Water Management Programs Research Articles

EPOP-158 - A Team Approach: Water Management and Legionella Prevention

Background: Water quality and Legionella prevention have long been a concern for healthcare systems. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued memorandum S&C 17-30-ALL on June 2, 2017 requiring reduction of Legionella risk in healthcare facility water systems to prevent cases and outbreaks of Legionnaire's Disease. A water management program was initiated in 2011 at a large healthcare complex to address existing water issues, concerns for patient safety and the lack of a formal program, and build awareness of pending water regulations.

Evaluating and managing environmental water regimes in a water‐scarce and uncertain future

Abstract While the number of environmental flows and water science programmes continues to grow across the globe, there remains a critical need to better balance water availability in support of human and ecological needs and to recognise the environment as a legitimate user of water. In water‐stressed areas, this recognition has resulted in friction between water users in the public and private sectors. An opportunity exists for practitioners to be on the forefront of the science determining best practices for supporting environmental water regimes. This Special Issue brings together a collection of environmental flows science and water management papers organised around three major themes: (1) method development and testing; (2) application case studies; and (3) efficacy evaluation. Contents of this Special Issue are intended to foster collaboration and broaden transferability of the information, technical tools, models and methods needed to support environmental water management programmes. The technical sophistication of methods and modelling tools, while important to the advancement of environmental water science, may come at the expense of easily interpretable outcomes that positively influence management decisions. Researchers need to be more proactive in translating the results of advanced modelling methodologies into user‐friendly tools and methods. This will allow stakeholders and water managers to proactively test alternative water allocation scenarios to help address growing human water demands in the face of droughts and changes in climatic patterns. The application of environmental flows science and water management strategies cannot be done in isolation. Implementation involves a complex decision‐making process that integrates ecological, hydrologic and social science across diverse multifaceted governance systems and requires active stakeholder involvement. Scientists and managers must strengthen partnerships at multiple scales to develop sensible science investment strategies so that collective knowledge can be translated into wise environmental water management decisions.

Integrated Supply Network Maturity Model: Water Scarcity Perspective

Today’s supply chains (SCs) are more than ever prone to disruptions caused by natural and man-made events with water scarcity identified as one of the highest impact events among these. Leading businesses, understanding that natural resource scarcity (NRS) has become a critical supply chain risk factor, extensively incorporate sustainable water management programmes into their corporate social responsibility and environmental management agenda. The question of how industries can efficiently evaluate the progress of these water scarcity mitigation practices, however, remains open. In order to address this question, the present study proposes a conceptual maturity model. The model is rooted in strategies for water scarcity mitigation using a framework developed by Yatskovskaya and Srai and develops an extensive literature review of recent publications on maturity frameworks in the fields of sustainability and operations management. In order to test the proposed proposed, model an exploratory case study with a leading pharmaceutical company was conducted. The proposed maturity model presents an evaluation tool that allows systematic assessment and visualisation of organisational routines and practices relevant to sustainable manufacturing in the context of water scarcity. This model was designed to help illustrate mitigation capabilities evolution over time, where future state desired capabilities were considered through alternative supply network (SN) configurations, network structure, process flow, product architecture, and supply partnerships.

Outbreak of Legionnaires' disease associated with cooling towers at a California state prison, 2015.

A large outbreak of Legionnaires' disease occurred at a California state prison in August 2015. We conducted environmental and epidemiological investigations to identify the most likely source of exposure and characterise morbidity. Sixty-four inmates had probable Legionnaires' disease; 14 had laboratory-confirmed legionellosis. Thirteen (17%) inmates were hospitalised; there were no deaths. Ill inmates were more likely to be ⩾65 years old (P < 0.01), have the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (P < 0.01), diabetes mellitus (P = 0.02), hepatitis C infection (P < 0.01), or end-stage liver disease (P < 0.01). The case-patients were in ten housing units throughout the prison grounds. All either resided in or were near the central clinical building (for appointments or yard time) during their incubation periods. Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 was cultured from three cooling towers on top of the central medical clinic (range, 880-1200 cfu/ml). An inadequate water management program, dense biofilm within the cooling towers, and high ambient temperatures preceding the outbreak created an ideal environment for Legionella sp. proliferation. All state prisons were directed to develop local operating procedures for maintaining their cooling towers and the state health department added a review of the maintenance plans to their environmental inspection protocol.

Hydrological inferences through morphometric analysis of lower Kosi river basin of India for water resource management based on remote sensing data

Satellite based remote sensing technology has proven to be an effectual tool in analysis of drainage networks, study of surface morphological features and their correlation with groundwater management prospect at basin level. The present study highlights the effectiveness and advantage of remote sensing and GIS-based analysis for quantitative and qualitative assessment of flood plain region of lower Kosi river basin based on morphometric analysis. In this study, ASTER DEM is used to extract the vital hydrological parameters of lower Kosi river basin in ARC GIS software. Morphometric parameters, e.g., stream order, stream length, bifurcation ratio, drainage density, drainage frequency, drainage texture, form factor, circularity ratio, elongation ratio, etc., have been calculated for the Kosi basin and their hydrological inferences were discussed. Most of the morphometric parameters such as bifurcation ratio, drainage density, drainage frequency, drainage texture concluded that basin has good prospect for water management program for various purposes and also generated data base that can provide scientific information for site selection of water-harvesting structures and flood management activities in the basin. Land use land cover (LULC) of the basin were also prepared from Landsat data of 2005, 2010 and 2015 to assess the change in dynamic of the basin and these layers are very noteworthy for further watershed prioritization.

Ecological effects and potential risks of the water diversion project in the Heihe River Basin

To curb the severe ecological deterioration in the lower Heihe River Basin (HRB) in northwest China, a water diversion project was initiated in 2000. A comprehensive analysis of the ecological effects and potential risks associated with the project is needed. We assessed the hydrological and ecological achievements, and also analyzed the potential problems after the project was completed. We found that since the project began the hydrological regime has changed, with more than 57.82% of the upstream water being discharged to the lower reaches on average. As a result, the groundwater level in the lower reaches has risen; the terminal lake has gradually expanded to a maximum area in excess of 50km2 since 2010, and there has been a significant recovery of vegetation in the riparian zone and the Ejin core oases, which represents the initial rehabilitation of the degraded downstream environment. Additionally, the economy of Ejin has developed spectacularly, with an annual growth rate of 28.06%. However, in the middle reaches, the average groundwater level has continuously declined by a total of 5.8m and significant degradation of the vegetation has occurred along the river course. The discrepancy in the water allocation between the middle and lower reaches has intensified. This highlights the inability of the current water diversion scheme to realize further ecological restoration and achieve sustainable development throughout the whole basin. In future water management programs, we recommend that water allocation is coordinated by considering the basin as an integrated entity and to scientifically determine the size of the midstream farmland and downstream oasis; restrict non-ecological water use in the lower reaches, and jointly dispatch the surface water and groundwater.

Waterborne Disease Outbreaks Associated With Environmental and Undetermined Exposures to Water - United States, 2013-2014.

Waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States are associated with a wide variety of water exposures and are reported annually to CDC on a voluntary basis by state and territorial health departments through the National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS). A majority of outbreaks arise from exposure to drinking water (1) or recreational water (2), whereas others are caused by an environmental exposure to water or an undetermined exposure to water. During 2013-2014, 15 outbreaks associated with an environmental exposure to water and 12 outbreaks with an undetermined exposure to water were reported, resulting in at least 289 cases of illness, 108 hospitalizations, and 17 deaths. Legionella was responsible for 63% of the outbreaks, 94% of hospitalizations, and all deaths. Outbreaks were also caused by Cryptosporidium, Pseudomonas, and Giardia, including six outbreaks of giardiasis caused by ingestion of water from a river, stream, or spring. Water management programs can effectively prevent outbreaks caused by environmental exposure to water from human-made water systems, while proper point-of-use treatment of water can prevent outbreaks caused by ingestion of water from natural water systems.

Modelling water flow in a complex watershed in humid a tropical area using SWAT: a case study of Taabo watershed in Ivory Coast

ABSTRACTUnderstanding the water balance of a basin is the most important aspect in water resources development and management programmes. The objective of this study was to implement an agro-hydrological model (SWAT) to model water flow transport within the river network with a perspective to reduce the sedimentation and eutrophication of lakes in Ivory Coast. The daily simulation of SWAT model carried out in the period from 1979 to 1990 has been divided into warm-up (1979–1981), calibration (1982–1986) and validation (1987–1990). For calibrating the model, a preliminary sensitivity and uncertainty analysis in the SUFI-2 algorithm was performed based on 19 hydrologic parameters. The model has given good results of performance and robustness. All statistical parameters (Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient (NS) and the coefficient of determination (R2)) used to achieve the model performance of above 0.7 for the calibration period and around 0.6 for the validation period. As for the uncertainty criteria (P-factor and R-factor), the observation data are very good in general because more than 80% are bracketed by the 95PPU both for calibration and validation periods. Graphically, the streamflow predictions match well with actual measurements. Water transfers between the soil, surface water, groundwater and atmosphere are largely conditioned by the uneven spatial distribution of pedology, land use and climate.

Analysis of the Urban Water Requisition Demand for the Purpose of Re-engineering and Water Network Optimization (Case Study: Tabriz' Eram Urban Area)

Water shortage is one of the most important challenges of this century and it would be a serious obstacle for the mankind. In the near future, drinking water supply and water resources management will be at the forefront of planning for urban managers, which is becoming a crisis due to the serious shortage of water resources. This problem is more critical in country of Iran, where water depletion is now receiving serious attention. Different water management programs have been started by government to conserve and manage water more efficiently, especially in some critical areas such as Tabriz megacity located in North East of the country. Eram town is one of the problematic areas of Tabriz. Hence, in this study, we tried to do reengineering for this town to offer some solutions for the problems related with water supplying of the implemented network in this region. Regarding this issue, the GIS (Geographic information system) data of the available water supply network was used and the collected field data such as consumption rates in current conditions were applied to the network. Then the calibration of model was performed. Eram Town water distribution network reengineering has been performed considering a 2043 plan, taking into account population growth and the increase in consumption. In conclusion, it is suggested that, the network will perform more efficiently by adding new pipes or modifying the existing pipes. Also, the problem of lack of pressure in some parts of the network which cannot fulfill the requirements of subscribers at peak water usage hours, could be solved.

Ship traffic and the introduction of diatoms and dinoflagellates via ballast water in the port of Annaba, Algeria

We present here the first study on the role of ship traffic in the introduction of potentially harmful and/or non-indigenous species in the port of Annaba (Algeria). A total of 25 ships of two different types (general cargo and bulk carriers) were sampled and separated into two categories: oceanic and Mediterranean ships. We estimated propagule pressure of high-risk coastal phytoplankton delivered in ballast water to the port of Annaba. We identified 40 diatom and 38 dinoflagellate taxa, among which, 11 harmful/toxic taxa: Pseudo-nitzschia spp., Alexandrium tamarense, Alexandrium sp., Dinophysis acuminata, Dinophysis rotundata, Dinophysis sp., Gonyaulax spinifera, Gymnodinium catenatum, Lingulodinium polyedrum, Protoceratium reticulatum and cyst of Alexandrium sp. In addition, 8 taxa (5 diatoms, 1 dinoflagellate and 2 dinoflagellate cysts) never observed in the Annaba region were considered as potentially non-indigenous: Actinoptychus splendens, Coscinodiscus asteromphalus, Coscinodiscus lineatus, Odentella granulata, Thalassiosira cf. decipiens, Prorocentrum scutellum, cyst of Polykrikos kofoidii and Islandinium minutum. Several factors were examined, including ship routes, ballast water age and the volume of ballast water discharged. Our analyses revealed that diatom and dinoflagellate abundances decreased with ballast water age, possibly as a result of mortality of species due to voyage length and lack of light in ballast tanks. Estimates of actual propagule pressure, diatoms and dinoflagellates abundances varied from 1 to 4×108 cells/ship. The results of this study could serve as the baseline for the development and implementation of monitoring and ballast water management programs in ports of Algeria.

Vital Signs: Health Care-Associated Legionnaires' Disease Surveillance Data from 20 States and a Large Metropolitan Area - United States, 2015.

BackgroundLegionnaires’ disease, a severe pneumonia, is typically acquired through inhalation of aerosolized water containing Legionella bacteria. Legionella can grow in the complex water systems of buildings, including health care facilities. Effective water management programs could prevent the growth of Legionella in building water systems.MethodsUsing national surveillance data, Legionnaires’ disease cases were characterized from the 21 jurisdictions (20 U.S. states and one large metropolitan area) that reported exposure information for ≥90% of 2015 Legionella infections. An assessment of whether cases were health care–associated was completed; definite health care association was defined as hospitalization or long-term care facility residence for the entire 10 days preceding symptom onset, and possible association was defined as any exposure to a health care facility for a portion of the 10 days preceding symptom onset. All other Legionnaires’ disease cases were considered unrelated to health care.ResultsA total of 2,809 confirmed Legionnaires’ disease cases were reported from the 21 jurisdictions, including 85 (3%) definite and 468 (17%) possible health care–associated cases. Among the 21 jurisdictions, 16 (76%) reported 1–21 definite health care–associated cases per jurisdiction. Among definite health care–associated cases, the majority (75, 88%) occurred in persons aged ≥60 years, and exposures occurred at 72 facilities (15 hospitals and 57 long-term care facilities). The case fatality rate was 25% for definite and 10% for possible health care–associated Legionnaires’ disease.Conclusions and Implications for Public Health PracticeExposure to Legionella from health care facility water systems can result in Legionnaires’ disease. The high case fatality rate of health care–associated Legionnaires’ disease highlights the importance of case prevention and response activities, including implementation of effective water management programs and timely case identification.

Increased sampled volume improves Microcystis aeruginosa complex (MAC) colonies detection and prediction using Random Forests

Limited predictability of cyanobacteria and algal harmful blooms (CyanoHABs) impairs the development of adequate water management programs. The Microcystis aeruginosa complex (MAC) is ubiquitous worldwide. Their large colony size and relatively low numerical abundance imply that MAC abundance and presence are usually underestimated in traditional phytoplankton quantifications, which are based on samples of small volume. The objective of this work was twofold: (a) evaluate four sampling strategies of increasing sampling size to detect MAC organisms and (b) asses the predictability of MAC presence using easy-to-measure environmental variables. Sampling strategies were (I) 5–25mL sedimented water samples inspected under inverted light microscope; (II) 20L of water samples inspected by on-board naked-eye; (III) samples collected by towing a 25μm pore size net inspected under light microscope; (IV) naked-eye inspection of 1000–7000L concentrated water samples collected using a 115μm-pore plankton net. We evaluated these objectives in a large environmental gradient (800km) from freshwater to marine water (salinity range=0–33) covering a wide range of temperatures (10–33°C), underwater turbidity (0–158 NTU) and wind intensity (0–8ms−1). Classification Random Forest models (presence/absence of MAC organisms) were constructed and evaluated for each strategy by randomly partitioning data into training (2/3) and test (1/3) sets. A systematic increase in average accuracy (from 51 to 90%) and sensitivity (from 45 to 94%) towards methods with larger sampling size was found (i.e. I–IV). The best obtained model showed a high accuracy (90%) and sensitivity (94%) to detect MAC presence. These results suggest that the presence of MAC organisms can be accurately predicted using easy-to-measure environmental variables once sampling size is adequate. The proposed methodology demands very low costs and could be readily incorporated in most water monitoring plans to provide early warning of MAC occurrence, even when there is a low biomass of organisms.

Vital Signs: Deficiencies in Environmental Control Identified in Outbreaks of Legionnaires’ Disease—North America, 2000–2014

Background The number of reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease, a severe pneumonia caused by the bacterium Legionella, is increasing in the United States. During 2000–2014, the rate of reported legionellosis cases increased from 0.42 to 1.62 per 100 000 persons; 4% of reported cases were outbreak-associated. Legionella is transmitted through aerosolization of contaminated water. A new industry standard for prevention of Legionella growth and transmission in water systems in buildings was published in 2015. CDC investigated outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease to identify gaps in building water system maintenance and guide prevention efforts. Methods Information from summaries of CDC Legionnaires’ disease outbreak investigations during 2000–2014 was systematically abstracted, and water system maintenance deficiencies from land-based investigations were categorized as process failures, human errors, equipment failures, or unmanaged external changes. Results During 2000–2014, CDC participated in 38 field investigations of Legionnaires’ disease. Among 27 land-based outbreaks, the median number of cases was 10 (range = 3–82) and median outbreak case fatality rate was 7% (range = 0–80%). Sufficient information to evaluate maintenance deficiencies was available for 23 (85%) investigations. Of these, all had at least one deficiency; 11 (48%) had deficiencies in ≥2 categories. Fifteen cases (65%) were linked to process failures, 12 (52%) to human errors, eight (35%) to equipment failures, and eight (35%) to unmanaged external changes. Conclusions and Implications for Public Health Practice Multiple common preventable maintenance deficiencies were identified in association with disease outbreaks, highlighting the importance of comprehensive water management programs for water systems in buildings. Properly implemented programs, as described in the new industry standard, could reduce Legionella growth and transmission, preventing Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks and reducing disease.

Assessment of mechanisms for enhanced performance of TiO2/YAG:Yb+3,Er+3 composite photocatalysts for organic degradation

Wastewater remediation is a key component to a sustainable water management program and the use of photo-activated catalysis has emerged as a promising advanced oxidative process for the decomposition of organic contaminants to innocuous products. Although the process is feasible using UV photons, only ∼5% of solar insolation is comprised of UV photons and few advances have been made to improve upon commercial TiO2 (i.e., P25). Here, composite catalysts containing both an upconversion phase (Yb+3/Er+3/Y-Al garnet or YAG host) and a photocatalyst (TiO2) are assessed for enhancing the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 for organic degradation using simulated insolation. Samples of the upconverting phosphor (YAG host) were prepared utilizing the Pechini method with varying molar concentration of Yb+3 ions [0%, 10%, 15%, or 20%] and a constant concentration of Er+3 ions [2%]. The composite materials were then obtained via calcination of the various YAG:Yb+3,Er+3 samples with titania at molar concentrations of [10%, 15%, or 20%]. Structures and properties of the upconverting phosphors and composite materials were verified with characterization analyses including X-ray diffraction, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. For rose bengal degradation in a batch slurry reaction using a simulated ‘daylight’ spectrum as the irradiation source, results indicated that a mixed phased, Y-Al oxide doped with 2mol% Er+3 and 15mol% Yb+3 with 10mol% doped YAG/balance TiO2 composite yielded a 42% higher rate constant and apparent quantum yield than TiO2 alone. Additional kinetic studies with portions of the solar spectrum (i.e., UV bulbs or UV or IR LEDs) were conducted to further probe the effect of photon energies and suggested that rate and apparent quantum yield enhancements were largely attributed to increased amounts of organic adsorption and close proximity between phases, which coincided with the presence of the monoclinic phase (not cubic) of the Y-Al oxide structure. Upconversion and decreased charge carrier recombination rates were deemed to provide minimal contribution to these enhancements.

Prioritization of Watersheds across Mali Using Remote Sensing Data and GIS Techniques for Agricultural Development Planning

Implementing agricultural water management programs over appropriate spatial extents can have positive effects on water access and erosion management. Lack of access to water for domestic and agricultural uses represents a major constraint on agricultural productivity and perpetuates poverty and hunger in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This lack of access is the result of erratic precipitation, poor water management, limited knowledge of hydrological systems, and inadequate investment in water infrastructure. Water management programs should be made by multi-disciplinary teams that consider the interrelationship between hydraulic and anthropogenic factors. This paper proposes a method to prioritize watersheds for water management and agricultural development across Mali (Western Africa) using remote sensing data and GIS tools. The method involves deriving a set of relevant thematic layers from satellite imagery. Satellite images from Landsat ETM+ were used to generate thematic layers such as land use/land cover. Slope and drainage density maps were derived from Shuttle RADAR Topography Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) at 90 m spatial resolution. Population grids were available from the Global rural-urban mapping project (GRUMP) database for the year 2000 and mean rainfall maps were extracted from Tropical rainfall measuring mission (TRMM) grids for each year between 1988 and 2014. Each thematic layer was divided into classes that were assigned a rank for agriculture and livelihoods development provided by experts in the relevant field (e.g., Soil scientist ranking the soil classes) and published literature on those themes. Zones of priority were delineated based on the combination of high scoring ranks from each thematic layer. Five categories of priority zones ranging from “very high” to “very low” were determined based on total score percentages. Field verification was then undertaken in selected categories to check the priority assigned to each class using a random sampling method. Watershed boundaries were prepared at 1000 ha scale and overlaid on the priority map to identify watersheds that were in a very high priority zone. The importance and efficiency of using remote sensing to prioritize watershed interventions across countries is critical due to the limited technical and financial resources available in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Vital Signs: Deficiencies in Environmental Control Identified in Outbreaks of Legionnaires' Disease - North America, 2000-2014.

The number of reported cases of Legionnaires' disease, a severe pneumonia caused by the bacterium Legionella, is increasing in the United States. During 2000-2014, the rate of reported legionellosis cases increased from 0.42 to 1.62 per 100,000 persons; 4% of reported cases were outbreak-associated. Legionella is transmitted through aerosolization of contaminated water. A new industry standard for prevention of Legionella growth and transmission in water systems in buildings was published in 2015. CDC investigated outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease to identify gaps in building water system maintenance and guide prevention efforts. Information from summaries of CDC Legionnaires' disease outbreak investigations during 2000-2014 was systematically abstracted, and water system maintenance deficiencies from land-based investigations were categorized as process failures, human errors, equipment failures, or unmanaged external changes. During 2000-2014, CDC participated in 38 field investigations of Legionnaires' disease. Among 27 land-based outbreaks, the median number of cases was 10 (range = 3-82) and median outbreak case fatality rate was 7% (range = 0%-80%). Sufficient information to evaluate maintenance deficiencies was available for 23 (85%) investigations. Of these, all had at least one deficiency; 11 (48%) had deficiencies in ≥2 categories. Fifteen cases (65%) were linked to process failures, 12 (52%) to human errors, eight (35%) to equipment failures, and eight (35%) to unmanaged external changes. Multiple common preventable maintenance deficiencies were identified in association with disease outbreaks, highlighting the importance of comprehensive water management programs for water systems in buildings. Properly implemented programs, as described in the new industry standard, could reduce Legionella growth and transmission, preventing Legionnaires' disease outbreaks and reducing disease.

Managing Rivers: Ecohydrology an Effective Tool Under Changing Climate

Rivers, their associated floodplains and wetlands are considered as the lifeline of millions. Globally these ecosystems are now considered as the most degraded, and losing species at a rate faster than the terrestrial and marine systems. Serious anthropogenic pressures and climate change are likely to intensify the degradation processes further. Hence, need of the hour is to develop a holistic management tool for protecting these freshwater ecosystems. Ecohydrology is a tool that integrates hydrology, geomorphology and biodiversity and forms a framework at catchment level for protecting the physical modification and biodiversity in rivers with the basic concept of environmental flows. Though the concept of environmental flows/ecological release for Indian rivers is recently introduced in national water policy, it further needs to be suitably incorporated in the climate adaptation strategies for an effective integrated water resources development and management programme.

Are harmful algal blooms becoming the greatest inland water quality threat to public health and aquatic ecosystems?

In this Focus article, the authors ask a seemingly simple question: Are harmful algal blooms (HABs) becoming the greatest inland water quality threat to public health and aquatic ecosystems? When HAB events require restrictions on fisheries, recreation, and drinking water uses of inland water bodies significant economic consequences result. Unfortunately, the magnitude, frequency, and duration of HABs in inland waters are poorly understood across spatiotemporal scales and differentially engaged among states, tribes, and territories. Harmful algal bloom impacts are not as predictable as those from conventional chemical contaminants, for which water quality assessment and management programs were primarily developed, because interactions among multiple natural and anthropogenic factors determine the likelihood and severity to which a HAB will occur in a specific water body. These forcing factors can also affect toxin production. Beyond site-specific water quality degradation caused directly by HABs, the presence of HAB toxins can negatively influence routine surface water quality monitoring, assessment, and management practices. Harmful algal blooms present significant challenges for achieving water quality protection and restoration goals when these toxins confound interpretation of monitoring results and environmental quality standards implementation efforts for other chemicals and stressors. Whether HABs presently represent the greatest threat to inland water quality is debatable, though in inland waters of developed countries they typically cause more severe acute impacts to environmental quality than conventional chemical contamination events. The authors identify several timely research needs. Environmental toxicology, environmental chemistry, and risk-assessment expertise must interface with ecologists, engineers, and public health practitioners to engage the complexities of HAB assessment and management, to address the forcing factors for HAB formation, and to reduce the threats posed to inland surface water quality.

Estimating the Rainwater Potential per Household in an Urban Area: Case Study in Central Mexico

In cities with problems of aridity and a shortage of drinking water supply, there is an urgent need to establish alternatives for an adequate water management program. This study proposes an estimation through which users can select a rainwater harvesting system for non-drinking water consumption. For the cities of Pachuca and Mineral de la Reforma, State of Hidalgo, Central Mexico, the historical record of rainfall analyzed covers a period of 33 years (1980–2013). We calculated the monthly volume of rainwater harvestable from roof areas (VR, m3) with household roof areas (Hra) of 45 m2, 50 m2, 100 m2 and 200 m2. It is proposed to replace in each single house the flush toilets and washing machine with ecological devices with consumptions of 4.8 L/flush and 70 L/load, respectively. Furthermore, a maximum and a minimum consumption of eight and six flushes/day/person (flush toilets) and five and four loads/week (washing machine), respectively, are proposed. From these considerations, our estimations of the harvestable rainwater showed that households with Hra of 45 m2 and 50 m2 would depend on the water supply system of the public network during part of the year. On the other hand, households with Hra of 100 m2 and 200 m2 might be able to store enough water to meet other needs besides toilet flushing and laundry.

Water Management Program Implementation at a New Children’s Hospital: Using a Process to Prevent Waterborne Pathogen Disease

Water Management Program Implementation at a New Children’s Hospital: Using a Process to Prevent Waterborne Pathogen Disease