MinION Nanopore Sequencing Accelerates Progress towards Ubiquitous Genetics in Water Research
Contrasting Management and Fates of Two Sister Lakes: Great Salt Lake (USA) and Lake Urmia (Iran)
Microplastic Distribution through the Salinity Gradient in a Stratified Estuary

Journal Description

Water

Water is a peer-reviewed, open access journal on water science and technology, including the ecology and management of water resources, and is published semimonthly online by MDPI. Water collaborates with the International Conference on Flood Management (ICFM) and Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). In addition, the American Institute of Hydrology (AIH), The Polish Limnological Society (PLS) and Japanese Society of Physical Hydrology (JSPH) are affiliated with Water and their members receive a discount on the article processing charges.

Open Access— free for readers, with article processing charges (APC) paid by authors or their institutions.
High Visibility: indexed within Scopus, SCIE (Web of Science), Ei Compendex, GEOBASE, GeoRef, PubAg, AGRIS, CAPlus / SciFinder, Inspec, and other databases.
Journal Rank: JCR - Q2 (Water Resources) / CiteScore - Q1 (Water Science and Technology)
Rapid Publication: manuscripts are peer-reviewed and a first decision provided to authors approximately 17.8 days after submission; acceptance to publication is undertaken in 2.8 days (median values for papers published in this journal in the first half of 2022).
Recognition of Reviewers: reviewers who provide timely, thorough peer-review reports receive vouchers entitling them to a discount on the APC of their next publication in any MDPI journal, in appreciation of the work done.
Companion journals for Water include: GeoHazards and Hydrobiology.

Impact Factor: 3.530 (2021); 5-Year Impact Factor: 3.628 (2021)

Imprint Information Journal Flyer Open Access ISSN: 2073-4441

Latest Articles

Open AccessArticle

Impact on Potable Water Consumption Due to Massive Migrations: The Case of Bogotá, Colombia

Nestor Ortiz

Laura González

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Juan Saldarriaga

Water 2022, 14(24), 3987; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14243987 (registering DOI) - 07 Dec 2022

Abstract

One of the most important aspects for the regulation of a water distribution system in a city is the accurate projection of the population to be supplied. Accordingly, it is necessary to know the social, cultural, and economic characteristics of the inhabitants, as well as the industrial, commercial, tourist and migratory dynamics to understand a city’s future development. Generally, population growth is continuous and usually follows a trend that makes it possible to extrapolate the future population, thus predicting the demand for drinking water based on per capita supply. However, forced migrations challenge this assumption. The present work aims to collect and analyze information related to Venezuelan migration, in the southern zone of Bogotá, Colombia. First of all, in this project, the demographic characteristics of the migrant population are defined, and the different sources of information collected during the study are used to estimate the total number of migrants in Bogotá. Then, new methodologies for tracking people using social media data connections, geolocation from active connections, and emerging platforms are shown. This is followed by an explanation of two approaches used to estimate the number of migrants from 2014 to 2020 in the boroughs of: Kennedy, Bosa, Tunjuelito, Usme, Ciudad Bolivar and the municipality of Soacha. Finally, using mathematical and statistical approximations, the study shows that the increases in water consumption in the city coincides with the flow rates needed to supply the migrant population. The results indicate that during the first half of 2021 the flow demanded by the migrant population in the studied localities was around 8 Mgal/d (350 L/s), which is 35.1% of the total flow demanded by the entire migrant population in Bogotá. The migrant water consumption was between 4.8% and 6.1% of the total demand for the city. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Urban Water Management)

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Graphical abstract

Open AccessArticle

Real-Time Groundwater Dynamics Verification in the Embankment’s Substrate during the Transition of a Flood Wave

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Water 2022, 14(24), 3986; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14243986 (registering DOI) - 07 Dec 2022

Abstract

The scope of the presented research included real-time verification of groundwater dynamics in the zone of the filled erosion channel (crevasses) and in the non-transformed zone of the floodplain area during the transition of a flood wave in the river channel. The technical goal was to provide data for the calibration and verification of mathematical model of groundwater flow. For this purpose, automatic recorders of groundwater level and electrical conductivity were installed in the zones selected earlier with the use of DEM. The measurements were carried out in 3 series during the passage of the flood wave. The obtained results indicate that in the zone of the untransformed terrace, the ascension of the water level between embankments causes the immediate propagation of pressure in the aquifer, while the filtration process itself is considerably limited, whereas the filled crevasse troughs constitute paths of privileged filtration, in particular in the proximal part of the floodplain. The appearance of water with elevated conductivity in the area of the crevasse proves the cyclicality of changes in flow directions, depending on the water level between embankments. The proposed methodology can be a valuable tool in the process of the geotechnical assessment of the construction substrate in the area of flood terraces in the lowland river. The zones with increased water conductivity parameters located near the river channel are also a reasonable place for the construction of coastal water intakes of the Riverbank filtration (RBF) type. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Hydrogeology)

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Open AccessEditorial

Computational Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics

Ahmad Shakibaeinia

and

Amir Reza Zarrati

Water 2022, 14(24), 3985; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14243985 (registering DOI) - 07 Dec 2022

Abstract

Rapid advances in computational power and numerical techniques in recent years have provided us with the opportunity to solve challenging problems in many science and engineering fields [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics)

Open AccessArticle

Flood Damage on Dairy Farms: A What-If Analysis to Assess Economic Losses

Anna Gaviglio

Maria Elena Marescotti

Eugenio Demartini

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Annafrancesca Corradini

Water 2022, 14(24), 3984; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14243984 (registering DOI) - 07 Dec 2022

Abstract

Although the impact of floods on the agricultural sector is relevant, with potential consequences on food security, in the new EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) proposal, agricultural risk management tools have been reinforced and extended. As far as we know, guidelines for the estimation of insurance indemnities related to flooding damage in the European livestock sector have not been proposed yet, unlike what has occurred in extra-European contexts. The present research proposes a model to identify the components of flood damage on dairy farms aimed at categorizing the cost typologies related to flood events by implementing a what-if approach. Our results highlight that collecting data about the vulnerability of a farm is an essential condition to assess the severity of damage from an economic perspective. In fact, even if some of the variables considered cause large economic losses per se, others are mainly related to poor management of issues related to the health of the herd (i.e., mastitis, lameness, other diseases). Such issues can be exacerbated by floods. Herd management, which includes comprehensive data collection, is essential for the calculation of economic losses in a single farm case and is also indispensable for the calculation of indemnity for the recovery of farming activities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances and Challenges in Flood Map Development and Its Applications)

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Open AccessArticle

The Role of Habitat Protection in Maintaining the Diversity of Aquatic Fauna in Rural and Industrial Areas

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Water 2022, 14(23), 3983; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233983 (registering DOI) - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

In Natural Landscape Complexes and Ecological Sites, local environmental protection is used to cover previous industrial activities, fragments of the cultural landscape, and habitats of both vertebrates and invertebrates. In water bodies within the different types of habitat protection, aquatic invertebrate fauna was studied to investigate whether it is a general rule that different forms of protection ensure the diversity of aquatic invertebrates in rural and industrial areas. The research revealed differences between invertebrate assemblages within complexes and between reservoirs. Compared with unprotected reservoirs located in the same area, in the majority of the studied water bodies, either no alien species were found or their relative abundance in assemblages was very low. Significant differences in the density, the number of taxa, the diversity, and the percentage of alien species were observed between different geographical locations. The location of water bodies within the protected area plays an important role in maintaining benthos diversity in industrial areas. These findings are useful for comparison with those of future research to document possible improvements or ongoing ecological regression in the quality of aquatic ecosystems in industrial areas. This study can help guide revisions of protected habitat networks for adequate protection of freshwater biodiversity in industrial areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Environmental Changes and Human Activity on Aquatic Ecological Diversity)

Open AccessArticle

Analytical Method for Groundwater Seepage through and Beneath a Fully Penetrating Cut-off Wall Considering Effects of Wall Permeability and Thickness

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Water 2022, 14(23), 3982; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233982 (registering DOI) - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

A fully penetrating cut-off wall is a vertical seepage barrier that fully penetrates an aquifer and is embedded in an underlying aquitard to a certain depth. Groundwater seepage with this type of wall occurs through three paths: leakage through the body of the wall in the aquifer, leakage through the body of the wall embedded in the aquitard, and seepage under the wall. Seepage through the first path can be simply treated as one-dimensional flow. However, due to the mutual influence of seepage through the latter two paths, the seepage problem is complicated and still needs to be studied. An analytical method is proposed to solve this problem in this study. Mathematic expressions for flow rate and head value are obtained by superposition of drawdowns of two exact models, namely, the model with only leakage through the wall body and the model with only seepage under the wall, respectively. Exact solutions are quoted or derived for the exact models, but they involve Legendre’s elliptic integrals of the first and third kinds. To facilitate an engineering application, approximate models of the exact models are introduced and their solutions are applied to the analytical formulas. The accuracy and applicability of the proposed method are verified compared with the numerical method. The proposed method provides a simple but effective method for quickly estimating the quantity of seepage in the aquitard (including leakage through the wall body and seepage under the wall) when simultaneously considering the effects of wall permeability and thickness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flow and Transport Processes in Groundwater Systems)

Open AccessArticle

Assessment and Spatiotemporal Variability of Heavy Metals Pollution in Water and Sediments of a Coastal Landscape at the Nile Delta

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Water 2022, 14(23), 3981; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233981 (registering DOI) - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

This study assessed the spatiotemporal variability and pollution grades of heavy metals in water and sediments of Bahr El-Baqar drain, Eastern Nile Delta, Egypt, by integration of geochemical analysis, metal pollution indices, correlation, and multivariate statistical analyses. Twenty samples of water and sediments were collected during 2018 and analyzed for heavy metal concentrations using ICP-OES. Heavy metal contents in the water samples followed the order: Fe > Zn > Al > Pb > Mn > Cu > Ni. The drain sediments were highly contaminated with heavy metals that followed the order: Fe ˃ Al ˃ Mn ˃ V ˃ Zn ˃ Cu > Cr ˃ Ba > Ni ˃ Pb ˃ As. Spatiotemporally, most metals in the drain sediments showed a decreasing trend from upstream (south) to downstream sites (north). Results of principal component analysis (PCA) supported those from the Pearson correlation between investigated heavy metals. In water, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, Cu, and Fe showed highly significant correlations. In sediments, Ba, Ni, Zn, Fe, Al, Mn, and V showed strong positive correlations indicating that these metals were derived from similar anthropogenic sources. The calculated metal pollution indices: enrichment factor (EF), contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), degree of contamination (DC), and index of geo-accumulation (I_geo) indicated high loadings of heavy metals in the drain sediments. EFs revealed low, moderate to significant enrichment, whereas CFs showed low, moderate, and considerable contamination. PLI indicated low, baseline, and progressive contamination, while DC indicated low, moderate, and considerable degree of contamination. I_geo of all investigated metals (except for As; class 1) indicated extremely contaminated sediments (class 7). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Determination of Trace Metals, Metalloids and Organic Pollutants in Water Samples)

Open AccessReview

Bioremediation Treatment of Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons for Environmental Sustainability

Marjan Salari

Vahid Rahmanian

Seyyed Alireza Hashemi

Wei-Hung Chiang

Chin Wei Lai

Seyyed Mojtaba Mousavi

and

Ahmad Gholami

Water 2022, 14(23), 3980; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233980 (registering DOI) - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) distributed in air and soil are harmful because of their carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and teratogenicity. Biodegradation is an environmentally friendly and economical approach to control these types of contaminants and has become an essential method for remediating environments contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. The bacteria are isolated and identified using a mineral nutrient medium containing PAHs as the sole source of carbon and energy and biochemical differential tests. Thus, this study focuses on some bacteria and fungi that degrade oil and hydrocarbons. This study provides a comprehensive, up-to-date, and efficient overview of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminant bioremediation considering hydrocarbon modification by microorganisms, emphasizing the new knowledge gained in recent years. The study shows that petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants are acceptably biodegradable by some microorganisms, and their removal by this method is cost-effective. Moreover, microbial biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants utilizes the enzymatic catalytic activities of microorganisms and increases the degradation of pollutants several times compared to conventional methods. Biological treatment is carried out in two ways: microbial stimulation and microbial propagation. In the first method, the growth of indigenous microorganisms in the area increases, and the pollution is eliminated. In the second method, on the other hand, there are no effective microorganisms in the area, so these microorganisms are added to the environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heterogeneous Catalytic Processes and Advanced Nanostructures for Remediation of Contaminated Water)

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Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Watershed-Scale Shallow Groundwater Anthropogenic Nitrate Source, Loading, and Contamination Assessment in a Typical Wheat Production Region: Case Study in Yiluo River Watershed, Middle of China

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Water 2022, 14(23), 3979; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233979 (registering DOI) - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

Nitrate pollution in groundwater has become a global concern for agriculture and regional ecology. However, tracing the spatiotemporal groundwater nitrate pollution sources, calculating the total nitrogen loading, and assessing contamination at the watershed scale have not been well documented. In this study, 20 groundwater samplings from 2020 to 2021 (in dry and wet seasons) on the Yiluo River watershed in middle China were collected. Tracing groundwater nitrate pollution sources, calculating total nitrogen loading, and assessing contamination using dual isotopes (18ONO3 and 15NNO3), conservation of mass, and the nitrate pollution index (NPI), respectively. The results indicated that there were three nitrate sources in groundwater: (1) manure and sewage waste input (MSWI), (2) sediment nitrogen input (SNI), and (3) agriculture chemical fertilizer input (ACFI) in the Yiluo River watershed. ACFI and SNI were the main groundwater nitrogen pollution sources. The average nitrogen loading percentages of ACFI, SNI, and MSWI in the whole watershed were 94.7%, 4.34%, and 0.96%, respectively. The total nitrogen loading in the Yiluo River watershed was 7,256,835.99 kg/year, 4,084,870.09 kg/year in downstream areas, 2,121,938.93 kg/year in midstream areas, and 1,050,026.95 kg/year in upstream areas. Sixty percent of groundwater in the Yiluo River watershed has been polluted by nitrate. Nitrate pollution in midstream areas is more severe. Nitrite pollution was more serious in the wet season than in the dry season. The results of this study can provide useful information for watershed-scale groundwater nitrogen pollution control and treatment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Progress of Groundwater Quantity, Quality and Pollution That Applied Groundwater Modeling Techniques)

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Open AccessArticle

A Monthly Hydropower Scheduling Model of Cascaded Reservoirs with the Zoutendijk Method

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Water 2022, 14(23), 3978; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233978 (registering DOI) - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

A monthly hydropower scheduling determines the monthly flows, storage, and power generation of each reservoir/hydropower plant over a planning horizon to maximize the total revenue or minimize the total operational cost. The problem is typically a complex and nonlinear optimization that involves equality and inequality constraints including the water balance, hydraulic coupling between cascaded hydropower plants, bounds on the reservoir storage, etc. This work applied the Zoutendijk algorithm for the first time to a medium/long-term hydropower scheduling of cascaded reservoirs, where the generating discharge capacity is handled with an iterative procedure, while the other head-related nonlinear constraints are represented with exponential functions fitting to discrete points. The procedure starts at an initial feasible solution, from which it finds a feasible improving direction, along which a better feasible solution is sought with a one-dimensional search. The results demonstrate that the Zoutendijk algorithm, when applied to six cascaded hydropower reservoirs on the Lancang River, worked very well in maximizing the hydropower production while ensuring the highest firm power output to be secured. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Hydraulics and Hydrodynamics)

Open AccessArticle

Effective Removal of Biogenic Substances Using Natural Treatment Systems for Wastewater for Safer Water Reuse

Wojciech Halicki

and

Michał Halicki

Water 2022, 14(23), 3977; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233977 (registering DOI) - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

Natural Treatment Systems for Wastewater (NTSW) show great potential for economic, socially acceptable and environmentally friendly wastewater treatment, along with the renewal of water for its safe reuse. This article presents the reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus compounds in domestic wastewater, which was achieved in a 2.5-year operation of the newly developed NTSW. The presented installation was developed by the Institute of Applied Ecology in Skórzyn (Poland) and implemented as a pilot plant serving the institute building with three permanent residents and up to five employees. The installation consisted of two parts, responsible for: wastewater treatment (septic tank and compost beds) and water renewal (denitrification beds, phosphorus beds and activated carbon beds). The mean values of nitrogen and phosphorus compound concentrations obtained in the renewed water for the entire research period were: 0.8, 49.4, 12 and 3.1 mg/L for ammonium nitrogen (NH₄), nitrates (NO₃), total nitrogen and phosphates (PO₄), respectively. Thus, average reductions of 99.6%, 90.9% and 94.4% were obtained for NH₄, total nitrogen and PO₄, respectively. Treatment of domestic sewage to such a level, similar to drinking water, enables versatile, safe water reuse, which in the situation of increasingly limited water resources will constitute increasing ecological and economic value. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Transition of Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants into Facilities for Resources and Energy Production: Solutions and Innovation)

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Open AccessArticle

Plain Stilling Basin Performance below 30° and 50° Inclined Smooth and Stepped Chutes

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Water 2022, 14(23), 3976; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233976 (registering DOI) - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

Energy dissipators, such as stilling basins, are usually required at the toe of stepped chutes to achieve adequate and safe operation of the spillway. Stepped chute hydraulics has been extensively studied in last several decades, however, only limited knowledge is available on the stilling basin performance below stepped chutes. In particular, the effect of the chute slope remains unknown, despite being a central design issue. Therefore, an experimental campaign was performed using a 30° or 50° inclined smooth or stepped chute with an adjacent conventional plain stilling basin. The experimental results indicated that, within the stilling basin, the surface characteristics and the roller as well as hydraulic jump lengths are practically independent of the chute slope. This further strengthens the previous findings that stepped chutes require 17% longer dimensionless jump lengths and consequently stilling basin lengths. The experimental results also confirmed that stepped chutes generated increased extreme and fluctuating bottom pressure characteristics at the stilling basin entrance area. With increasing chute slope, the latter were found to significantly magnify. However, such increased magnitudes were not expected to provoke cavitation damage as stepped chute inflows induced bottom aeration at the basin entrance, irrespective of the chute slope. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Spillway Hydraulics: From Theory to Practice)

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Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Bioponics as a Promising Approach to Sustainable Agriculture: A Review of the Main Methods for Producing Organic Nutrient Solution for Hydroponics

Iris Szekely

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M. Haïssam Jijakli

Water 2022, 14(23), 3975; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233975 (registering DOI) - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

Hydroponics is a soilless cultivation technique in which plants are grown in a nutrient solution typically made from mineral fertilizers. This alternative to soil farming can be advantageous in terms of nutrient and water use efficiency, plant pest management, and space use. However, developing methods to produce nutrient solutions based on local organic materials is crucial to include hydroponics within a perspective of sustainability. They would also allow hydroponics to be developed in any context, even in remote areas or regions that do not have access to commercial fertilizers. This emerging organic form of hydroponics, which can be qualified as “bioponics”, typically recycles organic waste into a nutrient-rich solution that can be used for plant growth. Many methods have been developed and tested in the past three decades, leading to greatly heterogenous results in terms of plant yield and quality. This review describes the main organic materials used to produce nutrient solutions and characterizes and categorizes the different types of methods. Four main categories emerged: a “tea”-type method, an aerobic microbial degradation method, an anaerobic digestion method, and a combined anaerobic-aerobic degradation method. The advantages and drawbacks of each technique are discussed, as well as potential lines of improvement. This aims at better understanding the links between agronomic results and the main biochemical processes involved during the production, as well as discussing the most suitable method for certain plants and/or contexts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Hydroponics and Aquaponics for Urban Agriculture)

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Open AccessArticle

Exploration and Optimisation of High-Salt Wastewater Defluorination Process

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Water 2022, 14(23), 3974; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233974 (registering DOI) - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

The typical lime precipitation method is used to treat high-concentration fluorine-containing wastewater. In this way, the fluorine in the wastewater can be removed in the form of CaF₂. Thus, this method has a good fluoride removal effect. In this study, calcium hydroxide was used to adjust the pH and achieve a significant fluoride removal effect at the same time. The removal rate of fluoride ion decreases gradually with the increase in the concentration of sulphate in the raw water. When the synergistic defluorination cannot meet the requirements of water production, adding a step of aluminium salt flocculation and precipitation can further reduce the fluoride ion concentration. According to the feasibility of the actual project, this study improves the lime coagulation precipitation defluorination process on this basis, and the combined process is synchronised. In the process optimisation, barium chloride is added to remove the influence of sulphate radicals in the water, and then, the pH is adjusted to 5–6. The fluoride ion concentration in high-salt wastewater can be reduced from 446.6 mg/L to 35.4 mg/L by defluorination after pre-treatment whose removal rate was 92.1%. The combined process synchronously removes fluorine and purifies the water quality to a certain extent. Indicators such as COD, total phosphorus, ammonia nitrogen, and chloride ions in wastewater are reduced, and the removal rate is increased by 35.5% under the same conditions. This scheme improves the wastewater treatment effect without increasing the existing treatment equipment. Thus, it achieves a better defluorination effect and reduces the dosage of chemicals as much as possible, which is conducive to lowering the discharge of sludge after treatment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water-Sludge-Nexus)

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Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Optimization of Water Network Topology and Pipe Sizing to Aid Water Utilities in Deciding on a Design Philosophy: A Real Case Study in Belgium

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Water 2022, 14(23), 3973; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233973 (registering DOI) - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

Numerical optimization is gradually finding its way into drinking water practice. For successful introduction of optimization into the sector, it is important that researchers and utility experts work together on the problem formulation with the water utility experts. Water utilities heed the solutions provided by optimization techniques only when the underlying approach and performance criteria match their specific goals. In this contribution, we demonstrate the application of numerical optimization on a real-life problem. The Belgian utility De Watergroep is looking to not only reinforce its distribution networks but to also structurally modify the network’s topology to enhance the quality of water delivered in the future. To help the utility explore the possibilities of these far-reaching changes in the most flexible way possible, an optimization problem was formulated to optimize topology and pipe sizing simultaneously for the distribution network of a Belgian city. The objective of the problem is to minimize the volume of the looped network and thereby work towards a situation where most of the customers are fed by branched extremities of the network. This objective is constrained by pressure and fire flow requirements and thresholds on the number of customers on the branched sections. The requirements for continuity of supply under failure scenarios are guaranteed by these constraints, as verified in the final solution. The results of the optimization process show that it is possible to design a network which is 18.5% cheaper than the currently existing network. Moreover, it turns out the—previously completely meshed—topology can be restructured so that 67% of the network length is turned into branched clusters, with a meshed superstructure of 33% of the length remaining. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimization Studies for Water Distribution Systems)

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Open AccessReview

Sustainable Use of Nano-Assisted Remediation for Mitigation of Heavy Metals and Mine Spills

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Water 2022, 14(23), 3972; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233972 (registering DOI) - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

Increasing globalization in the last two decades has transformed the environment; hence, the demand for sustainable remediation approaches has also recorded an increasing trend. The varied sources of soil pollution include the application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, industrial discharge, and transformed products of these accumulated chemical residues. These processes may hamper the composition and soil ecosystem. Different types of methodologies ranging from physical, chemical, and biological approaches have been exploited to tackle of this challenge. The last decade has observed a significant application of nanotechnology for the treatment and removal of contaminants. Nanomaterial (NMs) research has contributed to a new dimension for the remediation of polluted soils. The use of engineered NMs has not only carried out the remediation of contaminated sites but also has proven useful in combatting the release of soil pollutants. They have paved the way for eco-friendly approaches for the detection of pollutants along with the restoration of polluted sites to their nascent stages, which will also help in increasing soil fertility. Nano-enabled remediation mechanisms require extensive field and target-specific research to deliver the required output. This review focused on recent trends, emphasized the areas for further improvement, and intended to understand the requirement of an interdisciplinary approach to utilize nanotechnology for multitasking remediation approaches comprising different contaminants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue An Innovative Approach to Cleaning Up Organic and Inorganic Contaminations from Soil and Water)

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Open AccessArticle

Compatibility between Continental Shelf Deposits and Sediments of Adjacent Beaches along Western Sardinia (Mediterranean Sea)

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Water 2022, 14(23), 3971; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233971 (registering DOI) - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

The compatibility of sediments in terms of grain size, composition and colour among beaches and strategic sediment deposits (SSD) along Western Sardinia (Western Mediterranean Sea) were assessed to explore management strategy in the protection and adaptation to counteract the beach erosion and the effect of sea level rise along sandy shores. Twelve beaches, mainly conditioned by geological control, due to the presence of extensive rocky outcrops in the sea, enclosed in seven sedimentary cells (defined by the continuity of sediment transport pathways and by identification of boundaries where there are discontinuities), were characterised in terms of sediment composition and grain size. One hundred ninety-three beach sediments and one hundred sediments from SSDs were collected and analysed for sediment grain size, carbonate content and sediment colour. The beach sediments are composed by gravel to fine sands (D₅₀: from 81 µm to 4986 µm) with siliciclastic and biogenic carbonate sediments mixed in different proportions (0–100% in CaCO₃). The SSDs sediments are gravels to medium-fine sand (D₅₀: from 96 µm to 1769 µm) composed by biogenic carbonate sands mixed with siliciclastic grains (0–100% in CaCO₃). To be able to evaluate the compatibility between the beaches and SSDs, a multivariate statistical procedure was applied to grain size dataset. Our results show that 8 beaches have strategic deposits of compatible grain size and composition, whereas only 2 beaches have compatible strategic deposits of both grain size and colour. This may be related to the different sediment sources and depositional processes of sediment along the coastal cells and the continental shelf. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coastal Systems Research: Environments, Geomorphology and Sedimentary Processes)

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Open AccessArticle

Hydrometeorological Forecast of a Typical Watershed in an Arid Area Using Ensemble Kalman Filter

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Water 2022, 14(23), 3970; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233970 (registering DOI) - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

The stationarity test and systematic prediction of hydrometeorological parameters are becoming increasingly important in water resources management. Based on the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) and wavelet analysis, this study selects precipitation, evaporation, temperature, and runoff as model variables, builds a model, tests and analyzes the stationarity of the hydrometeorological parameters of the Manas River, and forecasts the selected parameters for two years. The results of the study show that during the 2000–2020 study period, precipitation in the Manas River Basin on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains shows a significant downward trend from 2016 to 2020, with an annual average decline rate of 23.30 mm/a over five years. The proportion of runoff during the flood season also increases, with the statistical probability of an extremely low value of runoff increasing by 37.62% on average. After using wavelet decomposition to provide input to EnKF, the NSE of the model for the prediction of precipitation, evaporation, temperature, and runoff reached 0.86, 0.89, 0.96, and 0.9 respectively. At the same time, the K-S value increases from 0.28 to 0.40, which means that the wavelet analysis technique has great potential as a preprocessing of the Ensemble Kalman filter. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrological Modelling and Hydrometeorological Extreme Prediction)

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Open AccessArticle

Seasonal and Spatial Variations of Dissolved Organic Matter Biodegradation along the Aquatic Continuum in the Southern Taiga Bog Complex, Western Siberia

Tatiana V. Raudina

Sergei V. Smirnov

Inna V. Lushchaeva

Georgyi I. Istigechev

Sergey P. Kulizhskiy

Evgeniya A. Golovatskaya

Liudmila S. Shirokova

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Oleg S. Pokrovsky

Water 2022, 14(23), 3969; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233969 (registering DOI) - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

The inland aquatic ecosystems play a significant role in the global carbon cycle, owing to the metabolism of terrestrially derived organic matter as it moves through fluvial networks along the water continuum. During this transport, dissolved organic matter (DOM) is microbial processed and released into the atmosphere, but the degree and intensity of this processing vary greatly both spatially and temporally. The Western Siberian Lowlands is of particular interest for a quantitative assessment of DOM biodegradation potential because the global areal-scale effects of DOM biodegradation in abundant surface organic-rich waters might be the highest in this region. To this end, we collected water samples along a typical aquatic continuum of the Bakchar Bog (the north-eastern part of the Great Vasyugan Mire) and, following standardized protocol, conducted an experimental study aimed at characterizing the seasonal and spatial variability of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) biodegradability. The biodegradable DOC fraction (BDOC) over the exposure incubation period ranged from 2% to 25%. The natural aquatic continuum “mire–forest–stream–river” demonstrated the systematic evolution of biodegradable DOC among the sites and across the seasons. The highest biodegradation rates were measured during spring flood in May and decreased along the continuum. The maximum possible CO₂ production from DOM yielded the maximum possible flux in the range of 0.1 and 0.2 g C-CO₂ m⁻² day⁻¹ d, which is an order of magnitude lower than the actual net CO₂ emissions from the inland waters of the WSL. This study suggests that although the biodegradation of the humic waters of the WSL can sizably modify the concentration and nature of the DOM along the aquatic continuum, it plays only a subordinary role in overall C emissions from the lakes and rivers of the region. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue C, Nutrients and Trace Elements in Northern Lake Ecosystems: The Impact of Anthropogenic Load and Climate Change)

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Aquatic Microplastic Pollution Control Strategies: Sustainable Degradation Techniques, Resource Recovery, and Recommendations for Bangladesh

and

Water 2022, 14(23), 3968; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233968 - 06 Dec 2022

Abstract

Microplastics’ dangers and the absence of effective regulation technologies have risen to prominence as a worldwide issue in recent years. South Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, are among the most threatened nations to face the drastic consequence of releasing microplastics into the aquatic environment. The research on managing and degrading microplastics is ongoing, however, sustainable techniques have not yet been found. To create a green and efficient microplastic management plan, we have compiled all the information on the existing removal and degradation techniques for microplastics and provided an overview of all the noteworthy methods that can be implemented in Bangladesh. In the portrayed biotic and abiotic techniques, coagulation and photocatalysis were found to be most efficient in removing microplastics (as high as 99%) in different studies. The concept of microplastic is new to the researchers of Bangladesh, therefore, the characteristics, occurrence, fate, and threats are briefly discussed in this paper. Sampling, extraction, and identification methods of microplastic in freshwater and sediment samples are also thoroughly specified. The sources of microplastic pollution in Bangladesh and possible strategies that can be implemented to minimize additional microplastic discharge into aquatic environments are discussed. Although Bangladesh was the very first country to ban polythene, the failure of the implementation of rules and regulations and a lack of management strategy made Bangladesh the 10th worst country in managing plastic waste. This work is a wake-up call for other researchers to conduct an in-depth investigation to improve microplastic degrading technologies and develop a sustainable strategy to end microplastic pollution in Bangladesh. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contaminants of Emerging Concern in the Urban Water Cycle: Fate, Occurrence, Detection, Monitoring, and Control-Volume 2.0)

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