Search results for "Environmental Biotechnology"
showing 10 items of 568 documents
Rainfall thresholds derivation for warning pluvial flooding risk in urbanised areas
2016
Aim of this work is the development of an operational tool for pluvial flooding warning in an urban area based on off-line rainfall thresholds derived by coupling a rainfall–runoff modelling and a hydraulic routing. The critical conditions considered for issue flood warnings were not only based on the water stage, but also on the extension of the flooded area. Further, a risk assessment framework for quantifying the reliability of the rainfall thresholds has been included; rainfall thresholds used in pluvial flooding warning should be influenced by the uncertainties in the rainfall characteristics (i.e. rainfall duration, depth and storm pattern). This risk assessment framework incorporates…
New Data on Seawater Intrusion in Liepāja (Latvia) and Methodology for Establishing Background Levels and Threshold Values in Groundwater Body at Ris…
2018
Intensive water consumption in former decades caused formation of large depression cone near city Liepāja and resulted with seawater intrusion into Upper Devonian Mūru-Žagaru confined freshwater aquifer. Area affected by seawater intrusion is delineated as separate groundwater body at risk (F5) and according to Groundwater Directive threshold values for groundwater bodies at risk must be established to assess the status of a body and identify possible trends. Correct estimation of background levels is significant for determination of threshold values. This study shows an updated so called “BRIDGE” methodology for determination of background levels. A two-step approach how to establish backg…
Assessing the performance of thermal inertia and Hydrus models to estimate surface soil water content
2017
The knowledge of soil water content (SWC) dynamics in the upper soil layer is important for several hydrological processes. Due to the difficulty of assessing the spatial and temporal SWC dynamics in the field, some model-based approaches have been proposed during the last decade. The main objective of this work was to assess the performance of two approaches to estimate SWC in the upper soil layer under field conditions: the physically-based thermal inertia and the Hydrus model. Their validity was firstly assessed under controlled laboratory conditions. Thermal inertia was firstly validated in laboratory conditions using the transient line heat source (TLHS) method. Then, it was applied in…
Hydrogeomorphological analysis and modelling for a comprehensive understanding of flash-flood damage processes: the 9 October 2018 event in northeast…
2020
31 Pags.- 12 Figs.- 5 Tabls. © Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comparative studies of water governance: a systematic review
2018
[EN] Governance is key to tackling water challenges and transforming water management under the increasing pressures of competing water uses and climate change. Diverse water governance regimes have evolved in different countries and regions to regulate the development and management of water resources and the provision of water services. Scholars and policy analysts have been comparing these water governance regimes to analyze elements and processes, to assess performance, or to draw lessons. Although the number of such studies has increased since the 1980s, no comprehensive synthesis exists. We present such a synthesis by conducting a systematic review of the emerging field of comparative…
Economic and environmental sustainability of submerged anaerobic MBR-based (AnMBR-based) technology as compared to aerobic-based technologies for mod…
2015
[EN] The objective of this study was to assess the economic and environmental sustainability of submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) in comparison with aerobic-based technologies for moderate-/high-loaded urban wastewater (UWW) treatment. To this aim, a combined approach of steady-state performance modelling, life cycle analysis (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) was used, in which AnMBR (coupled with an aerobic-based post-treatment) was compared to aerobic membrane bioreactor (AeMBR) and conventional activated sludge (CAS). AnMBR with CAS-based post-treatment for nutrient removal was identified as a sustainable option for moderate-/high-loaded UWW treatment: low energy consump…
On-line monitoring of photosynthetic activity based on pH data to assess microalgae cultivation
2020
[EN] Microalgae performance of outdoor cultivation systems is influenced by environmental and operating dynamics. Monitoring and control systems are needed to maximise biomass productivity and nutrient recovery. The goal of this work was to corroborate that pH data could be used to monitor microalgae performance by means of data from an outdoor membrane photobioreactor (MPBR) plant. In this system, microalgae photosynthetic activity was favoured over other physical and biological processes, so that the pH data dynamics was theoretically related to the microalgae carbon uptake rate (CUR). Shortand long-term continuous operations were tested to corroborate the relationship between the first d…
Continuous 3-year outdoor operation of a flat-panel membrane photobioreactor to treat effluent from an anaerobic membrane bioreactor
2020
[EN] A membrane photobioreactor (MPBR) plant was operated continuously for 3 years to evaluate the separate effects of different factors, including: biomass and hydraulic retention times (BRT, HRT), light path (Lp), nitrification rate (NOxR), nutrient loading rates (NLR, PLR) and others. The overall effect of all these parameters which influence MPBR performance had not previously been assessed. The multivariate projection approach chosen for this study provided a good description of the collected data and facilitated their visualisation and interpretation. Forty variables used to control and assess MPBR performance were evaluated during three years of continuous outdoor operation by means …
Performance of surface and subsurface flow constructed wetlands treating eutrophic waters
2017
[EN] Three medium size constructed wetlands (CWs) with a total surface of 90 ha are working since 2009 in the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park (Spain). Two of them are fed with eutrophic waters from l'Albufera Lake. Their objectives are both reduce the phytoplankton biomass and increase the biodiversity; consequently, improved water quality is returned to the lake. A "science based governance" of these CWs is ongoing inside the LIFE + 12 Albufera Project to demonstrate the environmental benefits of these features. In this paper, results and relationships among hydraulic operation, physicochemical variables and plankton in two different CWs typologies, five free water surface CW (FWSCW) and…
Resource recovery from sulphate-rich sewage through an innovative anaerobic-based water resource recovery facility (WRRF)
2018
[EN] This research work proposes an innovative water resource recovery facility (WRRF) for the recovery of energy, nutrients and reclaimed water from sewage, which represents a promising approach towards enhanced circular economy scenarios. To this aim, anaerobic technology, microalgae cultivation, and membrane technology were combined in a dedicated platform. The proposed platform produces a high-quality solid- and coliform-free effluent that can be directly discharged to receiving water bodies identified as sensitive areas. Specifically, the content of organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus in the effluent was 45 mg COD.L-1 , 14.9 mg N.L-1 and 0.5 mg P.L-1 , respectively. Harvested solar…