Paradise for Whom? Conservatism and Progress in the Perception of Rio de Janeiro's Drinking-Water Supply, Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries

2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 703-727
Author(s):  
JORUN POETTERING

AbstractThis article examines the ways in which the perception of Rio de Janeiro's drinking water contributed to shaping the city's hydric management in colonial and imperial times. Even though the general assessment of climate and vegetation changed from paradisiacal to noxious in the second half of the eighteenth century in accordance with Enlightenment ideas, this had no effect on the locals’ appreciation of the city's drinking water. The criteria for evaluating the quality and quantity of available water were based on works from classical antiquity and remained essentially unchanged from early colonial times to the end of the empire. Not even population growth and increasing susceptibility to epidemics in the nineteenth century induced the authorities to reform the water supply system, as they were confident that the city was provided with good and abundant water by virtue of its natural predisposition.

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 1259-1264
Author(s):  
Kiril Lisichkov ◽  
Katerina Atkovska ◽  
Neven Trajchevski ◽  
Orce Popovski ◽  
Nadica Todorovska

The presence of some chemical compounds at higher levels than maximum permissible concentrations (MPC) in the drinking water, suggests of water resources pollution. In this paper the following elements were analyzed: total arsenic, cadmium, lead, cooper and zinc. Twelve samples of water from the water supply system from the city of Skopje were examined during one year from three different springs. Also, ten samples of bottled water from three producers from the Macedonian market were tested.The determined average mass concentrations of total As, Cd(II), Pb(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) in the analyzed water samples from the water supply system are 1.35 μg/l, 0.06 μg/l, 0.6 μg/l, 0.9 μg/l and 1,12 μg/l, respectively, and for the tested bottled water, the mean values ranges from 0.56 - 0.83 μg total As / l, 0.053 - 0.056 μg Cd(II)/l, 0.51 - 0.54 μg Pb(II)/l , 0.6 - 0.87 μg Cu(II)/l and 0.68 - 0.8 μg Zn(II)/l water.The following instrumental analytical methods and techniques were used for the analysis of the tested samples of drinking water: flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), atomic absorption spectroscopy with hydride cеll, electrothermal atomic absorption spectroscopy.The obtained results are shown in tables and graphic form. According to the obtained results a comparative analysis was carried out indicate that it is a water of good quality that can be used in different branches of the process industry.The obtained results in this paper do not exceed the values of the MPC of the Republic of Macedonia prescribed by the legal regulations for the drinking water, which confirm the health safety of the drinking water from the water supply system in the city of Skopje and the packed waters from the Macedonian market in relation to the tested elements.


2011 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 549-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika M. Tóth ◽  
Zsuzsa Kéki ◽  
Judit Makk ◽  
Zalán G. Homonnay ◽  
Károly Márialigeti ◽  
...  

Three Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterial strains were isolated from the drinking water supply system of the Hungarian capital, Budapest. Phylogenetic analysis on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison revealed that the isolates represented a distinct cluster within the clade of the genus Nocardioides and were most closely related to Nocardioides pyridinolyticus OS4T, Nocardioides aquiterrae GW-9T, Nocardioides sediminis MSL-01T and N. hankookensis DS-30T. The peptidoglycan based on ll-2,6-diaminopimelic acid, the major menaquinone MK-8(H4), the cellular fatty acid profile with iso-C16 : 0 and anteiso-C17 : 0 as predominating components and the DNA G+C content of 71.4 mol% (strain 1RaM5-12T) were consistent with the affiliation of the isolates to the genus Nocardioides. Because of differences in physiological characteristics, matrix-assisted laser-desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectra of protein extracts, PvuII RiboPrinter patterns and 96.1 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strain 1RaM5-12T and its closest phylogenetic neighbour, N. pyridinolyticus OS4T, a novel species, Nocardioides hungaricus sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is 1RaM5-12T (=DSM 21673T =NCAIM 02330T).


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 1813-1822
Author(s):  
Cecilia Caretti ◽  
Roberta Muoio ◽  
Leonardo Rossi ◽  
Daniela Santianni ◽  
Claudio Lubello ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jolijn van Engelenburg ◽  
Erik van Slobbe ◽  
Adriaan J. Teuling ◽  
Remko Uijlenhoet ◽  
Petra Hellegers

Abstract. Developments such as climate change and growing demand for drinking water threaten the sustainability of drinking water supply worldwide. To deal with this threat, adaptation of drinking water supply systems is imperative, not only on a global and national scale, but particularly on a local scale. This investigation sought to establish characteristics that describe the sustainability of local drinking water supply. We use an integrated systems approach, describing the local drinking water supply system in terms of hydrological, technical and socio-economic characteristics that determine the sustainability of a local drinking water supply system. Three cases on drinking water supply in the Netherlands are analysed. One case relates to a short-term development, that is the 2018 summer drought, and two concern long-term phenomena, that is, changes in water quality and growth in drinking water demand. The approach taken recognises that next to extreme weather events, socio-economic developments will be among the main drivers of changes in drinking water supply. Effects of pressures associated with, for example, population growth, industrial developments and land use changes, could result in limited water resource availability, deteriorated groundwater quality and growing water demand. To gain a perspective on the case study findings broader than the Dutch context, the sustainability issues identified were paired with global issues concerning sustainable drinking water supply. This resulted in a proposed set of generally applicable sustainability characteristics, each divided into five criteria describing the hydrological, technical and socio-economic sustainability of a local drinking water supply system. Elaboration of these sustainability characteristics and criteria into a sustainability assessment can provide information on the challenges and trade-offs inherent in the sustainable development and management of a local drinking water supply system.


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