Description: Publication date: Available online 3 August 2017 Source: Water Resources and Industry Author(s): Rikki A. Garstone, Christopher Gill, Dene Moliere, Dong Yang, Ulrike Bende-Michl, Penny Fiddes With declining water availability and competing demands on water resources across the globe, Australia has been rapidly advancing the field of water accounting as a tool to improve water management across the country. Water accounting is the application of a consistent and structured approach to identify, measure and report water resource information. Following the advent of the National Water Initiative in 2004 in Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology (the Bureau) was given specific powers and responsibilities under the Water Act 2007 in relation to compiling and disseminating Australia's water information. Amongst these responsibilities is the requirement to publish an annual national water account. In fulfilling this function the Bureau has developed and published the Australian Water Accounting Standards for General Purpose Water Accounting Reports. Its principles and applicability are reflected in the Bureau's annual National Water Account publications. At around the same time of the release of the Exposure Draft of the Australian Water Accounting Standards 1 in 2010, the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) developed a "Water Accounting Framework for the Minerals Industry" through a pilot study and substantial consultation and input from industry. The Minerals Council of Australia had similar objectives to the Bureau in developing a structured approach of water accounting which could be applied consistently and rigorously to water management. As part of collaboration between the Bureau and the Newmarket Gold Mining Company this paper investigates how General Purpose Water Account Reporting can be applied and used in the minerals industry to simplify and improve aspects of regulatory reporting. As water accounting has matured as a discipline, this case study demonstrates how General Purpose Water Accounting Reports and the lessons learned from the ongoing development of the National Water Account can be practically applied to regulatory reporting and corporate data management for a mining operation in the Australian Northern Territory. This paper also demonstrates the benefits of aligning a standardised water account with data that is already routinely collected as part of mining operations environmental compliance.

Description: Publication date: Available online 15 July 2017 Source: Water Resources and Industry Author(s): M.T. Bankole, S.A. Abdulkareem, J.O. Tijani, S.S. Ochigbo, A.S. Afolabi, W.D. Roos This study investigated the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) from electroplating industry wastewater via batch adsorption by purified and polymers functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as nano-adsorbents. Bimetallic Fe-Co supported on CaCO 3 was utilized to produce multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) via the catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) technique. This was subsequently followed by the purification of the as-prepared MWCNTs by a mixture of HNO 3 and H 2 SO 4 in order to remove the support and metal particles. The purified MWCNTs was further functionalized using known mass of the following polymers: Amino polyethylene glycol (PEG), polyhydroxylbutyrate (PHB) and amino polyethylene glycol with polyhydroxylbutyrate (PEG-PHB). The purified (P-CNTs) and functionalized CNTs coded PEG-CNTs; PHB-CNTs, and PEG-PHB-CNTs were characterized by HRSEM, HRTEM-EDS, BET, XRD and XPS. The electroplating wastewater was subjected to physicochemical characterization before and after treatment with various prepared nano-adsorbents using standard methods. The adsorption process under the influence of contact time, adsorbent dosage and temperature was measured using the chemical oxygen demand (COD) as indicator parameter. The HRSEM/XRD/BET confirmed that the purified and polymer functionalized CNTs were homogeneously dispersed; highly graphitic in nature with fewer impurities and of high surface area (>145 m 2 /g). The order of maximum COD removal by the nano-adsorbents at equilibrium time of 70 minutes are as follows: PEG-CNTs (99.68%) > PHB-CNTs (97.89%) > P-CNTs (96.34%) > PEG/PHB-CNTs (95.42%). Equilibrium sorption data were better described by Freudlich isotherm with the correlation coefficient (R 2 >0.92) than Langmuir isotherm. The adsorption kinetics for COD removal from electroplating wastewater fitted well to the pseudo-second-order model with rate constant in the range of 4 × 10 −5 – 1 × 10 −4 (g mg −1 min −1 ). Thermodynamics analysis of the adsorption process revealed that the enthalpy (ΔH°) of the reaction was positive and endothermic in nature. The Gibbs free energy (ΔG°) was negative which showed the feasibility and spontaneity of adsorption process. The findings from this study support the potential use of PEG-functionalised CNTs as a nanoadsorbent to purify electroplating wastewater than others prepared sorbents. Graphical abstract

Description: Publication date: Available online 8 July 2017 Source: Water Resources and Industry Author(s): P. Asaithambi, Esayas Alemayehu, Baharak Sajjadi, Abdul Raman Abdul Aziz Comparison of UV, H 2 O 2 , Fe 2+ , UV/H 2 O 2 , UV/Fe 2+ , Fe 2+ /H 2 O 2 and UV/Fe 2+ /H 2 O 2 processes for the removal of percentage color, COD and electrical energy per order from the effluent distillery industry. The results showed that, UV/Fe 2+ /H 2 O 2 process yield higher percentage color and COD removal with low electrical energy per order than UV, UV/H 2 O 2 , UV/Fe 2+ process. To obtain the UV/Fe 2+ /H 2 O 2 process performance by operating various parameters on the percentage color and COD removal using response surface methodology. A Regression quadratic model describing the percentage color and COD removal efficiency of UV/Fe 2+ /H 2 O 2 process were developed and validate by analysis of variance. Experimental results showed that, UV/Fe 2+ /H 2 O 2 process can effectively reduced 96.50% of color and 84.40% of COD removal of the distillery industry wastewater under the optimum conditions such as Fe 2+ –1.50 mM, H 2 O 2 –200 mM, COD–1500ppm and pH–3.2, respectively. Result concluded that, UV/Fe 2+ /H 2 O 2 process can be used effectively for the treatment of real industrial effluent. Graphical abstract

Description: Publication date: June 2017 Source: Water Resources and Industry, Volume 17

Description: Publication date: Available online 6 June 2017 Source: Water Resources and Industry Author(s): Chung-Fu Huang, An-Chi Huang, Yu-Fan Hsieh, Feng-Jen Chu, Terng-Jou Wan Experiments were conducted using sodium alginate (SA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as embedded materials for Fe 3 O 4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). The materials provided excellent protection to the embedded MNPs in low-pH conditions. This study observed and compared the adsorption capacity of the unaltered and embedded MNPs. At pH 3 and without additional magnetic fields, the wastewater turbidity removal rate of the embedded MNPs reached a maximum of 95%, similar to that of the unaltered MNPs. Moreover, this study examined the recyclability and reusability of the unaltered and embedded MNPs and discovered that the embedded MNPs could be reused up to seven times. Overall, the use of SA/PVA prevented MNPs from disintegrating and contaminating the wastewater through the dissolution of Fe ions. SA and PVA also increased the reusability of the unaltered MNPs.

Description: Publication date: Available online 24 May 2017 Source: Water Resources and Industry Author(s): Nabil Haque As a consequence of rapid industrialization, the waterbodies of Bangladesh have transformed into seasonal dead zones from the ensuing pollution. Despite having environmental regulations to control industrial pollution, lack of effective enforcement has jeopardized environmental quality. Evaluation of enforcement mechanisms have not gained attention from researchers until recently. This qualitative and descriptive analysis illustrates the current enforcement regime for environmental compliance in Bangladesh focusing on fines levied on polluters. Although there are no official guidelines for fines based on type of violation, this paper identified that there are differences of fines among violation based on historical data. It was also found that textile factories are not penalized heavily compared to non-textile factories. Repeat offenders were found to be penalized at the same rate. This study can be used to design appropriate penalty structure based on violation types, and reform the enforcement system so that polluters pay principle is actually implemented.

Description: Publication date: Available online 10 May 2017 Source: Water Resources and Industry Author(s): Francesca Giaccherini, Giulio Munz, Thomas Dockhorn, Claudio Lubello, Diego Rosso In this study the carbon footprint and power demand of tannery wastewater treatment processes for the largest bovine leather producing regions were quantified and analysed. Moreover, we present a case in which we benchmarked the carbon footprint and energy demand analysis of tannery wastewater treatment to municipal wastewater treatment. We quantified the greenhouse gas direct and indirect emissions from tannery wastewater treatment facilities. Our results show that the total CO 2 -equivalent emission for tannery wastewater treatment is 1.49 10 3 t CO2,eq d −1 . Moreover, the energy intensity of tannery wastewater treatment processes are evaluated at 3.9 kWh kg −1 bCOD ,removed , compared to 1.4 kWh kg −1 bCOD ,removed of municipal wastewater treatment processes. Based on this work in the field of tannery wastewater treatment, an effort to innovate suitable treatment trains and technologies has the strong potential to reduce the carbon footprint.

Description: Publication date: Available online 5 April 2017 Source: Water Resources and Industry Author(s): G. Rivas Ibáñez, J.M. Molina Ruíz, M.I. Román Sánchez, J.L. Casas López This paper analyses the water footprint (WF) for 1 L of gazpacho, a chilled vegetable soup produced by an agrifood company located in south-eastern Spain, one of the driest regions in Europe. An overview of the main environmental impacts of its WF was carried out by identifying hotspots (high risks areas) based on a Water Stress indicator. The total WF calculated for 1 L gazpacho is 580.5 L, which mostly stems from the supply chain (99.9%), olive oil being the major contributor to total WF despite the very low amount used (2%). Most of the WF comes from green water (69%), 23% from blue and 8% represents the grey water. Pollution due to micropollutants such as pesticides, which are not yet regulated, has been taken into account in the WF calculation, pointing out that new regulation of micropollutants is needed to avoid their exclusion in the operational grey WF.

Description: Publication date: Available online 9 March 2017 Source: Water Resources and Industry Author(s): G. Nagaraj, A. Dhayal Raj, A. Albert Irudayaraj Herein, for the first time a novel Photon Induced method (PIM) is being reported. Pure TiO 2 nanoparticles prepared by PIM shows high temperature stability and pure anatase phase upto 850 °C. This result is very novel when compared with all other methods reported earlier. To the best of our knowledge, there are no systematic studies reported for the synthesis of high temperature stable pure TiO 2 nanoparticles without using any dopants. From 1972 till date reports on the existence of pure TiO 2 anatase phase are available only upto 700 °C. However, the TiO 2 nanoparticles prepared by PIM exhibit very good phase stability upto 850 °C. Also very good visible light photodegradation results have been obtained for these nanoparticles compared to the standard Degussa P25 reported earlier. X-ray diffraction and TG/DTA confirm the existence of highly stable pure anatase phase up to 850 °C. The prepared samples were subjected to various characterizations such as HRSEM, EDAX,UV-DRS, HRTEM and Confocal Raman. Photocatalytic activity of TiO 2 nanostructures reported till date insist a mixed anatase and rutile phases for better results than a pure anatase phase. However, the pure anatase phased TiO 2 prepared by this novel PIM show enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity than a mixed phase. The results of this study show the potential of applying new generations of catalyst for enhanced Methylene blue degradation. Graphical abstract

Description: Publication date: June 2017 Source: Water Resources and Industry, Volume 17 Author(s): S. Selvakumar, N. Chandrasekar, G. Kumar The Singanallur Sub-basin is one of the major waterways and it supplies water to the Coimbatore city. Currently, it is vulnerable to pollution due to an increase of unplanned urban developments, industrial, and agricultural activities that compromise both the quality and quantity. In the present study three major hydrochemical facies were identified (mixed Ca-Mg-Cl, Ca-Cl, and Ca-HCO 3 ). Irrigation suitability indexes are specifies that the groundwater in the areas has very high salinity hazard and low to medium alkali hazard. The mechanism controlling groundwater chemistry originally regulated by the evaporation process is dominated by reason of arid condition and anthropogenic activities existing throughout the region. The multivariate statistical analysis (Correlation analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA)) indicates, most of the variations are elucidated by the anthropogenic pollutant predominantly due to population growth, industrial effluents, and irrigation water return flow. This study demonstrates enhanced information of evolution of groundwater quality by integrating hydrochemical data and multivariate statistical methods are used to understand the factors influencing contamination due to natural and anthropogenic impacts.