higher rate of outpatient visit, diarrhea, malaria, and anemia. Households with unimproved water and sanitation surrounded by neighbors with improved water and sanitation high coverage were associated with a lower rate of outpatient visit, malaria, anemia, and malnutrition.ConclusionHousehold and neighbors’ access to improve water and sanitation can affect children’s health. Accounting for household WASH and herd protection in interventions’ evaluation could foster stakeholders’ investment and improve WASH related diseases control.Graphical Distribution of main water and sanitation facilities used during study period.

Concentrations and Yields of Total Hg and MeHg in Large Boreal Rivers Linked to Water and Wetland Coverage in the Watersheds

AbstractLarge rivers are major contributors of mercury (Hg) fluxes to the ocean, as they integrate processes of loading and loss occurring at the watershed level. Stream‐scale studies have revealed that specific landscape properties, such as wetlands or lakes, are hotspots for Hg and methylmercury (MeHg) loading, sinks and transformation, but we still do not know how they operate at the whole network scale and over large geographic gradients. In this study, we evaluate how landscape metrics are related to riverine concentrations and yields of total Hg and MeHg in 18 large boreal rivers draining watersheds ranging from 44 to 209,453 km2, distributed along a 650 km latitudinal transect in the James Bay region of Québec. Our analyses of landscape metrics using elastic net models and mixed models reinforce the role of wetlands as sources of MeHg, but further show that surface coverage of water in the watershed is the major driver of both Hg and MeHg concentrations and fluxes at the whole network scale. Our findings also demonstrate that seasonality modulates the relationship between landscape properties and Hg forms. Based on hydrologic data, we additionally estimate annual fluxes for the whole Eastern James Bay to 441 kg Hg and 14.6 kg MeHg, and average landscape yield to 1.24 g Hg km−2 y−1 and 0.041 g MeHg km−2 y−1. Our study provides tools to broadly predict riverine Hg concentrations and fluxes with only a few easily accessible landscape metrics, which were shown to be better predictors than physico‐chemical variables.

Numerical simulation of two-phase flow in a multi-gas channel of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Understanding the two-phase distribution characteristics within the multi-gas channel of a fuel cell is important for improving fuel cell performance. In the paper, the volume of fluid model is used to predict the dynamic behaviour of water in the multi-gas channel, analyze the pressure drop, velocity distribution, and flow resistance coefficient between different channels, and investigate the influence of operating conditions, surface wettability and channel structure on the two-phase distribution characteristics in the channel. The results show that water undergoes the processes of growth, separation, single droplet transport, wall impact, droplet collision, liquid film formation, and liquid film transport in the multi-gas channel. Inlet velocity and surface wettability significantly affect the pressure drop, water saturation, and surface water coverage. As the inlet velocity and gas diffusion layer surface wettability increase, the flow resistance coefficient and unevenness of the distribution decrease, indicating that the in-channel flow distribution homogeneity is enhanced. The rectangular channel has better water removal and flow distribution uniformity than the tapered channel, and the unevenness of distribution decreases significantly with decreasing rectangular width, from 0.15715 to 0.00315. The research work is a guide to understanding water transport in multi-gas channels, accelerating water removal, and improving inter-channel flow distribution uniformity.

ASSESSMENT OF WETLAND DEGRADATION USING GEOSPATIAL TECHNIQUES IN LAKE BOYO, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

Although wetlands occupy less than 6% of the earth’s land area, they contribute a lot for ecosystem services than their small area implies. This study aims to model the wetland degradation of Boyo Lake using Geospatial techniques. This study uses Landsat 7 ETM for the year 2000 and 2010 while Landsat 8 OLI used for 2020. The imageries were extracted and geometrically corrected using boundary polygon data using Spatial Analyst Tool in ArcGIS 10.8. Supervised classification was performed using the Maximum Likelihood Classifier. A comparison of land cover statistics assisted in identifying the trend and rate of change at wetland over time. In 2000, water and wetland covered an area of 2743.9 ha (53.3%) and 1680.3 ha (32.7%) of the area, respectively. The analysis shows that water and wetland coverage declined to 1922.9 ha (37.4%) and 1309.4 ha (25.4%) while farmland have increased to 1765.23 ha (34.3%) in 2010. Subsequently, area coverage by water and wetland further declined to 1579.1 (30.7%) and 627.94 (12.21 %) respectively, in 2020. The area under wetland is threatened dramatically with increasing encroachment of farmland over the years. Protecting wetlands from degradation needs the multi-stakeholders involvement and policy enforcement.

Re-examining the role of subsurface oxygen vacancies in the dissociation of H2O molecules on anatase TiO2

Titanium (IV) oxide is a reference photocatalytic material for a number of chemical processes of interest in the energy transition, including the reduction of water into hydrogen gas. Density functional theory calculations have previously revealed that the decomposition into hydrogen and hydroxyl ions could be catalyzed by a subsurface oxygen vacancy (VO). However, these theoretical investigations have been carried out with models considering only isolated water molecules. We investigate the role of the subsurface VO at different levels of coverage up to full monolayer (ML) coverage. We observe that migration of the vacancy concomitantly to water decomposition is mandatory to obtain an exothermic pathway. Furthermore, the migration of the VO only occurs in the presence of an under-coordinated surface oxygen atom. As coverage and decomposition increase, surface oxygen atoms are saturated which inhibit further migration of the subsurface VO; hence the VO shows no catalytic effect on the splitting of water into hydrogen and hydroxyl ions at full water coverage.

Universal water service delivery: Insights on what it takes from Ghana

AbstractAttainment of the government of Ghana's ambitious target of providing safe and reliable basic water services to all persons in Ghana by 2025 requires urgent need to unravel localized barriers to achieve universal access and sustain it. Using the Life Cycle Cost Approach, this paper provides a framework in policy planning and estimates the quantum of funds that needs to be injected into construction, operation, and maintenance of water facilities in order to achieve full water coverage in a district. Using participatory approaches, data were collected from Bongo, East Gonja, and Wa districts of Ghana. Data collection was facilitated by Community Water and Sanitation Agency employing the Resources, Infrastructure, Demand, and Access Strategic Planning Tool. Results show that the total cost of achieving full coverage is estimated at US$ 10,342,190, US$ 15,828,421, and US$ 10,111,616 for Bongo, East Gonja, and Wa East, respectively, in the implementation of water coverage and sustainability activities spanning 2017–2025. We suggest that sustainable water services for all requires more than capital inflows. Strong leadership commitment, bolstered institutions, improved monitoring, and evaluation as well as adequate human resources are critical to ensuring that capital investments translate into effective service delivery.

Effect of liquid water in flow channel on proton exchange membrane fuel cell: Focusing on flow pattern

The liquid water in channel is a critical factor affecting the oxygen transport and fuel cell performance. However, the research considering the real gas–liquid interface is insufficient and the effect of flow pattern on mass transfer is still not clear. In this research, the volume of fluid model is added into the fuel cell model to track the two-phase flow in cathode channel (CCH) and a two-dimensional multi-phase fuel cell model is established and validated. The result shows that the liquid water in CCH could change the gas flow path by forming the variable cross-section gas channel. Then it changes the oxygen concentration and distribution, and finally affects the fuel cells performance. The flow pattern is founded to be the critical factor affecting the performance. The initial film flow leads to the long-time large-area water coverage on the cathode gas diffusion layer surface, and the serious local oxygen starvation and current density degradation. When the water content is 10.0%, the average and minimum current density decreases by 4.23% and 7.49% respectively. Besides, the initial slug flow has server deformation and fragmentation, which leads to the output performance fluctuation. Besides, the initial droplet flow has small effect on the performance, and even strengthen the performance by enhancing the local oxygen transportation. Based on this research, regulating the flow pattern is the key means to improve the influence of two-phase flow on fuel cell performance.

Changes of Lake Area, Groundwater Level and Vegetation under the Influence of Ecological Water Conveyance—A Case Study of the Tail Lake of Tarim River in China

To study the changes of water and vegetation coverage, groundwater level and plant diversity of lakes at the end of Tarim River in Northwest China, the changes of various indicators in more than 20 years (2000–2019) were analyzed through field investigation and indoor remote sensing methods. The results showed that (1): with the initiation of the development of ecological water conveyance project, water and vegetation areas increased significantly, especially the trend of vegetation areas becoming more significant, and area of sandy land decreased significantly. (2): the plant diversity increased in the early stage of ecological water conveyance, however, with the increase of lake area and groundwater level, the species composition tends to be simplified. According to the variation characteristics of species importance value in the overflow area in recent 20 years, it is found that the top communities of plant succession are Phragmites australis and Hexinia polydichotoma. (3): with the increase in the lake area, the groundwater level showed an up-lifted trend, the correlation between the two was significant, but there was a lag in the response of the groundwater level. (4): The intra-annual variations in the lake areas were considerable before and after the ecological water conveyance.

Indirect impact of health disasters on maternal and child mortality

In times of epidemics and pandemics, depletion or diversion of health system resources from routine health care is common, posing serious threats to primary care. This study estimates the contemporaneous and long-run effects of health disasters on maternal and child mortality in 111 countries during 2000–2019 using two-way fixed-effects and two-step system general method of moments frameworks. We also provide evidence that indicates how health system capacity, public health infrastructure, health care coverage and financing, and social determinants of health can mitigate disaster effects. In low- and middle-income countries, health disasters increase maternal, under-5, and neonatal mortalities by 0.3%, 0.3%, and 0.2% instantaneously and by 35%, 80%, and 26% after one year, respectively. Our estimates show that emergency preparedness and response can prevent these effects. However, other mitigators, namely physician density, water, sanitation, and hygiene coverage, universal health coverage, education, gender equality, and financial inclusion have greater impact.

The datafication of water infrastructure and its implications for (il)legible water consumers

ABSTRACT Redevelopments of Lima’s water infrastructure aim to reduce inequalities in water consumption, connections, and coverage by implementing data technologies and claim to make urban water management more efficient. However, little research has been done on how the city’s hydrosocial geography is shaped by the increasing use of data for the supervision and control of its water infrastructure. This article analyzes the datafication of Lima’s water infrastructure as the interplay between different legibility-making practices to understand how the use of multiple, interoperable and real-time data sources, shapes the hydrosocial geography of the city as well as the relationship between Lima’s main provider of water and sewerage services (SEDAPAL) and urban water consumers across three scales: newly urbanized areas, water sectors, and households. We conclude that, in an already unequal urban landscape, the datafication strategically (re)structures the relationship between SEDAPAL, as a state organization managing the water infrastructure, and Lima’s residents.

SAR Offset Tracking Based on Feature Points

The offset tracking approach has been widely used to measure large ground deformation as a complement to Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) when its coherence is poor and/or the deformation gradient is large. The standard offset tracking procedures estimate deformation of tie points, which are uniformly distributed over two SAR images, resulting in many unsatisfactory measurements. In this paper, we propose a feature point offset tracking (FPOT) procedure to overcome the limitation of the standard method. First, we identify feature points using the Speeded Up Robust Feature (SURF) algorithm. Improper feature points are masked using external land coverage information like water coverages. Then, we use the standard cross-correlation algorithm to find offsets of the remaining feature points between reference and secondary images. The offset outliers are removed using a quadtree filtering. Finally, the resultant deformation field is generated by removing systematic offsets estimated with far-field feature points. We assess the effectiveness of our proposed procedure using the 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake in New Zealand. In far-field where deformation is expected to be negligible, histograms of offset distribution show that the root-mean-square error (RMSE) is decreased from 0.07 pixels to 0.02–0.03 pixels for regular points and feature points, respectively, after quadtree filtering. The RMSE between our FPOT-derived offsets and GPS measurements are 0.14 and 0.48 m for range and azimuth offsets, respectively. The results show that our proposed procedure can significantly improve the efficiency, accuracy, and reliability with respect to the standard regular point offset tracking (RPOT).

Water Interaction with Fe2NiP Schreibersite (110) Surface: a Quantum Mechanical Atomistic Perspective.

Phosphorus is an element of primary importance for all living creatures, being present in many biological activities in the form of phosphate (PO43–). However, there are still open questions about the origin of this specific element and on the transformation that allowed it to be incorporated in biological systems. The most probable source of prebiotic phosphorus is the intense meteoritic bombardment during the Archean era, a few million years after the solar system formation, which brought tons of iron-phosphide materials (schreibersite) on the early Earth crust. It was recently demonstrated that by simple wetting/corrosion processes from this material, various oxygenated phosphorus compounds are produced. In the present work, the wetting process of schreibersite (Fe2NiP) was studied by computer simulations using density functional theory, with the PBE functional supplemented with dispersive interactions through a posteriori empirical correction. To start disentangling the complexity of the system, only the most stable (110) surface of Fe2NiP was used simulating different water coverages, from which structures, water binding energies, and vibrational spectra have been predicted. The computed (ana-)harmonic infrared spectra have been compared with the experimental ones, thus, confirming the validity of the adopted methodology and models.

Landscape predictors of human elephant conflicts in Chure Terai Madhesh Landscape of Nepal

Human elephant conflict (HEC) is rapidly increasing throughout the Asian elephant range countries including Nepal. HEC occurs in the form of human deaths and injuries, and crop as well as property losses. We compiled 10,798 incidents of HEC including attacks on humans, crop and property losses caused by elephants in the Chure Terai Madhesh Landscape, Nepal, between January 2001 and June 2020. We interviewed 10.3% of the total households affected by HEC using structured questionnaire. We used multivariate analysis to identify landscape predictors associated with HEC. The intensity of HEC was high in the areas with higher forest fragmentation, vicinity to forests, protected areas, and larger coverage of seasonal surface water. Landscape heterogeneity, effective mesh size and altitude also contributed in HEC. Socio-economically marginalized communities living close to forests are more vulnerable to HEC. The spatial risk map of HEC identified Jhapa and Koshi in the eastern region; Parsa and Chitwan in the central region, Bardiya and Kanchanpur in the western region as HEC hotspots. Restoration of forests and corridor functionality in these hotspots could reduce HEC. The comprehensive understanding of HEC from this study provides important insights to devise strategies and actions for mitigating the HEC at the landscape level.

Coverage-dependent adsorption of H2O on dicalcium silicate (1 0 0) surface: A DFT study

Dicalcium silicate (C2S) is one of the dominating components in Portland cement and is of particular importance for the production of low energy cement. Understanding the interaction between water molecules and C2S low-index surfaces is a key step for revealing the hydration mechanism of C2S. Herein, first-principle density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to analyse the adsorption of water molecules on β-C2S (100) surface with different coverage. Considering the reactive Ca sites on β-C2S (100) surface, four degrees of water coverage (θ = 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and 1) were investigated. Adsorption configuration, adsorption energy, electron transfer, partial density of states, and charge density were analysed. Results indicate that the adsorption energy was in the range of −0.70 eV to −0.99 eV, −1.40 eV to −1.93 eV, −2.13 eV to −2.43 eV, and −3.00 eV for 1–4 water molecules adsorption, respectively. The multi-water molecules adsorption was generally anti-cooperative when θ ≤ 1 and the adsorption energy was mainly originated from the surface-water electronic interaction. Molecular adsorption was observed and the adsorption configuration was influenced by the Ca sites. The more the adsorbed water molecules, the more obvious the outward movement and the deeper the adsorption influence into the solid. Electrons were transferred from the surface to water molecules after adsorption. Water molecules became more stable upon adsorption and strong overlapping between water O and surface Ca orbitals was observed.

Hot, wet and rare: modelling the occupancy dynamics of the narrowly distributed Dixie Valley toad

Context Small population sizes and no possibility of metapopulation rescue put narrowly distributed endemic species under elevated risk of extinction from anthropogenic change. Desert spring wetlands host many endemic species that require aquatic habitat and are isolated by the surrounding xeric terrestrial habitat. Aims We sought to model the occupancy dynamics of the Dixie Valley toad (Anaxyrus williamsi), a recently described species endemic to a small desert spring wetland complex in Nevada, USA. Methods We divided the species’ range into 20 m × 20 m cells and surveyed for Dixie Valley toads at 60 cells during six primary periods from 2018 to 2021, following an occupancy study design. We analysed our survey data by using a multi-state dynamic occupancy model to estimate the probability of adult occurrence, colonisation, site survival, and larval occurrence and the relationship of each to environmental covariates. Key results The detection probabilities of adult and larval toads were affected by survey length and time of day. Adult Dixie Valley toads were widely distributed, with detections in 75% of surveyed cells at some point during the 3-year study, whereas larvae were observed only in 20% of cells during the study. Dixie Valley toad larvae were more likely to occur in cells far from spring heads with a high coverage of surface water, low emergent vegetation cover, and water temperatures between 20°C and 28°C. Adult toads were more likely to occur in cells with a greater coverage of surface water and water depth >10 cm. Cells with more emergent vegetation cover and surface water were more likely to be colonised by adult toads. Conclusions Our results showed that Dixie Valley toads are highly dependent on surface water in both spring and autumn. Adults and larvae require different environmental conditions, with larvae occurring farther from spring heads and in fewer cells. Implications Disturbances to the hydrology of the desert spring wetlands in Dixie Valley could threaten the persistence of this narrowly distributed toad.

Water and Latrine Services and Associated Factors among Residents of Negele Town, Southeast Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background Access to at least a basic water service, improved sanitation, and hygiene contribute to the human health and socioeconomic development of a country. This study was conducted to assess the water and latrine service coverage and related factors among dwellers of Negele town, southeast Ethiopia. Method Two Kebeles (small administrative units) were randomly selected from each of the three zones of the town to collect data via questionnaires from randomly selected household heads (380), interviews of purposely selected key informants (40), and personal observations employing a cross-sectional survey design from March to May 2018. A Chi-square test was conducted to examine the association between various demographic factors and having latrine/tap water. Result Latrine coverage of the town was low (45%) mainly due to shortage of land or funds and expansion of illegal houses. The available latrines were poor in hygiene. Water service (solely tap water) coverage was very low (7.6%) as a result of deficient water sources and nonfunctioning pipelines. The zones, age, educational status, marital status, and family size of the participants were statistically significantly associated with having latrine or tap water, p < 0.05. The administration of the town has planned to build four public toilets and raise its water supply coverage to about 70% by 2019/2020. Conclusion Coverage of latrine and water services of Negele town were so low, implying that it is not on track to achieve the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goal target 6.1 and 6.2. The administration of the town should provide land to residents and search for fund sources for the construction of standardized private and public toilets. Utilizing various water sources, maintaining nonfunctional, and constructing new pipelines should be promoted to improve the water service coverage of the town targeting the national and UN sustainable development goals.

Real-time monitoring of cyanobacterial blooms dynamics around Lake Chaohu based on video surveillance images

蓝藻的防控与治理是湖泊水环境、水生态管理的重要内容，实时获取蓝藻的空间分布信息对于降低蓝藻灾害风险具有重要意义.针对地面调查费时费力、卫星遥感监测粒度较粗且时效性不强等问题，本文提出了一种基于视频监控网络的湖泊蓝藻实时监测技术.基于环巢湖视频监控网络的33个功能摄像机，研究如何从视频图像中实时、准确提取蓝藻的分布信息.为克服不同摄像头的观测角度不一致、光照强度和背景条件不一致等诸多挑战，在视频图像蓝藻表征分析的基础上，通过多尺度深度网络进行图像粗粒度分类，区分蓝藻与浑浊、阴影水体；基于随机森林进行蓝藻精细化识别，克服蓝藻的强异质性.最后以渔政站沿岸水域的日均蓝藻覆盖率和月均蓝藻覆盖率为统计单位，开展了巢湖沿岸蓝藻的动态监测.研究成果可为科学制定蓝藻治理方案提供技术支撑.;The prevention and management of cyanobacterial blooms is an important part of lake environment and water ecological management. Real-time acquisition of spatial distribution of cyanobacterial blooms is of great significance for timely salvage and disaster reduction. Aiming at the problems of time-consuming and laborious ground surveys, satellite remote sensing monitoring with a low spatial and temporal resolution, a new method for real-time monitoring of cyanobacterial blooms in lakes using video surveillance network (VSN) was proposed. Based on the 33 cameras of VSN around Lake Chaohu, the study focuses on the real-time and accurate extraction of cyanobacteria distribution information from video images. First, in order to overcome the challenges of different observation angles from different cameras, light intensities and background conditions, the representation of cyanobacterial blooms in video images was analyzed. Then, a multi-scale depth network was used for coarse-grained image classification to distinguish cyanobacteria from turbid and shadowed water; Random forest method was used to finely recognize cyanobacterial blooms to overcome the strong heterogeneity of cyanobacteria. Finally, the distribution information of cyanobacterial blooms was acquired. Based on the average daily and monthly cyanobacteria coverage of the coastal waters of the fishery administration station, monitoring of cyanobacterial blooms dynamics along the Lake Chaohu coast was completed, which can provide technical support for the management of cyanobacterial blooms.

Design and development of a 3D printed hydroblasting robot

This paper describes the design and development of a 3D printed hydroblasting robot called Hornbill. This robotic platform incorporates magnetic-based adhesion, differential wheel-based locomotion principle, and a hydroblasting unit consists of nozzles mounted on the rotating arm. One of the key indicators of the effectiveness of the hydroblasting process is how quick the area below the hydroblasting chamber can be covered by the water jets. Given the nozzle configuration in the chamber and the water jet flowrate, the water coverage depends on the water adhesion on the surface to be cleaned as well as the orientation of the surface. Hence, the water free surface hydrodynamics is modeled and studied using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations to evaluate how surface conditions and contact angle influence the water spreading on surface. The optimal contact angle is used in robot and through experiments, the hydroblasting capability on horizontal and vertical surfaces are validated.

Predictors of Stunting and Underweight Among Children Aged 6 to 59 months in Bussi Islands, Wakiso District, Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background:Child undernutrition is a major public health concern in Uganda that can lead to increased risks of death with its prevalence higher in rural hard-to-reach areas than in urban areas. While it is assumed that the prevalence will be more concerning in islands with restricted accessibility to healthcare resources, limited research has been conducted on the prevalence and associated factors of stunting and underweight among children in Bussi Islands of Uganda. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and predictors of stunting and underweight among children aged 6 to 59 months in Bussi Islands of Wakiso District in Uganda.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted in Bussi Islands of Wakiso District. Sociodemographic and anthropometric measurements were obtained for randomly sampled 409 caretaker-child pairs from 409 households. Data was collected using pre-tested structured electronic questionnaires validated by the Uganda Ministry of Health. Anthropometric indices were calculated using ENA-SMART version 2011 and data analysis was conducted using STATA version 14. Modified Poisson regression was used to generate Unadjusted and Adjusted Prevalence Ratios (APRs) with 95% confidence intervals.Results:Prevalence of stunting and underweight among children in Bussi Islands were 29.8% and 16.1%, respectively. Independent predictors of stunting included: suffering from diarrhea (APR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.3, 2.5); household food insecurity (APR: 1.7; 95% CI: 1.2, 2.4); and child age of 12 to 23 months and 24 to 35 months (APR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.3, 4.0 and APR: 2.0; 95% CI: 1.1, 3.6 respectively). Protective factors against stunting were not suffering from measles (APR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.42, 0.92); receiving deworming tablets every 6 months (APR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.42, 0.81); and daily household utilization of more than 80 L of water (APR: 0.48; 95% CI: 0.24, 0.95). Predictors of underweight were suffering from diarrhea (APR: 2.2; 95% CI: 1.4, 3.4) and having more than 9 household members (APR: 2.8; 95% CI: 1.1, 7.5).Conclusions:Child stunting and underweight are prevalent public health problems in Bussi Islands of Wakiso District. Therefore, the study suggests that nutrition interventions in the Islands should focus on childhood vaccination, family planning, sufficient safe water coverage, household food security, and health education of child caretakers on optimal infant and young child feeding and development.

Constructed Floating treatment wetlands: can they improve water quality in a northern USA climate?

Constructed floating treatment wetlands (FTWs) are a best management practice (BMP) applied in aquatic environments to improve water quality by mitigating nutrient pollution. We evaluated the efficacy of FTWs in Minnesota, USA as a tool for the removal of excess nutrients in surface water to enhance water quality. We began with a 2015 outdoor mesocosm study to quantify the removal efficiency of total phosphorus (TP), ortho-phosphate-P (PO4-P), nitrate-N, and ammonia-N. The FTWs were each planted with wetland plants Juncus effusus, Eleocharis acicularis, and Glyceria canadensis. A paired controlled TP budget was prepared to identify mesocosm sources and sinks. Mesocosm FTWs showed higher PO4-P reduction efficiencies than the control mesocosms. Mesocosms with FTWs had significantly lower pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations. Water quality measurements were made along with qualitative observations, such as durability, at two different field scales where FTWs were installed in a pond and lake in 2016. Field deployed FTWs showed measurable changes in several water quality parameters over the study period. Statistically significant reductions were observed in PO4-P, DO, and pH for the pond site but not at the lake site. Though positive results were observed, factors other than FTWs may better explain the field deployed FTW results. Overall, the high FTW spatial coverage (15%) in the mesocosms showed clear PO4-P removal, whereas low FTW spatial coverage (&lt;1%) of the field scale surface water was likely the most limiting factor to achieving optimal water quality at the study sites and rather than individual FTW performance.