1,721,006 research outputs found
WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: WATER SUPPLY
No full textWater Science and Technology: Water Supply publishes peer-reviewed papers on all aspects of water supply.
Subjects covered include:
Management of water resources (including reservoirs)
Water treatment technologies, including wastewater reuse and recycling
Water distribution systems
Drinking water quality
Water pollutants, characteristics and effects
Water utility management including economic and social aspects
Climate change effects on water
Norms and standards
Water Science and Technology: Water Supply, together with Water Science and Technology and Water Practice and Technology, have a special mission to serve as a bridge between science, engineering applications and management aspects of water supply as represented by the many IWA Specialist Groups. Papers describing progress in full-scale implementations are particularly encouraged. Water Science and Technology: Water Supply offers fast publication for new findings and research directions concerning water supply and management
SWAMP Smart water management platform
No full textThe SWAMP project develops IoT based methods and approaches for smart water management in precision irrigation
domain, and pilots them in Italy, Spain, and Brazil (2).
Water is vital for ensuring food security to the world’s population, and agriculture is the biggest consumer amounting for 70% of freshwater. The water wastages are caused mainly by leakages in distribution and irrigation systems, and in the field application methods. The most common technique, surface irrigation wastes a high percentage of the water by wetting areas where no plants benefit from it. Localized irrigation can use water more efficiently and effectively, avoiding both under irrigation and over-irrigation. However, in an attempt to avoid under-irrigation, farmers feed more water than is needed resulting not only to productivity losses, but also water is wasted. Therefore, technology should be developed and deployed for sensing the level of water needed by the plantation and for flowing the water to places where and when needed. The SWAMP project addresses these issues by use of the Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics, autonomous devices and other related technologies.
The challenges addressed by SWAMP project are following: 1) Reducing effort in software development for IoT-based smart applications. 2) Automating advanced platforms and integrating different technologies and components. 3) The integration of heterogeneous and advanced sensors, particularly flying sensors (drones) providing precision in the water supply for irrigation. 4) The use of a Software Platform together with technologies such as IoT, Big Data, Cloud/Fog and drones for the deployment of pilot applications for smart water management. 5) Proposing, testing and validating new business models for using IoT in smart water management settings. 6) Technological components must be flexible and adaptable enough in order to adapt to different contexts and to be replicable to different locations and contexts
WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
No full textWater Science and Technology publishes peer-reviewed papers on all aspects of the science and technology of wastewater treatment and water quality management worldwide. This encompasses five broad areas:
Wastewater treatment and transportation processes for stormwater and domestic, industrial and municipal effluents
Sources of pollution including hazardous wastes and source control
Effects and impacts of pollution on rivers, lakes, groundwater and marine waters
Water reuse and aquatic environmental restoration
Policy, strategy, control and management aspects of water qualit
ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES
No full textProvides review and original articles on topics concerning the various processes taking place in the natural and the anthropogenic environment.
Offers a medium for publications contributing to the understanding of environmental processes for providing solutions to environmental problems.
Presents articles covering original monitoring data, experimental data, theoretical investigations and mathematical modeling of processes in environmental systems.
Environmental Processes covers: processes related to the interactions of the water, air-atmosphere, and soil-sediment environments with the humans and the biosphere; environmental flow processes, hydrodynamics and hydrology; pollutant physical, chemical and biological processes, including pollutant sources and origin, fate, dispersion and degradation, transport, deposition and accumulation, and impacts on human health and environmental quality; interaction processes between the social, cultural, economic and natural environments; evaluation of currently applied and new proposed technologies for pollutant treatment and the protection of the environment; testing of currently used and new proposed monitoring, instrumentation and analysis techniques related to the environmental processes; educational, regulatory, and research needs on environmental processes and protection
GREEN4WATER - Le infrastrutture verdi per la gestione e la tutela delle risorse idriche
No full textIl progetto GREEN4WATER intende affrontare la tematica delle Green Infrastructures (GI), con particolare riferimento a sistemi naturali per il disinquinamento dei corpi idrici (fitodepurazione, fasce tampone) e a metodi di ritenzione naturale delle acque (NWRM). Essi risultano essere lo strumento più promettente per la rinaturalizzazione delle città e in generale del territorio. In questo caso, infatti, la natura non si configura solo come oggetto di consumo e di fruizione estetica, ma recupera il ruolo di fornitore di risorse vitali ed equilibratore della stabilità e sostenibilità globali. Lo sviluppo a livello nazionale di queste tecniche apporterebbe grandi benefici, con impatti positivi negli ambiti tecnico-scientifico, sociale ed economico. Ciò in virtù del loro carattere multifunzionale che consente l’assolvimento di diverse funzioni nello stesso luogo. Nel contesto italiano, le principali criticità per un’ampia diffusione delle GI riguardano prevalentemente la mancata definizione di una normativa specifica e l’assenza di opportune conoscenze tecniche e scientifiche sull'utilizzo e sulla gestione di tali infrastrutture. Nel progetto GREEN4WATER saranno quindi effettuati studi e specifiche attività di ricerca e monitoraggio, avendo a disposizione molteplici impianti sperimentali sia a scala pilota che reale. Essi sono collocati in diversi contesti climatici e regionali, sia in ambito produttivo (agricolo, agroindustriale, zootecnico), sia in quello urbano e peri-urbano. In particolare, le principali tecnologie verdi che saranno oggetto di sperimentazione e studio sono la fitodepurazione, il lagunaggio, le fasce tampone, i bacini di detenzione ed infiltrazione, i tetti verdi ed i giardini pluviali. Tale varietà di tecniche applicate a contesti diversi, unitamente ad un approccio multidisciplinare (idraulico, idrologico, agronomico, botanico, sociale ed economico), conferisce al progetto un importante valore aggiunto poiché permette di affrontare la tematica in modo completo. Gli obiettivi dello studio riguardano la valutazione e l'ottimizzazione del funzionamento, dell'applicabilità tecnica ed economica, della capacità di fornire servizi, dell'efficienza e delle modalità di gestione delle GI oggetto di studio. Tale avanzamento di conoscenze è fondamentale in un'ottica di sviluppo per un settore su cui le politiche comunitarie e nazionali prevedono e destinano un flusso sempre più crescente di investimenti e di risorse
Effects of Design and Operational Conditions on the Performance of Constructed Wetlands for Agricultural Pollution Control – Critical Review
Full text linkConstructed wetlands (CWs) can be considered as an efficient nature-based solution for treatment of agricultural drainage water (ADW) and consequently for the mitigation of the non-point source pollution. Aiming to provide suggestions for the construction and implementation of CWs, this paper proposes and discusses key parameters of CW design and operation. In order to verify the effect of these features, different case studies were reviewed, focusing on the performance of CWs that are treating agricultural drainage water. The findings showed that design and operational factors (e.g., the application of simple hydraulic structures and vegetation establishment) can improve the pollutant removal efficiencies by increasing hydraulic retention time. Hydraulic efficiency of CWs can also be enhanced through certain shape characteristics (e.g., adoption of a high aspect ratio, creation a long and narrow CW shape). The careful consideration of these parameters before and during CW implementation can therefore help these systems to achieve their full potential. However, further study is recommended to assess effects of some parameters (e.g., flow direction and the application of deep zones)
Constructed wetland biomass for compost production: Evaluation of effects on crops and soil
Full text linkThis study investigates the suitability of Phragmites australis (reed) biomass deriving from a surface flow constructed wetland (CW) to produce three compost types: reed (RC), reed mixed + potato cuttings (PC) and reed + liquid anaerobic digestate (DC), to promote both resource circularity and soil carbon sequestration. The composts were tested over 60 days on lettuce at two levels in combination or not with NH4NO3 (at the same kg N ha−1 loading), along with NH4NO3 reference (Chem) and an unamended control (Ctrl). The plant tissue dry weight and N load was determined, and the N relative efficiency (N-RAE %) was calculated. On pot soil, total and labile carbon (TOC, CL), along with the carbon management index (CMI) and δ13C were evaluated. Pot test showed that PC100 yielded the best (g pot−1) lettuce biomass (3.0) > DC100 and RC100 (2.5 and 1.6) ≈ chemical reference (3.8). A similar pattern was detected at 50% (g pot−1): PC50 (2.9) > DC50 (2.7) > RC50 (2.4). N-RAE (%) reflected this pattern: PC100 (60) > DC100 (21) > RC100 (10) and PC50 (76) > DC50 (53) > RC50 (52). Pot soil analyses showed composts well performed in TOC and CMI, in comparison to Ctrl (+42% and +13%), suggesting a positive impact on soil C amelioration. No significant differences were observed for δ13C distribution, suggesting the composts did not influence the microbic metabolism differently. These results indicated that the biomass harvested from the CWs can represent an interesting material for composting, combining carbon sequestration and nutrients recycling potential of these system, in addition to their wastewater treatment capacity
Potential of constructed wetland treatment systems for agricultural wastewater reuse under the EU framework
Full text linkOne of the solutions for the problems regarding increasing water scarcity and pollution of water resources can be wastewater reuse. Constructed wetlands (CWs) are a sustainable and cost-effective technology for wastewater treatment. If they are able to produce effluent of a needed quality, they can be a valuable addition for wastewater reuse schemes. This review studied 39 treatment systems based on CWs, and it assessed their characteristics and performance on pollutant removal. Moreover, their potential to reach the new European Union standards for agricultural wastewater reuse was evaluated. The results showed that the combination of CWs with additional technologies (e.g. UV treatment, anaerobic reactors) can further increase their performance and provide better removal efficiencies in comparison with conventional horizontal and vertical subsurface flow CWs. Particularly, hybrid systems showed a better removal of organic matter and bacterial indicators than single-stage CWs. For most of the systems considered, the concentrations of biochemical oxygen demand and total suspended solids in treated effluent were below the limits for agricultural reuse. However, that was often not the case with Escherichia coli and therefore it is recommended to add a disinfection unit to the systems in order to achieve the levels required in the case of agricultural reuse
Assessment of leaf area index in orchards and vineyards at different spatial and temporal scales
No full textLeaf area index (LAI) is a critical vegetation variable that regulates photosynthesis, respiration, and precipitation interception. This variable also shows strong variability in space and time. In addition, specific management like prunings or structural plant protection (e.g. anti-hail nets) could highly affect its time behavior or spatial distribution. For this reason, the accurate LAI characterization is a key factor for precise management of, e.g., irrigation, nutrition, harvest and soil management.
In the last decades several methods have been developed to measure this index but with specific spatial and temporal resolutions. Ground measurements are in fact precise but localized in space. Remote and proximal sensing approaches can cover larger areas but the time resolution could be limited to detect fast changes in plant growth.
In the present study we aim to compare different methods for the characterization of the LAI based on three techniques that span different temporal and spatial resolutions. The study is conducted at three experimental sites in Emilia Romagna (Italy), two vineyards and one orchard, within the SWAMP project H2020. Measurements are performed based on AccuPAR LP80 ceptometer on the ground and by drones equipped with a multi-spectral camera RedEdge-M which captures five narrow spectral bands and allows to generate plant health indices, as NDVI. Remote sensing products (Sentinel-2A) are finally compared. The analysis focuses on identifying their limitations in characterizing vegetation growth and in possible improvements and corrections. Specific field sampling designs for ground observations and operational drone flights are also discussed. Overall, the study identifies the need to adapt spatial and temporal resolutions of the specific measurements to local agro-environmental conditions for correctly characterize the plant growth. This variable strategy should be considered to achieve a right support for a more precise agricultural management
Long-Term Monitoring of a Surface Flow Constructed Wetland Treating Agricultural Drainage Water in Northern Italy
Full text linkAgricultural drainage water that has seeped into tile drainage systems can cause nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of the surface water bodies. Constructed wetlands (CWs) can help mitigate the effects of agricultural non-point sources of pollution and remove different pollutants from tile drainage water. In this study, hydrological and water quality data of a Northern Italian CW that has been treating agricultural drainage water since 2000 were considered to assess its ability to mitigate nitrogen and phosphorus pollution. The effects of such long-term operation on the nutrients and heavy metals that eventually accumulate in CW plants and sediments were also analysed. Since 2003, the CW has received different inflows with different nutrient loads due to several operation modes. However, on average, the outflow load has been 50% lower than the inflow one; thus, it can be said that the system has proved itself to be a viable option for tile drainage water treatment. It was found that the concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus in the plant tissues varied, whereas the nitrogen content of the soil increased more than 2.5 times. Heavy metals were found accumulated in the plant root systems and uniformly distributed throughout a 60 cm soil profile at levels suitable for private and public green areas, according to the Italian la
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