World Water Research Articles

Are water indices cointegrated with the world water markets? Evidence based on an ARDL Bounds Testing Approach

Are water indices cointegrated with the world water markets? Evidence based on an ARDL Bounds Testing Approach

Engineering and Modeling of Water Flow via Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Modern Hydraulic Analysis Methods

The manuscripts presented in this Special Issue will both present engineering analyses of problems of contemporary importance in fluid mechanics and hydrodynamics and describe historical water systems and the technologies used to design and operate them by ancient Old and New World water engineers [...]

Groundwater Potential Zone Mapping with an Integrated Approach of AHP and GIS Techniques for Koraiyar Basin, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India

The overexploitation of groundwater resources and the obvious effects of climate change are putting the world's water supplies under tremendous strain. Evaluating groundwater potential and aquifer productivity is more critical than ever before due to the growing need for drinkable water for people, farms, and factories. Due to its speed and ability to give first-hand knowledge on the resource for future developments, GIS-based studies have lately become quite popular in groundwater research. The purpose of this research is, thus, to identify the groundwater potential. The present investigation made use of a GIS in tandem with the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) method. Lithospheric, geomorphological, land use/cover, lineament density, drainage density, rainfall, soil, and slope were the eight thematic layers that were produced and researched in order to define the groundwater potential zone. Each class in thematic maps is given a weight based on its attributes and water potential capacity, as estimated by the AHP technique. As a result, the groundwater potential zone map was categorized into five levels: very high, high, moderate, low, and very low. A medium groundwater potential zone spanning 180.28 km2 of the river basin was determined by the research. The low groundwater potential zone covers 140.44 km2 and the high groundwater potential zone 117.39 km2. Within the basin, there are 127.57 km2 of territory classified as having very low potential and 97.49 km2 as having very high potential.

Graph convolutional network for water network partitioning

The partitioning of a water distribution network into several district-metered areas (DMAs) yields is of great benefits for the management of water distribution systems, including enhanced leak control, pollution monitoring, and pressure optimization. However, achieving an effective partitioning that simultaneously incorporates node characteristics and network connections is challenging. Previous studies have tackled water network partitioning by focusing on either node features or pipe connections individually. In response to the limitations of current approaches for water distribution network partitioning, this study introduces an innovative unsupervised clustering approach for node partitioning based on graph convolutional network (GCN) techniques. Initially, the network nodes are clustered using the Cross-Attention Fusion Based Enhanced Graph Convolutional Network (CaEGCN) deep clustering algorithm, considering both the network’s topological layout and hydraulic properties. The resulting clusters categorize the network nodes into distinct regions. We evaluate our approach and other methods through a real world water distribution network using five different metrics commonly used to evaluate applied in assessing water supply network zoning issues. By comparing and analyzing the performance of experiments with other schemes, the experimental results demonstrate that the CaEGCN deep clustering method featured a remarkable performance. The proposed method showcases its potential for practical application by offering a dependable and easily interpretable water network partitioning solution.

Hobli wise hydro geomorphological evaluation of the groundwater prospects mapping

ABSTRACT Numerous studies highlight the urgent issue of groundwater depletion due to overexploitation. The United Nations’ World Water Development Report (2023) warns that if current extraction rates persist, many regions could face severe groundwater shortages in the coming decades. A 2021 study in Nature reports that about one-third of the world’s largest groundwater basins are depleting faster than they are replenished, escalating the risk of critical shortages. In Chickballapur District, excessive agricultural activity has led to an imbalance between groundwater loss and recharge. To address this challenge, a weighted overlay analysis of spatial layers in QGIS was employed to identify potential groundwater zones. This methodical approach involved mapping topographic features and integrating six spatial layers: slope, geomorphology, lithology, drainage, lineament and land use/cover. Each subcategory was ranked and scored based on expert opinion and existing literature. The Central Ground Water Board data was used to validate the resulting groundwater prospect map. The study further included an assessment of groundwater prospects across administrative units by superimposing the administrative boundaries on the final map. Calculating the percentage of land within each groundwater prospect category is crucial for effective groundwater management at the administrative level.

Optimising the effectiveness of osmotic desalination process by using graphene-based nanomaterials

This work examines how graphene-based nanoparticles can be integrated into membranes to improve the effectiveness of water treatment in osmotic desalination processes. This is important since sustainable practices can help address the world's water scarcity. Water treatment, desalination, and resource recovery are areas where osmotic desalination shows great potential. However, membrane performance constraints frequently impede its efficacy. High mechanical strength, superior hydrophilicity, and the ability to lessen internal concentration polarisation are just a few of the remarkable qualities that make graphene-based nanoparticles stand out. In order to increase the membranes' overall functionality, these nanoparticles were created and added to them. Comparing the study to conventional membranes, the main goals were to increase water flux rates and salt ion rejection capacities. It was shown by experimental results that the membranes strengthened with graphene-based nanoparticles performed better. They outperformed conventional membranes in terms of water flow growth and salt ion rejection rates improvement. In order to advance osmotic desalination technologies towards more effective and sustainable water treatment options, this study highlights the revolutionary potential of graphene-based nanoparticles. Graphene-based nanoparticles provide an attractive option for tackling major water issues worldwide by improving membrane characteristics that are essential for osmotic desalination, such as permeability and selectivity. Water management techniques that are environmentally sustainable are supported by their integration into membranes, which also enhances performance metrics. This study opens the door for creative approaches to resource recovery and water treatment by providing important insights into the creation of cutting-edge materials specifically designed for osmotic desalination applications.

Implication of Urban Domestic Water Distribution on Human Health in Machakos Central Ward, Machakos County

The world's water resources are running out, and this situation is made worse by how quickly people are populating new areas, particularly in developing nations. This has highlighted the critical requirement for prepared action to manage water resources for sustainable development efficiently. Increasing water demands due to climate change, global pressures from urbanization, the already-existing unsustainable variables, and challenges of water supply systems in urban centres pose a challenge in managing water resource effectively. The purpose of the study was to investigate the implication of urban domestic water supply on human health in Machakos Central Ward, Machakos County. Using a Survey Research Design (SRD) both primary and secondary data was collected by use of questionnaires, face-to-face interviews, photography, use of GIS, authors’ observation, and the review of relevant literature in order to (1) document household water supply, (2) determine water quality for the identified categories of households and domestic water supply systems, and (3) Determine how the distribution and coverage of domestic water in a household or home affects the prevalence of water-borne illnesses. The target population was 8,331 households, from which a sample size of 381 respondents was selected. These included households, water vendors and key informants from the Machakos Water and Sewerage Company. Questionnaires (for households and vendors), interview schedules (for water officers and chiefs) and observation schedules were used as instruments for data collection. Data was analysed using Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The results revealed that the major factors attributed to lower accessibility are shortage of water, high cost of piped water connection, poor coordination, and participation of stakeholders, repairing of old and broken pipes. As a result, nearly half of the dwellers prefer to use alternative sources, exposing them to the risks of water-born diseases

Comprehensive assessment of groundwater quality in the Prayagraj District, Ganga Basin.

Urbanization has severely impacted the world water resources especially the shallow groundwater systems. There is a need of a robust method for quantifying the water quality degradation, which is still a challenge for most of the urban centers across the world. In this study, a highly urbanized region of Ganga basin is selected to critically evaluate commonly used WQIs and compare with fuzzy modeling. A total of 28 water samples were collected from diverse sources (surface and groundwaters) in the vicinity of urban region covering an area of 216 km2 during the premonsoon period. TDS, TH, NO3-, and F- values were found to be above the permissible limits in 57%, 89%, 4%, and 7% samples, respectively. The WQIs (entropy and integrated) outputs were found to be similar with 89% of the samples falling under moderate category. Fuzzy modeling was carried out allowing user-defined weighting factors for the most influential ions, and the output suggested 96% of the samples falling under moderate to excellent categories. Based on the chemical results and considering the lithology of the study area, the geochemical reactions controlling the water quality were deduced. This study outlines a systematic approach of evaluating the overall water quality of an urban region highlighting the merits and limitations ofWQIs. It also justifies the immediate need to generate more robust data to achieve the sustainable development goals 6 (clean water and sanitation) and 11 (sustainability of cities and human settlement).

Global warming effect on world water cycle and suitability (review)

Global warming effect on world water cycle and suitability (review)

3D macroporous MXene/sodium alginate aerogels with “brick-concrete” structures for highly efficient solar-driven water purification

Interfacial water evaporation, powered by solar energy, holds great promise to extract freshwater from seawater on a global scale. It has the potential to address the world's water scarcity challenges using renewable energy. While the ideal design of evaporator materials is critical to the interfacial vaporization desalination, tailoring the structures and compositions of solar evaporators and figuring out the structure/composition-performance relationship of evaporators remains unexplored. Herein, 3D macroporous “brick-concrete” MXene/sodium alginate aerogel (MSA) evaporators were designed and fabricated with constant MXene content and varying polymer loading. The as-made MSAs show sodium alginate-dependent evaporating performance with an optimum evaporation rate of 3.28 kg m−2 h−1 (1 sun). This exceptional rate is attributed to several factors, including enhanced light absorption, optimized pore sizes, reduced enthalpy of evaporation and improved water transport. The water molecule states and hydrogen bonding network in the aerogels can be tuned by their compositions, resulting in the reduced evaporation enthalpy, the monolithic structures with controlled thermal conductivity facilitate the exploitation of environmental energy, leading to the high evaporation rate. Our study not only establishes design principles for achieving superior evaporation performance, but also sheds light on the relationship between structures, compositions, and performance of solar evaporators.

An Atmospheric Water-Harvester with Ultrahigh Uptake-Release Efficiency at Low Humidity.

Atmospheric water harvesting is a practical strategy that is achieved by removing materials from air moisture to relieve global water scarcity. Here we design a water-harvester (i.e., MOF-303/thiolated polymer composite (MTC)) by using a metal-organic framework (MOF-303) and thiolated chitosan (TC) skeleton. Intermolecular hydrogen bonding between TC and MOF-303 facilitates porous structures with enlarged air-polymer interfaces for long cycling life and high capacity at low relative humidity. Benefiting from synergetic effects on porosity and anchorage for accelerating the uptake-release of moisture, MTC exhibits a rapid water uptake capacity of 0.135 g/g in 60 min under 12.5 RH% and ultrafast water desorption kinetics of 0.003 g/g/min at 8.5 RH%, which is superior to the as-reported MOF-303 based adsorbents. At low heat (∼40 °C), the water desorption and collection rate, respectively, are 0.0195 and 0.0168 g/g/min within 210 min, showing ultrahigh harvesting efficiency. These results highlight the enormous potential as promising materials for solving the world's water scarcity crisis. This study offers an insight into the design of AWH materials, which can be extended into applications in some realms, e.g., freshwater development for industry in arid areas, water engineering-related devices and systems, etc.

Why tools are as important as results and what to do about it

Highlights Addressing complex problems requires concepts, methods, processes and other tools that are still evolving and not yet firmly embedded in research practice. A new discipline—Integration and Implementation Sciences (i2S)—provides a framework to connect existing fields of scholarship, as well as the efforts of individual research teams, to support better application of these tools. World Water Policy Journal could provide an outlet for publishing the detailed concepts, methods and other tools that its researchers develop and use. Integration and Implementation Insights (i2Insights) blog and repository could further disseminate those tools. This would have benefits for building researcher expertise and advancing the effectiveness of tackling water policy and practice challenges.

CONCEPTS RELATED TO WATER IN WORLD CULTURES

CONCEPTS RELATED TO WATER IN WORLD CULTURES

Valuing Water in a Changing World

This piece highlights the historic hydrological development of the American Southwest by highlighting the rapid growth of water infrastructure, present and future struggles with drought and climate change, and proactive adaptation in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

10 years of World Water Policy Journal: The past, present and future

10 years of <i>World Water Policy Journal</i>: The past, present and future

A community-scale study on nature-based solutions (NBS) for stormwater management under tropical climate: The case of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand

ABSTRACT Rapid urbanization and population growth are placing more demands on the world's natural water resources. New infrastructures are increasing the degree of surface sealing as well as the tendency for urban flooding and water quality degradation. These problems can be counteracted by nature-based solutions (NBS) for urban drainage in developed countries mostly having a temperate climate. Hence, there is a need to develop similar sustainable measures for tropical regions as currently there are no guidelines available. In this study, the multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach was utilized to identify the best site for NBS in the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok, Thailand. Then, Personnel Computer Storm Water Management Model (PCSWMM) software was used to develop a numerical model. It was found that the MCDA approach is appropriate to determine the best site for NBS implementation considering different aspects including economic, environmental, and technical ones. The results strongly suggested that Site-1 is a suitable alternative to implement NBS in the AIT campus. It was found that a bioretention system can reduce runoff volume by at least 14% and pollutants by at least 14–20%. The present study will provide a guideline for site selection and development of the NBS model for urban water management in a tropical climate.

IoT-Enabled Embedded Virtual Sensor for Energy-Efficient Scalable Online Water Quality Monitoring System

Pollutants introduced into water sources by industries and individuals have made it difficult to obtain enough clean drinking water in the modern world. This calls for a mechanism that periodically assesses the water's quality. There are portable instruments available to measure the factors impacting water quality. But the user needs solutions that are inexpensive, automated, reliable, and responsive. For monitoring of large water bodies, a low-cost, scalable, edge processing system in real-time is created to satisfy the current needs. It is designed using a Raspberry Pi, a display unit, and standard sensors for variables including temperature, ORP, pH, conductivity, and DO. Edge intelligence along with tiny ML is used to deploy the virtual sensor for estimation of the degree of pollution in water which otherwise requires a costly and tedious process. With an edge reaction time of 2.70ns and a notable Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient of 0.99 for BOD and COD estimation in water, this model is created utilizing the randomized tree classification. With the use of a power-efficient algorithm, the 8.4w system energy consumption of the created prototype allows it to operate on AC and solar power and can be effective in difficult climatic conditions.

Owner Replenishes: Enabling Youth Participation for Ground Water Conservation in Peri Urban Nashik

UN World Water Development Report 2022 ‘Groundwater: making invisible visible’ - has pointed out that the major source of freshwater is groundwater. Groundwater conservation and replenishment have taken the forefront in view of the water crisis faced by the world. Groundwater management is action-oriented, focusing on practical implementation activities and day-to-day operations. It occurs more often at the micro- and meso-level. The urban area has the privileges of an established public water supply system, the suburbs and periurban areas are almost entirely groundwater dependent. The surface water runoff is mostly wasted and drained into the nalla/ river in these areas. Peri Urban zone of Nashik includes 177 institutional campuses (schools and colleges). These campuses can be developed as role models and act as leaders for water conservation methods and groundwater recharge for the neighbouring rural zone. This research is based on a methodology that involves three-pronged approaches, which consist of a) Identifying the potential of educational campuses in the peri-urban zone, b) educating the school students about the water and its conservation techniques as primary stakeholders of the future and c) creating platform at the school level to interact with the villagers in the vicinity to create the actual impact of the replenishment. This approach ensures active participation of the stakeholders (campus management, admin, student community) in periurban areas for groundwater recharge. Thus sensitising the student community as the primary stakeholder ensures the bottoms up approach for sustainable urban development. This transdisciplinary approach of engaging the students with the community drives two fold benefits - one, of committed habit formation in them &amp; second, of becoming a leader &amp; a resource person for future green development of the area The discussions on groundwater conservation in this paper point out to the need to coin principle of “Owner Replenishes”- for water conservation on the lines of “Polluter Pays”.

Managing Water, the Mother of Resources: Thoughts on World Water Day 2024

Managing Water, the Mother of Resources: Thoughts on World Water Day 2024

EFFECT OF GLOBAL WARMING ON SUSTAINABLE LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION IN THE SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

The greenhouse gas emissions from Animal production related activities has turn out to be an important cause of global warming. This can be attributed to the continent-wide massive burdens arising from the switch in food consumption pattern. Anthropogenic activitiesrelated to livestock production contribute 37% of methane (CH4) emission, 9% of carbon dioxide (CO2) output and utilize 8% of the world water. An estimated aggregate of 7.1 billion tonnes of CO2 are generated by the feed and livestock industries. The effect of global warming is presently being experienced such as unstable rainfall pattern, drought, extended walk in search of pasture and water, coupled with significant impact on livestock productivity (rate of weight gainand milk production potentials).The potential of Sub-Saharan Africa to achieve sustainable animal production is being threatened by global warming, it is. therefore necessary to leverage on the use of livestock breed that combine the heat tolerance of the local stock with the high milk yield of the exotic breed (crossbreeding) to produce an improved breed of livestock. Ameliorative strategies such as strategic supplementation of diets, matching genetics to specific systems and management of manure with potential to improve productivity of livestock should be included into livestock production systems in the Sub-Sahara Africa. The use of Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques will also assist to acquire ideal results on susceptibility of smallholder farmers. Finally, there is the need for shift in policy to promote the livelihood of indigenous livestock farmers under favourable environmental conditions.