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Technologies and Interventions to Support Sustainable Urban Water Management

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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Water Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2018) | Viewed by 100251

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Magnus Moglia

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Guest Editor

CSIRO Land and Water, Clayton South, VIC 3169, Australia
Interests: urban water management; complex adaptive systems; strategic foresight; integrated assessments; resilience
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Mr. Steve Cook

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Guest Editor

CSIRO Land and Water, Clayton South, VIC 3169, Australia
Interests: sustainable urban water management; water sensitive urban design; rainwater harvesting; water-energy nexus; sustainable urban development; climate adaptation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The objective of this Special Issue is to provide assessments of how specific technologies and interventions can support sustainable urban water management (or related concepts, such as integrated urban water management). Contributions may focus on particular technologies, policies, or anything that would act as a catalyst for a desired change. Social and cultural changes may also be considered. Assessments need to be integrated in nature and focus on important performance issues. Examples of technologies, which is by no means exhaustive, are rainwater harvesting, water sensitive urban design, wastewater recycling or the adoption of alternative business models as a catalyst for change in the urban water sector.

Dr Magnus Moglia
Mr Stephen Cook
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

sustainable urban water management
rainwater harvesting
water sensitive urban design
integrated assessments

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Published Papers (10 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

9 pages, 205 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Transformative Approaches for Sustainable Water Management in the Urban Century

by Magnus Moglia and Stephen Cook

Water 2019, 11(5), 1106; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11051106 - 27 May 2019

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5223

Abstract

Sustainable Urban Water Management (SUWM) approaches highlighted in this special issue have the potential to contribute to the transformation of urban water systems. The aim of the transformation is to accommodate population and economic growth and at the same time enable a system which is environmentally sustainable and resilient to future challenges such as climate change. These approaches have increasingly entered mainstream dialogue over the last ten years as knowledge on the approaches has developed, and there is an acceptance that there needs to be a change to how urban water systems are designed and operated. However, there are still a range of aspects of these approaches that are maturing and require further research to realize the objectives of SUWM. The issue explored supply-side interventions, such as rainwater harvesting and stormwater harvesting, demand-side interventions, and water storage solutions that have the potential to enable a range of recycling technologies. The issue also highlighted a novel method for better managing the integrity of a conventional sewer system. Furthermore, there are articles that explore methods for integrated assessments, integrated decision making and an exploration of what factors may promote community adoption of technology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technologies and Interventions to Support Sustainable Urban Water Management)

Research

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15 pages, 818 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Willingness to Pay for Rainwater Tank Features: A Post-Drought Analysis of Sydney Water Users

by Sorada Tapsuwan, Stephen Cook and Magnus Moglia

Water 2018, 10(9), 1199; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10091199 - 6 Sep 2018

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4923

Abstract

The Millennium Drought across Australia during the 2000s placed cities under pressure in providing urban water security. In Sydney, Australia’s largest city, a comprehensive water demand programme triggered a significant reduction in per capita water consumption. The water demand programme included incentives for the installation of rainwater tanks. This paper explores the willingness to pay (WTP) for rainwater tank features in the post-drought context. Rainwater tanks have been demonstrated as an effective measure to reduce mains water demand, but they also provide broader environmental and economic benefits, such as the reduction of urban runoff to waterways and deferred capital investment in augmenting capacity of water supply system. Therefore, there is the need to better understand WTP for rainwater tank features across the community. An online survey was administered to a sample of Sydney households, with 127 respondents completing a rainwater tank choice experiment that explored their WTP for different rainwater tank features and the socio-psychological constructs that might influence their tendency to adopt rainwater tanks. The results demonstrated that householders surveyed valued slimline rainwater tanks, as they are likely to be less obstructive, particularly given the trend for smaller lot sizes and increased building size. Householders also placed greater value on connecting the rainwater tank to outdoor demands, which may be influenced by perceived vulnerability of outdoor uses to water restrictions relative to indoor uses. The survey analysis also identified that the householders most receptive to installing a rainwater tank are likely to be conformists, who compare themselves to peers, and spend significant effort when making decisions, and are already taking actions to conserve water. The findings are of significance when targeting future education programmes and designing financial incentives to encourage rainwater tank adoption. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technologies and Interventions to Support Sustainable Urban Water Management)

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17 pages, 5724 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Quantification Assessment of Extraneous Water Infiltration and Inflow by Analysis of the Thermal Behavior of the Sewer Network

by Maryam Beheshti and Sveinung Sægrov

Water 2018, 10(8), 1070; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10081070 - 10 Aug 2018

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 7492

Abstract

Infiltration and inflow (I/I) of unwanted water in separate urban sewer networks are critical issues for sustainable urban water management. Accurate quantification of unwanted water I/I from individual sources into a sewer system is an essential task for assessing the status of the sewer network and conducting rehabilitation measures. The study aim was to quantify extraneous water I/I into a sanitary sewer network by a temperature-based method, i.e., fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing (DTS), which was applied for the first time in a separate sewer network of a catchment in Trondheim, Norway. The DTS technology is a relatively new technology for sewer monitoring, developed over the past decade. It is based on continual temperature measurement along a fiber-optic cable installed in the sewer network. The feasibility of this method has been tested in both experimental discharges and for the rainfall-derived I/I. The results achieved from the monitoring campaign established the promising applicability of the DTS technique in the quantification analysis. Furthermore, the application of this method in quantifying real-life, rainfall-derived I/I into the sewer system was demonstrated and verified during wet weather conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technologies and Interventions to Support Sustainable Urban Water Management)

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13 pages, 1853 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Performance of Two Advanced Rainwater Harvesting Systems in Washington DC

by Andrea Braga, Hayley O’Grady, Turgay Dabak and Cecilia Lane

Water 2018, 10(5), 667; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10050667 - 22 May 2018

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 6469

Abstract

Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are a concern for many cities managing stormwater through combined sewer systems, including the District of Columbia (DC). Advanced rainwater harvesting (ARH) is an innovative approach to managing stormwater and has the potential to minimize CSOs and maximize water conservation. ARH systems use continuous monitoring and adaptive control (CMAC) technology to store or release water from a rainwater harvesting cistern. This study assessed the efficacy of ARH systems to mitigate wet weather discharges at two firehouses in DC. Continuous monitoring data was collected over a period of three years for the systems that were installed in 2012. The collected data indicates that the systems were effective at mitigating wet weather discharges, with average event harvesting rates greater than 95%. These results suggest that if implemented on a larger scale, ARH systems would be a valuable tool in effectively managing stormwater. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technologies and Interventions to Support Sustainable Urban Water Management)

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15 pages, 3330 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Integrated Evaluation of Hybrid Water Supply Systems Using a PROMETHEE–GAIA Approach

by Mukta Sapkota, Meenakshi Arora, Hector Malano, Ashok Sharma and Magnus Moglia

Water 2018, 10(5), 610; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10050610 - 8 May 2018

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 6011

Abstract

There are pressures on existing centralized water infrastructures in urban centers which justify the search for alternatives. An increasingly important alternative is to shift from centralized to hybrid systems, often in response to climate variability and demographic changes. In a hybrid system, water is supplied and discharged through a mix of centralized and decentralized systems. There is usually no single objective that justifies the choice of hybrid water systems, but they typically are justified based on the consideration of a number of different criteria in order to evaluate the overall quality of service provision. The most important criteria include meeting water demand, as well as reducing demand for fresh water and instead using local alternative water supplies. Integration of multiple objectives to evaluate the hybrid water supply systems can be accomplished by multi-criteria decision aid techniques. This paper evaluates a number of hybrid water supply scenarios using a case study based on the Northern Growth Area of Melbourne, Australia. It uses the Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE) and Geometrical Analysis for Interactive Decision Aid (GAIA), one of the multi-criteria decision-making methods through D-Sight software, to rank the hybrid water supply scenarios, and this ranking is validated by means of sensitivity analysis. The centralized system combined with stormwater harvesting and the centralized system combined with treated wastewater and rainwater tanks yielded the first and second most preferred scenarios, while the centralized water supply system combined with treated wastewater yielded the worst hybrid water supply option. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technologies and Interventions to Support Sustainable Urban Water Management)

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22 pages, 531 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Urban Water Management under a Changing Climate: The Role of Spatial Planning

by Anna Hurlimann and Elizabeth Wilson

Water 2018, 10(5), 546; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10050546 - 25 Apr 2018

Cited by 52 | Viewed by 10816

Abstract

The provision of a sustainable supply of water is an increasingly difficult task to achieve in many urban environments. This arises because of pressures related to population growth and increased per capita demand for water. Additionally, climate change is impacting the natural cycle of water in many locations, with a significant impact projected for the future. Many scholars advocate ‘sustainable urban water management’ (SUWM) as an approach that can address the root causes of these challenges. Yet the implementation of SUWM and adaptation to climate change in the urban water sector remains limited. This paper argues that spatial planning provides tools and processes that can facilitate the full implementation of SUWM goals, and adaptation to climate change. The potential of spatial planning to achieve SUWM, including sustainable urban water supply management through both supply and demand end initiatives, in light of climate change, is discussed. A framework is developed to consider a broad range of spatial planning interventions that can facilitate adaptation to climate change and SUWM concurrently. The paper provides information and tools to assist water planners achieve SUWM and a well-adapted water sector and urban environment, in an integrated, holistic and comprehensive manner, to meet future water supply needs. Achieving these goals will need collaborative activities across multiple built environment disciplines. Future research activities to advance these goals are outlined. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technologies and Interventions to Support Sustainable Urban Water Management)

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14 pages, 51313 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Soil Moisture Investigation Utilizing Machine Learning Approach Based Experimental Data and Landsat5-TM Images: A Case Study in the Mega City Beijing

by Yue Qu, Xu Qian, Hongqing Song, Yi Xing, Zhengyi Li and Jinqiang Tan

Water 2018, 10(4), 423; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10040423 - 4 Apr 2018

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4178

Abstract

The characteristics of soil moisture content (SMC) distribution in an area are necessarily analyzed for the design and construction of sponge cities. Combining remote sensing data with experimental data, this paper establishes a machine learning model to reveal the characteristics of SMC. Taking Beijing as an example, the SMC distribution was obtained and the characteristics were analyzed after training and validating. When comparing different machine learning methods, it can be concluded that the support vector classifier (SVC) method trained with remote sensing and grayscale data can achieve the highest accuracy (76.69%). The calculation results show that the districts with the highest and lowest SMC value are Xicheng District (19.94%) and Daxing District (11.04%), respectively, in Beijing. The mean SMC value of Beijing is 15.65%. The SMC distribution characteristic in Beijing shows that the soil in the west and north are relatively wet, while the soil in the east and south are relatively dry. Therefore, it is suggested that the timely monitoring of the SMC of vegetation covered areas at the north and west should be carried out. Water conservation facilities also need to be established with the development of city constructions in the south and east areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technologies and Interventions to Support Sustainable Urban Water Management)

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16 pages, 2111 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) in Sustainable Urban Water Management

by Declan Page, Elise Bekele, Joanne Vanderzalm and Jatinder Sidhu

Water 2018, 10(3), 239; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10030239 - 26 Feb 2018

Cited by 107 | Viewed by 25710

Abstract

To meet increasing urban water requirements in a sustainable way, there is a need to diversify future sources of supply and storage. However, to date, there has been a lag in the uptake of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) for diversifying water sources in urban areas. This study draws on examples of the use of MAR as an approach to support sustainable urban water management. Recharged water may be sourced from a variety of sources and in urban centers, MAR provides a means to recycle underutilized urban storm water and treated wastewater to maximize their water resource potential and to minimize any detrimental effects associated with their disposal. The number, diversity and scale of urban MAR projects is growing internationally due to water shortages, fewer available dam sites, high evaporative losses from surface storages, and lower costs compared with alternatives where the conditions are favorable, including water treatment. Water quality improvements during aquifer storage are increasingly being documented at demonstration sites and more recently, full-scale operational urban schemes. This growing body of knowledge allows more confidence in understanding the potential role of aquifers in water treatment for regulators. In urban areas, confined aquifers provide better protection for waters recharged via wells to supplement potable water supplies. However, unconfined aquifers may generally be used for nonpotable purposes to substitute for municipal water supplies and, in some cases, provide adequate protection for recovery as potable water. The barriers to MAR adoption as part of sustainable urban water management include lack of awareness of recent developments and a lack of transparency in costs, but most importantly the often fragmented nature of urban water resources and environmental management. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technologies and Interventions to Support Sustainable Urban Water Management)

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15 pages, 3613 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Development of Resilience Index Based on Flooding Damage in Urban Areas

by Eui Hoon Lee and Joong Hoon Kim

Water 2017, 9(6), 428; https://doi.org/10.3390/w9060428 - 13 Jun 2017

Cited by 35 | Viewed by 8652

Abstract

Flooding volume in urban areas is not linearly proportional to flooding damage because, in some areas, no flooding damage occurs until the flooding depth reaches a certain point, whereas flooding damage occurs in other areas whenever flooding occurs. Flooding damage is different from flooding volume because each subarea has different components. A resilience index for urban drainage systems was developed based on flooding damage. In this study, the resilience index based on flooding damage in urban areas was applied to the Sintaein basin in Jeongup, Korea. The target watershed was divided into five subareas according to the status of land use in each subarea. The damage functions between flooding volume and flooding damage were calculated by multi-dimensional flood damage analysis. The extent of flooding damage per minute was determined from the results of flooding volume per minute using damage functions. The values of the resilience index based on flooding damages were distributed from 0.797292 to 0.933741. The resilience index based on flooding damage suggested in this study can reflect changes in urban areas and can be used for the evaluation of flood control plans such as the installation, replacement, and rehabilitation of drainage facilities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technologies and Interventions to Support Sustainable Urban Water Management)

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Review

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17 pages, 702 KiB

Open AccessReview

Promoting Water Conservation: Where to from here?

by Magnus Moglia, Stephen Cook and Sorada Tapsuwan

Water 2018, 10(11), 1510; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10111510 - 25 Oct 2018

Cited by 68 | Viewed by 19557

Abstract

This paper reports on a review of international water conservation efforts, but with a particular focus on the Australian context. The aim is to take stock of the current understanding of water conservation, in particular: what influences people’s decision to conserve water, what influences whether people persist with water conservation behavior and what contributes to awareness and familiarity of water conservation behaviors. We also explore how all these factors jointly can achieve water savings over time, and the efficacy of past efforts to save water. Subsequently, this is used to identify where leading practice for managing water conservation is heading, which we argue is the application of recent developments in behavioral science and advances in smart metering to personalize water conservation programs. To support individualized water conservation efforts, we need more longitudinal studies of water conservation behavior, a greater focus on behavioral science, as well as the development of modelling tools that embed insights and lessons of this research into decision support capability. This can help to develop the capacity to better implement water conservation programs that respond to short-term water scarcity crises, such as droughts, while also providing persistent reductions in per-capita water demand that can help meet strategic water planning needs, such as deferring or downsizing capital investment in supply infrastructure to accommodate demands associated with population growth. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technologies and Interventions to Support Sustainable Urban Water Management)

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