Quantifying Groundwater Resources for Municipal Water Use in a Data-Scarce Region

Groundwater is a major source of drinking water worldwide, often considered more reliable than surface water and more accessible. Nowadays, there is wide recognition by the scientific community that groundwater resources are under threat from overexploitation and pollution. Furthermore, frequent and prolonged drought periods due to climate change can seriously affect groundwater recharge. For an appropriate and sustainable management of water systems supplied by springs and/or groundwater withdrawn from aquifers through drilling wells or drainage galleries, the need arises to properly quantify groundwater resources availability, mainly at the monthly scale, as groundwater recharge is influenced by seasonality, especially in the Mediterranean areas. Such evaluation is particularly important for ungauged groundwater bodies. This is the case of the aquifer supplying the Santissima Aqueduct, the oldest water supply infrastructure of the city of Messina in Sicily (Southern Italy), whose groundwater flows are measured only occasionally through spring water sampling at the water abstraction plants. Moreover, these plants are barely maintained because they are difficult to reach. In this study, groundwater recharge assessment for the Santissima Aqueduct is carried out through a GIS-based inverse hydrogeological balance methodology. Although this approach was originally designed to assess aquifer recharge at the annual scale, wherever a model conceptualization of the groundwater system was hindered by the lack of data, in the present study some changes are proposed to adjust the model to the monthly scale. In particular, the procedure for evapotranspiration assessment is based on the Global Aridity Index within the Budyko framework. The application of the proposed methodology shows satisfactory results, suggesting that it can be successfully applied for groundwater resources estimation in a context where monthly information is relevant for water resources planning and management.

Technical Considerations for Development of Policy and Approvals for In-Water Cleaning of Ship Biofouling

Submerged ship surfaces are often inhabited by diverse sessile and sedentary marine organisms, which can directly impact vessel operations and increase the likelihood of non-indigenous species (NIS) establishment and impacts. Ship in-water cleaning (IWC) systems are now being incorporated into biofouling policy, and rigorous, transparent, and predictive verification testing is vital to regulatory success. Performance criteria for IWC approval should focus on environmental protection goals by including: qualified and independent testing; quantitative, robust, and statistically sound data, rather than qualitative observations; water sampling at all critical control points to characterize the release of harmful materials, including dissolved and particulate biocides; measurable and protective endpoints, rather than percent reductions; determinations of presence or absence of macro-organisms, irrespective of species origins or physiological state; and appropriately trained IWC operators.

Field Study for PAH Absorption Performances of Butyl Rubber, PDMS, and SPMD Passive Samplers

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are organic pollutants having various adverse effects on the marine ecosystem. Because of their low solubility in the marine environment, their detection and monitoring in the water column are challenging tasks. Passive samplers are used to detect PAHs in aquatic environments as complementary tools to conventional water sampling. In the present study, PAH absorbance performances of four butyl rubber-based (BR) passive samplers with different structures (SN5, SN10, DN, and TN) and commercialized passive samplers (SPMD and PDMS) were determined. Stainless steel cages containing passive samplers were deployed in the water column in Istinye Bay, Istanbul, and retrieved after 7 and 28 days. Collected samplers were analyzed in the laboratory to determine their PAH contents. Results showed that, even though the SPMD samplers had the highest total PAH content, they were not able to collect PAHs with log Kow value of above 6.0. Similarly, PAHs with log Kow values higher than 5.5 could have not been collected by PDMS samplers. In contrast, BR-based passive samplers have sampled also high molecular weight PAHs in the water column, and SN10 sampler showed the highest performance in terms of the collected PAHs. Results highlighted that SN10 sampler has a wide absorption range when it is compared with the commercialized samplers, and it has also advanced absorption performance relative to the other BR samplers.

The Effect of Lead Exposure through Drinking Water on Symptoms of Nervous System Disorders in Communities Around Pasir Sembung Landfill Cianjur, Indonesia, 2020

The nervous system is the system most sensitive to lead (Pb) toxicity, although the poisoning process occurs over a long period of time with a small absorption rate. Lead is a heavy metal that has toxic properties that can contaminate food, drinks, air and water. Lead exposure to the human body can go through various routes, one of which is ingestion. Lead in the environment can come naturally as well as from the results of human activities, one of which is leachate produced from waste that is not managed properly so that the leachate can pollute the environment around the landfill, especially ground water. This study aims to analyze the effect of intake of lead exposure through drinking water on the symptoms of nervous system disorders in the community around Pasir Sembung Landfill, Cianjur, Indonesia on 2020. This study used a cross sectional study design. The research sample consisted of 86 people who live in the ring around the landfill. Data collection was carried out by interview using a questionnaire and water sampling at 20 wells. The results showed that there was an influence between the intake of lead exposure through drinking water on symptoms of nervous system disorders (p value = 0.035; OR = 3.150). Based on these results, it is necessary to take quick steps and proper management efforts from the Cianjur Regency Government and the Pasir Sembung Landfill and related stakeholders in order to reduce the risk of health problems to the people living around the landfill.

Low-Calcium Cave Dripwaters in a High CO2 Environment: Formation and Development of Corrosion Cups in Postojna Cave, Slovenia

Speleothems have proven to be one of the most reliable terrestrial archives for palaeoclimate research. However, due to the complexity of karst systems, long-term monitoring and high-resolution analyses of the cave atmosphere and water geochemistry have become essential to better constrain the factors that control calcite growth and how geochemical palaeoclimate proxies are encoded into speleothems. While calcite precipitation incorporates the palaeoclimate signals into the speleothem fabric, certain conditions in caves can favour dissolution, which may form hiatuses or even destroy these signals. In extreme cases, in-cave dissolution by dripwater can form cup-shaped features (i.e., corrosion cups), which were the main focus of this study. The study site in Postojna Cave, Slovenia was investigated through cave climate monitoring and drip and cup water sampling, which took place during 2017–2021. We found that the cups are fed by low-calcium drips as the consequence of the thin rock overburden above the cave. Due to the specific configuration of the airflow pathways, the study site accumulates high levels of CO2 (>10,000 ppm), which shifts low-calcium dripwater into undersaturation. This causes dissolution on the rock surfaces and speleothems on the cave floor. The results of this study have broader significance in addressing the suitability of cave environments and speleothems used in paleoclimate research.

Monitoring the impact of the Jeremenko pit on water quality in Ostravice

The study was performed to determine the impact of mine water discharges from the Jeremenko pit on water quality in the Ostravice River. Three sampling points marked under the letters „A”, „B” and „C” were determined for monitoring. The first of the sampling points was designated before the inflow of mine water to determine the parameters of the river before pollution by mine water. Sampling point “B” indicated the inflow of mine water and the last sampling point was used to determine the parameters after mixing mine water with water from the river Ostravice. According to the research, mine water is strongly mineralized with an increased content of salts, chlorides, sulphates and has an increased temperature of up to 28 °C. Based on the analysis of individual results, a significant effect of the inflow of mine water from the Jeremenko pit on the water in the Ostravice River in its immediate vicinity was proved. When compared with the results of other authors, it was found that the concentration of sulfates and chlorides in mine water decreases in the long run.

STUDI ANALISIS KUALITAS AIR SUNGAI BAH BIAK KOTA PEMATANGSIANTAR

High community activity on the border of the Bah Biak River causes pollution in the waters of the river. The increase in the number of settlements and industries in Pematangsiantar city certainly has an impact on the quality of its waters. The purpose of this study is to find out the water quality of the Bah Biak River in Pematangsiantar City covering the physical and chemical parameters of the waters. This research was conducted in 2021 in Bah Biak River Pematangsiantar city. Water sampling in the Bah Biak River is carried out with three repetitions, namely in March, June and August taking into account the representation of the seasons. Water sampling is carried out in situ for parameters of brightness, pH, total dissolved solid (TDS), electrical delivery, temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO), ammonia, while for laboratory scale measurements are carried out for biologycal oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) parameters. The results of the measurement will be displayed in graphic form and descriptively discussed by referring to the specified quality standards. Based on the results of measurements of several water quality parameters in the Bah Biak River, it can be concluded that the majority of the parameters studied still meet the quality standards but there are parameters that have passed the quality standard threshold, namely BOD and ammonia parameters. ABSTRAK Tingginya aktivitas masyarakat di sempadan Sungai Bah Biak menyebabkan pencemaran di perairan sungai tersebut. Peningkatan jumlah pemukiman dan industri di Kota Pematangsiantar tentu berdampak kepada kualitas perairannya. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui kualitas air sungai Bah Biak di Kota Pematangsiantar meliputi parameter fisik dan kimia perairan. Penelitian ini dilakukan pada tahun 2021 di Sungai Bah Biak Kota Pematangsiantar. Pengambilan sampel air di Sungai Bah Biak dilakukan dengan tiga kali pengulangan yaitu pada bulan Maret, Juni dan Agustus dengan mempertimbangkan keterwakilan musim. Pengambilan sampel air dilakukan secara insitu untuk parameter kecerahan, pH, total dissolved solid (TDS), daya hantar listrik, suhu dan dissolved oxygen (DO), ammonia, sedangkan untuk pengukuran skala laboratorium dilakukan untuk parameter biologycal oxygen demand (BOD) dan chemical oxygen demand(COD). Hasil pengukuran akan ditampilkan dalam bentuk grafik dan dibahas seacara deskriptif dengan merujuk pada baku mutu yang ditetapkan. Berdasarkan hasil pengukuran beberapa parameter kualitas air di Sungai Bah Biak maka dapat disimpulkan bahwa mayoritas parameter yang diteliti masih memenuhi baku mutu namun terdapat parameter yang telah melewati ambang baku mutu yaitu parameter BOD dan ammonia. Kata Kunci: kualitas air, aktivitas masyarakat, pencemaran, baku mutu, Sungai Bah Biak