Impacts of hydraulic fracturing on water quality: a review of literature, regulatory frameworks and an analysis of information gaps

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.A. Gagnon ◽  
W. Krkosek ◽  
L. Anderson ◽  
E. McBean ◽  
M. Mohseni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Water Quality Monitoring ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sample Collection ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Post Operation ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Current Governance

A review of available literature and current governance approaches related to the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on water quality (including drinking water) was developed. The paper identifies gaps in literature and (or) current governance approaches that should be addressed to guide decision-makers in the development of appropriate regulatory regimes that will enable assessment of the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on water quality. The lack of credible and comprehensive data are shown to have been a major setback to properly investigate and monitor hydraulic fracturing activities and their potential risks on the environment and water quality. A review of current governance approaches demonstrates that some jurisdictions have implemented baseline and post-operation water quality monitoring requirements; however, there are large variations in site-specific monitoring requirements across Canada and the United States. In light of recent information, a targeted approach is suggested based on risk priorities, which can prioritize sample collection and frequency, target contaminants, and the needed duration of the sampling. The steps outlined in this review help to interface with the public concerns associated with water quality, and appropriately ensure that public health is protected through appropriate water safety planning.

Objectives of a Water Quality Monitoring Programme for the International River Basins in a Developing Country in Southern Africa – Mozambique

1984 ◽  
Vol 16 (5-7) ◽  
pp. 33-39
Author(s):  
S J Hugman
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Water Quality Monitoring ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Sample Collection ◽  
Water Quality Data ◽  
Maximum Benefit ◽  
Management And Development ◽  
International Obligations

Mozambique lies on the south-east coast of Africa. Its Independence, in 1975, was particularly difficult and severely disrupted the economy. All its major rivers rise in neighbouring countries and several, in particular those from South Africa and Swaziland, are already heavily used before crossing the border. Since 1977 the National Water Directorate has been responsible for management and development of water resources. The Directorate includes a hydrology department which maintains field-teams throughout the country. Virtually no water quality data are available from before 1972, when irregular sample collection began. Since Independence, sampling has continued but the Directorate has redefined the objectives of the programme to obtain maximum benefit from very limited resources. These objectives were chosen for economic, hydrological and political reasons. The long-term objectives are to provide the data required for agricultural and industrial development projects, to manage and maintain the quality of Mozambique's water resources, and to meet international obligations. In practice, the capacity of the hydrological service is insufficient to meet these objectives. The targets for the existing programme were therefore chosen to satisfy the most important objectives and to be feasible with present resources. The routine programme is being completely operated by technicians who have no more than nine years schooling.

scholarly journals Complex Assessment of Underground Water Sources’ Quality in Khabarovsk City Territory

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 30-37
Author(s):  
Андреев ◽  
A. Andreev ◽  
Кондратьева ◽  
L. Kondrateva
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Water Quality Monitoring ◽  
Underground Water ◽  
Water Sources ◽  
Water Supply Systems ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Heavy Metals Ions ◽  
First Time ◽  
Supply Systems

In case of water bodies’ surface contamination the water supply systems based on underground sources could supply of fresh water to the urban population with maximum guaranteed safety. In emergency the entire resource of underground water sources is used, including shallow water intakes and individual wells. The results of the complex research for the quality of fresh water taken from wells located in Khabarovsk city districts with different anthropogenic charge levels are considered in this paper. For the first time the fresh water quality monitoring aimed to potential risks estimation was held using the indicators of radon’s volumetric activity. The assessment for a seasonal variation of the fresh water quality by the microbiological indicators and the heavy metals ions quantity has been presented.

scholarly journals Retrieval of Turbidity on a Spatio-Temporal Scale Using Landsat 8 SR: A Case Study of the Ramganga River in the Ganges Basin, India

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 3702
Author(s):  
Mona Allam ◽  
Mohd Yawar Ali Khan ◽  
Qingyan Meng
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Quality Monitoring ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Geological Survey ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
River Channels ◽  
Ganges River ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Ramganga River ◽  
The Ganges

Nowadays, space-borne imaging spectro-radiometers are exploited for many environmental applications, including water quality monitoring. Turbidity is a standout amongst the essential parameters of water quality that affect productivity. The current study aims to utilize Landsat 8 surface reflectance (L8SR) to retrieve turbidity in the Ramganga River, a tributary of the Ganges River. Samples of river water were collected from 16 different locations on 13 March and 27 November 2014. L8SR images from 6 March and 17 November 2014 were downloaded from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) website. The algorithm to retrieve turbidity is based on the correlation between L8SR reflectance (single and ratio bands) and insitu data. The b2/b4 and b2/b3 bands ratio are proven to be the best predictors of turbidity, with R2 = 0.560 (p < 0.05) and R2 = 0.726 (p < 0.05) for March and November, respectively. Selected models are validated by comparing the concentrations of predicted and measured turbidity. The results showed that L8SR is a promising tool for monitoring surface water from space, even in relatively narrow river channels, such as the Ramganga River.

scholarly journals Integrated Electrochemical Biosensors for Detection of Waterborne Pathogens in Low-Resource Settings

Biosensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Rainbow ◽  
Eliska Sedlackova ◽  
Shu Jiang ◽  
Grace Maxted ◽  
Despina Moschou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Developing World ◽  
Water Quality Monitoring ◽  
Electrochemical Biosensors ◽  
Waterborne Diseases ◽  
Sample Collection ◽  
Waterborne Disease ◽  
Low Resource Settings ◽  
Low Resource ◽  
Quality Testing

More than 783 million people worldwide are currently without access to clean and safe water. Approximately 1 in 5 cases of mortality due to waterborne diseases involve children, and over 1.5 million cases of waterborne disease occur every year. In the developing world, this makes waterborne diseases the second highest cause of mortality. Such cases of waterborne disease are thought to be caused by poor sanitation, water infrastructure, public knowledge, and lack of suitable water monitoring systems. Conventional laboratory-based techniques are inadequate for effective on-site water quality monitoring purposes. This is due to their need for excessive equipment, operational complexity, lack of affordability, and long sample collection to data analysis times. In this review, we discuss the conventional techniques used in modern-day water quality testing. We discuss the future challenges of water quality testing in the developing world and how conventional techniques fall short of these challenges. Finally, we discuss the development of electrochemical biosensors and current research on the integration of these devices with microfluidic components to develop truly integrated, portable, simple to use and cost-effective devices for use by local environmental agencies, NGOs, and local communities in low-resource settings.

scholarly journals From existing in situ, high-resolution measurement technologies to lab-on-a-chip – the future of water quality monitoring?

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 6457-6506 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Wade ◽  
E. J. Palmer-Felgate ◽  
S. J. Halliday ◽  
R. A. Skeffington ◽  
M. Loewenthal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Lab On A Chip ◽  
Urban System ◽  
Water Quality Monitoring ◽  
Low Flow ◽  
Septic Tank ◽  
Storm Events ◽  
Sample Collection ◽  
Daily Monitoring ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract. This paper introduces new insights into the hydrochemical functioning of lowland river-systems using field-based spectrophotometric and electrode technologies. The streamwater concentrations of nitrogen species and phosphorus fractions were measured at hourly intervals on a continuous basis at two contrasting sites on tributaries of the River Thames, one draining a rural catchment, the River Enborne, and one draining a more urban system, The Cut. The measurements complement those from an existing network of multi-parameter water quality sondes maintained across the Thames catchment and weekly monitoring based on grab samples. The results of the sub-daily monitoring show that streamwater phosphorus concentrations display highly complex, seemingly chaotic, dynamics under storm conditions dependent on the antecedent catchment wetness, and that diurnal phosphorus and nitrogen cycles occur under low flow conditions. The diurnal patterns highlight the dominance of sewage inputs in controlling the streamwater phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations at low flows, even at a distance of 7 km from the nearest sewage works in the rural, River Enborne, and that the time of sample collection is important when judging water quality against ecological thresholds or standards. An exhaustion of the supply of phosphorus from diffuse and septic tank sources during storm events was evident and load estimation was not improved by sub-daily monitoring beyond that achieved by daily sampling because of the eventual reduction in the phosphorus mass entering the stream during events. The dominance of respiration over photosynthesis in The Cut indicated a prevalence of heterotrophic algae, and the seasonal patterns in respiration and photosynthesis corresponded with those of temperature and light in this nutrient over-enriched stream. These results highlight the utility of sub-daily water quality measurements but the deployment of modified wet-chemistry technologies into the field was limited by mains electricity availability. A new approach is therefore needed to allow measurement of a wide range of analytes at a broader range of locations for the development of water quality web-sensor networks. The development and field deployment of a miniaturised "lab-on-a-chip" ion chromatograph is proposed and justified.

scholarly journals Linking water quality monitoring and climate-resilient water safety planning in two urban drinking water utilities in Ethiopia

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 989-1001
Author(s):  
Harold van den Berg ◽  
Bettina Rickert ◽  
Seada Ibrahim ◽  
Kasa Bekure ◽  
Hailu Gichile ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Water Quality Monitoring ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Quality Monitoring ◽  
Guidance Document ◽  
Safety Planning ◽  
Water Safety

Abstract Unsafe drinking water is a recognized health threat in Ethiopia, and climate change, rapid population growth, urbanization and agricultural practices put intense pressure on availability and quality of water. Climate change-related health problems due to floods and waterborne diseases are increasing. With increasing insight into impacts of climate change and urbanization on water availability and quality and of required adaptations, a shift towards climate-resilient water safety planning was introduced into an Ethiopian strategy and guidance document to guarantee safe drinking water. Climate-resilient water safety planning was implemented in the urban water supplies of Addis Ababa and Adama, providing drinking water to 5 million and 500,000 people, respectively. Based on the risks identified with climate-resilient water safety planning, water quality monitoring can be optimized by prioritizing parameters and events which pose a higher risk for contaminating the drinking water. Water quality monitoring was improved at both drinking water utilities and at the Public Health Institute to provide relevant data used as input for climate-resilient water safety planning. By continuously linking water quality monitoring and climate-resilient water safety planning, utilization of information was optimized, and both approaches benefit from linking these activities.

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