Evaluation of transmissivity in a fractured aquifer—the Nyanzari wellfield, Burundi

Due to population growth, the city of Gitega in the central part of Burundi is lacking drinking water. Therefore, the national urban water supply company decided to expand the Nyanzari wellfield by drilling additional wells.Two additional wells were drilled to 80 m (F7.2) and 85 m (F8bis) depths. Step tests followed by 72-hours aquifer tests were performed in each well. Results indicate bilinear flow followed by linear flow and radial flow in F7.2. No reaction was observed in observation wells. Fracture-matrix transmissivity was estimated at 3 · 10−4 m2/s. In the case of F8bis, linear flow in an infinite flow fracture followed by radial flow was visible. Reaction was measured in observation wells. Transmissivity was estimated at 3.3 · 10−3 m2/s.Both wells lie no more than 300 m apart, but no evidence of interference between them was depicted during the tests. It appears that two independent fracture systems prevail in the wellfield.

The outstanding architect Alexander Iosifovich Bernardazzi (1831–1907)

This year marks the 190th birthday of the famous Swiss architect of Italian origin A.I. Bernardazzi, who is also known for creating various historic buildings in Ukraine, Bessarabia and Poland. Archival documents were an evidence of the beginning of architectural career of Bernardazzi, when the Bessarabian Road and Construction Commission appointed him as the technician for urban planning of Akkerman and Bendery in 1853 and also for building some bridges and causeways in those districts. He took part in the organization of the third market in the Forest Square in Kishinev in September of 1855. This was the first mission of his creativity in Kishinev. Alexander Bernardazzi executed his duty as municipal architect from 1856 to 1878 having taken the place of another architect Luca Zaushkevich. All his subsequent monumental buildings became the best examples of European architecture by their style, shape, and quality. . In Bessarabia, he participated in the design and construction of many buildings such as the temporal theatre, the Lutheran school, the railway station, the Greek Church, the Manuk-Bei’s palace, etc. As for Kishinev, the architect Bernardazzi performed the beautification of paving many streets, the construction of urban water supply and the cast-iron railing in the city park. Also, he participated in many architects’ meetings where he submitted interesting reports referring to the theater, some windows, fire safety of buildings and so on. After his arrival to Odessa in 1878, Alexander Bernardazzi continued to participate in designing social and civil buildings in Bessarabia. For his enormous creative contribution to urban development, he was appreciated with the title of honorable citizen of Kishinev and appointed member of the Bessarabian department of the Imperial Russian Technical Society.

Managing Water Scarcity Futures: Identifying Factors Influencing Water Quality, Risk Perception and Daily Practices in Urban Environments after the Introduction of Desalination

During the last two decades on a global scale, there has been a significant development of desalination as a strategy to ensure the urban water supply in arid and semi-arid areas. Beyond issues related to the higher economic costs, one of the main barriers that may limit this water source’s development is its supposed negative water quality perception. This research aims to understand better which factors are behind water quality perception in Antofagasta (Chile), where desalinated water was introduced in 2003. Since then, this urban water supply system has increasingly incorporated desalination, creating three parallel areas according to the water sources used in each of them (desalinated water, freshwater and a mix of both). To do so, more than 800 questionnaires to test water quality perception and water consumption habits were conducted in households. Up to six logistic regression models have been implemented to identify which variables better explain water quality satisfaction, risk perception and daily water practices considering the water supply area. It is worth noting that most of this type of research has been carried out in study cases with homogeneous urban water supply systems with conventional water resources. Results indicate that, among other factors, organoleptic water characteristics, such as taste, and socioeconomic status are some of the main factors that explain the perception of water quality and daily practices. In addition, a lower water quality perception and greater risk perception have been identified where desalinated water has been introduced, which makes some households develop averting behaviors to improve water quality, such as boil water.

Optimization of water reservoir volume in an urban water supply system

In this paper, the water pumping regime, as well as the water consumption regime with regard to the required quantities and the example of water consumption, with an emphasis on changes in water volume, are examined. This aims to show the functioning of the regime of water consumption, water pumping, as well as finding functional relationships between the mentioned sizes and the volume of the water reservoir. The analysis focuses on questions such as how and in what way, changes in the onset and duration of pumping, as well as different water consumption regimes affect the size of the reservoir volume. The entire analysis in this paper was done to develop a scientifically innovative, but also applicable mathematical model, which is a contribution to the profession and a good basis for further scientific research to improve the operation of the urban water supply system.

Effects of Climate Change on Water Quality in the Jucar River Basin (Spain)

The Mediterranean region is a climate change hotspot, especially concerning issues of hydrological planning and urban water supply systems. In this context, the Jucar River Basin (Spain) presents an increase of frequency, intensity and duration of extreme meteorological phenomena, such as torrential rains, droughts or heat waves, which directly affect the quantity and quality of raw water available for drinking. This paper aims to analyze the effects of climate change on the raw water quality of the Jucar River Basin District, which mainly supplies the city of Valencia and its metropolitan area, in order to adapt drinking water treatments to new conditions and opportunities. For this purpose, we used observed data of water quality parameters from four stations and climate drivers from seven Earth system models of the latest Coupled Model Intercomparison Project—Phase 6. To model water quality (turbidity and conductivity) in the past and future scenarios, this study employs a backward stepwise regression taking into account daily values of mean temperature, maximum temperature, total rainfall and minimum and maximum relative humidity. Results showed that the model performance of the water quality simulation is more adequate for short moving-average windows (about 2–7 days) for turbidity and longer windows (about 30–60 days) for conductivity. Concerning the future scenarios, the most significant change was found in the projected increase of conductivity for the station of the Júcar river, between 4 and 11% by 2100, respectively, under the medium (SSP2–4.5) and pessimistic (SSP5–8.5) emission scenarios. The joint use of these types of management and monitoring tools may help the managers in charge of carrying out the different water treatments needed to apply a better plan to raw water and may help them identify future threats and investment needs to adapt the urban water supply systems to the changing conditions of raw water, such as turbidity or conductivity, as a consequence of climate change.