scholarly journals Light or Dark Greywater for Water Reuse? Economic Assessment of On-Site Greywater Treatment Systems in Rural Areas

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 3637
Author(s):  
Eduardo Leiva ◽  
Carolina Rodríguez ◽  
Rafael Sánchez ◽  
Jennyfer Serrano

Water scarcity is causing a great impact on the population. Rural areas are most affected by often lacking a stable water supply, being more susceptible to the impact of drought events, and with greater risk of contamination due to the lack of appropriate water treatment systems. Decentralized greywater treatment systems for water reuse in rural areas can be a powerful alternative to alleviate these impacts. However, the economic feasibility of these systems must be thoroughly evaluated. This study reports an economic analysis carried out on the viability of greywater reuse considering scenarios with light greywater or dark greywater to be treated. For this, data obtained from the assembly and monitoring of greywater treatment systems located in the north-central zone of Chile, supplemented with data obtained from the literature were used. The results showed that both scenarios are not economically viable, since the investment and operating costs are not amortized by the savings in water. In both evaluated cases (public schools), the economic indicators were less negative when treating light greywater compared with the sum of light greywater and dark greywater as the inlet water to be treated. The investment and operating costs restrict the implementation of these water reuse systems, since in the evaluation period (20 years) a return on the initial investment is not achieved. Even so, our results suggest that the best alternative to reuse greywater in small-scale decentralized systems is to treat light greywater, but it is necessary to consider a state subsidy that not only supports capital costs but also reduces operating and maintenance costs. These findings support the idea that the type of water to be treated is a factor to consider in the implementation of decentralized greywater treatment systems for the reuse of water in rural areas and can help decision-making on the design and configuration of these systems.

Vaccines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Zoltán Kis ◽  
Cleo Kontoravdi ◽  
Robin Shattock ◽  
Nilay Shah

To overcome pandemics, such as COVID-19, vaccines are urgently needed at very high volumes. Here we assess the techno-economic feasibility of producing RNA vaccines for the demand associated with a global vaccination campaign. Production process performance is assessed for three messenger RNA (mRNA) and one self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) vaccines, all currently under clinical development, as well as for a hypothetical next-generation saRNA vaccine. The impact of key process design and operation uncertainties on the performance of the production process was assessed. The RNA vaccine drug substance (DS) production rates, volumes and costs are mostly impacted by the RNA amount per vaccine dose and to a lesser extent by the scale and titre in the production process. The resources, production scale and speed required to meet global demand vary substantially in function of the RNA amount per dose. For lower dose saRNA vaccines, global demand can be met using a production process at a scale of below 10 L bioreactor working volume. Consequently, these small-scale processes require a low amount of resources to set up and operate. RNA DS production can be faster than fill-to-finish into multidose vials; hence the latter may constitute a bottleneck.


Author(s):  
Dr. M. Vairavan ◽  
Ms. K. Kavitha

Majority of the rural women of SHGs are Micro - Entrepreneurs very few are associated with Small Scale Enterprises. Those women are not only developing with sustainable economy but also able to develop other women economically sustainable by providing job opportunities. The rural women entrepreneurs with the sustainable economic development are able to contribute to the family’s, community’s and the nation’s development. Rural women frequently have primary responsibility for agricultural production, in addition to domestic responsibilities and childcare. In developing country like India where economic status of women is very pathetic especially in rural areas and opportunities of earning are very less in this scenario the Self Help Groups (SHGs) have paved the way for economic independence of rural women. This paper reviews concisely the literature in this field and addresses in particular opportunities and challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in rural areas. It examined the impact on women empowerment through micro entrepreneurship development and SHGs. The increasing presence of women in the business field as entrepreneurs has changed the demographic characteristics of business and economic growth of the country. Women-owned businesses enterprises are playing a more active role in society and the economy, inspiring academics to focus on this interesting phenomenon. This paper focuses on the problems, issues, challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, how to overcome them and to analyze policies of India government for and problems faced by them while pursuing their business.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 8142
Author(s):  
Wubamlak Ayichew Workneh ◽  
Jun Takada ◽  
Shusuke Matsushita

Sectoral economic growth data in Ethiopia show that the agriculture sector has the lowest growth, which is caused by frequent drought and inefficient technologies, among other factors. As a result, the productivities of land and labor, as well as the income of small-scale farm households, are very low, and rural areas have a relatively high poverty rate. A quasi-experiment was applied to understand the impact of using small-scale irrigation motor pumps on farmers’ livelihood improvement. Specifically, a survey was conducted in 2019 on a sample of 92 small-scale irrigation motor pump and canal irrigation users as the treatment and control groups. The weighted propensity score matching method was applied to eliminate initial differences and adjust sampling proportions across the groups. Based on the average treatment effect on the treated estimation results, we cannot state that the mean income difference in small-scale irrigation motor pump users and canal irrigation system users is different from zero. This indicates that countries with little capital to invest in large-scale irrigation projects can introduce household-level small-scale irrigation motor pumps to improve farmers’ incomes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (79) ◽  
pp. 303-328
Author(s):  
Mauricio Giovanni Valencia Amaya

This paper investigates the impact of the unprecedented climate shocks of the 2010 in Colombia on the results of the Saber 11 standardized test for the 2010- 2012 period. By using two unique datasets, this paper contributes to the literature by providing a better estimate of the human capital costs of climate shocks. The findings indicate that the climate shocks occurred on 2010 decreased Saber 11 test scores. The impact was stronger for female students, students from rural areas and students from low-income families. A possible channel of transmission is identified: the destruction of schools.


2018 ◽  
Vol 04 (02) ◽  
pp. 1650043 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradeep Kuttuva ◽  
Sharachchandra Lele ◽  
Gara Villalba Mendez

Decentralized wastewater treatment and reuse (DWTRU) using small-scale on-site sewage treatment plants (STPs) is an attractive solution addressing the problems of water pollution and scarcity, especially in rapidly urbanizing cities in developing countries, where centralized infrastructure for wastewater treatment is inadequate. But decentralized systems face several challenges (economic feasibility, public acceptance) that need to be better understood. The city of Bengaluru in India provides an excellent opportunity to evaluate such systems. In 2004, in an effort to curb the alarming levels of pollution in its water bodies due to untreated sewage disposal, the environmental regulatory agency mandated apartment complexes above a certain size to install STPs and reuse 100% of their wastewater, resulting in the installation of more than 2200 on-site STPs till date. This study attempts to analyze the factors influencing the extent of treatment and reuse in such systems, through structured surveys of residential associations, STP experts and government officials. The results are analyzed using a framework that integrates the technology adoption literature with the monitoring and enforcement literature. The study indicates that, while no apartment complex is able to reuse 100% of its treated water, there exists significant variation across apartment complexes in the level of treatment and reuse (from partial to poor) due to a complex mix of economies of scale, the price of fresh water, the level of enforcement and awareness, and technological choices made under information asymmetry. Only apartments dependent on expensive tanker water supply had clear economic incentives to comply with the order. Yet many large complexes that depended on low-priced utility or borewell supply were partially compliant, owing partly to lower (although positive) costs, higher level of formal enforcement and perhaps greater environmental awareness. On the other hand, the high treatment cost pushed smaller complexes to curtail the operation of their STPs (and the lower levels of enforcement further worsened this), resulting in inadequate treated water quality and consequently low reuse levels. The study recommends relaxing the infeasible 100% reuse criterion, and raising the threshold size above which DWTRU should be mandated so as to reduce the cost burden and increase enforceability. Subsidies towards capital costs and enabling resale of treated water will enable wider adoption. DWTRU is an apparently attractive solution that however, requires judicious policy-making and implementation to succeed.


Water Policy ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey Noel ◽  
Hoang Thi Phuong ◽  
John Soussan ◽  
Jon C. Lovett

A number of rural household-based productive activities, such as kitchen gardens, livestock rearing and micro enterprises, are dependent on adequate supplies of domestic water to operate. This paper examines whether improved access to piped water can facilitate these types of activities, particularly for poor households. Using data from rural Vietnam, we find that most household enterprises use non-metered water and have very small profit margins. Thus, the evidence suggests that these enterprises may be better supported by a household-level water supply infrastructure, such as well pumps and rainwater catchment tanks, rather than by piped systems in rural areas. We also found an unanticipated link between operating small-scale food production businesses and raising livestock: for many households, waste products from food-based micro enterprises were used for rearing pigs, and this enabled business owners to expand their pork production, a significant source of income and prosperity in rural Vietnam.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald N. Roberson, Jr.

The purpose of this study was to understand more about the impact of living in a rural area on personal learning with older adults. This is important to consider because of the higher concentration of older adults in rural areas. This qualitative research was based on twenty interviews with older adults. All of the participants lived in the same rural county in south Georgia (USA). One of the results from this research was the positive description of living in a rural area. Despite literature that often describes rural areas in a negative light; all of the  participants spoke about the positive aspect of living in a rural area. These positive characteristics were discussed as simplicity, quiet, community, and nature. Negative aspects of rural life were mentioned as lack of resources and fewer people. Ten participants were purposefully chosen who were identified as active older adults who continue to learn. Two interviews with each person were conducted and the interviews were transcribed verbatim. The findings were based on recurring themes as a result of comparative analysis throughout the process. Public schools can contribute to the continued education of older adults by holding various classes as well as incorporating volunteerism.  


2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Almeida ◽  
Luisa Massarani ◽  
Ildeu de Castro Moreira

The aim of this paper is to investigate the perceptions of small-scale farmers in Brazil towards genetically modified (GM) crops based on a sample of 15 focus groups involving 111 individuals. The analysis of the corpus shows heterogeneous perceptions regarding these crops, shaped by diverse factors, including economic prospects and concerns with the impact on health and the environment. There are many misgivings about these effects among the farmers, who are keen to receive unbiased information on the topic. These uncertainties affect them more as consumers, as most would prefer eating GM-free food, than as producers, as they consider other aspects, especially economic feasibility, when deciding what to grow. Although most farmers believe they should have a voice in decision-making on agricultural issues, few have made concerted efforts to be heard.


2004 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 315-321
Author(s):  
J. Rushton ◽  
N. Duran ◽  
S. Anderson

During the past three decades worldwide dairy policies have been implemented to promote the consumption of milk and milk products in urban areas and the production from rural areas close to big cities (Alderman et al., 1987). Bolivia and the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra have been influenced by these worldwide directives and this current study examines the impact of policies on the demand and supply side of the sector, but with particular emphasis on smallholder milk producers and poor urban consumers. The current research is part of a multi-country study on the supply, demand and impact of dairy and other policies over a 10 to 15 year period (1985 to 2000) of the milk sectors of Santa Cruz, Bolivia; Nairobi, Kenya; and Kathmandu, Nepal.


2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Crook ◽  
B. Jefferson ◽  
O. Autin ◽  
J. MacAdam ◽  
A. Nocker

The current technological status of ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UV-LEDs) has reached a point where small-scale ultraviolet (UV) water disinfection applications, that is, for greywater reuse appear increasingly promising. This study compares the germicidal and economical aspects of UV-LEDs with traditional UV. Pure cultures and environmental greywater samples were exposed to different radiation doses from both UV sources with the germicidal effect comparative at equivalent doses. The impact of particle size on disinfection efficiency was investigated in two greywater fractions of varying mean particle size. Disinfection efficiency was found to be dependent on particle size with larger particles reducing microbial inactivation for both UV sources. Post-UV blending to detach particle-associated coliforms resulted in higher bacterial counts for both UV sources although to a lesser extent for UV-LEDs suggesting that it might be less affected by the presence of particles than traditional UV sources, possibly due to the UV radiation being emitted by multiple diodes at different angles compared to the traditional UV collimated beam setup. Nevertheless, removal of particles prior to UV disinfection is necessary to meet strict water reuse standards. Although UV-LEDs are currently prohibitively expensive, improvements in performance indicators might make this technology economically competitive within the next few years.


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