scholarly journals South Coast REC: Linking urban landscapes, water conservation and water quality

2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-7
Author(s):  
Hazel White
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
South Coast ◽  
Urban Landscapes

scholarly journals Calcined Clay Improves Germination of Arid Plant Species

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-93
Author(s):  
Taun Beddes ◽  
Richard Anderson ◽  
Ricardo Ramirez
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Calcined Clay ◽  
Native Plant Species ◽  
Commercial Practice ◽  
Percent Germination ◽  
The Common ◽  
Water Holding

Water conservation efforts in urban landscapes have increased the need for water-wise-plants. A potential source includes multiple native, drought-adapted species. A lack of researched propagation protocols makes commercial production of many species difficult. We examined germination of three native plant species (Purshia stansburiana, Cercocarpus ledifolius, and Forestiera pubescens) in three substrates. Both P. stansburiana and C. ledifolius are endemic to semiarid areas. Forestiera pubescens is found in riparian areas but is drought hardy once established. Stratified seed of each were sown in substrates varying in organic matter (OM) content and water-holding porosity (WHP) characteristics: (1) a commercial germination mix (83% OM); (2) a self-blended combination of a commercial potting soil mixed volumetrically 1:1 with vermiculite (37% OM); and (3) a calcined clay (0% OM). Germination was monitored for 60 days. Percent germination was highest in the calcined clay for each species evaluated (P. stansburiana: 63%, C. ledifolius: 51% and F. pubescens: 83%). These rates were at least 25% greater than the next best medium, the self-blended substrate. The commercial germination blend was the least favorable for germination. These results suggest that the common commercial practice of using germination substrates may not be suited to germinating many species native to arid areas.

Water conservation and pollution control for intensive prawn farms

1997 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 77-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. K. Chin ◽  
S. L. Ong
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Rest Period ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
Similar System ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Growing Period ◽  
The Past ◽  
Secondary Settling

Hundreds of fish and prawn farms were constructed in the past decades. Many of these farms have ceased operation mainly due to the outbreak of diseases. With population increase, rapid urbanization and industrialization, water quality at the estuary and coastal regions where most of the fish and prawn farms are located is deteriorating. Treatment and recycling of water are essential to maintain the water quality at an acceptable level. A system consisting of preliminary settling, biofiltration, secondary settling and final polishing with a biofilter was tested in an experimental farm. Water quality was maintained at relatively good level at the cultivating pond after 120-day growing period. The growing facilities continued to show good performances after 4 growing cycles with a 2-week rest period between each cycle. Similar system was installed at a 26-hectare farm site having several ponds with sizes varying from 0.7 to 2.5 hectares. No disease outbreak was encountered after the installation of the treatment and recycling facilities.

scholarly journals Public perceptions regarding water quality and attitudes toward water conservation in the lower Fraser Basin

1998 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 1299-1306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy L. McDaniels ◽  
Lawrence J. Axelrod ◽  
Nigel Cavanagh
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Public Perceptions

Implementation of the waste discharge charge system

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-134
Author(s):  
G. C. Pegram ◽  
D. Weston ◽  
S. T. Reddy
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Waste Reduction ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Resource Quality ◽  
Charge System ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Waste Discharge ◽  
Water Quality Problem

The waste discharge charge system (WDCS) is being developed by the Department of Water Affairs to promote waste reduction and water conservation. It forms part of the Pricing Strategy, which is being established under the National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998). The WDCS is based on the polluter-pays principle and aims to:promote the sustainable development and efficient use of water resourcespromote the internalisation of environmental costs by impactorscreate financial incentives for dischargers to reduce waste and use water resources in a more optimal way. The WDCS is premised on resource quality objectives (RQOs) as the measure of acceptable risk, and seeks to achieve RQOs at lowest total cost to the catchment. Where RQOs are exceeded or are threatened, impact on the resource is unacceptable and the WDCS may be deployed to achieve RQOs. The system will be applied at a catchment scale where the catchment is defined as those areas that have a significant impact on water quality, or are impacted by the specific water quality problem such as salinity, nutrients, heavy metals and organics. This paper aims to provide a summary of the WDCS Strategy.

scholarly journals Pork Production Survey to Assess Factors of Facility Design and Operation

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4536
Author(s):  
Joseph R. Sanford ◽  
Horacio A. Aguirre-Villegas ◽  
Rebecca A. Larson
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Mechanical Ventilation ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Nutrient Management ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Facility Design ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Quality Water ◽  
Negative Impacts

Pork producers can have difficulty operating or expanding existing facilities or establishing new facilities based on perceived negative impacts to the environment and surrounding community. It is critical to understand the characteristics and practices adopted in swine facilities to evaluate the extend of these impacts. A survey, completed by 69 pork producers in Wisconsin, was conducted to assess how facility design and management affect odor, water quality, water consumption, air quality, traffic, and noise. A wide range of production facilities participated in the survey where 29% of respondents were classified as very small (<35 animal units, AU), 16% as small (35–70 AU), 20% as medium (70–300 AU), 23% as large (300–1000 AU), and 12% as permitted (>1000 AU) facilities. Generally, facilities integrated numerous odor control strategies which resulted in high calculated odor scores and the absence of odor complaints. However, the lack of nutrient management planning and other practices for water quality, particularly for facilities with less than 300 AU, indicates there are areas that need improvement. Regardless of facility size, water reduction practices were very commonly reported indicating water conservation is important. Pit ventilation and mechanical ventilation was reported at 58 and 85% of the surveyed facilities, which highlights the need to increase the adoption of mechanical ventilation for air quality, especially in farms with under-barn storage. Using trucks instead of tractors and pumping instead of trucks and tractors can reduce traffic around facilities during manure hauling season.

Potential of sediment reuse for soil fertilization and water conservation in drylands

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Medeiros ◽  
Brennda Braga ◽  
Camila Lira ◽  
Arlena Brosinsky ◽  
Saskia Foerster ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Fine Particles ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Soil Fertilization ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Water Quality Simulation ◽  
Nutritional Deficit ◽  
Maize Cultivation

&lt;p&gt;In dry environments, society has long implemented infrastructure to adapt to water scarcity, but unanticipated feedbacks have threatened the supply-demand balance. For instance, construction of dams increases the water residence time in highly impounded basins, causing sediment and nutrient accumulation in water supply reservoirs. Reuse of reservoirs&amp;#8217; sediment as fertilizer sustainably benefits agricultural and water systems by: replacing fine particles and nutrients to soils, previously lost by erosion; recovering water quantity and quality by the removal of nutrient-enriched sediments from reservoirs. In the last 5 years we have assessed the potential of the sediment reuse technique for soil fertilization and water conservation in the semiarid Cear&amp;#225; State (149 000 km&amp;#178;), Brazil, where there is a dense network of more than 20 000 dams with considerable silting and eutrophication. Our previous studies demonstrated that:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Local features contribute to the adoption of the proposed technique: (i) small reservoirs fall dry frequently, exposing the sediments for excavation without the need for dredging; (ii) in general, soils present nutritional deficit and, under natural conditions, crop production is limited to patches of fertile soils; (iii) small scale agriculture plays a major role for livelihood of the rural population;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Recycling of nutrients from sediments is technically feasible: an experiment with a mixture of soil and sediment as substrate produced statistically higher growth and enzymes&amp;#8217; activity of sunflower plants, compared to the cultivation directly in the soil or with addition of synthetic fertilizers;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Sediment reuse is economically feasible: soil fertilization through sediments for maize cultivation may reduce costs by up to 29 % compared to traditional fertilization;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Removal of sediment from reservoirs may improve the water quality: simulation of annual removal of sediments when a reservoir of the study region is completely empty indicates a change on the trophic level, from eutrophic or higher to mesotrophic or lower, in 10 % of the time.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;In spite of the recent advances, sediment recycling must go through some phases in order to be included in the public policy agenda. Our ongoing and planned studies focus on the generation of basic data, real-scale testing, simulations under diverse environmental contexts, elaboration of guidelines and disclosure. Spectroscopy has been successfully applied to characterize sediment and soil properties and reduce the costly laboratory analysis. Additionally, data acquisition will be supported by remote sensing approaches based on hyperspectral satellite images that will become available in the near future (Prisma, EnMAP). Such data will be used to estimate nutrient availability in sediments and deficit in the soils to generate a map of the sediment reuse potential in Cear&amp;#225;. Field scale growth experiments are to be conducted for the main crops cultivated in the study region, in contrast to the indoor controlled conditions of our previous assessment. Furthermore, we are developing a modelling tool to quantify the impacts of the sediment reuse practice on water quality, enabling us to expand our previous study to other reservoirs and to test its effectiveness to water conservation.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Green Village Delft – integration of an autarkic water supply in a local sustainable energy system

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 154-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. van der Hoek ◽  
J. L. Izar Tenorio ◽  
C. Hellinga ◽  
J. B. van Lier ◽  
A. J. M. van Wijk
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge ◽  
Uv Disinfection ◽  
Electricity Grid ◽  
Sustainable Energy System

For the Green Village at the campus of Delft University of Technology, an autarkic water circuit was developed. The aim was to avoid connections to the public water supply system, the sewerage, the electricity grid and cable systems. It should produce its own drinking water and electricity, and clean its organic waste streams in a sustainable way. Due to the strict Dutch drinking water regulations, only one water quality will be supplied: drinking water. Drinking water will be produced from greywater (53%) supplemented with rainwater (47%). In the treatment scheme, the multiple barrier approach will be used to comply with the Dutch drinking water quality standards. For greywater treatment, a triple barrier is suggested: ozonation – ultrafiltration – UV disinfection. For rainwater treatment a dual barrier is suggested: ultrafiltration – UV disinfection. By separating wastewater streams at the point of origin into greywater and blackwater, and by replacing conventional toilets with low water consumption vacuum systems as part of the water conservation measures, it will be possible to collect a concentrated blackwater stream suitable for recovery energy. For this purpose the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor is suggested. The proposed water circuit results in an autarkic water management, but not in an autarkic energy management.

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