A qualitative study of barriers and facilitators to adequate environmental health conditions and infection control for healthcare workers in Malawi

The burden of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) is greater in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries. Inadequate environmental health (EH) conditions and work systems contribute to HAIs in countries like Malawi. We collected qualitative data from 48 semi-structured interviews with healthcare workers (HCWs) from 45 healthcare facilities (HCFs) across Malawi and conducted a thematic analysis. The facilitators of infection prevention and control (IPC) practices in HCFs included disinfection practices, patient education, and waste management procedures. HCWs reported barriers such as lack of IPC training, bottlenecks in maintenance and repair, hand hygiene infrastructure, water provision, and personal protective equipment. This is one of the most comprehensive assessments to date of IPC practices and environmental conditions in Malawian HCFs in relation to HCWs. A comprehensive understanding of barriers and facilitators to IPC practices will help decision-makers craft better interventions and policies to support HCWs to protect themselves and their patients.

Galvanising and fostering sub-national government leadership for area-wide sanitation programming

Government leadership at both the national and sub-national levels is an essential step towards ensuring safely managed sanitation services for all. Though the importance of sub-national government leadership for water, sanitation and hygiene is widely acknowledged, to date much of the focus has been on the delivery of water services. This article sets out to start to address this imbalance by focusing on practical ways to galvanise and foster sub-national government leadership for sanitation programming. By focusing on the experiences across three sub-national areas in East Africa where positive changes in the prioritisation of sanitation by local governments have been witnessed, we (a group of researchers, local government representatives and development partner staff) cross-examine and identify lessons learnt. The results presented in this paper and subsequent discussion provide practical recommendations for those wishing to trigger a change in political will at the local level and create the foundation to strengthen sanitation governance and the wider system needed to ensure service delivery for all.

River flow forecasting by comparative analysis of multiple input and multiple output models form using ANN

ANN was used to create a storage-based concurrent flow forecasting model. River flow parameters in an unsteady flow must be modeled using a model formulation based on learning storage change variable and instantaneous storage rate change. Multiple input-multiple output (MIMO) and multiple input-single output (MISO models in three variants were used to anticipate flow rates in the Tar River Basin in the United States. Gamma memory neural networks, as well as MLP and TDNNs models, are used in this study. When issuing a forecast, storage variables for river flow must be considered, which is why this study includes them. While considering mass balance flow, the proposed model can provide real-time flow forecasting. Results obtained are validated using various statistical criteria such as RMS error and coefficient of correlation. For the models, a coefficient of correlation value of more than 0.96 indicates good results. While considering the mass balance flow, the results show flow fluctuations corresponding to expressly and implicitly provided storage variations.

Geospatial modeling of water supply distribution system: A case study of Dehradun city, India

Water utilities form the core part of any urban infrastructure. A spatial database of water distribution system (WDS) for Dehradun city has been created in a geographic information system (GIS) environment, while drawing data inputs from diverse sources and water supply-demand gap analysis has been performed. Environmental Protection Agency Network (EPANET, 2.0) has been used to analyze the WDS to explore its reliability in current and future scenarios. Mapping of the existing 564 km long distribution network revealed that more than three-quarters of the system has outdated water pipelines. An accuracy of 93% for pipe diameter estimation has been obtained upon validation by ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey. Water supply-demand gap analysis confirmed that although Dehradun city has surplus supply, it suffers from scarcity, mainly due to the unsatisfactory condition of the existing WDS. Twenty-seven percent of the existing pipes are smaller than the prescribed standards; there is an undesirable practice of direct pumping of water from tube wells into the network and storage tanks are required for at least 29 locations in the network. A 24-hour extended period EPANET simulation helped to identify the areas where water supply network experienced very low or negative pressure.

An innovative subterranean spring capture method for improved water quality

Many rural communities in Andean countries of South America rely on springs as their primary drinking water source. A variety of spring capture methods are employed resulting in varying water quality. Water from these spring-fed sources, delivered to the community via a distribution network, is often not chlorinated, increasing the risk of water-borne pathogens. A simple, improved technique has been developed in Ecuador's Chimborazo Province by a local Christian organization, Corporación de Desarrollo Integral Socio Económico (CODEINSE), to protect spring water sources for community water supply. This new technique, ‘the CODEINSE method’, builds on the strengths of traditional subterranean spring captures while employing several design improvements, like a concrete cap and sufficient gravel pack, to prevent surface water contamination. According to water quality data collected in Ecuador, the CODEINSE method consistently provides high-quality water with substantially reduced levels of water-borne pathogens compared to traditional spring capture methods. On average, the CODEINSE method yields water with less than 1.0 CFU/100 mL, water that is deemed no risk by the World Health Organization. The CODEINSE method has the potential to improve water quality not only in the rural Andean communities in Ecuador but also in developing countries across the world.

Isotopic and hydrogeochemical characterization of groundwater and surface water from a mine site in Tanzania

This study used the hydrochemical properties of water to reveal the causes of water quality degradation. The results showed that most samples located downstream of the mine tailings dam were slightly acidic with pH as low as 4.6. Samples with high levels of Na+, Cl−, and could not be isotopically linked to the local geochemistry, but the anthropogenic activities and evaporation were probably responsible for the observed water chemistry. The Piper diagram indicated cations were dominate by Ca and Mg, while anions were dominated by bicarbonates and sulphates. Pb and Hg levels (mean 70.29 and 17.95 μg/L, respectively) were all higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) and Tanzanian drinking water guidelines. Mining activities probably contributed to the observed low pH values and elevated concentration of cyanides, heavy metals, and metalloids. Stable isotope results indicated a vulnerability of the water to recent contamination that could be attributed to anthropogenic activities. Moreover, isotopic studies indicated a flow pattern from the eastern to the western side of the mine study site. Lowland samples were more 3H-enriched than highland ones. The present study concludes that groundwater recharge from recent local precipitation may have an impact on the sources studied.

Statistical modeling of spatial and temporal vulnerability of groundwater level in the Gaza Strip (Palestine)

The water supply in the Gaza Strip substantially depends on the groundwater resource of the Gaza coastal aquifer. The climate changes and the over-exploiting processes negatively impact the recovery of the groundwater balance. The climate variability is characterized by the decline in the precipitation by −5.2% and an increase in the temperature by +1 °C in the timeframe of 2020–2040. The potential evaporation and the sunshine period are expected to increase by about 111 mm and 5 hours, respectively, during the next 20 years. However, the atmosphere is predicted to be drier where the relative humidity will fall by a trend of −8% in 20 years. The groundwater abstraction is predicted to increase by 55% by 2040. The response of the groundwater level to climate change and groundwater pumping was evaluated using a model of a 20-neuron ANN with a performance of the correlation coefficient (r)=0.95–0.99 and the root mean square error (RMSE)=0.09–0.21. Nowadays, the model reveals that the groundwater level ranges between −0.38 and −18.5 m and by 2040 it is expected to reach −1.13 and −28 m below MSL at the northern and southern governorates of the Gaza Strip, respectively.

Evaluation of the challenges in water governance through citizen's perception and water quality index: a case study of a fast-growing city in India

Urban water governance (UWG) plays an important role to ensure safe and sufficient water availability in cities. In developing countries, citizen centric studies, which are important to understand the ground-level scenario and the existing UWG, are often not conducted due to the lack of manpower or infrastructure. Indian cities are rapidly growing, and there is a need to revisit the existing UWG scenario in its cities. Therefore, as a first step, this study evaluates the UWG challenges in Kozhikode, Kerala, based on citizen perception and drinking water quality. The present study reports the findings from face-to-face interviews conducted (using structured questionnaires) to evaluate the knowledge of citizens in the basic areas of water resources management and conservation (n=180) and the analysis of water samples from household sources (n=261). The water quality index (WQI) was computed and analyzed using the geographic information system (GIS). The WQI map identified the vulnerable areas requiring focused intervention to improve water quality. A poor awareness among the respondents, especially regarding the local water resources, was identified from the interviews. However, on a positive note, the citizens are willing to bridge this knowledge gap. Thus, involving citizens and understanding the issues at the ground level will aid in improving the UWG in cities.

Channel morphology and prediction of mid-line channel migration in the reach of Ganga River using GIS and ARIMA modeling during 1975–2020

The dynamic nature of meandering poses several challenges in a river. The river Ganga shows severe bank erosion in many of its stretches which creates insecurity to the habitats. In the present study, channel morphology and lateral mid-line migration for 1975 to 2020 in 5 years intervals have been studied. The prediction of lateral mid-line migration from 2020 to 2050 by using multi-temporal Landsat satellite images was made by using the ARIMA model. The river reach was divided into 8 bends and 48 cross-sections were identified. The channel length was observed as 224.35 km in 1975 which reduces to 199.96 km in 2020. A decreasing trend was observed for the mean of channel length and meander ratio, and an increasing trend was noted in the mean of sinuosity ratio and tortuosity ratio. A total of 11 cross-sections showed the rightward shifting and 36 cross-sections showed the leftward shifting. Observed and predicted values showed a good R2 value of 0.90 and 0.89 at CS-24 and CS-25, respectively. The results may be used for planning and management of various river training work and understanding the river system dynamics.

Hen feather a bio-waste material for adsorptive removal of methyl red dye from aqueous solutions

This study investigates the potential applicability of hen feather (HF) to remove methyl red (MR) dye from aqueous solution with the variation of experimental conditions: contact time (1–180 min), pH (4–8), initial dye concentration (5–50 mg/L) and adsorbent dose (3–25 g/L). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) evaluate the surface morphology and chemistry of HF, respectively. The maximum removal of MR by HF was 92% when the optimum conditions were initial MR dye concentration 05 mg/L, pH 4.0, adsorbent dose 07.0 g/L and 90.0 min equilibrium contact time. Langmuir isotherm (R2 = 0.98) was more suited than Freundlich isotherm (R2 = 0.96) for experimental data, and the highest monolayer adsorption capacity was 6.02 mg/g. The kinetics adsorption data fitted well to pseudo-second-order model (R2 = 0.999) and more than one process were involved during the adsorption mechanism but film diffusion was the potential rate-controlling step. The findings of the study show that HF is a very effective and low-cost adsorbent for removing MR dye from aqueous solutions.