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Turbidity stands as a crucial indicator for assessing water quality, and while turbidity sensors exist, their high cost prohibits their extensive use. In this paper, we introduce an innovative turbidity sensor, and it is the first low-cost turbidity sensor that is designed specifically for long-term stormwater in-field monitoring. Its low cost (USD 23.50) enables the implementation of high spatial resolution monitoring schemes. The sensor design is available under open hardware and open-source licences, and the 3D-printed sensor housing is free to modify based on different monitoring purposes and ambient conditions. The sensor was tested both in the laboratory and in the field. By testing the sensor in the lab with standard turbidity solutions, the proposed low-cost turbidity sensor demonstrated a strong linear correlation between a low-cost sensor and a commercial hand-held turbidimeter. In the field, the low-cost sensor measurements were statistically significantly correlated to a standard high-cost commercial turbidity sensor. Biofouling and drifting issues were also analysed after the sensors were deployed in the field for more than 6 months, showing that both biofouling and drift occur during monitoring. Nonetheless, in terms of maintenance requirements, the low-cost sensor exhibited similar needs compared to the GreenSpan sensor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the first report of per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water samples collected in the Arroyo Colorado (n = 15), irrigation canals (n = 6), stormwater and wastewater retention ponds (n = 7), as well as drinking waters (n = 2) across the Arroyo Colorado watershed. Of the 30 PFAS monitored in this study, 14 were detected in the samples in various combinations. Short‐chain PFAS (less than 8 carbon atoms) were observed in most samples. Water collected from the Arroyo Colorado showed significant spatial variabilities, with high total PFAS concentrations observed near possible point sources ‐ a municipal airport and wastewater treatment facilities. PFAS concentrations were generally higher in water samples collected in stormwater and wastewater retention ponds than in the Arroyo Colorado and irrigation canals. PFAS in stormwater retention ponds likely came from roadway runoff. Short‐chain PFAS were observed in the two municipal water samples, but they were below the current U.S. EPA regulation limits or are not currently regulated. This study provides useful information for water quality in this region and provides insights into PFAS occurrence in a rapidly urbanizing area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Denmark's complete reliance on groundwater for water supply presents a unique case study in management of natural resources, urban planning, and water resilience in the face of climate change. This paper examines the groundwater management strategies in Denmark in general, focusing on Denmark's four largest cities—Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, and Aalborg— each facing distinct challenges due to their demographic, geographical, hydrogeological, and economic characteristics. Through analysis of these cities' approaches to groundwater management, this research contributes to the global discourse on sustainable urban water supply systems. As coastal groundwater cities (CGC), these urban areas must navigate the complexities of sustaining growing populations, mitigating climate change impacts, and coastal processes while ensuring the long-term viability of their groundwater resources. Copenhagen and Aalborg, built atop semi-confined fractured and locally karstic carbonate rocks, highlights the specific challenges associated with karstic groundwater systems, while, Aarhus, and Odense built on glaciofluvial aquifers faces different issues. The different groundwater challenges in these cities underscores the importance of integrating urban development with water resource management and environmental sustainability, offering valuable insights and lessons learned for other regions facing similar challenges. This study, thus not only sheds light on Denmark's groundwater management practices, but also emphasizes the need for innovative solutions to ensure the resilience of urban water supply systems in a changing climate and increasing pressures of emerging organic contaminants and elevated concentrations of geogenic elements induced by water abstraction and fluctuating water tables. Advanced Danish monitoring and modelling tools applied to support decision-making and innovation within the water sector are continuously developed and improved to support resilient and sustainable management of the available water resources.

Water security is a multi-faceted concept that encompasses dimensions such as water quantity, quality, human health, well-being, water hazards, and governance. The evaluation of water security is an important step towards understanding and improving it, particularly in urban settings where disparities resulting from unequal distribution of population and resources are present and often evade citywide assessments. To address the diversity of the urban space, we propose a multi-level assessment approach based on downscaling the spatial dimension. Using a comprehensive indicator-based framework, we evaluate the city of Campinas in Brazil across citywide and intra-city scales. Employing the Theil index to measure inequality, the results reveal nuanced disparities less apparent at broader scales. Despite an overall favourable water security condition, spatial heterogeneity is still noticeable in the urban area of Campinas. The methodology highlights different aspects, such as vegetation cover, social green areas, and wastewater collection, which are inequitably distributed in the urban area. This integrated approach, linking inequality and water security assessment, has the potential to unveil specific needs within urban areas, helping guide targeted interventions to improve water security levels for all. HIGHLIGHTS A multi-disciplinary urban security assessment framework is applied through three scales in the urban area: citywide, regions and sector.; Theil index is used to measure inequality in terms of water security.; Downscaling the urban water security analysis facilitates the exposure of disparities, providing useful information for decision-makers on local needs.;

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Environmental degradation, especially that related to water, has the potential to result in an unhealthy life. Humans drinkable water for basic needs, but poor water quality can cause disease. One of the solutions of households to obtain drinkable water is to subscribe to water companies. This study presents the notion of community engagement related to urban drinkable water supply, specifically by examining the willingness of community members to pay for such services in response to environmental pressures. METHODS: This study used purposive sampling methods to determine the value of willingness to pay, identified challenges in the community through a questionnaire on drinkable water in Jakarta, Indonesia, and conducted estimation using ordinary least squares. This research used a sample of 503 households in Jakarta. FINDINGS: The coefficient values of the control variables, namely, daily income (0.448), education level (4.344), and age (628.1), exhibited a positive correlation and statistically significant impact. Results indicate a positive and statistically significant association between the coefficient values of the variables of interest, namely, water quality (8.663) and water source (21.248), in willingness to pay for drinkable water. A one-unit increase in the coefficient score impacts the willingness to pay value, measured in Indonesian rupiahs. Findings indicate that the majority of the respondents expressed readiness to pay for drinkable water valued below 100,000 Indonesian rupiah per month, which is equivalent to under 6.30 United States Dollars. The suggested strategies for addressing the diverse issues encompass the necessity of implementing structural reforms involving the engagement of local leaders to enhance empowerment. This approach holds promise for effectively resolving the drinkable water crisis. Technical effort in shaping the behavior of urban communities in using and appreciating water is also essential to sustain the environment. CONCLUSION: Environmental contamination issues have become a reason for households to subscribe to water companies. Customers are willing to pay to obtain clean and potable water. This study is essential as a basis for formulating policies that can be used by drinkable water companies regarding community members' ability to pay for water, preferences, and participation in protecting the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Environmental degradation, especially that related to water, has the potential to result in an unhealthy life. Humans drinkable water for basic needs, but poor water quality can cause disease. One of the solutions of households to obtain drinkable water is to subscribe to water companies. This study presents the notion of community engagement related to urban drinkable water supply, specifically by examining the willingness of community members to pay for such services in response to environmental pressures.METHODS: This study used purposive sampling methods to determine the value of willingness to pay, identified challenges in the community through a questionnaire on drinkable water in Jakarta, Indonesia, and conducted estimation using ordinary least squares. This research used a sample of 503 households in Jakarta.FINDINGS: The coefficient values of the control variables, namely, daily income (0.448), education level (4.344), and age (628.1), exhibited a positive correlation and statistically significant impact. Results indicate a positive and statistically significant association between the coefficient values of the variables of interest, namely, water quality (8.663) and water source (21.248), in willingness to pay for drinkable water. A one-unit increase in the coefficient score impacts the willingness to pay value, measured in Indonesian rupiahs. Findings indicate that the majority of the respondents expressed readiness to pay for drinkable water valued below 100,000 Indonesian rupiah per month, which is equivalent to under 6.30 United States Dollars. The suggested strategies for addressing the diverse issues encompass the necessity of implementing structural reforms involving the engagement of local leaders to enhance empowerment. This approach holds promise for effectively resolving the drinkable water crisis. Technical effort in shaping the behavior of urban communities in using and appreciating water is also essential to sustain the environment.CONCLUSION: Environmental contamination issues have become a reason for households to subscribe to water companies. Customers are willing to pay to obtain clean and potable water. This study is essential as a basis for formulating policies that can be used by drinkable water companies regarding community members’ ability to pay for water, preferences, and participation in protecting the environment.

Bioretention practices have become a common way to protect natural waterways in urban and suburban landscapes across the United States. However, optimal design, implementation, operation, and maintenance are still in need of study. A field survey of 52 bioretention practices was conducted in Davidson County, Tennessee, to address research questions related to operation and maintenance. A suite of site conditions were documented, such as size, signs of erosion, and dominant surface cover. Samples were collected from the surface of the engineered media layer and analyzed for organic matter content and bulk density. Vegetation was described in terms of dominant species and canopy cover. On average, the organic matter content of media under plant‐based mulch cover was significantly greater than that under rock cover (p = 0.002). Bulk density of the surface media is strongly and inversely correlated to organic matter content; bulk density did not generally vary with bioretention area age and was highly variable within treatments. On average, the bulk density of the media under the plant‐based mulch cover was significantly less than that under the rock cover. Media under the composite treatments had similar bulk density to both the plant‐based mulch (p = 0.233) and the rock covers (p = 0.132). Plant canopy did not surpass 70% in practices with bulk density values above 1.55 g/cm3. These results suggest that consideration should be made regarding the tradeoffs between utilizing rock coverings and potential for plant establishment impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Regional cities are having their unique water security challenges due to regional urban water contexts, regional socio-economic structure, and climate conditions. Regional urban community's perceptions of water usage are expected to be different from the communities in large metropolitan cities. The city of Townsville is the largest regional city in the northern tropical region of the state of Queensland in Australia, and it is known to have its unique dry tropic climate condition. The city faced a water crisis due to a prolonged drought in 2013–2018. As part of this research, at first, a literature review was conducted to understand what water demand management (WDM) tools worked well during urban water crisis in different parts of the world. This paper then investigates how residential water usage changed with the changes in drought measures in the city of Townsville in the last decade. A minimum per capita residential water requirement is established for the study region to benchmark the effects of tools implemented in the region. The paper investigates the WDM policies implemented in the city of Townsville including when the policies were applied and the impacts and efficacy of these policies before water crisis, during water crisis and after water crisis. The most effective WDM tools identified are water restrictions, public awareness raising and education programmes. The impacts of water restriction policies and the perceptions of local water professionals on their success elements are also studied. The results are compared and the reasons behind the findings are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of urban expansion, ensuring sustainable water consumption is paramount. This study aims to develop a domestic water demand forecast model that considers population heterogeneity and the urban area distribution in a city in the Brazilian Semiarid Region. The methodology comprises three main steps: (1) spatial data collection to identify explanatory variables for a future Land Use and Cover (LULC) model; (2) simulation of LULC data for 2030, 2040, and 2050 using the MOLUSCE plugin; and (3) estimation of domestic water demand based on projected urban area expansion and a linear regression model incorporating demographic indicators of household income, residents per household, total population, and gender. The results demonstrated a consistent LULC simulation, indicating an urban expansion of 4 km2 between 2030 and 2050, with reductions of 0.6 km2 in natural formations and 3.4 km2 in farming areas. Using LULC data, the study predicted a 14.21% increase in domestic water consumption in Campina Grande for 2050 compared to 2010, equivalent to an increase of 2,348,424.96 m3. Furthermore, the spatial analysis draws a spatial profile of water consumption among residents, highlighting the areas with the highest per capita consumption. Thus, this research offers a consistent approach to estimating water demand in regions with limited consumption data, providing valuable insights for decision-makers to consider in urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In this era of globalization, clean water management is considered a complex problem requiring the strategic management of various aspects. Citizen participation in managing polluted waters is a critical, determining factor in preventing water crises. This study predicts the socioeconomic factors influencing citizens’ behaviors in polluted water management.METHOD: A survey on Jakarta’s clean water was conducted with 503 respondents in 2022. Three interest variables were studied: first action taken during contamination, water nuisance level, and willingness to pay for clean water. Control variables were also explored, including daily income, education level, age, marital status, and gender. Data were analyzed using logistic regression.FINDINGS: In general, socioeconomic factors influence citizens’ behaviors in dealing with polluted water. The specific findings regarding the probabilities for the first action on the basis of asking for immediate action from local authorities, namely, by asking other citizens, waiting for information from other citizens, and looking for sources of water pollution were –2.21, –3.50, and 0.61, respectively. The results also revealed the probabilities of nuisance level (0.07), willingness to pay for clean water (0.0495), daily income (–0.02), educational level (–0.429), and age (0.01). The probabilities for married citizens (–2.845) and men (–0.268) were lower than those for unmarried citizens and women, respectively.CONCLUSION: The findings of this study can be used to predict the management of water pollution among Jakarta citizens, as well as serve as a reference for related stakeholders. Socioeconomic factors can affect citizens in various aspects of life, including participation in water management. However, not all socioeconomic factors are directly proportional to citizen participation. In fact, other socioeconomic indicators are inversely proportional to what are expected based on theoretical assumption. Finally, educational level and income do not always translate to behavioral changes linked to water pollution management.

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) were introduced by the IUCN for the first time, but today have different definitions in the literature. NbS are deemed the key to urban sustainability and aim to enhance the built environment through ecological and environmental interventions to support the built environment for future extremes of climate change and related hazards. NbS include blue and green infrastructures, ecological engineering, ecosystem services and ecosystem-based adaptation. Various frameworks defined different key considerations and the literature suggests plenty of frameworks towards successful NbS applications. Current debates critique the extent to which innovative and adaptive the solutions are, whether they are implemented by considering social values and social equity, and the financial burden they often bring which strengthens the disparities between the world cities. Uncontrolled urbanization often causes cities to become an environmental problem. This paper conducts a literature review to lay out the current debates and to highlight the multidimensionality of NbS. It focuses on the potential of NbS in disaster risk reduction and so the paper draws a framework to successfully implement and provide improvements for NbS based on the theoretical ground. NbS are investments in the life quality of the residents and preventive tools in the risk management of cities. The paper attempted to frame the NbS clearer for scholars interested in the subject.

Turbidity stands as a crucial indicator for assessing water quality, and while turbidity sensors exist, their high cost prohibits their extensive use. In this paper, we introduce an innovative turbidity sensor, and it is the first low-cost turbidity sensor that is designed specifically for long-term stormwater in-field monitoring. Its low cost (USD 23.50) enables the implementation of high spatial resolution monitoring schemes. The sensor design is available under open hardware and open-source licences, and the 3D-printed sensor housing is free to modify based on different monitoring purposes and ambient conditions. The sensor was tested both in the laboratory and in the field. By testing the sensor in the lab with standard turbidity solutions, the proposed low-cost turbidity sensor demonstrated a strong linear correlation between a low-cost sensor and a commercial hand-held turbidimeter. In the field, the low-cost sensor measurements were statistically significantly correlated to a standard high-cost commercial turbidity sensor. Biofouling and drifting issues were also analysed after the sensors were deployed in the field for more than 6 months, showing that both biofouling and drift occur during monitoring. Nonetheless, in terms of maintenance requirements, the low-cost sensor exhibited similar needs compared to the GreenSpan sensor.

The City of Cape Town experienced a serious drought between 2016 and 2018 which led to severe water shortages and concerns for the environment. This study took advantage of a period of unprecedented levels of awareness about water security in order to investigate households' willingness to pay (WTP) for reliable water supply and their WTP to avoid environmental damages in securing this supply. Increasing the supply of water from dams and groundwater will ultimately impact on aquatic ecosystems, but alternatives are more expensive. We surveyed 248 households from 105 suburbs and used contingent valuation methods to investigate WTP for both secure and less damaging or 'greener' ways of supplying water. Depending on income level, households were willing to pay 63-127% more for their normal levels of consumption in order to have security of supply, and a further 35-68% more to ensure its environmental sustainability. Based on the relationship between WTP for 7 income categories, the overall WTP for secure water supply under nondrought conditions amounted to some 2.8 billion ZAR/year, which is about 90% higher than pre-drought revenues. Aggregate WTP for securing this supply using options that ensured the protection of the region's rivers and estuaries was 3.3 billion ZAR. These results have an important bearing on water investment and pricing decisions over the longer term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In this era of globalization, clean water management is considered a complex problem requiring the strategic management of various aspects. Citizen participation in managing polluted waters is a critical, determining factor in preventing water crises. This study predicts the socioeconomic factors influencing citizens' behaviors in polluted water management. METHODS: A survey on Jakarta's clean water was conducted with 503 respondents in 2022. Three interest variables were studied: first action taken during contamination, water nuisance level, and willingness to pay for clean water. Control variables were also explored, including daily income, education level, age, marital status, and gender. Data were analyzed using logistic regression. FINDINGS: In general, socioeconomic factors influence citizens' behaviors in dealing with polluted water. The specific findings regarding the probabilities for the first action on the basis of asking for immediate action from local authorities, namely, by asking other citizens, waiting for information from other citizens, and looking for sources of water pollution were -2.21, -3.50, and 0.61, respectively. The results also revealed the probabilities of nuisance level (0.07), willingness to pay for clean water (0.0495), daily income (-0.02), educational level (-0.429), and age (0.01). The probabilities for married citizens (-2.845) and men (-0.268) were lower than those for unmarried citizens and women, respectively. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study can be used to predict the management of water pollution among Jakarta citizens, as well as serve as a reference for related stakeholders. Socioeconomic factors can affect citizens in various aspects of life, including participation in water management. However, not all socioeconomic factors are directly proportional to citizen participation. In fact, other socioeconomic indicators are inversely proportional to what are expected based on theoretical assumption. Finally, educational level and income do not always translate to behavioral changes linked to water pollution management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) were introduced by the IUCN for the first time, but today have different definitions in the literature. NbS are deemed the key to urban sustainability and aim to enhance the built environment through ecological and environmental interventions to support the built environment for future extremes of climate change and related hazards. NbS include blue and green infrastructures, ecological engineering, ecosystem services and ecosystem-based adaptation. Various frameworks defined different key considerations and the literature suggests plenty of frameworks towards successful NbS applications. Current debates critique the extent to which innovative and adaptive the solutions are, whether they are implemented by considering social values and social equity, and the financial burden they often bring which strengthens the disparities between the world cities. Uncontrolled urbanization often causes cities to become an environmental problem. This paper conducts a literature review to lay out the current debates and to highlight the multidimensionality of NbS. It focuses on the potential of NbS in disaster risk reduction and so the paper draws a framework to successfully implement and provide improvements for NbS based on the theoretical ground. NbS are investments in the life quality of the residents and preventive tools in the risk management of cities. The paper attempted to frame the NbS clearer for scholars interested in the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase in climate and social change, the issue of water security in cities is becoming more highlighted and urban decision makers are paying attention to issues such as water productivity and reuse of sewage to achieve sustainable municipal water management. In this study, a framework of urban water metabolism was developed based on the water balance. The water flow patterns in the urban areas examined and the performance of water management in Isfahan was evaluated. In this article, previous equations of urban water metabolism reviewed and new relationships were defined by adding parameters such as Non-revenue water, taking into account the conditions of urban water management in developing countries such as Iran. The developed water metabolism model was first used on Isfahan city as a real sample for 2019 and the pattern of water use and urban water performance of Isfahan were analyzed. The city of Isfahan is largely dependent on surface water (water of the Zayandeh-Rud Dam and River), While having a lot of domestic consumer, it has a high potential in terms of gray water and treated wastewater. Studies showed that more than 80% of Isfahan's water requirement is provided from foreign sources, and this indicates that Isfahan's sustainable water supply is weak and there is severe dependence on the surrounding areas for water supply. These results show that the water metabolism framework helps to facilitate more comprehensive understanding and evaluations of city water performance.

We designed an out-of-water radar water velocity and depth sensor, which is unique due to its low cost and low power consumption. The sensor is a first at a cost of less than USD 50, which is well suited to previously cost-prohibited high-resolution monitoring schemes. This use case is further supported by its out-of-water operation, which provides low-effort installations and longer maintenance-free intervals when compared with in-water sensors. The inclusion of both velocity and depth measurement capabilities allows the sensor to also be used as an all-in-one solution for flowrate measurement. We discuss the design of the sensor, which has been made freely available under open-hardware and open-source licenses. The design uses commonly available electronic components, and a 3D-printed casing makes the design easy to replicate and modify. Not before seen on a hydrology sensor, we include a 3D-printed radar lens in the casing, which boosts radar sensitivity by 21 dB. The velocity and depth-sensing performance were characterised in laboratory and in-field tests. The depth is accurate to within ±6% and ±7 mm and the uncertainty in the velocity measurements ranges from less than 30% to 36% in both laboratory and field conditions. Our sensor is demonstrated to be a feasible low-cost design which nears the uncertainty of current, yet more expensive, velocity sensors, especially when field performance is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban water systems across the world are grappled with growing social and environmental pressures. To address these pressures, a transition from traditional water management systems towards a more integrated and sustainable approach known as "One Water" is vital. Although cities are enthusiastic about a One Water paradigm, there is a limited scholarly understanding of how to enable this transition. This study, therefore, aimed to improve intellectual comprehension of the factors that influence One Water transitions based on a series of expert interviews that were conducted with a number of utilities across North America. It was found that achieving social–environmental justice is among the most prominent drivers for utilities to start their transition, followed by concerns about climate change, water quality impairments, groundwater depletion and subsidence, and population growth. Our findings revealed that several critical barriers including a lack of regulatory frameworks and existing institutional siloes impede the transition toward One Water. Additionally, our thematic framework revealed that technological, cultural, and institutional actions are required to enable One Water transitions. However, the frequency of actions in the thematic framework sheds light on the point that cultural, institutional, and regulatory solutions are needed more than technological innovations to support the paradigm shift. Finally, our efforts identified nine key elements of a "One Water City" that could be used to characterize progress towards implementation of One Water approaches. Insights from this paper not only provide water managers with an understanding of the perspectives and actions required for enabling the One Water paradigm shift, but also can be used to develop a framework for self-assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zimbabwe desperately requires financial assistance to fix existing infrastructure and build new urban water systems. This analysis suggests that PPPs may give Zimbabwe the best opportunity to overcome its problems with water infrastructure. Zimbabwe still has trouble supplying water to its cities because of a shortage of resources and deteriorating infrastructure. This situation was already confirmed by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (see 2019 reports), and PPPs could mitigate the financial challenges to assist the Zimbabwean Government. The study utilised qualitative research to gather information. Interview responses were supplemented with a literature review to thematically state responses. The results demonstrate that political backing, government accountability, economic viability, and suitable statutory, financial, technological, and institutional frameworks are the key prerequisites for implementing PPPs effectively in Zimbabwe. The study proposes that PPPs are perceived as an alternative reform strategy for improved urban water infrastructure in the country. However, PPPs must consider the implementation imperatives before being adopted and implemented. This requires an environment conducive to operating PPPs, including proper planning and meticulous implementation. If entered hurriedly, PPPs can exacerbate the problems they were implemented to rectify, thereby saving the taxpayers' hard-earned money. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of methods using graphs to model a variety of engineering issues has been known for several decades, but the application of graph algorithms to model the urban water management issues is a completely new approach. The article reviews the scientific literature on integrated urban water management systems in terms of the use of graph theory algorithms in this topic. Such a review has not been done before and constitutes a completely novel study. Some of the algorithms presented are directly derived from graph theory, while others were developed from other sciences, including environmental engineering or genetics, to solve specific engineering problems. The paper presents a general scheme and a brief description of the most important components of an integrated urban water management system. The necessary concepts of graphs were defined, the origin and the principle of graph algorithms used in modeling water management issues (Loop-By-Loop Cutting Algorithm, Hanging Gardens Algorithm, Tree Growth Algorithm, Dijkstra’s Algorithm, Genetic Algorithm, and Bayesian Networks Algorithm) were described. Their use in modeling the issues in stormwater, sanitary sewage and water distribution system was described. A complete list of scientific literature in this field was provided.

In this article, I argue that drinking water quality is a sociomaterial phenomenon with scale and temporality; I argue further that the way in which actors in urban environments influence drinking water quality affects how people access water and the degree to which they are exposed to drinking-water–related hazards. Understanding the complexity of the multiple possible impacts on drinking water quality requires attentiveness to the heterogeneous social, political and technical relations that together constitute a 'drinking water quality assemblage'. Different problematisations of drinking water quality can also contribute to the emergence of multiple contested assemblages. Using a qualitative case study developed over eight months in Senegal including interviews, participation, observation and document review, I explore coexisting assemblages of drinking water quality in Kaolack, Senegal. I categorise the assemblages as state, implementer, provider and consumer. These vary in the degree to which each assemblage is flexible or rigid: they also exhibit differences in the scales and temporalities of concern for drinking water quality problems. I argue that this theorisation of drinking water quality relates better to the dynamic and multiple materiality of water and water quality than do the static and inflexible technical definitions that are more commonly found in policy and planning documents.

Numerous innovative decentralised urban water solutions have been described over many years, yet their application in practice is still not common at all. While many proposed solutions may have some techno-economic advantages over current systems, the real reasons for the slow uptake have more to do with system-wide inertia and technology ‘lock-in’ where existing solutions are preferred for simplicity and familiarity. A key factor is also the inadequate assessments in project decision making processes that should consider all relevant social, environmental and economic benefits and values. This paper highlights some key barriers and how to address them in a more holistic way. It also identifies opportunities where more integrated, hybrid solutions could offer significant benefits over current technologies. It calls on all key partners in this sector to foster broad and strong collaborations, and on water service providers to be empowered to take an inclusive leadership role in creating such innovative solutions that help address our growing challenges driven by rapid urbanisation and climate change.

Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) are ubiquitous and intractable in urban waters. Compared with MPs, the smaller NPs have shown distinct physicochemical features, such as Brownian motion, higher specific surface area, and stronger interaction with other pollutants. Therefore, the qualitative and quantitative analysis of NPs is more challenging than that of MPs. Moreover, these characteristics endow NPs with significantly different environmental fate, interactions with pollutants, and eco-impacts from those of MPs in urban waters. Herein, we critically analyze the current advances in the difference between MPs and NPs in urban waters. Analytical challenges, fate, interactions with surrounding pollutants, and eco-impacts of MPs and NPs are comparably discussed., The characterizations and fate studies of NPs are more challenging compared to MPs. Furthermore, NPs in most cases exhibit stronger interactions with other pollutants and more adverse eco-impacts on living things than MPs. Subsequently, perspective in this field is proposed to stimulate further size-dependent studies on MPs and NPs. This review would benefit the understanding of the role of NPs in the urban water ecosystem and guide future studies on plastic pollution management.

Rising water prices threaten affordable access to basic water service in the U.S., especially in low-income communities. Faced with unaffordable water bills, households may use less water than is healthy, forgo other essential services, or fall behind on water bill payments, risking water shutoffs. Affordability ratios (ARs), which express water bills as a fraction of income, are the most common measure of water affordability. However, ARs can underestimate unaffordability due to both spatial aggregation bias and their reliance on indirect proxies for ability to pay. New metrics are needed to identify households at risk of water insecurity due to affordability challenges. Here we investigate alternative water affordability metrics that use water bill late payments and debt to track actual payment behavior at the household level. We define metrics that capture the frequency, duration, and severity of water bill delinquency. We apply these metrics to a case study in Santa Cruz, California, using monthly billing data for approximately 40 000 households from 2009 through 2021. We find large variation in delinquency across households and over time, with higher delinquency linked to proxies for low wealth such as lower assessed home value. Census blocks with similar ARs often have distinct patterns of delinquency behavior, suggesting that block-level median affordability estimates may be masking sub-populations facing affordability challenges. These results highlight the benefits of using multiple, household-level metrics to capture the role affordability plays in household water security.

In the face of urban expansion, ensuring sustainable water consumption is paramount. This study aims to develop a domestic water demand forecast model that considers population heterogeneity and the urban area distribution in a city in the Brazilian Semiarid Region. The methodology comprises three main steps: (1) spatial data collection to identify explanatory variables for a future Land Use and Cover (LULC) model; (2) simulation of LULC data for 2030, 2040, and 2050 using the MOLUSCE plugin; and (3) estimation of domestic water demand based on projected urban area expansion and a linear regression model incorporating demographic indicators of household income, residents per household, total population, and gender. The results demonstrated a consistent LULC simulation, indicating an urban expansion of 4 km2 between 2030 and 2050, with reductions of 0.6 km2 in natural formations and 3.4 km2 in farming areas. Using LULC data, the study predicted a 14.21% increase in domestic water consumption in Campina Grande for 2050 compared to 2010, equivalent to an increase of 2,348,424.96 m3. Furthermore, the spatial analysis draws a spatial profile of water consumption among residents, highlighting the areas with the highest per capita consumption. Thus, this research offers a consistent approach to estimating water demand in regions with limited consumption data, providing valuable insights for decision-makers to consider in urban planning.

Many cities have pledged to achieve carbon neutrality. The urban water industry can also contribute its share to a carbon-neutral future. Using a multi-city time-series analysis approach, this study aims to assess the progress and lessons learned from the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions management of urban water systems in four global cities: Amsterdam, Melbourne, New York City, and Tokyo. These cities are advanced in setting GHG emissions reduction targets and reporting GHG emissions in their water industries. All four cities have reduced the GHG emissions in their water industries, compared with those from more than a decade ago (i.e., the latest three-year moving averages are 13%–32% lower), although the emissions have “rebounded” multiple times over the years. The emissions reductions were mainly due to various engineering opportunities such as solar and mini-hydro power generation, biogas valorization, sludge digestion and incineration optimization, and aeration system optimization. These cities have recognized the many challenges in reaching carbon-neutrality goals, which include fluctuating water demand and rainfall, more carbon-intensive flood-prevention and water-supply strategies, meeting new air and water quality standards, and revising GHG emissions accounting methods. This study has also shown that it is difficult for the water industry to achieve carbon neutrality on its own. A collaborative approach with other sectors is needed when aiming toward the city’s carbon-neutrality goal. Such an approach involves expanding the usual system boundary of the water industry to externally tap into both engineering and non-engineering opportunities.

The perception that urban stormwater policies are non-existent, incomplete, or lacking in aspects that concern the environment and quality of life in cities has become increasingly common. This is partly due to the increased frequency and magnitude of rainfall events resulting from climate change and its economic, social, and environmental consequences. Population concentration and changes in patterns of living, construction, and urbanization contribute to the pollution of water runoff and receiving waters. Thus, quantity and quality problems add up and often require costly solutions, which are then addressed as economic issues. To deal with all these aspects, many of which were previously absent, stormwater public policies require a paradigm shift to break away from institutional inertia and dependence on the previous path. Without the aim of exhausting the subject, this paper discusses the policy aspects that concern stormwater management and the current and desired paradigm shift. HIGHLIGHT Urban stormwater issues are highly complex as they involve many actors, conflicting interests, difficult to predict future trajectories and causes that are fuelled by consequences. Public policies addressing complex issues are the result of decisions reached by consensus, but not unanimity, among stakeholders and, as institutions, are path dependent and decisive for the outcomes to be achieved.;

Canals and canalized rivers form a major part of surface water systems in European delta cities and societal ambitions to use these waters increase. This is the first assessment of how suitability of these waters can improve for three important uses: transportation, thermal energy extraction (TEE) and recreation. We assess suitability with Suitability Indices (SIs) and identify which alterations in the water system are needed to improve SI scores in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Ghent, Belgium. The results show spatial variability in suitability scores. Current suitability for transportation is low (SI score = 1) to excellent (SI score = 4), for TEE fair (SI score = 2) to excellent (SI score = 4), and suitability for recreation is low (SI score = 1). Suitability could improve by enlarging specific waterway dimensions, increasing discharge and clarity, and by enhancing microbiological water quality. The same methodology can be applied to optimize designs for new water bodies and for more water uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rationale of the study was built on the water infrastructure challenges in Zimbabwe and the challenges in government policies and capacity that demand the participation of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the development of water infrastructure in Zimbabwe. The study adopted the qualitative research approach, and the information is compiled through a literature review. Through conceptual and document analysis of information, the study also recognised that there are challenges in the existing PPP arrangements in Zimbabwe that require improvement for their absolute contribution to the management of water resources in the country. The data generated by this study were used to understand the complexities and contestations in Zimbabwe and enrich the body of knowledge and literature about water-related PPPs. Effective PPPs for improved urban water infrastructure cannot be achieved by chance. Effective PPPs require deliberate efforts and comprehensive reforms. The study, therefore, posits that with an environment conducive to operating PPPs, in addition to proper planning and meticulous implementation, Zimbabwe has a high chance of successfully implementing such partnerships for improved urban water infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change, population growth and urban sprawl have put a strain on water supplies across the world, making it difficult to meet water demand, especially in city regions where more than half of the world's population now reside. Due to the complex urban fabric, conventional techniques should be developed to diagnose water shortage risk (WSR) by engaging crowdsourcing. This study aims to develop a novel approach based on public participation (PP) with a geographic information system coupled with machine learning (ML) in the urban water domain. The approach was used to detect (WSR) in two ways, namely, prediction using ML models directly and using the weighted linear combination (WLC) function in GIS. Five types of ML algorithm, namely, support vector machine (SVM), multilayer perceptron, K-nearest neighbour, random forest and naïve Bayes, were incorporated for this purpose. The Shapley additive explanation model was added to analyse the results. The Water Evolution and Planning system was also used to predict unmet water demand as a relevant criterion, which was aggregated with other criteria. The five algorithms that were used in this work indicated that diagnosing WSR using PP achieved good-to-perfect accuracy. In addition, the findings of the prediction process achieved high accuracy in the two proposed techniques. However, the weights of relevant criteria that were extracted by SVM achieved higher accuracy than the weights of the other four models. Furthermore, the average weights of the five models that were applied in the WLC technique increased the prediction accuracy of WSR. Although the uncertainty ratio was associated with the results, the novel approach interpreted the results clearly, supporting decision makers in the proactive exploration processes of urban WSR, to choose the appropriate alternatives at the right time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of methods using graphs to model a variety of engineering issues has been known for several decades, but the application of graph algorithms to model the urban water management issues is a completely new approach. The article reviews the scientific literature on integrated urban water management systems in terms of the use of graph theory algorithms in this topic. Such a review has not been done before and constitutes a completely novel study. Some of the algorithms presented are directly derived from graph theory, while others were developed from other sciences, including environmental engineering or genetics, to solve specific engineering problems. The paper presents a general scheme and a brief description of the most important components of an integrated urban water management system. The necessary concepts of graphs were defined, the origin and the principle of graph algorithms used in modeling water management issues (Loop-By-Loop Cutting Algorithm, Hanging Gardens Algorithm, Tree Growth Algorithm, Dijkstra’s Algorithm, Genetic Algorithm, and Bayesian Networks Algorithm) were described. Their use in modeling the issues in stormwater, sanitary sewage and water distribution system was described. A complete list of scientific literature in this field was provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart and integrated urban water systems have important roles in advancing smart cities, but their contributions go much further by supplying needed public services and connecting other sectors to meet sustainability goals. Achieving integration and gaining access to financing are obstacles to implementing smart water systems and both are implicit in the economic framework of smart cities. Problems in financing the start-up of smart water systems are reported often. The local and diverse nature of water systems is another barrier because an approach that works in one place may not work in another with different conditions. The paper identifies the challenges posed by the economic framework and provides examples from four cities with diverse characteristics. It outlines pathways to advance implementation of smart water systems by improving control strategies, advancing instrumentation and control technologies, and most of all, to help transform cities by raising customer awareness and trust through reliable and useful water information.

This study includes two parts; the first one, concerns evaluation of the physicochemical and microbiological quality of the urban wastewater of the city of Fez, through a space-time dynamics. In turn, the second part deals with the contribution to the treatment of these effluents, by a new biodegradable reagent in the process of physicochemical treatment (coagulation flocculation). For this purpose, the sampling of urban wastewater was carried out 4 months (September, December, February and June 2019), at a rate of two samplings per period on 4 specific sites along the river Fez, the degree of contamination of which differs from one site to another, according to space and time. The diagnostic of these stations showed a high level of pollution that is difficult to biodegrade. Indeed, this pollution can cause negative effects not only on the environment but also on human’s health. In order to take long-term action against the low quality of water, and to replace certain inorganic coagulants, alternative processes for water treatment using cactus powder were set up. The characterization of results showed that the urban effluent has a high load in terms of electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand (COD), as well as concentrations of faecal coliforms, streptococci and staphylococci. In addition, the purifying power revealed that the removal rate of COD reaches maximum values of 38%and 58% forlimeand the mixture of lime with cactus powder, respectively.

The potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in water management is widely recognised by research and practice communities alike, with an increasing number of applications showed tackling water supply, stormwater and wastewater management challenges. However, there is a critical knowledge gap in understanding the fundamental role of AI in the development of urban water infrastructure (UWI). This review aimed to provide an analysis of how AI could be aligned to support the future development of UWI systems. Four types of AI analytics – descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive – are discussed and linked to the improvement in the performance of UWI systems from three categories: reliability, resilience and sustainability. It is envisioned that AI technology will play a pivotal role in UWI transitioning to the future through underpinning the five development pathways: decentralisation, circular economy, greening, decarbonisation and automation. The barriers in improving AI adoption in the real world are also highlighted from four dimensions: cyber-physical infrastructure, institutional governance, social-economic systems and technological development in wider society. Embedding AI in the development pathways and tackling the barriers can ensure that AI-empowered systems are deployed in an equitable and responsible way to improve the resilience and sustainability of future UWI systems.

Relevance. Modern urbanization processes in Kharkiv are accompanied by an increase in anthropogenic pressure on the natural component, compaction of buildings and reduction of green areas. The concept of green infrastructure is used in many countries around the world; it is the best way to reorganize urban space into modern cities. The purpose of the article is a determination of quality changes of water runoff after passing through of green roofs in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Material and methods. A green roof is the roof of a build, partially or completely covered with vegetation and soil layer. Green roofs are divided into “intensive” and “extensive” types. In the research was studied the frequency of use of green roofs in construction and landscaping on the example of Kharkiv, was conducted an inventory of green roofs in Kharkiv. As the number of green roofs in Kharkiv is rather small, is optimal to choice the particular test sites for research. For chemical analysis, were taken samples of snow, surface runoff from the flat, and sloping green roofs and roof without greening for the content of pollutants. Chemical analysis of the samples was performed by the Laboratory of Analytical Ecological Research of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. The laboratory has the attestation and certificate of ISO 10012:2005 № 01-0155/2019. The study determined the following indicators: pH, nitrites, nitrates, transparency, smell, turbidity, chlorides, general rigidity, total alkalinity, ammonia, zinc, copper, manganese, cadmium, total iron, chromium. Two types often represent green roofs in Kharkiv: parking roofs and cellars. Points of samples are located at Shevchenkivsky and Kholodnohirsky districts. Results and discussion. Results of a study of snow and runoff sampling after a green roof and a roof without landscaping show that most water quality indicators improve after water passes through green areas. Thus, at points the pH, general rigidity, alkalinity, concentration of chlorides, chromium are decrease. The green roof of the first point (parking) also reduces the concentration of nitrites, ammonia, zinc and manganese. The concentration of iron also decreases in the second point. However, there is an increase in the concentration of heavy metals in the water due to their accumulation in the substrate of the green roof. The results of the study are can be used by the Post-Soviet countries, as previously the impact of surface runoff was considered only in terms of the flow of pollutants from storm sewers to water bodies. Conclusion. The results of the study indicate that green roofs contribute to the treatment of runoff, natural replenishment of surface water bodies and groundwater and reduce the load on municipal wastewater treatment plant.

Current commercial sensors to monitor water flow velocities are expensive, bulky, and require significant effort to install. Low-cost sensors open the possibility of monitoring storm and waste water systems at a much greater spatial and temporal resolution without prohibitive costs and resource investment. To aid in this, this work developed a low-cost, low-power velocity sensor based on acoustic Doppler velocimetry. The sensor, costing less than 50 USD is open-source, open-hardware, compact, and easily interfaceable to a wide range of data-logging systems. A freely available sensor design at this price point does not currently exist, and its novelty is in enabling high-resolution real-time monitoring schemes. The design is capable of measuring water velocities up to 1200 mm/s. The sensor is characterised and then verified in an in-field long-term test. Finally, the data from this test are then used to evaluate the performance of the sensor in a real-world scenario. The analysis concludes that the sensor is capable of effectively measuring water velocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I argue that drinking water quality is a sociomaterial phenomenon with scale and temporality; I argue further that the way in which actors in urban environments influence drinking water quality affects how people access water and the degree to which they are exposed to drinking-water-related hazards. Understanding the complexity of the multiple possible impacts on drinking water quality requires attentiveness to the heterogeneous social, political and technical relations that together constitute a 'drinking water quality assemblage'. Different problematisations of drinking water quality can also contribute to the emergence of multiple contested assemblages. Using a qualitative case study developed over eight months in Senegal including interviews, participation, observation and document review, I explore coexisting assemblages of drinking water quality in Kaolack, Senegal. I categorise the assemblages as state, implementer, provider and consumer. These vary in the degree to which each assemblage is flexible or rigid: they also exhibit differences in the scales and temporalities of concern for drinking water quality problems. I argue that this theorisation of drinking water quality relates better to the dynamic and multiple materiality of water and water quality than do the static and inflexible technical definitions that are more commonly found in policy and planning documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how we define "home", which is recast as the new coffee shop, restaurant, entertainment center, and office during the pandemic. The shift toward working from home led to substantial changes in how consumers behave, affecting the consumption of resources in some cases for years to come. Using data from six water utilities in various states in the U.S., we investigated how water consumption has changed attributable to the implementation of stay-at-home (SAH) orders. The results indicated an overall increase of between 3.08% and 13.65% in daily water consumption during the SAH orders compared to the same period in 2018 and 2019, with the gaps closing as lockdown restrictions eased. The findings also revealed that the changes in water consumption across sectors and user groups were heterogeneous. Specifically, the results showed that total daily residential water demand during SAH orders in 2020 increased significantly, between 11.80% and 13.65%, relative to the same period in 2018 and 2019, but the changes in water consumption for non-residential properties headed in opposite directions with reductions between −22.53% and −45.08%. In addition, we found that the low-income groups did not change their water consumption even with the lockdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban agriculture is booming. During case study Water-Energy-Food nexus research at urban farms, investigation indicated two types of ‘food’ to be relevant for urban agriculture. Consequently, the ‘food’-component in the WEF nexus is split, which leads to a Water-Energy-Nutrients-Food (WENF) nexus framework for urban farming.This systematic WENF nexus monitoring, analysis and evaluation framework aims to facilitate acquisition of quality data during case study research at farming sites, in order to fill the quantitative data gap regarding urban agriculture and closed circularity loops. Stocks of various types of water, energy, nutrients and food are differentiated and flows within each described. Subsequently, multi-sectoral flows between the four main resource stocks and their interactions and interdependencies are identified with the aim of formulating options for circularity in urban farming. The analysis shows that urban systems offer many opportunities for the realisation of sustainable agriculture in cities because waste management and farming could mutually reinforce each other. Local reuse of resources found in urban “waste” has the potential to reduce stormwater nuisances, energy needs for water, nutrient and food transport, irrigation, and wastewater pumping while eliminating the need for synthetic soil improvement and unsustainable mineral mining. All in all, reusing resources from urban (waste)waters in urban farming initiatives can reduce the negative impact of food production on the environment.

Urban water systems across the world are grappled with growing social and environmental pressures. To address these pressures, a transition from traditional water management systems towards a more integrated and sustainable approach known as “One Water” is vital. Although cities are enthusiastic about a One Water paradigm, there is a limited scholarly understanding of how to enable this transition. This study, therefore, aimed to improve intellectual comprehension of the factors that influence One Water transitions based on a series of expert interviews that were conducted with a number of utilities across North America. It was found that achieving social–environmental justice is among the most prominent drivers for utilities to start their transition, followed by concerns about climate change, water quality impairments, groundwater depletion and subsidence, and population growth. Our findings revealed that several critical barriers including a lack of regulatory frameworks and existing institutional siloes impede the transition toward One Water. Additionally, our thematic framework revealed that technological, cultural, and institutional actions are required to enable One Water transitions. However, the frequency of actions in the thematic framework sheds light on the point that cultural, institutional, and regulatory solutions are needed more than technological innovations to support the paradigm shift. Finally, our efforts identified nine key elements of a “One Water City” that could be used to characterize progress towards implementation of One Water approaches. Insights from this paper not only provide water managers with an understanding of the perspectives and actions required for enabling the One Water paradigm shift, but also can be used to develop a framework for self-assessment.

The global warming and subsequent climate change has seriously threatened the glaciers of the Hindukush Karakoram Himalaya (HKH) region. These glaciers provide water to more than 60% people of the 11 countries, including Pakistan. The capital city of Pakistan has witnessed unprecedented urbanisation, population increase, development of new townships and associated economic activities. These challenges, together with climate change, have created severe pressure on the water resources of the city. In this mixed mode research, including questionnaire survey of 20 questions was distributed among the residents of the city online through Google Form. The questions were related to the expected impact of climate change on the availability of water, measures for conservation of water etc. About 205 residents from various parts of the city with different demographic backgrounds responded. This was followed by Focus Group Discussions (FDGs) of the experts and the major challenges to the urban water security of Islamabad with special reference to climate change have been assessed. The research has revealed that the water resources of the city are highly unsustainable. The residents have high concerns about the availability and quality of water. The results have shown that there is a number of governance issues in water distribution systems of the city. There are no organized water conservation strategies employed by City Government. The lack of institutional and policy framework has further complicated the situation. Residents seem willing for metering of water for its conservation. Recommendations have been made to municipal authorities for rational water resource management of the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing implementation of digital water innovations in cities of the Global South has been accompanied by a growth in research on this topic. This paper presents a first systematic literature review of this domain, analysing a total of 43 papers using a range of thematic categorisations. Overall profiling finds literature to be recent, limited in its engagement with theorisation or methodology, and with some disciplinary, geographic and method gaps. Research has been conservative with regards to the technologies covered, with a provider-centric, rather than a user- or government-centric leaning. Impact findings are skewed towards benefits more than disbenefits, and towards impacts on providers and users rather than towards the broader socio-environmental impacts. The paper ends by laying out a future research agenda that particularly emphasises the value of more contextualised sociotechnical and sociopolitical research.

This study analyses the industrial demand for urban water using a panel dataset of firms operating in the city of Zaragoza (Spain) and looking at three sectors (manufacturing, construction and services) disaggregated on 24 subsectors. Evidence in favour of using the marginal price rather than the average price is obtained, and the selection of the price is found to influence the value of the elasticities. Based on a translog cost function, the direct price elasticity of water (−0.86), the output elasticity (0.73) and the cross-price elasticities between water and capital, labour and supplies (being all of them substitutes) were estimated. By subsectors, the influence of price is only significant in those with a higher share of water in the total production cost. These results indicate that pricing can be used as a tool for managing water demand by promoting conservation of the resource. However, these results also indicate that the simultaneous use of other instruments is advisable to reinforce the impact of pricing policy on water consumption. HIGHLIGHTS The determinants of industrial water demand are analysed using firms’ microdata.; Manufacturing, construction and services activities are considered.; The marginal water price is a more suitable specification than the average one.; The price of water can be effective for managing water demand.; Price effectiveness is conditioned by the water share in the total production cost.;

Artes is a model of water management in metropolitan Los Angeles. It was developed to investigate the potential for maximizing local water supplies and reducing imports across Los Angeles and its hundreds of water agencies. Model results have helped assess the implications of local water supply on urban water systems reliability, stormwater capture and water reuse, groundwater management, environmental flows, economics, and urban landscapes (trees and plants). The model is a product of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA and was developed through a collaborative research network spanning UCLA, the University of Utah, and Colorado School of Mines. The project was funded through the National Science Foundation's Water, Sustainability, and Climate program.