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Pulsed electric field disinfection is an effective non-thermal water disinfection technology. Compared to conventional disinfection techniques, PEF inactivation has several advantages including no by-products. In this context, the use of silver ions in conjunction with a reverse osmosis filtration system has been proposed as a safe and cost-effective treatment approach that can be used in a point of use technologies. This system contains two silver meshes as electrodes inside a reverse osmosis membrane with the application of a pulsed electric field on it as a disinfection method, After conducting chemical and physical tests of the water samples before and after the treatment system, it was noticed that most of these characteristics were significantly affected by increasing the number of electrical impulses and the intensity of the applied voltage as a result of the increase in the ionization process of silver in water.

Estimating water quality has been one of the significant challenges faced by the world in recent decades. This paper presents a water quality prediction model utilizing the principal component regression technique. Firstly, the water quality index (WQI) is calculated using the weighted arithmetic index method. Secondly, the principal component analysis (PCA) is applied to the dataset, and the most dominant WQI parameters have been extracted. Thirdly, to predict the WQI, different regression algorithms are used to the PCA output. Finally, the Gradient Boosting Classifier is utilized to classify the water quality status. The proposed system is experimentally evaluated on a Gulshan Lake-related dataset. The results demonstrate 95% prediction accuracy for the principal component regression method and 100% classification accuracy for the Gradient Boosting Classifier method, which show credible performance compared with the state-of-art models.

Deteriorating water quality leads to the freshwater biodiversity crisis. The interrelationships among water quality parameters and the relationships between these parameters and taxa groups are complicated in affecting biodiversity. Never-theless, due to the limited types of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors available on the market, a large number of chemical and biological parameters still rely on laboratory tests. With the latest advancement in artificial intelligence and the IoT (AIoT), this technique can be applied to real-time monitoring of water quality, and further conserving biodiversity. In this paper, we conducted a comprehensive literature review on water quality parameters that impact the biodiversity of freshwater and identified the top-10 crucial water quality parameters. Among these parameters, the interrelationships between the IoT measurable parameters and IoT unmeasurable parameters are estimated using a general regression neural network model and a multivariate polynomial regression model based on historical water quality monitoring data. Conventional field water sampling and in-lab experiments, together with the developed IoT-based water quality monitoring system were jointly used to validate the estimation results along an urban river in Hong Kong. The general regression neural network model can successfully distinguish the abnormal increase of parameters against normal situations. For the multivariate polynomial regression model of degree eight, the coefficients of determination results are 0.89, 0.78, 0.87, and 0.81 for NO3-N, BOD5, PO4, and NH3-N, respectively. The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed systems and models were validated against laboratory results and the overall performance is acceptable with most of the prediction errors smaller than 0.2mg/L, which provides insights into how AIoT techniques can be applied to pollutant discharge monitoring and other water quality regulatory applications for freshwater biodiversity conservation.

The Water Quality Index is one of the most effective tools to communicate information on the quality of water to the people. An attempt was made to assess the annual and seasonal status of Surajkund and Rani Pond, Aurangabad, Bihar, India using the overall Index of Pollution and Water Quality Index from November 2017 to October 2019. The values of eleven parameters namely water temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, total alkalinity, hardness, total dissolved solids, chloride, nitrate and fluoride were calculated following standard methodology. A statistically significant difference was found among these parameters. The values were compared with the standard to determine the overall Index of Pollution and Water Quality Index. Results indicated that electrical conductivity, total alkalinity and total dissolved solid were higher than prescribed limits. The values 1.5–3.50 of the overall Index of Pollution estimated that the average status of water of Surajkund was acceptable (C2) but Rani Pond and Surajkund during the summer season were slightly polluted (C3). The values 74.18–233.89 of the Water Quality Index inferred that the average status of water of Surajkund and Rani Pond was slightly polluted (C3). However, on a seasonal basis, the water quality of Surajkund was acceptable (C2) but Rani Pond was slightly polluted (C3) to polluted (C4). The results revealed anthropogenic activity and entry of untreated sewage in these water bodies. The water quality felt the necessity to adopt proper management policy and conservation efforts to these water bodies.

The Great Lakes contain most of the United States’ surface freshwater and provide deep personal and economic connections for the residents of the region. These connections create an opportunity for bipartisanship in environmental policies with the potential to permeate energy policies. To explore that possibility, this paper examines how party affiliation affects support for water policy and energy policy in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Data from the Great Lakes Region Public Opinion Survey asked 696 Republicans, Independents, and Democrats from the Great Lakes region to respond to a range of environmental policy prompts. Responses to the policy prompts are grouped into four components: Water Quality, Water Diversions, Traditional Fuels, and Renewables. The results find that there is bipartisan support for the Water Quality and Water Diversions components. Energy policies do not receive the same bipartisan support, with Democrats and Independents having more support for the Renewables component while Republicans have more support for the Traditional Fuels component. However, when the fuel source is tied to its pollutants of the Great Lakes, then reactions to that fuel source receive a bipartisan response. The results of this research suggest that embedding water policy in energy policy may allow those policies to receive more bipartisan support. Combining water policy and energy policy can depolarize some of the politics surrounding environmental policy broadly.

Probiotics could promote the healthy growth of aquatic animals and have been widely used in aquaculture. However, the influence of high concentration compound probiotics on the aquatic animals has not been reported. In the present study, a compound probiotics was used in high-density culture of crucian carps under the condition of micro-water exchange. During nearly 7-weeks feeding experiment, the aquaculture water quality, growth performances, disease resistance and microbiota distributions of crucian carps were tested. Under the high concentrations of compound probiotics, the content of total ammonia nitrogen and nitrite were finally in a state of dynamic equilibrium. The body length and weight of crucian carps in the experimental group (E) was significantly higher than that in the recirculating group (R). The antioxidant enzymes in the intestines and gills of the E group including SOD, CAT, GSH and MDA, were significantly higher than those in R group. The mortality of crucian carps in E group was significantly lower after the immersion infection of Aeromonas veronii. The addition of compound probiotics significantly increased the number of microorganisms detected in the intestines and gills of crucian carps in E group. The bacteria including Firmicutes, Planctomycetes, Verrucomicrobiota at the phylum level in E group were higher than those in R group. At the genus level, these bacteria (Pirellula, Roseimicrobium, Malikia) were not only higher in E group water, but also significantly higher in the intestines and gills than R group. The results of present study systematically analyzed the impact of high-concentration probiotics on crucian carps breeding, and speculated genus Pirellula, Roseimicrobium, Malikia may be used as aquatic probiotics. The present study will provide a new idea for the green and sustainable development of aquaculture.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the water security in Iran and its large watersheds over a period of 20 years at 5-year intervals (1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016). Eight important indicators influencing the water security including the renewable water resources per capita, water use intensity, water productivity, investing in water infrastructures, water quality, access to drinking water and pollution management, changes in the green coverage area, and changes in the large water bodies area of the country were used and weighed by the analytical network process (ANP) method in order to quantify the concept of water security. The average calculated values for water security were equal to 0.455, 0.442, 0.410, 0.345, 0.326, and 0.323 in the Urmia Lake, Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf and Oman Sea, Qaraqom, Central Plateau, and Eastern Border large watersheds, respectively over 20 years. The calculated values for water security during the studied years showed that although the slope of water security has changed in different time periods, but the water security declined between 1996 and 2016 across the six watersheds although there were some small discrepancies in this trend. These inconsistencies are far less significant than the overall reductions in water security across time and space. Considering that water security is one of the important components of national security and existence of water crises, sustainable management of water resources by political, social and economic requirements and creating a proper balance between water use and water resources seems necessary to prevent a possible future.

All sectors of the process industries depend on water and energy resources to transform raw materials into a large number of products demanded by society. The sustainability issue is an essential consideration in process design, which drives significant efforts to improve both water and energy efficiency. Most of these processes display strong interactions between water and energy use such that any changes to the energy network often impact the water network, although this impact is seldom followed in any systematic way by process-design engineers. Due to a number of market externalities, the economic balance between energy and water is heavily inclined towards energy. However, with water shortages becoming more frequent throughout the world, it is likely that the balance will change in the near future. Other environmental aspects associated with chemical process design include energy-related issues such as greenhouse gas and other air emissions as well as water quality. This chapter reviews several useful Process Integration (PI)-based concepts recently developed across a number of worldwide research teams, in support of process-design applications dealing with problems characterised by strong energy and water interactions.

Murray-Darling Freshwater Research CentreMDFRC item.A modular series of vertical flow wetland (VFW) systems was established in 1989/90 to treat up to 130,000 litres per day of primary settled sewage on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia as an experimental scale-up of wetland microcosms that had been developed with this hydrological format. Monitoring of inflow and outflow water quality was maintained on a weekly basis from January 1991 to February 1992. Some management parameters (e.g. flow rates) were varied during this period. Dye injection to examine hydraulic behaviour within the gravel bed was carried out on two occasions in one VFW. in general the removal of nutrients was lower than expected, with between 20% and 40% reduction in concentrations and removal of loads over the year. Suspended solids and BOD removals were excellent, with a surprisingly good reduction in faecal coliform counts as well. Reduction in flow rates improved performance markedly in all parameters.

Each of us reflects a unique convergence of DNA and the environment. Over the past 2 decades, huge biobanks linked to electronic medical records have positioned the clinical and scientific communities to understand the complex genetic architecture underlying many common diseases. Although these efforts are producing increasingly accurate gene-based risk prediction algorithms for use in routine clinical care, the algorithms often fail to include environmental factors. This review explores the concept of heritability (genetic vs nongenetic determinants of disease), with emphasis on the role of environmental factors as risk determinants for common complex diseases influenced by air and water quality. Efforts to define patient exposure to specific toxicants in practice-based data sets will deepen our understanding of diseases with low heritability, and improved land management practices will reduce the burden of disease.

Groundwater can be assessed by studying water wells. This study was conducted in Al-Wafa District, Anbar Governorate, Iraq. The water samples were collected from 24 different wells in the study area, in January 2021. A laboratory examination of the samples was conducted. Geographical information systems technique was relied on to determine the values of polluting elements in the wells. The chemical elements that were measured were [cadmium, lead, cobalt and chromium]. The output of this research were planned to be spatial maps that show the distribution of the elements with respect to their concentrations. The results show a variation in the heavy elements concentrations at the studied area groundwater. The samples show different values of concentrations; for Cadmium (0.218-1.624) ppm, Lead (0.217-1.157) ppm, Cobalt (0.014-0156) ppm, and for Chromium (0.045-0263) ppm. The distribution of the materials concentrations differs for each element which is refer to the sources of pollution are not relate to industry, but it could be relate to fertilization.

This paper examines how land use affects water quality and how this impacts the viability of shellfish mariculture (marine aquaculture) in the UK through a synthesis of the current literature, stakeholder workshops and targeted engagement of cross-sector organisations across a case study in South West England. We examine the importance of water quality as a constraint for shellfish mariculture in South West England and explore how current and projected future land uses are likely to influence ongoing viability. Currently, faecal material from agricultural runoff and municipal wastewater discharges is the main water quality issue affecting the viability of shellfish mariculture. Most UK Shellfish Waters, including those in SW England (~90%), do not consistently meet regulatory standards for faecal indicator organisms (FIOs) in shellfish, designed to ensure they are safe for direct human consumption. Other pollutants currently impacting shellfish mariculture include persistent organic pollutants and metals, suspended solids and excess nutrient inputs. Emerging pollutants with the potential to impact on mariculture include a range of consumer- industrial- and agri- chemicals, including biocides, pesticides, veterinary and human medicines. We evaluated possible changes in water quality conditions through deriving and exploring a range of future scenarios, considering policies and trends in land use including regenerative and intensive agriculture, renewable energy generation, afforestation, urban development and climate change. Our findings highlight possible trade-offs and synergies between land and water-based food production systems, applicable in SW England and across other regions of the UK and internationally, for helping to inform environmental policy development and implementation.

This study aims to assess the water quality of the Mahananda River in Bangladesh and its suitability for drinking and agricultural uses. For water quality determination, 15 samples were collected from different sites of the Mahananda River to calculate Water Quality Index (WQI) and Entropy Water Quality Index (EWQI). Result shows that among different Hydrochemical parameters, carbonate and bicarbonate concentrations crossed the maximum limit in all the samples, while fluoride concentration exceeding in Sample-15 with the highest value found in Baroghoria area. From WQI result, water quality for the Baroghoria area was found unsuitable for drinking with WQI − 309.22, whereas another two samples of Mollikpur and Namo Neemgachi fall under ‘poor’ category with WQI of 184.49 and 198.99, respectively. EWQI reveals medium to excellent water quality. Result from different irrigation indices (Na%, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), magnesium hazard (MH), total hardness, Kelly ratio (KR), and permeability index (PI) values) showed their suitability for irrigation. Principal component analysis (PCA) explained a total of 89.71% of variances in the dataset. Significant positive association within EC–Na, EC–sulfate, Ca–TH, nitrate–sulfate, etc., were reported indicating prominence in terms of both geogenic as well as anthropogenic processes such as silicate weathering and the release of untreated sewerage, respectively, which governs the water quality evolution in the study area. Cluster analysis (CA) classifies all water samples in five different clusters based on five different characteristics. Mahananda River water is found safe for both drinking and agricultural purposes, except for few samples near the dense human settlement areas. Result from this study is useful for decision makers to design management plans for the river water quality, environmental pollution and human well-being.

Groundwater is a precious source of fresh water and a major component of the entire water supply. Both water quality and quantity could be satisfied by evaluating the groundwater potential sites (GWPS). This paper analyzes the ground-water potentials in a semi-arid region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It describes a standard methodology to identify and map GWPS using integrated Geographical Information System (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) methods. Eight parameters including elevation, slope, drainage density, lineaments density, soil, geology, land use/land cover and rainfall were integrated to explore areas with groundwater holding capability. GWPS were delineated through subjective weights assigned after coupling various thematic layers using Saaty’s Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP). The modelled GWPS were cross-checked with tube wells data. The result indicates that the central part of the study area has good potential for groundwater reserves/exploitation, where the factors i.e. moderate to high drainage density, sedimentary sequence of alluvial plain, low elevation etc. discern the central portion of the study area as a suitable site for groundwater. This study suggests that the applied method proves to be very significant and reliable tool for timely assessment of quality assured evaluation of groundwater resources. This study could be a systematic guide for future investigations for water related explorations, especially in semi-arid environments.

Nitrogen (N) legacies have built up in anthropogenic landscapes over decades of agricultural intensification, and these legacies lead to time lags in water quality change measurable even beyond the moment of application of N. It is important to understand these legacies to quantify the relationship between N inputs and N concentrations in streams and implement best management practices for water quality improvement; however, little is known about the magnitude of legacies in various landscape elements like soils and groundwater. Here, we have used the ELEMeNT (Exploration of Long-tErM Nutrient Trajectories) model to explore the buildup and depletion of N legacies over a 216-year period, across the Mondego River Basin, a 6645-km2 watershed in Portugal, where human interventions have considerably changed the characteristics of the basin to prevent floods and improve farming conditions in recent decades. The results show that the increase in the amount of inorganic fertilizer applied was the main driver for the anthropogenic N loads in the watershed from 1950 until the beginning of the 1990s. The N inputs have been decreasing since then, but N loads in the river did not document any decrease till the 1990s; after which there was a decline. This time lag between the N inputs to the watershed and the N loads in the river (about two decades) is a function of accumulation of N legacy.

The purpose of this study is to assess and compare the quality of groundwater (GW) and surface water (SW) used for domestic purposes in rural areas near crude oil exploration sites in order to determine which source is more susceptible to pollution. Surface water samples were obtained from three (3) distinct locations in the study area, from upstream and downstream of the watercourses, for physicochemical, bacteriological, and heavy metal analysis using conventional laboratory procedures. Similarly, groundwater samples were taken from three (3) separate boreholes in the region for the same analysis, as per American Standard for Testing Materials (ASTM) and American Public Health Association (APHA) procedures. The relative significance of fourteen (14) water quality indicators in defining the quality of water for human consumption was evaluated in this study. The pH of the two water sources was somewhat acidic, with values ranging from 5.19 to 6.24, according to the results of the laboratory analysis. Water quality indicators such as Fe, Pb, TDS, TPC, DO, BOD, F coli, and E coli, on the other hand, were found to be above the permissible tolerance in drinking water, according to the Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Pollutant concentrations in surface water were higher than in groundwater, which may be attributable to the presence of humans or animal excrements (from open grazing) as well as offshore activities.

Water reuse in fish farming is a practice that has been spreading significantly, therefore requiring more efficient and vigorous treatment systems. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential reuse of aquaculture wastewater after being treated in horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands (HSSF-CW). Three HSSF-CWs with dimensions of 1.0 m in width, 3.0 m in length, and 0.30 m in depth were evaluated. One HSSF-CW had stargrass (Cynodon nlemfuensis) cultivated; the other had cattail (Typha latifolia), and the third was used as a control, where there was no cultivation. The wastewater was provided from three Nile tilapia breeding tanks, which recirculated the entire system after going through the HSSF-CW. The following variables were determined every five days at the HSSF-CW influent and effluent: temperature, pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity, redox potential, dissolved oxygen, ammonium, and nitrate. The treatment in the HSSF-CW allowed the reuse of aquaculture wastewater as it provides water quality levels according to the recommendation for Nile tilapia breeding. Furthermore, the water quality parameters monitored in HSSF-CW effluent remained within limits established by CONAMA Resolution No. 357/2005 for aquaculture and fishing activity. Water reuse in fish farming is a practice that has been spreading significantly, therefore requiring more efficient and vigorous treatment systems. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential reuse of aquaculture wastewater after being treated in horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands (HSSF-CW). Three HSSF-CWs with dimensions of 1.0 m in width, 3.0 m in length, and 0.30 m in depth were evaluated. One HSSF-CW had stargrass (Cynodon nlemfuensis) cultivated; the other had cattail (Typha latifolia), and the third was used as a control, where there was no cultivation. The wastewater was provided from three Nile tilapia breeding tanks, which recirculated the entire system after going through the HSSF-CW. The following variables were determined every five days at the HSSF-CW influent and effluent: temperature, pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity, redox potential, dissolved oxygen, ammonium, and nitrate. The treatment in the HSSF-CW allowed the reuse of aquaculture wastewater as it provides water quality levels according to the recommendation for Nile tilapia breeding. Furthermore, the water quality parameters monitored in HSSF-CW effluent remained within limits established by CONAMA Resolution No. 357/2005 for aquaculture and fishing activity.

The Middle Route (MR) of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP) of China is one of the world's largest inter-basin water diversion projects. As an important source of drinking water in North China, its water quality safety determines the success or failure of a sizable water supply. At present, there is a lack of in-depth and systematic understanding of the interaction between hydrodynamics and the water environment as well as water ecological processes in the main canal at the early stages of operation. It is not currently possible to accurately predict water quality and algae status at the early stage of canal ecosystem succession. Change trends and distribution characteristics of the main water ecological environment elements in the main canal at the early MR stage are analyzed in this study. The main factors influencing algae are investigated by principal component analysis (PCA) to characterize the water quality and algae transport distribution in the main MR canal under the complex multi-sluice joint dispatching conditions. The relationship between environmental factors, hydrodynamic, water quality, and algae in the coupled canal-sluice system in the SNWDP MR is determined. Algae distributions under different water transmission conditions in a typical canal section are predicted accordingly. CODMn and algal density in the main canal are shown to increase from south to north along the canal. DO decreases from south to north; other water quality indexes do not significantly differ from north to south. Algal density along the canal differs to the greatest extent in summer, followed by spring and autumn, and is the weakest in winter. The predicted algae densities in the main canal under different water conveying conditions show that single sluice control and strong water flow from Taocha Head Section increase the flow velocity after passing through the sluice with a fixed opening. Algal density decreases flow rate increases under single sluice regulation conditions. The maximum rate of algal density change reaches 22.13% and 29.55% under double sluice and four sluice scheduling. Algae control effects grow significantly as the number of control sluices increases. The results of this work may provide technical support for water quality forecasting and algae risk warning in the SNWDP MR as well as a workable reference for similar projects.

In the water environment, construction, and civil engineering industries, digital twins have gradually become a popular solution in recent years, and in digital twins, accurate data prediction and category recognition are important parts of it. Artificial neural network (ANN), a widely used data-driven model, can accurately identify nonlinear relationships in the water environment. In this paper, a recognition model for black-odorous water bodies based on ANN was established to directly identify the sensory description of water bodies. This study used water quality data and sensory description (color and odor) as samples to train backpropagation (BP) neural networks. The training results show that the accuracy of the color and odor models reaches 86.7% and 85.8%, respectively. It can thus be suggested that the sensory description can be accurately recognized by BP neural network. The application results indicate that all seven rivers had black-odorous phenomenon within a year. The recognition models have been instrumental in water resource management. Meanwhile, the models provide a reference for the evaluation and early warning of black-odorous water bodies in other regions.

The groundwater in Gaobeidian city is used for drinking, irrigation, industrial production, and other purposes. With the rapid development of the economy and urbanization, groundwater quality has been seriously affected. The main purposes of this paper are to evaluate the groundwater quality in the study area on the basis of understanding the hydrochemical characteristics of the study area and assess the possible health risks of groundwater to children and adults. In this paper, the entropy weight method was used to determine the weight of each evaluation parameter, and on this basis, groundwater quality evaluation was carried out, and the spatial distribution map of groundwater quality was drawn according to the evaluation results. The results show that the weight values of the five parameters of NO2–, Fe, As, Cr6+, and NO2–N are more than 0.1 among the total of fifteen parameters, and the concentration of these five parameters can be considered as the main influencing parameters of groundwater quality. The calculation results of the entropy weighted water quality index (EWQI) show that all the groundwater quality in the study area is class 1 water, which is Excellent Water. However, the EWQI value is the highest in the southwest of the study area, showing a trend of deterioration of groundwater water quality. Since all groundwater samples were evaluated as “excellent water,” it was speculated that the natural environment had more influence on groundwater chemical characteristics than human factors. The study found that 7.407% and 55.556% of the water samples posed a noncarcinogenic health risk to adults and children, respectively. The main responsible parameters for noncarcinogenic risk are F−, NO2−, NO3−, and Cr6+. The carcinogenic risk for adults ranged from 0 to 6.91E-04, with a mean of 1.00E-04. The carcinogenic risk for children ranged from 0 to 1.03E-03, with a mean of 1.55E-04. These toxic elements are mainly from industries. Therefore, the deterioration of groundwater quality can be prevented by strengthening the sewage management of various industries.

The environmental quality of the ecological protection zone directly affects the water quality and air quality of the area, thereby affecting the quality of people’s life. This paper constructs the evaluation index system of the environmental quality of the ecological protection area and determines the classification standards of each index, proposes the extension evaluation method of the environmental quality of the ecological protection area, and uses the entropy weight method to determine the weight of each level of index. Its purpose is to understand the development trend of environmental quality in all aspects of the ecological reserve through the dynamic evaluation of the environmental quality of the ecological reserve, so as to take corresponding countermeasures to promote the healthy development of the area. The constructed model was used to dynamically evaluate the environmental quality of the ecological reserve in Zhangjiakou City from 2008 to 2019. The research results show that the environmental quality gaps in different aspects of the ecological reserve of Zhangjiakou City are relatively large, and the overall regional ecological environment characteristic value is decreasing year by year, reflecting that the environmental quality of the ecological reserve of the region is getting better year by year.

There is continuous expansion and growth of urban and peri urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa with projections indicating that this will double. Some peri-urban areas such as those in the Techiman municipality of Ghana are experiencing this trend. Nonetheless, the spate of growth of these areas outstrips the supply of utilities by municipal water distribution networks. As a result, some areas have little or no public provision. In order to address the water supply challenge, places with favourable hydrological settings are witnessing the emergence of informal water suppliers as “gap fillers” or “pioneers”, providing water services. Noteworthy, however, existing studies about informal water suppliers in peri-urban areas in Ghana lump them together, without considering the water source. This study differs in that it specifically examines the evolution and the features of informal water suppliers who privately and independently abstract and supply groundwater. Additionally, it attempts to understand the nature of informality of the suppliers and the possibility of formalisation. The paper is an exploratory study using the case of private mechanised borehole operators who supply water in their respective areas. The findings showed that in some peri-urban areas in the Techiman municipality, some dwellers constructed and operated mechanised boreholes, which provide in-situ water and utilities to others. They are mostly pioneer water suppliers in some of the areas. Their services are informal by nature because they are largely independent of the formal sector and apply informal arrangements in rendering their services. Seen also as business enterprises, they are not licenced. However, the boreholes are registered with the Municipal Assembly, which indicated some level of formalisation. The study recommended that efforts to formalise them further should focus on improving water quality monitoring for consumption and promoting sustainable abstraction.

Water quality can be defined as the chemical, physical and biological characteristics of water, usually in respect to its suitability for a designated use. Water has many uses, such as for recreation, drinking, fisheries, agriculture and industry and the quality of the water for each of the above-mentioned uses have different defined chemical, physical and biological standards necessary to support that use. We expect higher standards for water we drink and swim in comparison to that used in agriculture and industry. Water quality standards are put in place to ensure that the water is safe to use and also supports efficient utilisation of water for that specific purpose. Water quality analysis is to measure the required parameters of water, following standard methods, to check whether they are in accordance with the standard and provides us an opportunity to monitor the water quality on a regular basis. Groundwater is generally an excellent source of water for drinking, cleaning, bathing, irrigation and industrial purposes. The quality of water invariably is contaminated in many ways by natural, agricultural and anthropogenic activities with the release large number of pollutants into the water bodies. The objective of this study is to perform qualitative analysis of some physicochemical parameters of groundwater in study area. This may be considered as reference for the society to get cautious about the impending deterioration of their environment and health.

East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW) is designated as International Ramsar site and are the hotspot for large-scale wastewater aquaculture practices. However, the continued surveillance of physicochemical properties of water and application of an eco-friendly approach are essential to ensure safe aquaculture practices. In the present study, we assessed the seasonal variation in physicochemical parameters of water across EKW and investigated the role of nitrifying bacteria as probiotics. We statistically analyzed various physicochemical properties of water samples from EKW. Results of the statistical analysis indicated a significant variation in all the physicochemical parameters across the selected water bodies of EKW (p < 0.01). We isolated and enumerated Nitrosomonas sp. and Nitrobacter sp. and assessed their ability to degrade trichloroethylene (TCE). The role of Nitrosomonas sp. and Nitrobacter sp. were further investigated and established through a small-scale experiment. Two microbial isolates, NSW3 and NBW2, displayed superior TCE degradation ability at pH 5, and the application of these strains as probiotics were found to improve the quality of water and survival rate of fishes in the treated experimental tanks. Our findings suggest that the application of the above mixed bacterial cultures in aquaculture could be an effective and environment-friendly approach for safe and productive aquaculture operations. HIGHLIGHTS East Kolkata Wetlands, an International Ramsar site and hotspot for aquaculture.; Statistical correlations of physicochemical parameters shown significant variation.; Standardized the role of nitrifying bacteria as probotics for aquaculture practices.; Trichloroethylene degradation by bacteria were analysed for reducing pollutants.; Establishment of bioremediation and bio-security protocol of wastewater management.

Rapid urbanization poses challenges to meet the increased water supply demands. Apart from the quantity, the distributed water quality often fails to meet the permissible level. This study aimed to conduct a citywide spatio-temporal variation of water quality parameters. Water sampling points were selected by applying the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) technique using ArcGIS considering pipe leakage, source water quality, pipe age, and pipe materials. The Chattogram city comprises 397 km of pipes; pipe material distribution shows 71.28% PVC, 20.94% asbestos, 5.16% mild steel, 2.17% ductile, and 0.45% cast iron. The citywide pipe network was established in 1963; 20.87% of pipes aged over 30 years, 15.07% 20–30 years, 26.38% 10–20 years, and 37.68% pipelines are relatively new, i.e., within 0–10 years. Eight water quality parameters, i.e., pH, temperature, turbidity, biochemical oxygen demand after five days (BOD5), total coliform, fecal coliform, chloride, and residual chlorine, were collected from the secondary source cross-checked by field survey. Computation of the Water Quality Index (WQI) was interpolated using Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) method to generate a WQI map. Thus, this study could be a basis to improve the treatment system and proper distribution network maintenance. HIGHLIGHTS Spatio-temporal variation of water quality parameters in the citywide distribution system.; Water sampling locations were identified using the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP).; Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) method to generate a Water Quality Index (WQI) map.

Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) offers a better option to increase aquaculture production with limited land and water resources while minimizing water pollution. The biggest challenges in RAS is to maintain favorable water quality for the fish to thrive. The practice of RAS in Kenya is minimal with the improper matching of RAS components and production densities for the existing few and in most cases, leading to a system failure. This study aimed at evaluating environmental and energy requirements for different production biomass of Nile tilapia in a RAS established in a controlled environment. Both production densities and water flow rates were varied while at the same time, the water quality parameters (dissolved oxygen, ammonia, pH, electrical conductivity and temperature) were monitored. The energy consumed for pumping and aeration was also monitored. Tilapia stocking biomass varied from 2.3 kg/m3 to 10 kg/m3 while flow rate was varied from 2.0 L/min and increased at intervals of 1.0 L/min to the maximum attainable flow rate of 10.0 L/min. Crushed pumice rock packed in a 1000 L tank and equipped with a bell siphon was used as the biofilter. Ammonia removal reduced with increasing flow rate with removal rates of 75% at 2.0–3.0 L/min to 9% at 8.0–10.0 L/min. The water pH increased with increasing flow rate with R2 ranging from 0.4 to 0.9. Electrical conductivity increased with flow rate from 112 mg/L to as high as 209 mg/L. Dissolved oxygen increased with flow rate and ranged from 1.0 mg/L to 7.0 mg/L. Energy consumption increased with flow rate and raged from 0.4 kW h at 2.3 kg/m3 stocking biomass to 2.4 kW h at 10 kg/m3 stocking biomass. High stocking densities and flow rates resulted to lower purification efficiencies and higher power consumptions than low stocking densities and flow rates. In order to maintain good RAS water quality, increased production and profits among farmers using RAS in Kenya, there is need to give proper advice on the right combination of stocking biomass, power, and water flow rate. In addition, similar studies should be carried out for other common fish species such as the African catfish.

Acid mine drainage commonly occupies some pore space after underground coal mining, and this severely depreciates coal pillars, thereby posing a significant risk to mine stability. Considering that such depreciation is reflected in the microstructures of these pillars, in the present study, we propose a static immersion method suitable for coal seam samples immersion in the laboratory. We immersed the No. 2–2 coal seam samples from the Ningtiao Tower Coal Mine in Yulin, Shaanxi Province, in different acid mine drainage solutions and monitored the pH, oxidation–reduction potential (ORP), electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS) among other water quality parameters for 300 h. After the immersion tests, samples were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The pH, ORP, EC, and TDS of the prepared acid mine drainage solutions increased significantly as the immersion time increased. Changes in water quality parameters are attributed to the absorption of hydrogen ions by insoluble clay minerals in the coal, which reduced the acidity, increased the pH value, and enhanced the electrical conductivity of the acid mine drainage solutions. SEM analysis reveals differences in the pore characteristics of (pore throat size and orientation) of the coal samples, and these are caused by erosive effects of the acid mine drainage solutions. Pores with throat sizes greater than 10 μ m increased by 95% as the pH of the acid mine drainage solutions decreased, while the dominant pore orientation (60–90°) decreased to the 0–30° or increased to the 150–180° range, thereby increasing their randomness.

The increasing penetration of renewable energy, such as wind power, has brought great challenges to the power system operation due to its uncertainty. Flexibility, which measures the ability of power system to deal with the uncertainties, is critical for power system to adapt to the new era of renewable energy. The rising electrical demand of the water distribution system (WDS) creates opportunities for power system to leverage the flexibility provided by WDS. This paper investigates the water-energy relationship between these two systems and makes full use of the water pumps and tanks in the WDS to enhance the power system flexibility. Current WDS designs did not consider well the role WDS plays in the power system. This hinders the WDS from being fully used by power system to provide flexibility. An optimization model is proposed to determine the optimal tank size of WDS, which may provide the maximum available flexibility of power system. The effect of tank size on water quality is also investigated to ensure that the supplied water quality is not compromised. Moreover, a Benders-based heuristic algorithm is proposed to find the optimization solution more efficiently and to protect the data of each energy system. Results of case study highlight the merit of the proposed optimization design and the advantage of using WDS to provide flexibility for power system.

Technologies that utilize natural renewable resources and rely on no fuels are more sustainable and could, in part, solve the world's current water and energy problems. The aim of this study is to fabricate and develop a single solar still that is directly connected with a solar parabolic trough and does not utilize any heat exchanger. An innovative feeding water tank was installed with the parabolic unit. Fieldworks and manufacturing, laboratory experiments, and water quality analysis were the tools used in this study. The results of the field experiments demonstrated that the overall water productivity of the modified solar still increased by 177% compared to the conventional still. The average hourly quantity of freshwater obtained from the modified and unmodified models of the solar still were 0.67 L/m2/hr and 0.38 L/m2/hr, respectively. Building on these results, this study also proposed the future investigation of a step-shaped conical unit for the same device, which appears more promising and easier to handle, install, and maintain. This study showed feasible and viable results and verifies the importance of technologies that rely on renewable resources to achieve secure and sustainable management of the world's water and energy needs.

The problem of sewage disposal has received great attention worldwide. The raw sewage contains a variety of high inorganic and organic matters that affect natural water environment. To mitigate such problem, sewage may be recycled through aquaculture practice. Sewage recycling in aquaculture enhances water productivity through nutrients input. Proper loading of sewage ensures viable aquaculture; otherwise, fish mortality occurs due to poor water quality. To optimize sewage application, two different experiments were conducted, each with four treatments. In both experiments, three fish species namely rohu (Labeo rohita Hamilton, 1822), mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala Hamilton, 1822), and bata (Labeo bata Hamilton, 1822) were tested in triplicate in FRP (Fibre-Reinforced Plastic) tanks. Different sewage concentrations (0, 25%, 50% and 75%) used in first experiment were prepared by mixing freshwater, showing Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) 2.0 ± 0.4 mg/L, 10.8 ± 1.4 mg/L, 19.6 ± 1.5 mg/L and 41.6 ± 2.58 mg/L, respectively. After 30 days rearing, results showed ≥75% fish survival in sewage concentrations up to 50% with BOD level 19.6 ± 1.5 mg/L. Less than 50% fish survived in 75% sewage concentration, with BOD level as 41.6 ± 2.58 mg/L. The second experiment was conducted for 90 days considering 50% sewage concentration as basal dose with BOD level as 19.6 mg/L as an acceptable limit for fish survival. Split doses of sewage were applied in T1, T2 and T3 treatments fortnightly, weekly and semi-weekly intervals, while single dose was used in C (control) treatment. Application of split doses resulted better hydro-biological changes, including nutrients recovery, in T1, T2 and T3 than that of single dose in control. Fish growth plotted with net primary productivity (NPP), phytoplankton and zooplankton densities exhibited positive correlations in T2 (12 doses) and T3 (24 doses), considered as optimal doses to ensure better water productivity for desirable fish production than sewage with single dose or limited doses (6 doses).

In light of climate change and greenhouse gas reduction, countries around the world are doing their part to develop various types of eco-friendly energy. In this context, the Shihwa Tidal Power Plant is an advanced energy generation infrastructure which uses the resources of the sea, a project that pioneers and practices low-carbon, green growth engineering. Not only as an advanced energy generation infrastructure but also it is an eco-friendly infrastructure that resurrected ‘the dead lake’, which had suffered extreme water pollution due to cutoff in seawater circulation after the completion of the tide embankment in 1994. By circulating the water of the lake, new mud flats have appeared in the upstream area, an area once submerged due to the embankment. These new mud flats are providing new shelters for various organisms, thus transforming the lake into an eco-friendly, life-giving one. Most tidal power plants are difficult to construction due to geological features. The Sihwa tidal power plant was developed harmoniously by utilizing the unique geological features and tidal power plant principles on the West coast of the Korean peninsula. Shihwa Tidal Power Plant is a special and differentiated development example of renewable energy production and environmental improvement along with the significant water quality improvement effect of Shihwa Lake due to increased seawater exchange rates. This article therefore presents the review of Shihwa Lake’s environmental issues and eco-friendly energy production process with the aim to identify the good practices, the challenges as well as the lessons learnt from their experience. This development will be another case of a country seeking to develop new marine energy. This is also a good practice of improving the environment of freshwater lakes in coastal areas.

In majority cities of Pakistan, ground water is the main source of drinking water supply in the taps. Studies from different areas of Pakistan reported the presence of arsenic (As3/5+) and fluoride (F−) in drinking water supplies and can be envisaged as a deep-rooted cause of daily exposure of these in humans. The present study was planned with three way approach, i.e., to assess drinking water quality in Multan city, a highly populated and industrial activity area; synthesis of nano-adsorbent for simultaneous, effective and low-cost removal of fluoride and arsenic and manage waste by utilization of kitchen waste for synthesis of the nano-adsorbent. Out of 30 samples collected, 80% and 73% samples were found exceeding maximum residual limits (MRL) for F− and As3/5+, respectively, while 53% samples had both As3/5+ and F− concentrations greater than MRL. All these water samples were then treated with prepared nano-adsorbent, i.e., iron nanoparticles doped kitchen waste charcoal after evaluating the optimized experimental parameters and application of adsorption, kinetics and thermodynamic models. The nano-adsorbent showed high removal efficacy 81–100% for F− and 13–100% for As3+.

Asian Pacific Shrimp is an invertebrate that the most culture in aquaculture. But the high demand for shrimp makes farmers cultivate a high density. There are several ways to increase the density of shrimp culture, usually called geomembrane plastic and concrete ponds. The ponds are located in the Laboratory of Brackishwater and Seawater Fisheries, Probolinggo and Lucky Windu, Situbondo. Day of Culture (DOC) on Laboratory of Brackishwater and Seawater Fisheries in Probolinggo pond is 85 days both, while in Lucky Windu Situbondo is 81 days on pond 2, and pond 3B 133 days. The study aimed to evaluate correlations of VLPs towards geomembrane and concrete ponds. The research method has two observations: 1. Periodic observations; nitrite, ammonium, and shrimp were observed; 2. Last observation; sampling water for analysis VLPs was observed. Data of sampling water in the different ponds were then analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis to look for the level of tightness and direction of the relationship. The results have obtained that geomembrane VLPs and concrete VLPs has a very strong relationship, while the type of geomembrane and concrete was close to 1 > 0.5 and the result is 0.90, 0.96, 0.69, and 0.82. Water quality showed pH 8.1 at geomembrane, nitrite 0.2mg.L -1 at geomembrane, and ammonium of 0.44 mg.L -1 at concrete. The pond area in geomembrane pond 1 and 2 was 1600 m 2 , meanwhile in concrete both is 4300 m 2 , which mean in concrete ponds more the existence of VLPs is because due to the different pond area factors and indicates from detections of WSSV that the result was positive that makes environment factor in abundances VLPs. But VLPs have no effect on the growth of shrimp vaname during the cultivated process. Keywords: Asian Shrimp Pasific (L. vannamei ), Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), Water Quality, and WSSV.

Introduction. The relevance of the work for preventive medicine is due to the need to assess the impact of climate aridity on the hygienic safety of drinking water. The aim of the work is to determine the influence of the degree of aridity of the arid regions of Russia on the hygienic safety of drinking water prepared from surface water sources. Materials and methods. The objects of the study are the water of small rivers located in the arid regions of the Saratov Region and the Republic of Bashkortostan. The content of pollutants in water was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry, spectrophotometry, and potentiometry. Satellite images for the implementation of remote sensing of the Earth are obtained in the geoinformation catalogue earthexplorer.usgs.gov. Image processing and mapping of the studied territories was carried out using the QGIS program, version 3.12.3. Results. Using the method of remote sensing of the Earth, it was revealed for the first time that the low-arid regions of the Republic of Bashkortostan correspond to positive NDMI values. In contrast, the areas of the Saratov region are characterized by negative NDMI values. For the first time, a statistically significant correlation has been established between the hygienic hazard caused by polluting chemicals in water, typical for arid territories and the change in the aridity index NDMI. Biogenic nitrogen, iron, and manganese make the most significant contribution to the formation of the non-carcinogenic danger of small river waters in the conditions of climate warming. Conclusion. We have shown for the first time using the remote sensing method of the Earth that low-arid regions of the Republic of Bashkortostan correspond to low positive values of the aridity index NDMI than for the areas of the Saratov region characterized by negative NDMI values. For the first time, a correlation was established between an increase in the degree of aridity of arid areas of Russia and an increase in non-carcinogenic health risk due to the use of drinking water prepared from surface water sources.

Inle Lake is the second largest inland lake in Myanmar. Floating gardens, mostly for tomato cultivation, are a unique and profitable method of agriculture used by people living on and around the lake. This study investigated the water quality of Inle Lake and how it has been affected by the different agricultural practices used in tomato cultivation on floating garden beds, by measuring pollution levels. Water samples were collected from the sites representing two types of agricultural practice from four villages. The first was designated as being grown under good agricultural practices (GAP), and the other as under non-good agricultural practices (non-GAP), with this study undertaken during wet season, 2019 and dry season, 2020. Two additional sets of water samples were collected as references. One of these sets was from the center of the lake and the other from an inlet stream to the lake. All water samples were analyzed for physical and chemical properties. The results found that Ca2+, Mg2+ and HCO3- were dominant in the lake surface water. The results showed significant differences in the mean values for some water quality parameters between the GAP and non-GAP of each study sites in both seasons. In particular, nutrient pollution from chemicals such as nitrogen and phosphorus from the non-GAP were significantly higher than those from GAP. Water quality index was calculated to describe the overall quality of lake surface water. It was observed that the water quality was almost threatened in the floating garden areas. In comparison between two practices, the non-GAP gave the higher water quality index value than the GAP. This investigated that poor management of fertilizers usage has had a negative effect on the water quality of the lake. The differences seen in water quality from the GAP and non-GAP areas, point to ways to successfully manage sources of water pollution in order to better conserve the lake by sustainable agricultural production.

In this investigation, an innovative index was developed based on the fuzzy inference system for assessing the quality of bottled drinking waters. A method was developed to aggregate the values obtained from the defuzzification step. A total number of 24 quality parameters revealing the characteristics of bottled were in terms of physiochemical, dietary, toxic, and pathogenic aspects were selected as the input parameters. 30 samples were taken from the independent brands found in the Hamadan province retail market to evaluate the bottled water quality index (BWQI). Results show that the values obtained from measuring the parameters are in the range of the standard levels set by national regulations. The BWQI scores obtained from samples were in the range of 61.2-73.8 attributing to the marginal and fair descriptive classes. The drinking bottled water samples had better scores because of low contents of NO3, NO2, Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn that are subjugated public distribution systems having the severe standards on urban water treatment plants for in case safe water. The mineral bottled water samples examination indicated that they are generally affected by the mineral contents of sedimentary rocks and NO3 leaks from fertilizers used in the agricultural doings and also they do not elaborate the rigorous scrutiny system alike those donned in the public water distribution systems. Sensitivity analysis using the Monte Carlo algorithm reveals that the parameters NO3, Na, hardness, and NO2 have the most impact on the BWQI scores.

Recent climate change and vegetation greening have important implications for global terrestrial hydrological cycles and other ecosystem functions, raising concerns about the watershed water supply capacity for large water diversion projects. To address this emerging concern, we built a hybrid model based on the Coupled Carbon and Water (CCW) and Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI) models and conducted a case study on the upper Han River basin (UHRB) in Central China that serves as the water source area to the middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP). Significant vegetation greening occurred in the UHRB during 2001–2018, largely driven by the widespread afforestation in the region, with the normalized difference vegetation index increasing at a rate of 0.5±0.1 % yr−1 (p<0.05) but with no significant trends in climate during the same period (albeit with large interannual variability). Annual water yield greatly decreased, and vegetation greening alone induced a significant decrease in water yield of 3.2±1.0 mm yr−1 (p<0.05). Vegetation greening could potentially reduce the annual water supply by 7.3 km3 on average, accounting for 77 % of the intended annual water diversion volume of the SNWDP. Although vegetation greening can bring enormous ecosystem goods and services (e.g., carbon sequestration and water quality improvement), it could aggravate the severity of hydrological drought. Our analysis indicated that vegetation greening in the UHRB reduced about a quarter of water yield on average during drought periods. Given the future warming and drying climate is likely to continue to raise evaporative demand and exert stress on water availability, the potential water yield decline induced by vegetation greening revealed by our study needs to be taken into account in the water resources management over the UHRB while reaping other benefits of forest protection and ecological restoration.

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) losses from agricultural areas have degraded the water quality of downstream rivers, lakes, and oceans. As a result, investment in the adoption of agricultural best management practices (BMPs) has grown, but assessments of their effectiveness at large spatial scales have lagged. This study applies regional Spatially Referenced Regression On Watershed-attributes (SPARROW) models developed for the Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast United States to quantify potential regional effects of BMPs on nutrient losses from agricultural lands. These models were used because they account for specific BMPs in the prediction of instream nutrient loads. The BMPs included in the models were cover crops, no-till, and conservation tillage. Sensitivity testing for the BMPs on agricultural nutrient loads was done using simulations that varied the intensity of BMPs specified in each region. When the BMP intensity was increased 50% relative to the 2012 intensity, the predicted agricultural load of total P decreased across all regions (4% to 14%). The predicted reduction in average P yields in the Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast was 706, 544, and 26 kg km–2, respectively. Increasing BMPs by 50% decreased predicted agricultural total N loads by 3.5% in the Southeast but increased predicted N loads in the Midwest and Northeast by 4.7% and 1.8%, respectively. Model-predicted average N yields increased by 402 kg km–2 and 302 kg km–2 in the Midwest and Northeast, respectively, and decreased in the Southeast by 329 kg km–2. In model simulations, cover crops were more effective at reducing N and P loads than the tillage BMPs despite lower intensity of implementation in 2012. However, at the regional scale of this investigation, implementation of BMPs result in only moderate predicted effects on agricultural nutrient loads

Air adalah sumber daya yang penting bagi semua organisme hidup. Sumber daya air harus dikelola secara berkelanjutan untuk melindungi lingkungan dan kegunaannya bagi kehidupan manusia dan organisme lain. Air sungai merupakan salah satu sumber daya air bagi kehidupan manusia. Salah satu daerah yang memanfaatkan air sungai untuk sumber air adalah Surabaya. Sungai Surabaya dianggap sebagai sumber air utama yang dimanfaatkan oleh warga. Air Sungai Surabaya merupakan bahan baku air minum dan salah satu sumber suplai air PDAM Surabaya. Selain itu, Sungai tidak hanya dimanfaatkan sebagai sumber air bagi kehidupan masyarakat dan industri tetapi juga sebagai tempat pembuangan limbah industri. Meningkatnya perkembangan industri telah menimbulkan kekhawatiran tentang konsumsi air, sehingga perlu dilakukan pemantauan kualitas air Sungai Surabaya untuk mengetahui parameter kimia, fisik, dan biologi.

Nigeria, one of the major crude oil producing countries in the world, transports petroleum products through pipelines to several oil depots located across the country from where it is trucked to end users. Activities within these depots are known to have impact on their immediate environment due to the nature of operations and the externalities generated. This paper therefore examined the socio-environmental effects of the Nigerian National Petroleum Depot, Apata, Ibadan on its immediate neighbourhood. A case study approach utilising primary and secondary data collection was adopted in which 205 residential buildings and respondents were proportionally selected for sampling from four neighbourhoods within 500 metres radius of the facility. An environmental audit including ground water samples were randomly collected for testing and analysis from Adebisi stream and residential hand-dug wells. Findings revealed local access road incapacitation emanating from indiscriminate parking of fuel tankers and spiralling into constant traffic congestion on major roads. Desludging of fuel storage tanks (79.5%) resulting into regular effluent discharge into the Adebisi stream and fume emission (62.6%), were attested to by residents. Water quality analysis revealed a high concentration of lead (pb.0.06mg/l) above the maximum permissible limit of (0.01mg/l) for potable water. Other detected metals, Cadmium (0.003mg/l), Copper (0.006mg/l) and Zinc (3.0 mg/l) were all within the appropriate recommended limits. The study recommended a periodic environmental audit and regular dialogue with stakeholders of the host communities for socio-environmental sustainability.

Artisanal and small-scale mining activities are most evident among communities surrounding the Acupan River in Itogon Benguet. The mining activities include manual extraction of gold ores, use of improvised ball/rod mills and sluice boxes, and metallurgical processing such as cyanidation, carbon-in-pulp (CIP) and amalgamation. This study evaluates the influence of small-scale mining and the geology/mineralization of the Acupan Au-Ag-Te deposit to the water quality of the Acupan River and to the possible human exposures to Hg within the small-scale mining community. Different water quality parameters were monitored along selected sites along the Acupan River for a year and the results showed that the low average values of dissolve oxygen (DO) (2.54–4.53 mg L−1) and the relatively high average values of pH (8.84–10.10), sulfate (300.00–1133.33 mg L−1), nitrate (11.33–134.67 mg L−1), arsenic (As) (0.227–0.574 mg L−1) and mercury (Hg) (0.004–0.054 mg L−1) have exceeded the acceptable criteria limit of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for Class C waters. The exceeded values are noted to occur in areas where extensive small-scale mining activities are being done and have affected as well the downstream areas. To test possible human contamination in the use of Hg, hair samples from 56 volunteers were analyzed for total Hg (T-Hg) following standard protocols. The T-Hg concentrations in hair samples are mostly inorganic and are determined in various parameters such as sex, geographic location, occupation, age, fish consumption and localization in hair. Though not significantly different, higher Hg values are noted in males (1.280 ± 0.446 ng mg−1) than among females (0.651 ± 0.163 ng mg−1) as well as those with ages 41–50 years (3.130 ± 2.330 ng mg−1) as compared to other age groups. The higher amounts of inorganic Hg in human hairs could be attributed to the discrete yet prevalent use of amalgamation. The findings of this study emphasize the need for better regulations of the small-scale mining activities and for stricter implementation of the total ban on the use of Hg in ore processing to ensure better water quality of Acupan River as well as the health and safety of the communities surrounding the river.

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is one of the most critical factors to measure the water quality in ponds, which greatly impacts on healthy growth of aquatic organisms. To improve the prediction accuracy of DO and grasp its changing trends, a novel hybrid DO prediction model based on the long short-term memory network (LSTM) optimized by an improved sparrow search algorithm (ISSA) is proposed. Firstly, to discard redundant information and improve the calculation speed of the model, the key factors that have a greater correlation with DO are selected as the input parameters by extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost). Secondly, towards expanding the searching range of sparrows and balancing the global and local search, we introduce an adaptive factor exponential declining strategy for producers, and an arcsine decreasing strategy for scouters, which nonlinearly decreases with the increase of iterations. Besides, we also improve the position updating of scouters, making the sparrows gradually move to the best position. Finally, LSTM is optimized by ISSA to get the best initial weights and thresholds to construct an XGBoost-ISSA-LSTM DO prediction model. Specifically, we first analyze the method for water quality prediction, which can make short-term prediction (including about 1 h, 2 h) and long-term prediction (including about 12 h, 24 h) of DO. In 1-h prediction, the root mean square error (RMSE) of the model is 0.5571, the mean absolute error (MAE) is 0.2572, and the R2 is 0.9276. In 24 h prediction, RMSE of the model is 0.6310, MAE is 0.4562, and R2 is 0.9082. The experimental results show that the proposed model has better generalization performance and higher prediction accuracy compared with other common models. Therefore, the presented model based on XGBoost-ISSA-LSTM is more effective and could meet the actual demand of accurate prediction of DO.

Catfish farming is one of the fields of business that is still popular today. Cultivation of catfish is a business solution that can be done by anyone. An important factor in the success of catfish farming is to maintain the quality of the pond water in order to keep it good and to provide feed that is carried out regularly. Each type of fish has different characteristics to pond water conditions. In the cultivation of catfish in tarpaulins, the air temperature must be maintained at 20-32 oC, then the pH of the air is good for catfish between 5.5-7.5. If the temperature and pH conditions are outside the specified values, the farmer must replace the fish pond water. Internet of Things (IoT) is a concept where devices can be connected and exchange data with each other through the internet network. In this study, the application of the Internet of Thing (IoT) There are several components used including NodeMCU, pH Sensor, Temperature Sensor, Ultrasonic Sensor, Relay, Pump, Servo Motor and Telegram Bot used for the interface. The fuzzy method used to measure water quality in catfish tarpaulin ponds is based on pH and temperature. The output of this research is a pump control that functions to replace or fill pool water.