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Water Conservation Science and Engineering
Number of Followers: 0  Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)ISSN (Print) 2366-3340 - ISSN (Online) 2364-5687 Published by Springer-Verlag  [2468 journals]
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- A Comparative Study of Raw vs. Activated Biochar Derived from “Ricinus
communis Stem” for Preferential Removal of Cationic Dyes-
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Abstract: In this study, Ricinus communis stem (RCS) was chemically activated with potassium carbonate (K2CO3) and heated at 300 °C to produce low-temperature Ricinus communis stem-activated biochar (RCSB). These two biosorbents (RCS and RCSB) were used for the removal study of methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG) preferentially from synthetic aqueous solutions. Various analytical techniques were used to explore the surface morphology, surface area, crystallinity, elemental composition, and functional groups of natural (RCS) and potassium carbonate-activated biochar RCSB. Adsorption experiments were performed to evaluate the effect of pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, initial dye concentration, stirring speed, particle size, and temperature. Initially, adsorption experiments were carried out with different nine cationic and anionic dyes. Among these dyes, two cationic dyes, MG and MB, show good dye removal %, RCS (~87%), and RCSB (~98%). The adsorption capacities qe (mg g−1) of all four systems are MB-RCSB: 242 mg g−1, MG-RCSB: 240 mg g−1, MB-RCS: 195 mg g−1, and MG-RCS: 190 mg g−1, respectively. The kinetics analysis data were best fitted with the intraparticle diffusion kinetics model (R2 = 1) and the isotherm analysis fits well with the Langmuir isotherm model. The thermodynamic parameters support the feasible, spontaneous, and exothermic adsorption in the temperature range of 293–323 K. Desorption experiments were carried out at pH 2 with an efficiency of ~97%. A regeneration study indicates biosorbents can be recycled up to five cycles. The present studies suggest using RCS as eco-friendly removal of MG and MB dyes up to 99%. Regarding the novelty of the work, the biochar reported in the present work was synthesized at a low temperature (300 °C) compared to the other higher temperature reported methods which are more economical. A cost estimation study reveals that two tons of dye-contaminated wastewater can be treated at a cost of approximately 152 INR.
PubDate: 2023-05-09
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- Categorize Groundwater Potential Zone in Soft Rock Formation in Rib River
Basin by Geospatial Technology: in the Case of South Gondar District,
Amhara Region, Ethiopia-
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Abstract: This study is aimed at delineating the groundwater potential sites in the Rib watershed using Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), Analytical Hierarchy Processes (AHP), geographic information system (GIS), and remote sensing (RS). Those techniques were implemented to develop groundwater potential zone map with integrating different significant thematic parameters. Thematic layers of lithology, lineament density, drainage density, slope, and soil were used to prepare groundwater potential zones map as it assigned to each thematic layers. Those thematic maps were integrated by a weighted sum overlay analysis in Arc geographic information system tool (AGIS) to develop groundwater potential zones. The groundwater potential was (1) very high 48.25 km2 (1.23%), (2) high 1024.93 km2 (26.29%), (3) moderate, 2682.93 km2 (68.82%), and (4) poor, 141.81 km2 (3.63%). The groundwater potential map was validated using data of 35 pumping wells such as hydraulic conductivities and material transmitivity; the prediction was confirmed acceptable. Groundwater flow rate and its direction were described by the piezometric surface model as follows: high flow rate (26.83–34.33 m), moderate flow rate (19.32–26.82 m), poor flow rate (11.81–19.32 m), and extremely poor flow rate (4.3–11.81 m). It might conclude that the groundwater potential zone that was identified by MCDA is reliable in Arc GIS 10.4 and RS application.
PubDate: 2023-05-09
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- Removal of Rhodamine B Using Three Adsorbents: Isothermal, Kinetic, and
ANN Modeling Studies-
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Abstract: Adsorption efficiency of three adsorbents in the removal of Rhodamine B from aqueous solutions and industrial effluent is presented herewith. Carbonized groundnut seed cake powder, sesame seed cake powder, and coconut cake powder were used as adsorbents. Batch adsorptive removal of the dye was optimized at pH 7 with groundnut seed cake powder and sesame seed cake powder and at pH 2 with coconut cake powder. Adsorbent dosage of 0.27 g,0.25 g, and 0.26 g was found to be optimum with groundnut seed cake powder, sesame seed cake powder, and coconut cake powder, respectively. With all the three adsorbents, a contact time of 150 min, the temperature of 50 °C, and an initial dye concentration of 10 mg L−1 were optimized, respectively. Using the three adsorbents, 99.7% removal of the dye was observed. Isothermal studies indicated that the Langmuir isotherm model is suited for the present work. The results of the kinetic studies showed that the process followed pseudo-second order. Prediction of adsorption efficiency of the three chosen adsorbents has been carried out by using artificial neural networks (MATLAB 2013A). Back propagation and L-M algorithm were used for modeling optimization parameters, and the three adsorbents were given as inputs to run the network. The results obtained were compared with the experimental results and found to have a relative error of 0.2%.
PubDate: 2023-05-01
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- Classification and Prediction of Developed Water Quality Indexes Using
Soft Computing Tools-
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Abstract: The water quality index (WQI) is a coherent method of expressing the state of the water quality, which has become complicated due to subjectivity and ambiguity in the data. The proposed study aims to classify and predict the water quality for potable water by applying soft computing techniques, namely fuzzy, adaptive-network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and artificial neural network (ANN), along with a novel weight-integrated health hazard index (HI). Initially, the water classification was performed through the fuzzy and HI indexes and was subsequently used for predictive modelling through the ANFIS and ANN on the 349 water samples for total dissolved solids (TDS), chloride (Cl−), hardness (as CaCO3), fluoride (F−), nitrates (NO3−), iron (Fe), and copper (Cu) parameters collected from the municipality region of Jaipur, India. The trained ANFIS model was proven satisfactory for fuzzy and HI indexes with the coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.8413 and 0.996, respectively. In contrast, the ANN model failed to provide an adequate result for the fuzzy index with an R2 value of 0.5243 and a satisfactory result for HI with an R2 value of 0.839. The study’s novelty lies in predicting the water quality index using ANFIS and ANN for the developed unique HI and fuzzy-based indexes. The results of this study prove that ANFIS is a trustworthy and reliable approach for predicting WQI for potable water, which serves as a valuable guide for decision-makers in the field of water resource management.
PubDate: 2023-04-28
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- Decolourization of Crystal Violate and Methylene Blue Wastewater Using
Anaerobic Fermented Bio-Waste-
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Abstract: Textile exchange is a popular term in the textile industry and has incorporated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into its strategy for transformation. The advance of Industrial Revolution 4.0 digitised the textile industry and incorporated artificial intelligence (AI) into operation and supply chain to enhance production and improve product quality in different downstream processing. Malaysia’s textile industry has largely continued to contribute to the domestic economy. In the textile industry, refinement treatment is crucial to avoid water pollution derived from dye, organic pollutants, and heavy metals. Wastewater derived from textile industries must perform a pre-treat before discarding into the natural environment, as the excess dye in textile wastewater negatively impacts the environment. Untreated or inadequately treated wastewater and discharge to nearby water sources contribute to disease increase. Therefore, this study aims to elucidate microbiota biodiversity that can significantly remove or break down the dye in wastewater from the textile industry. This study selected two cationic dyes, crystal violet (CV), and methylene blue (MB). Through the findings, microbial consortium derived from the fermented bio-waste show no significant difference in the decolourisation of wastewater polluted with CV (< 13.53%). In contrast, the microbial population generated from fermented bio-waste showed remarkable outcomes on MB decolourisation up to 88.52% in 3 days of treatment. In the absence of laccase in fermented bio-waste, microbial consortium produced from the fermented bio-waste is ineffective in decolourising the wastewater containing CV compared to MB.
PubDate: 2023-03-31
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- Impacts of Land Use Land Cover Changes and Climate Variability on Water
Yield in the Dire and Legedadi Watersheds central Ethiopia-
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Abstract: Water yield capacity assessment is critical for water management and ecosystem improvement. Using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model, we assessed the effects of land use changes and climate variability on annual water yield in the Dire and Legedadi watersheds. The model was run using meteorological data, land use, soil depth, plant water content, and biophysical parameters. The impact of land use changes and climate variability was investigated by creating three scenarios: actual conditions, actual conditions with Land Use and Land Cover (LU/LC) remaining constant, and actual conditions without climate variability. The findings revealed that the total water yield in both watersheds has increased. The Legedadi watershed increased total water yield by 15.32% from 111.6 million m3 (1149 mm) in 1995 to 131.8 million m3(1357.5 mm) in 2021; while, the Dire watershed increased total water yield by 32.5% from 259.5 million m3(1202 mm) in 1995 to 386.6 million m3(1790 mm) in 2021. The effect of climate variability on annual water yield was approximately 99.9% and 73.3% in the Legedadi and Dire watersheds, respectively; land use change was 0.01% and 26.7%. Despite its higher water yield, urban and agricultural land expansion may have an impact on water yield. As a result, participatory watershed management interventions that consider landscape patterns are required to optimize and maintain ecosystem services.
PubDate: 2023-03-27
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- The Effects of Current Density, Cell Potential, Time, Salinity, Electrode
Diameter, and Material on Microwave-Assisted Saline Water Electrolysis: An
Experimental Study-
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Abstract: In this article, an up-flow cylindrical electrochemical reactor was used to study microwave-assisted saline water electrolysis to reduce the energy consumption of saline water electrolysis. First, the effect of microwave irradiation on chlorine removal and energy consumption was investigated, and a rapid energy consumption decrease was observed following the utilization of the microwave-assisted electrolysis process compared to conventional electrolysis. Then, for the microwave-assisted electrolysis process, the effects of the main operating parameters were experimentally investigated. Also, the results from the experiments confirm that the maximum percentage of removed chlorine and the minimum energy consumption were obtained in higher salinities.
PubDate: 2023-03-08
DOI: 10.1007/s41101-023-00186-z
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- Assessment of Heavy Metal Pollution in Sirwan River by Heavy Metal
Pollution Index (HPI) and Metal Index (MI)-
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Abstract: The study aims to evaluate the quality of Sirwan River water based on its heavy metal contents by using two of the most recent indexes regarding heavy metals which are the heavy metal pollution index (HPI) and the metal index (MI). In this term, twenty-four sampling stations were selected along with the Sirwan River from downstream of Darbandikhan Dam to the border of Jalawlaa Sub-district. Seven heavy metals including aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), and chromium (Cr) were analyzed by using an inductively coupled plasma spectrometer (ICP). The average value of the HPI index was found to be 47.2 and 12.8 for drinking and irrigation uses, respectively, which indicates that water in Sirwan River is seriously polluted for drinking purposes, while it falls under the pure class for irrigation uses. Also, the results of MI for domestic and irrigation uses were seen to be 5.7, which falls under the seriously affected class, and 0.65 under the pure class, respectively. The study revealed the effect of man-made sources on the pollution load of Sirwan River water.
PubDate: 2023-03-06
DOI: 10.1007/s41101-023-00187-y
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- Mine Wastewater Treatment Using Cassia fistula Plant Parts as
Bio-coagulants-
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Abstract: Conventional uses of synthetic coagulants in wastewater treatment are costly, pose serious health risk to end-users, and pollute aquatic environments with nonbiodegradable materials. This study examined the potential of Cassia fistula plant parts at different dosages to decontaminate mine wastewater. A 3 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments involving three C. fistula parts (seeds, leaves, and roots) at three dosages (50 mg L−1, 100 mg L−1, and 150 mg L−1) was adopted using jar test experimental procedures. Dosage and C. fistula parts had significant effects on heavy metal concentrations and water physico-chemical properties (p < 0.0001). Bio-coagulants at the three dosages significantly lowered levels of copper, cadmium, and iron compared to alum (100 mg L−1). Only 150 mg L−1 of C. fistula leaves significantly reduced arsenic content within the WHO standards. C. fistula roots at 50 mg L−1 and leaves at 50 and 100 mg L−1 reduced Fe content of the wastewater by more than 99%, though residual Fe content for bio-coagulant treatments were still above the WHO guidelines. Root extracts at 50 mg L−1 dosage more effectively reduced conductivity to within EPA acceptable limits. Similarly, 50 mg L−1 leave extracts resulted in 99% reduction in turbidity and total suspended solids, though residual turbidity was still above the WHO recommended limit. Leaves and roots of C. fistula at varied dosages can effectively decontaminate wastewater due to the varied amounts and composition of functional groups in these parts. C. fistula parts offer a cost-effective option of purifying polluted mine wastewater and increasing quality water availability.
PubDate: 2023-02-13
DOI: 10.1007/s41101-023-00178-z
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- Sustainable Removal of Antibiotic Drugs from Wastewater Using Different
Adsorbents—a Concise Review-
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Abstract: Uncontrolled use of antibiotics on humans, animals, and crops for various reasons pollutes clean water with antibiotic-laden wastewater. This causes a severe effect on the overall health and hygiene of living beings including the expansion of antibiotic resistant microorganisms. Only a fraction of the antibiotic drugs consumed by humans and animals are metabolized. The remainder is excreted and will often find its way into ground and surface waters and of course enters sewerage systems. Wastewater from pharmaceutical industries is another major cause of pollution of water bodies. Using this contaminated water for drinking or domestic use without proper treatment develops antibiotic resistance in the human body, ultimately becoming a severe health issue. Therefore, water treatment should be addressed as an essential and mandatory step to protect the environment and living creatures. Several treatment processes for wastewater are popular; among them, adsorption is one of the most cost-effective and efficient methods, which is also vastly used. This review article briefly discusses different adsorption treatment methods generally used for antibiotic-polluted wastewater. Moreover, this article focuses on different adsorbents available for wastewater treatment and discusses their advantages and disadvantages. Hydrogen bonds, π-π interactions, and hydrophobic interactions are suggested to be the significant probable mechanisms behind the adsorptive removal of antibiotics by respective adsorbents. The temperature and pH of the solution also play essential roles in the adsorption of antibiotics from pharmaceutical wastewater.
PubDate: 2023-02-06
DOI: 10.1007/s41101-023-00180-5
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- Modification of Diatomite with Iron Oxide as an Effective Adsorbent of
Selenite Ions from Water: Synthesis, Kinetic, and Thermodynamic Studies-
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Abstract: In this work, iron oxide–modified diatomite is in the use for the elimination of selenite (Se(IV)) ions from water, and the operation of key factors, including initial anion concentration, contact time, adsorbent dosage, and pH of the solution, is under investigation. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction prove the formation of iron oxide within diatomite. It turns out that the proportion of Se(IV) ion removal goes down when there has been a rise in the value of pH to the alkali condition. The high amount of Fe-diatomite adsorption volume is calculated to be 109.5 mg.g−1 based on the Langmuir adsorption isotherm, and the combination of physical and chemical adsorption is considered as the mechanism of the adsorption. Finally, it is determined that both film and intra-particle diffusion are the steps to limit the speed of the Se(IV) ion adsorption onto Fe-diatomite.
PubDate: 2023-02-01
DOI: 10.1007/s41101-023-00176-1
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- Heavy Metal Removal Using Plant Origin Biomass and Agricultural
Waste-Derived Biomass from Aqueous Media: a Review-
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Abstract: The effectiveness of natural low-cost plant-based biomass and agricultural waste in order to remove the iron, aluminum, copper, and other heavy metals is presented in this review paper along with the experimental, equilibrium conditions and their ability as a low-cost bioadsorbent and analytical techniques used for the bioadsorption. The recent research focuses on the usage of various parts of the plants like leaves, seeds, peels, roots, etc., and other bioadsorbents in the form of husks, shells, and fibers in their natural, pre-treated, and modified states. This review has taken into account the use of adsorption isotherm and kinetics models as well as the influence of experimental parameters made by researchers like initial concentration, contact time, bioadsorbent mass, speed of agitation, temperature, and pH on heavy metal elimination. The review of the pertinent literature shows that the maximum removal efficacies of copper, aluminum, and iron using the various natural low-cost adsorbents vary between 50 and 100% with optimal pH from 4–9 for copper, 2–8 for iron and aluminum, and contact time varying from 20 min–24 h for copper, 90–240 min for aluminum, and 15 min–24 h for iron. However, optimal value adsorbent dose is in the range of 0.1 to 10 g/l for copper and iron, 1.5–10 g/l for aluminum. Additionally, the pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm are the ascendent models that superlatively defined the copper, aluminum, and iron equilibrium data. The thermodynamic factors indicate that the biosorption of copper, aluminum, and iron on the bioadsorbents was spontaneous and endothermic at temperatures ranging from 25 to 60 °C for copper, from 25 to 50 °C for aluminum, and from 30 to 70 °C for iron. The carboxyl, hydroxyl, esters, alkynes, ether or phenol, and amine groups are the primary functional groups associated in the removal of metal ions by the majority of the studied bioadsorbents, regardless of their sources. Plant origin biomass and agricultural waste-derived biomass have been discovered to be viable replacements for commercial activated carbons in the treatment of metal-contaminated water. However, gaps in applicability, regeneration, reuse, and safe disposal of laden adsorbents, as well as optimization and commercialization of appropriate adsorbents, have been identified. Finally, the prospects for future research on heavy metal ions biosorption are outlined.
PubDate: 2023-02-01
DOI: 10.1007/s41101-023-00177-0
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- Closing the Gap Between Theory and Practice in Tobacco Irrigation in
Bangladesh: Experiment and Modeling-
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Abstract: Closing the gap between irrigation theory and on-farm practices helps water conservation efforts, which is a crucial need to combat water scarcity in agriculture. We conducted a study at the Nimtala and Noapara sites in Bangladesh during the 2020–2021 tobacco season to assess farmers’ irrigation practices (treatment 2), theory-based irrigation (treatment 5), and eight systematic irrigation treatments. Treatments 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 received 0, 70, 85, 100, and 120% of the estimated water requirement, respectively. Treatments 7, 8, 9, and 10 received 50% deficit irrigation during 0–30, 30–70, 70–100, and > 100 days after transplanting (DAT), respectively, and full irrigation in other growth stages. The observed soil water dynamics and evapotranspiration (ET) were well predicted by the HYDRUS-1D model (NSE of 0.82 and R2 of 0.86). The CropWAT model predicted potential ET (2.11–6.33 mm/day), whereas the actual ET varied 1.77–3.99 mm/day during the crop period. We estimated crop coefficient (Kc) values for the initial stage, crop development, mid-season, and late-season stages at 0.78, 1.17, 1.20, and 0.41, respectively. The 50% deficit irrigation during the crop development stage (30–70 DAT) reduced dry leaf yield at Nimtala, but this water stress applied during the initial stage (0–30 DAT) provided better leaf width and fresh leaf yield at Noapara. The depletion of available soil water ranged 49–59% before irrigation application by the local farmers. A 15% reduction in irrigation amount did not affect the dry leaf yield, but a 30% deficit irrigation reduced fresh leaf yield at both sites compared to full irrigation. These findings, especially the Kc values, stagewise water stress sensitivity, and deficit irrigation effects, will help plan a guideline for sustainable water management for tobacco production in the region.
PubDate: 2023-01-30
DOI: 10.1007/s41101-023-00183-2
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- A Multi-model Framework for Streamflow Forecasting Based on Stochastic
Models: an Application to the State Of Ceará, Brazil-
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Abstract: Reliable long-term (decadal scale) streamflow prediction would provide significant planning information for water resources management, particularly in areas marked by significant variability at those time scales. In this study, a multi-model for prediction using four models that incorporate preprocessing methods along with data-driven forecast models coupled using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression method is proposed. Models utilized complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN) and wavelet transform (WT) as the decomposition methods and autoregressive (AR) and hidden Markov models (HMM) as the predictive method. The model is evaluated in a comparative analysis with a variety of models previously proposed for hydrological time series prediction. We compare the predictive skill of alternative data-driven models for average annual streamflow (3 ~ 15 years) prediction. Results indicate that the multi-model performed better than the other models, presenting lower values of MAE and RSME. This multi-model can be a reliable tool for forecasting, which can be explored for hydrological data that have remarkably nonlinear and nonstationary features.
PubDate: 2023-01-30
DOI: 10.1007/s41101-023-00184-1
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- Fluoride Toxicity in Rajasthan, India: Human Health Risk Assessment,
Low-Cost Water Filter Preparation, and Contaminant Remediation-
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Abstract: The present study investigates fluoride concentrations from 9 locations in Rajasthan, India, and its associated health risk to the local inhabitants. pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), chloride, hardness, and dissolved oxygen (DO) were among the other qualitative parameters measured, where the mean recorded values were 8.5, 723.9 mg/l, 1510 μS/cm, 462.63 mg/l, 32.3 mg/l, and 6.3 mg/l, respectively. All of the tested samples had fluoride above the threshold value. To assess the fluoride health risk, the average daily dosage (ADD) and ingestion hazard quotient (IHQ) were evaluated for residents for ages 1 to > 80. Further work developed a low-cost household water filter for efficient fluoride remediation. The design is a low-cost gravity water filter prepared with diverse raw materials such as cement, sand, clay, ceramic, sugarcane bagasse, sawdust, potato gel, and activated carbon. Eight filters using different combinations of raw materials—four each of cement and ceramic as the base material—were tested for quality and flow rates over 30 days. The mean discharges measured through filters ranged from 0.034 to 1.17 l/h, with fluoride removal efficiency varying from 23.53 to 67.64% for the cement filters and 29.41 to 37.53% for ceramic filters. With the switch from cement to ceramic as the raw material, the filters’ mean pore size varied from 1.432 to 0.013 μm. The per-area costs for the cement and ceramic filter ranged from INR 60.28 to 116.76 and INR 805.95 to 1023.90, respectively. The best filter combination was tested for field samples, with a fluoride removal rate of 88.55%.
PubDate: 2023-01-30
DOI: 10.1007/s41101-023-00175-2
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- Comprehensive Evaluation of Hormat Golina-7 Drip Irrigation Project of
Ethiopia Using Various Performance Indicators-
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Abstract: The performance of Hormat Golina-7 drip irrigation in Kobo-Girana valley of Ethiopia has been extensively developed into modern drip irrigation system employing groundwater resources. The emitter discharge and soil moisture content were collected from the field and relevant hydro-meteorological data were collected from Sirinka Agricultural Research. The emitter flow was measured by using a direct graduated container in the study area. Engineering, field water use, crop and water productivity, and socio-economic and agricultural performance indicators were considered the performance evaluation indicators. For each indicator, application efficiency (Ea), equity water delivery performance (PE), reference evapotranspiration (ETO), delivery performance ratio (DPR), and distribution uniformity characteristics such as emission uniformity (EU), emitter flow rate variation (qvar), coefficient of variation (Cv), and coefficient of uniformity (Uc) were assessed. Based on the results, Ea (62.85%), PE (0.21), DPR (1.56%), EU (49.28%), Pvar (73.92%), CV (43.80%), and UC (56.20%) were assessed. During the field research, it was observed that there is emitter clogging, lack of irrigation infrastructure and training, and inaccurate lateral collection after irrigation. Considering all the facts and parameters studies including field assessment, it has been evaluated that Hormat Golina-7 drip irrigation system is a poor-performing scheme.
PubDate: 2023-01-30
DOI: 10.1007/s41101-023-00182-3
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- Assessment of Drinking Water Quality Using Water Quality Index: A Review
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Abstract: Nowadays, declining water quality is a significant concern for the world because of rapid population growth, agricultural and industrial activity enhancement, global warming, and climate change influencing hydrological cycles. Assessing water quality becomes necessary by using a suitable method to reduce the risk of geochemical contaminants. Water’s physical and chemical properties are compared to a standard guideline to determine its quality. The water quality index (WQI) model is a commonly helpful technique for evaluating surface and groundwater quality. The model mainly employs aggregation techniques to diminish large amounts of data to a sole value. The WQI model has been used across the globe to assess ground and surface water using regional standards. The model has become popular for its ease of use and general structure. Typically, WQI models include five stages: (1) choosing water quality indicators, (2) generating sub-parameters for each variable, (3) calculating variable weighting numbers, (4) aggregating sub-parameters to finding the total WQI value, and (5) classification of WQI value to highlight the category of water quality. In addition, the model creates ambiguity when converting vast volumes of data into a single value. The study considered 2011–2021 blinded peer-reviewed articles and book chapters to assess WQI models and their application in evaluating drinking water quality. This study mainly concentrated on the comparison of WQI models and their applications. The study also focused on the selection of parameters and problems associated with the accuracy of the models.
PubDate: 2023-01-30
DOI: 10.1007/s41101-023-00185-0
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- Selection of Greywater Reuse Options Using Multi-criteria Decision-making
Techniques-
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Abstract: On-site reuse of treated greywater for non-potable purposes such as toilet flushing, garden irrigation and car washing is one of the alternatives to meet the increasing water demand and to reduce the load on sewage treatment plants. However, no studies have been reported on selecting the most appropriate reuse option among the different reuse options available. In the present study, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods TOPSIS, VIKOR, ELECTRE and PROMETHEE were used to rank the greywater reuse alternatives. The main criteria considered included acceptability, adaptability and the risk involved with the reuse option along with technical and economic considerations. Alternative uses considered in the study were household reuse, public reuse, industrial reuse, groundwater recharge and agricultural reuse. Based on expert opinion, the weightage of criteria and relative importance of each alternative to criteria were determined using the defuzzification method. Kendall’s coefficients of concordance and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients were used to compare the ranks, while sensitivity analysis was performed to find the least impacted results. Results show that domestic reuse is the best alternative for greywater reuse, followed by public reuse. Kendall’s concordance value suggests more than partial agreement between the ranks obtained by different MCDM techniques. Sensitivity analysis showed that technical consideration was the most sensitive criterion. Graphical
PubDate: 2023-01-27
DOI: 10.1007/s41101-023-00181-4
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- Identification and Prioritization of Sub-watersheds to Soil Erosion and
Sediment Yield Susceptibility Using RUSLE, Remote Sensing, and GIS (Case
Study: Abbay—Awash Basin in Wollo Area, Ethiopia)-
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Abstract: The effects of soil erosion are most horrible in developing countries, where agriculturalists are very unable to recover soil fertility using purchased inputs. Evidence on soil loss is vital for encouraging farming productivity and natural resource management. Simulation models are the most active way to predict soil loss processes and their result by using geographic information system and remote sensing. Soil erosion modeling used mathematical equations that require many data measurements as well as physical description of the erosion phenomena. The main goal of this research was to delineate areas that require prior soil conservation measures and to predict the amount of soil loss at the Abbay-Awash basin. The soil loss was assessed by using the Revised Universal Soil Equation (RUSLE) model. The layers were then overlaid and multiplied pixel by pixel, using the RUSLE model and raster calculator-reprocessing tool in Arc GIS 10.1 environment. Annual soil losses range from 0 in the lowlands of the watershed to more than 500 tons ha−1 year−1 in much of the steeper slopes on tributaries. Based on the analysis, the amount of soil loss in the Abbay basin from Wollo area is about 3.52 million tons per year from 1.765 million hectares and also in the Awash basin from the Wollo area about 0.58 million tons per year from 0.787 million hectares area. A detailed examination showed that the most pronounced RUSLE factor that worsened soil erosion and caused a high soil loss rate was the slope length (L), steepness (S) factors, and low vegetation cover. Thus, planners should adapt their soil and water conservation measure implementation strategies by devoting in the very urgent part of the watershed first and then progressively to the needed part to prevent the influence of runoff at its start point.
PubDate: 2023-01-26
DOI: 10.1007/s41101-023-00179-y
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- Correction to: Performance Evaluation of Small-Scale Irrigation Scheme: a
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PubDate: 2022-09-24
DOI: 10.1007/s41101-022-00165-w
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