Agriculture, water and the environment: future challenges

2003 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 51-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Oron

Various countries in the Mediterranean Basin and other arid and semi-arid regions are facing a gap between water supply and demand. This gap is closely linked with agricultural production and environmental issues. It is probably due to small amounts of precipitation and low availability of natural water sources. Special ventures have to be undertaken in order to supply water at adequate quality for all requirements. These can be accomplished by development of additional water sources that currently are considered marginal. The additional sources include saline ground water, treated wastewater and runoff water and are usually required to augment the limited supply from the regional conventional high quality local sources. The paper presented options for development of the marginal water sources in arid zones in conjunction with minimizing the dependence on high quality water. Domestic secondary effluent is a valuable water source for reclamation however, additional treatment is required to use it for unrestricted purposes. It can be achieved primarily by implementation of the membrane technology, namely ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) stages.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsin-Bai Yin ◽  
Nidhi Gupta ◽  
Chi-Hung Chen ◽  
Ashley Boomer ◽  
Abani Pradhan ◽  
...  

Treated wastewater (TW) and roof-collected rain water (RW) that meet the required microbial quality as per Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) regulation may serve as alternative irrigation water sources to decrease the pressure on the current water scarcity. Alternative water sources may have different water characteristics that influence the survival and transfer of microorganisms to the irrigated produce. Further, these water sources may contain pathogenic bacteria such as Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli. To evaluate the risk associated with TW and RW irrigation on the fresh produce safety, the effect of TW and RW irrigation on the transfer of two non-pathogenic E. coli strains as surrogates for E. coli O157:H7 to different lettuce cultivars grown in the field was investigated. Lettuce cultivars “Annapolis,” “Celinet,” and “Coastline” were grown in the field at the Fulton farm (Chambersburg, PA). Approximately 10 days before harvest, lettuce plants were spray-irrigated with groundwater (GW), TW, or RW containing 6 log CFU ml−1 of a mixture of nalidixic acid-resistant E. coli O157:H12 and chloramphenicol-resistant E. coli K12 in fecal slurry as non-pathogenic surrogates for E. coli O157:H7. On 0, 1, 3, 7, and 10 days post-irrigation, four replicate lettuce leaf samples (30 g per sample) from each group were collected and pummeled in 120 ml of buffered peptone water for 2 min, followed by spiral plating on MacConkey agars with antibiotics. Results showed that the recovery of E. coli O157:H12 was significantly greater than the populations of E. coli K12 recovered from the irrigated lettuce regardless of the water sources and the lettuce cultivars. The TW irrigation resulted in the lowest recovery of the E. coli surrogates on the lettuce compared to the populations of these bacteria recovered from the lettuce with RW and GW irrigation on day 0. The difference in leaf characteristics of lettuce cultivars significantly influenced the recovery of these surrogates on lettuce leaves. Populations of E. coli O157:H12 recovered from the RW-irrigated “Annapolis” lettuce were significantly lower than the recovery of this bacterium from the “Celinet” and “Coastline” lettuce (P < 0.05). Overall, the recovery of specific E. coli surrogates from the RW and TW irrigated lettuce was comparable to the lettuce with the GW irrigation, where GW served as a baseline water source. E. coli O157:H12 could be a more suitable surrogate compared to E. coli K12 because it is an environmental watershed isolate. The findings of this study provide critical information in risk assessment evaluation of RW and TW irrigation on lettuce in Mid-Atlantic area.


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 1807-1826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. H. He ◽  
F. Q. Tian ◽  
H. V. Gupta ◽  
H. C. Hu ◽  
H. P. Hu

Abstract. Hydrological modeling can exploit informative signatures extracted from long time sequences of observed streamflow for parameter calibration and model diagnosis. In this study we explore the diagnostic potential of hydrograph partitioning for model calibration in mountain areas, where meltwater from snow and glaciers is an important source for river runoff (in addition to rainwater). We propose an index-based method to partition the hydrograph according to dominant runoff water sources, and a diagnostic approach to calibrate a mountain hydrological model. First, by accounting for the seasonal variability of precipitation and the altitudinal variability of temperature and snow/glacier coverage, we develop a set of indices to indicate the daily status of runoff generation from each type of water source (i.e., glacier meltwater, snow meltwater, rainwater, and groundwater). Second, these indices are used to partition a hydrograph into four parts associated with four different combinations of dominant water sources (i.e., groundwater, groundwater + snow meltwater, groundwater + snow meltwater + glacier meltwater, and groundwater + snow meltwater + glacier meltwater + rainwater). Third, the hydrological model parameters are grouped by the associated runoff sources, and each group is calibrated to match the corresponding hydrograph partition in a stepwise and iterative manner. Similar to use of the regime curve to diagnose seasonality of streamflow, the hydrograph partitioning curve based on a dominant runoff water source (more briefly called the partitioning curve, not necessarily continuous) can serve as a diagnostic signature that helps relate model performance to model components. The proposed methods are demonstrated via application of a semi-distributed hydrological model (THREW, Tsinghua Representative Elementary Watershed) to the Tailan River basin (TRB) (1324 km2) in the Tianshan Mountains of China. Results show that the proposed calibration approach performed reasonably well. Cross-validation and comparison to an automatic calibration method indicated its robustness.


2003 ◽  
Vol 3 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 379-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bick ◽  
G. Oron ◽  
L. Gillerman ◽  
Y. Manor

The scarcity of fresh water in most of the countries in the Mediterranean Basin makes treated wastewater a valuable alternative water source. The improved technology for the removal of particles, turbidity, bacteria and cysts from effluent, without the use of disinfectants is based on the use of membranes, mainly on micro-filtration (MF) and ultra-filtration (UF). Membrane treatment of secondary effluent sounds attractive since it is a stable water source. Pathogens, soluble organic matters, turbidity, color, parasites and viruses can be removed by UF membrane technology. Experiments are in progress in the commercial fields of Gadash Har Hebron Enterprise (GHHE), located near the City of Arad, Israel. Field data collected from a two-stage UF pilot plant (240 m3/day) enable us to provide performance estimate efficiencies based on the data envelopment analysis method. The research focused on individual UF experiments allowing us to determine the UF performance efficiency in terms of information quality for adequate decision-making. Field results are presented in order to support the theory and related pricing decisions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 13385-13441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. H. He ◽  
F. Q. Tian ◽  
H. V. Gupta ◽  
H. C. Hu ◽  
H. P. Hu

Abstract. Hydrological modeling can exploit informative signatures extracted from long time sequences of observed streamflow for parameter calibration and model diagnosis. In this study we explore the diagnostic potential of hydrograph partitioning for model calibration in alpine areas, where meltwater from snow and glaciers are important sources for river runoff (in addition to rainwater). We propose an index-based method to partition the hydrograph according to dominant runoff water sources, and a diagnostic approach to calibrate an alpine hydrological model. First, by accounting for the seasonal variability of precipitation and the altitudinal variability of temperature and snow/glacier coverage, we develop a set of indices to indicate the daily status of runoff generation from each type of water source (i.e. glacier meltwater, snow meltwater, rainwater, and groundwater). Second, these indices are used to partition a hydrograph into four parts associated with four different combinations of dominant water sources (i.e. groundwater, groundwater + snow meltwater, groundwater + snow meltwater + glacier meltwater, groundwater + snow meltwater + glacier meltwater + rainwater). Third, the hydrological model parameters are grouped by the associated runoff generation mechanism, and each group is calibrated to match the corresponding hydrograph partition in a stepwise and iterative manner. Similar to use of the regime curve to diagnose seasonality of streamflow, the hydrograph partitioning curve based on a dominant runoff water source (more briefly called the partitioning curve, not necessarily continuous) can serve as a diagnostic signature that helps relate model performance to model components. The proposed methods are demonstrated via application of a semi-distributed hydrological model (THREW) to the Tailan River basin (1324 km2) in the Tianshan Mountain of China.


Author(s):  
Alexey Shcherbakov ◽  
Valentin Zhezmer

Department of hydraulic engineering and hydraulics FGBNU «VNIIGiM them. A.N. Kostyakova «has a long history. For many years, the department’s staff has been such scientists and water engineers with extensive experience as M.A. Volynov, V.S. Verbitsky, S.S. Medvedev, N.V. Lebedev, B.C. Panfilov, T.G. Voynich-Syanozhentsky, V.A. Golubkova, G.V. Lyapin and others. The department solved a wide range of tasks, the main areas of research were the following: – theoretical and applied hydrodynamics and hydraulics, with reference to the open channel flows that affect the state and level of safety of the hydraulic structures; – integrated use and protection of water bodies – water sources and water sources of water resources used in land reclamation; – development of measures and technical solutions for the protection of objects from the negative effects of water; – theoretical substantiation of works to improve the safety level of the GTS (declaration); – development and implementation of digitalization methods for solving design, construction, operation and control of landreclamation facilities. Currently, promising areas of research is the development of a decision-making algorithm in the designation of measures to rationalize the provision of resources to water amelioration. The algorithm is developed on the basis of a detailed study, systematization and processing of data both on safety and on the efficiency of systems and structures, ensuring the delivery of irrigation water of the required quality and in sufficient quantity from a water source to the field.


1999 ◽  
Vol 40 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 43-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Juanico ◽  
Eran Friedler

Most of the water has been captured in the rivers of Israel and they have turned into dry river-beds which deliver only sporadic winter floods. In a semi-arid country where literally every drop of water is used, reclaimed wastewater is the most feasible water source for river recovery. Two topics are addressed in this paper: water quality management in rivers where most of the flowing water is treated wastewater, and the allocations of reclaimed wastewater required for the recovery of rivers and streams. Water quality management must consider that the main source of water to the river has a pollution loading which reduces its capability to absorb other pollution impacts. The allocation of treated wastewater for the revival of rivers may not affect negatively the water balance of the region; it may eventually improve it. An upstream bruto allocation of 122 MCM/year of wastewater for the recovery of 14 rivers in Israel may favor downstream reuse of this wastewater, resulting in a small neto allocation and in an increase of the water resources available to the country. The discharge of effluents upstream to revive the river followed by their re-capture downstream for irrigation, implies a further stage in the intensification of water reuse.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2791
Author(s):  
Pengyan Su ◽  
Mingjun Zhang ◽  
Deye Qu ◽  
Jiaxin Wang ◽  
Yu Zhang ◽  
...  

As a species for ecological restoration in northern China, Tamarix ramosissima plays an important role in river protection, flood control, regional climate regulation, and landscape construction with vegetation. Two sampling sites were selected in the hillside and floodplain habitats along the Lanzhou City, and the xylems of T. ramosissima and potential water sources were collected, respectively. The Bayesian mixture model (MixSIAR) and soil water excess (SW-excess) were applied to analyze the relationship on different water pools and the utilization ratios of T. ramosissima to potential water sources in two habitats. The results showed that the slope and intercept of local meteoric water line (LMWL) in two habitats were smaller compared with the global meteoric water line (GMWL), which indicated the existence of drier climate and strong evaporation in the study area, especially in the hillside habitat. Except for the three months in hillside, the SW-excess of T. ramosissima were negative, which indicated that xylems of T. ramosissima are more depleted in δ2H than the soil water line. In growing seasons, the main water source in hillside habitat was deep soil water (80~150 cm) and the utilization ratio was 63 ± 17% for T. ramosissima, while the main water source in floodplain habitat was shallow soil water (0~30 cm), with a utilization ratio of 42.6 ± 19.2%, and the water sources were different in diverse months. T. ramosissima has a certain adaptation mechanism and water-use strategies in two habitats, and also an altered water uptake pattern in acquiring the more stable water. This study will provide a theoretical basis for plant water management in ecological environment protection in the Loess Plateau.


2021 ◽  
Vol 277 ◽  
pp. 04004
Author(s):  
Aprilia Harera ◽  
Gita Lestari Putri ◽  
Tim Foster

Drinking water sources derived from groundwater using selfsupply approaches are widely used in Bekasi City because only 26.8% of households are connected to the piped distribution. These self-supplied water systems can be assessed to determine how people choose a better drinking source. Therefore, this study aims to assess the service level attributes of self-supply, including accessibility, availability, and quality. A longitudinal monitoring method by means of a monthly survey to respondents was used to mens perceptions of taste, smell, color, availability, and safety. The results on both household and citywide scale showed boreholes were perceived to deliver a high service level. On the household scale, 93% of boreholes user got ‘high’ score for water service assessment, while dug wells were only 76%. During the 8 months survey, it was shown that 45% of respondents change their main source of drinking water from self-supply to other source for several reasons. Therefore, this study is expected to provide an overview related to the resilience of selfsupply drinking water for a certain period.


The development of dams and sediments ponds which is the hydrological planning to improve the aspect of irrigation, river engineering, foundations, soil mechanics, environmental engineering, hydrology and hydraulics. The management difficulty for a decision maker of environmental impacts which is the river's condition does not change for the better in direct response to reduction in nutrient concentration. The aims of this study to evaluate the design of reservoirs building and analysing the water flow and volume of sediment storage in the Binanga Aron River, Samosir, North Sumatera Indonesia. The hydraulic modelling on sediments ponds will ensuring the availability of sufficient volume of water, river flows and water quality status. The primary channel building is equipped with a door to prevent the rinsing water flow back to the primary channel and prevent the entry of rinsing water containing sediment into the canal. Then, the insufficient water availability from the river that is used as a water source in the irrigation area, then the irrigation area is still possible to supply water from nearby water sources. From the result, the volume of water recorded 1,977 ltr/s/ha with simultaneously delivery system. It is necessary to adjust the position of the dam, where the channel flow depth in the sedimentary bag building at least 0.236 m, the discharge ranges from 0.078 - 0.263 m3 /sec. The water availability planned of water sources into artificial reservoirs in the Binanga Aron River to maintain the water supply


2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 1017-1030 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Viviroli ◽  
R. Weingartner

Abstract. Mountain regions supply a large share of the world’s population with fresh water. Quantification of the hydrological significance of mountains, however, is subject to great uncertainty. Instead of focusing on global averages in advance, the present analysis follows a catchment-based approach using discharge data provided by the Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC). The River Rhine originating in the European Alps is chosen as a first study area, revealing the hydrological relationship between mountainous and lowland regions in a well-documented area. Following the findings from this analysis, different aspects of runoff characteristics for a total of 22 case-study river basins world-wide have been investigated and compared, for a global view. The view has been extended through aspects of climate and human use of mountain runoff. The particular hydrological characteristics of mountain areas are characterised by disproportionately large discharges. In humid areas, mountains supply up to 20–50% of total discharge while in arid areas, mountains contribute from 50–90% of total discharge, with extremes of over 95%. The overall assessment of the hydrological significance of mountain areas reveals that the world’s major "water towers" are found in arid or semi-arid zones where they provide essential fresh water for a significant proportion of a quickly growing global population. Keywords: mountain hydrology, global comparative assessment, runoff, water resources, sustainability, Rhine River, European Alps


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