Environmental Engineering

The water we drink should be safe. The cryptosporidiosis outbreak in Galway in 2007 reminded us that it sometimes is not. But bad water quality does notonly cause acute health problems. It also causes chronic ailments, including cancer. Therefore, the drinking water quality is monitored by the City andCounty Councils, overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A recent paper by Tol et al.,examines the quality of drinking water in Irelandover time

Various options in biotechnology have been exercised to produce industrially important metabolites from filamentous
organisms. To select a suitable production strategy, the direct and indirect roles of morphological parameters in
controlling bioprocess variables are observed. Some progress has been made in quantitation of morphology.Useful correlations
have been reported in the literature in this avenue. Of course, some of the models, with proper modification, can be
used to explain the morphological phenomena. This review is concerned with the application of morphological variables
to correlate with bioprocess parameters for explaining optimal production strategy.

Most of today’s environmental policies in Brazil rely on controlling the growth of pollution by “command and control” techniques. During the last two decades, these instruments have been designed to control sources of environmental impacts using industrial zoning, environmental licensing, and emission standards. The present structure of environmental law and policy focuses almost entirely on the activities of manufacturing companies and does not recognize strategies related to pollution prevention and/or cleaner production — such as product life cycle assessment, environmental labeling, environmental management systems, interconnectivity of production process, extended producer responsibility strategy, and environmental certification — as important instruments for auto-regulation. Recognizing that environmental policy must become more focused on “command and covenant” than “command and control”, this article attempts to provide an expanded perspective of environmental policy innovation based on a more holistic approach — Industrial Ecology — as a strategic tool for environmental policy-making process in Brazil.

The use of groundwater models is prevalent in the field of environmental science. Models have been applied to investigate a wide variety of hydrogeologic conditions. More recently, groundwater models are being applied to predict the transport of contaminants for risk evaluation.

The amount of water that may be extracted from an aquifer without causing depletion is primarily dependent upon the ground water recharge. Thus, a quantitative evaluation of spatial and temporal distribution of ground water recharge is a pre-requisite for operating ground water resources system in an optimal manner. This paper presents a methodology with step-by-step procedure to determine the ground water recharge by soil moisture balance in the unsaturated zone.

Knowledge of the physics of soil water movement is crucial to the solution of problems in watershed hydrology, for example, the prediction of runoff and infiltration following precipitation, the subsequent distribution of infiltrated water by drainage and evaporation, and estimation of the contribution of various parts of a watershed to the ground water storage. Convenient and reliable techniques for estimating the soil hydraulic properties are required for prediction of soil water flow.

"This article focuses on the water distribution network in Paris, from the 1830s, when most Parisians got their water from public fountains and private wells, to the 1930s, by which time almost all of the capital’s inhabitants had been connected to the same network and enjoyed a standard service. It contributes, by a detailed analysis of the entire chain of mediators and mediation, to specify how the modern infrastructure ideal actually took form. In that aim, we analyze the manner in which each actor (public as well as private), in accordance with his/her constraints and resources, which depend on his/her position in the social space, was able to conceive of his/her environment, define objectives, confront problems, make choices and deploy a whole range of frequently innovative practices. In order to understand the underlying factors, our task consists in identifying the actors, modi operandi, progress and phases involved in universalizing water services. Spatially analyzing the extension of the water network, this article demonstrates that the process of universalization, far from being the inexorable and linear outcome of the action of a small number of “major historical forces”, was the upshot of the actions of a whole range of actors acting in specific different geographical, social, economic and technical contexts. The achievement of the “modern infrastructural ideal” as a macro-social phenomenon was ultimately down to a long accumulation process of a multitude of actions, interactions, conflicts and learning processes.

Keywords: Water network; Paris; France; 19th century; Infrastructure Universalization History; Public actors; Urbanism; Large technical system (LTS)
"

The metropolitan cities of India are reeling under the pressure of severe water scarcity. Chennai is among the worst affected as it has suffered long spells of water shortages combined with rapid and haphazard urbanization of its ever-expanding suburbs. In light of the above, the water bodies that supply precious water to the human population and to the flora and fauna gain paramount importance. The present study was undertaken to asses the quality of water in three important lakes of southern suburban Chennai which recharge the ground water as well as harbours a diversity of plant and animal life. All the three lakes suffer from encroachments, dumping and burning of wastes, and unchecked inflow of domestic and industrial effluents. The parameters studied were: colour, odour, temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, alkalinity, total hardness, total solids, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, sulphate and chloride.

The aim of this work is to highlight the impact of rainfall variations in Crete island on water resources. The data from 60 rain gauge stations covering the period 1969-1999 after completion and homogenization are used. Generally, 87-96% of the annual rainfall occurs during the wet period of the year. A declining rainfall trend is observed, on an annual basis, for the time series data. Multiple linear regression analysis is applied between rainfall average in each station with longitude, latitude and altitude of each station. The results show a decrease for movement Eastward and a decrease for movement Northward. Rainfall is strongly correlated with the altitude due to the orographic effect. Furthermore, groundwater level measurements, chemical analyses results from groundwater samples, and river discharge information from some drainage basins of the island, are also employed. Prolonged dry periods cause groundwater level decline, deficient groundwater balance and water quality deterioration. The end of the dry periods marks the highest chloride concentrations measured in the coastal aquifers. In addition, droughts cause a decrease in the surface runoff, as evidenced in river and spring discharges. To overcome the water shortage, especially in the future, several measures, in terms of an integrated policy for water resources management, should be applied for water conservation and protection of the environment.

The northern coastal part of Korinthia prefecture can be characterized as an agrotourism center that has grown and urbanized rapidly. The area is formed of recent unconsolidated material consisting of sands, pebbles, breccias and fine clay to silty sand deposits. These deposits host the main aquifer system of the area, which depends on groundwater as a water resource. Groundwater is the main source for irrigation in the area. A total water volume of 29.2 Â 10 6 -34.3 Â 10 6 m 3 yr À1 was estimated to recharge the aquifer system from direct infiltration of rainfall, streambed infiltration, irrigation return, artificial recharge via flood irrigation and lateral subsurface inflows. The present annual abstraction ranges between 39.2 Â 10 6 and 44.6 Â 10 6 m 3 yr À1 . Groundwater abstraction in dry years exceeds renewable freshwater resources by more than 38%. Approximately 79% of the total abstraction is consumed for agriculture supply. Water balance in the coastal aquifer system is in disequilibrium; a deficit, which ranges from 4.9 Â 10 6 to 15.4 Â 10 6 m 3 yr À1 exists. The safe yield of the coastal aquifer system has been estimated at 37.1 Â 10 6 m 3 yr À1 for normal hydrological year and 32 Â 10 6 m 3 yr À1 for severely dry hydrological year. The total abstraction is greater than the recharge and the safe yield of the aquifer. The aquifer system has shown signs of depletion, seawater intrusion and quality contamination. The integrated water resources management, securing water in the future, should include measures that augment groundwater budget in the coastal aquifer of the study area. r

With the increase of snow depth the most frequent is the circulation characterized by the air inflow from the north-west and the west, while with the decrease of the depth it is the cyclonic circulation characterized by the air inflow from the west. When the snow cover does not change its depth, most often it is connected with type Ka and the anticyclonic eastern type.
The appearance of the cyclonic type from one of the northern directions increases the probability of the growth of snow depth 2 – 3 times in relation to the probability defined with no information about the type. On the other hand, when the probability of a drop in snow depth is determined, the increase of this probability with added information about the appearance of a circulation type is slight. The probability reaches the greatest value with anticyclonic western circulation. The greatest probability of the snow cover occurrence with the same depth appears with anticycylonic circulation from east and south-east.

Key words:
atmospheric circulation type, snow cover, Carpathians, Bieszczady

"At the end of their service life, wood-based panels become eventually waste wood. Deploying in landfills is no longer considered as an acceptable solution for their handling due to the high organic load included. The recycling of this waste to be employed as raw material for the wood panel industry, which traditionally makes use of wood processing residues, has hence gained more importance and been examined from earlier times.
Technical problems and the lack of enforcing legislative regulations have delayed, however, the industrial implementation of the new technologies proposed. Recent research efforts
enabled the development of a new process for the recycling of end-use wood panels into new marketable fibreboards. This patent pending process is based on the refiner technique and
allows the use of mixtures of fresh wood and waste panel chips as a raw material for dry process fibreboard production. The process is applicable in existing fibreboard plants with only minor operation modifications and therefore, there is no need of major capital investment in additional equipment to effect the recycling. At the refining stage, chemical agents are employed and the process enables the use of significant amounts of waste
material replacing over 20% of the wood feed and providing significant savings. The aim of the present work was to validate the industrial applicability of the new process in the recycling of waste medium-density fibreboards. The new fibreboards obtained during the industrial scale tests were of acceptable quality, and the testing results revealed that under
conventional gluing and pressing conditions, the process effectively recycles the waste boards into new ones at least at 25% wood substitution level. Further validation and
optimisation work is underway in the direction of using other waste panel types and also increasing the level of waste in the feed material."

The swelling of wood in organic liquids at elevated temperatures has been investigated with the use of a computerized linear variable displacement transformer (LVDT). Wood swelled extremely fast at high swelling temperatures. The rate of wood swelling in organic liquids showed a strong dependence on temperature which closely obeyed the classical Arrhenius equation. This strict linear dependence of wood swelling on the temperature clearly suggests a chemical mechanism. Activation energies for wood swelling (Ea) in several chemical classes of organic liquids have been obtained from Arrhenius equation plots. A strong linear relationship was found to exist between Ea and solvent molecular weight. Removal of extractives greatly enhanced the maximum tangential swelling of wood, especially for sugar maple. There was also a significant increase in the wood swelling rate after removal of extractives.

Engineering design is a knowledge intensive activity. Design is characterized as comprising a number of phases from requirements to detailed specification. Transitions between the design phases stem from decision-making processes supported both by generally available domain and design knowledge and from unique and original knowledge worth of recording for future reuse. The Clockwork project addresses the problems of representing, sharing and reusing knowledge in a collaborative design engineering environment. The Clockwork knowledge management methodology is supported by a web-based toolkit that allows designers to share, formally and informally annotate and reuse engineering models. Reuse is supported through the semantic search of engineering models and of the design rationale by which the engineering models were developed. The approach has been successfully deployed in two industrial organisations.

"In this work, the adhesives used in the European particleboard and MDF industry are presented. The structure of the particleboard and MDF market in Europe in relation to the adhesive type and product application is discussed as well. It is notable that new markets for particleboard and MDF - known as non-furniture markets - are developing in Europe at a very fast
rate. Newly developed resin systems and trends affecting the industry are also presented."

Maximum liquid-holding capacities of various compressed fibers in water and in a series of various organic liquids have been investigated. The maximum liquid-holding capacity versus bulk density relationships gave polynomial curves, generally with a peak. Good relative correlations for cellulose, compressed fiber pellets and wood were found for the series of liquids tested. In general, liquids that swelled wood to a low to medium range (up to 6%) did not swell appreciably a -cellulose and sulfite pulp, while good to excellent wood-swelling agents swelled all the fibers very significantly. It was also found that the hydrogen-bonding parameter of the swelling liquid was the most important factor. The swelling rate of various compressed fiber systems in organic liquids was dramatically increased by raising the temperature. Activation energies and molar volume of the swelling liquid were linearly correlated.

"Research efforts enabled the development of a new
process for the recycling of end-use wood panels into
new marketable fiberboards. This patent-pending
process is based on refiner techniques and allows the
use of mixtures of fresh wood and waste panel chips
as a raw material for dry-process fiberboard production.
The process is applicable in existing fiberboard
plants with only minor operation modifications. At
the refining stage, chemical agents are employed and
the process enables the use of significant amounts of
waste material replacing over 20 percent of the wood
feed and providing significant savings.The aim of the
present work was to validate the industrial applicability
of the new process in the recycling of waste fiberboards.
The new fiberboards obtained during the industrial-
scale trials were of acceptable quality.Testing
results revealed that under conventional gluing and
pressing conditions, the process effectively recycles
the waste boards at a wood substitution level of at
least 25 percent. Further validation and optimization
work is presently underway in the direction of using
other waste panel types and also increasing the level
of waste in the feed material."

"The conventional strawboard technology employing MDI binders has shown technical and economical disadvantages,specifically, high resin costs and additional costs related to release agents required to avoid sticking of panels to press plates. The adhesion of urea formaldehyde (UF) resin to the straw fiber has been demonstrated in a previous research project using an innovative chemi-thermo-mechanical (CTM) pre-treatment of the straw. This work focuses on the joint efforts to develop a strawboard technology based on UF resins. Three different straw preparation systems, a twin-screw extruder, a pressurized refiner and a combined extruder-refiner treatment, have been chosen to apply intensive shear forces to straw chips in order to overcome the wax and silica layer. With the first two technologies, one-layer panels exclusively bonded with UF have been produced. The board characteristics included excellent appearance, surface smoothness, machinability, edge appearance as well as good bending properties. The internal bond strength values achieved were compatible to particleboard standards. The swelling characteristics did not meet the European standard requirements. With the combined extruder-refiner technology, the UF bonded boards produced showed similarly excellent visual characteristics, bending and internal bond strength values exceeding the MDF standard requirements and swelling figures close to particleboard and MDF standards. By bonding with UF resins, good mat stability, a pressing
process without sticking problems and significant resin cost savings can be achieved. The forthcoming development work will be focused on further improvement of the adhesion of straw fibers to produce even higher quality strawboards."

"The rate and maximum swelling of several North American wood species in 40 organic liquids have been obtained with a computer interfaced linear variable displacement transformer. Since wood swells very fast in some organic liquids, even at room temperature, this apparatus made it possible to obtain
accurate rate data on the swelling of wood in organic liquids. It was found that many similarities existed between wood and cellulose maximum swelling within various solvent chemical classes. Hence, it appears that cellulose is the primary wood polymer responsible for the major amount of swelling of wood. In general, all the liquids, with a molar volume greater than 100 cc or with a small hydrogen bonding parameter, caused very little equilibrium swelling. The logarithm of the rate of wood swelling
(In k) in the liquids was inversely correlated with the solvent molecular weight as well as with the molar volume of the solvent, that is, the larger the solvent molecular size, the slower the rate of swelling. The Ink also was strongly correlated with the maximum tangential swelling of wood. The maximum tangential swelling for all wood species was linearly correlated with the solvent basicity (donor number). Other solvent properties such as volubility parameter, dipole moment, dielectric constant, and surface tension showed very weak correlations with the maximum tangential swelling of wood in organic liquids."

"The rate and maximum swelling of several North American wood species in water have been obtained with a computer interfaced linear variable displacement transformer. Since wood swells extremely fast in water even at room temperature, this apparatus made it possible for the first time, to obtain accurate rate data on the swelling of wood in water. The strict linear dependence of swelling on the temperature suggests a chemical mechanism.
The activation energies obtained from Arrhenius plots ranged from 32.2 KJ/ mole for sitka spruce to 47.6 KJ/ mole for sugar maple. Although the two hardwoods exhibited greater maximum tangential swelling compared with the two softwoods, the maximum swelling appears to be correlated with the wood density. Generally both the rate and maximum swelling of the woods were increased by removal of extractives and the activation energies were reduced."

The objective of this paper is to investigate the temporal relationship between the parameters of hydrologic balance in several basins on the island of Crete using correlation and trend analysis. Monthly rainfall totals, river discharge and estimated actual evapotranspiration (ET) from several representative basins in Crete were used. A moderate to strong association between the variations of rainfall and discharge was identified (r varied from 0.51 to 0.90). As a result, a greater than 66% rate of concurrent drought conditions for each river and its proximate rain gauge was found. In dry hydrological years river runoff decreased by 31% to 84%, compared to its mean annual rate. The change-point analysis detected increasing shifts in the second half of the 1980s in the mean of six out of nine annual time series of the ratio of precipitation to discharge. A second change, a diminishing in the rate, is estimated to have occurred around 1977/78. Only one site presented an increasing shift in the year-to-year variability, which occurred around 1984/85. A moderate association between the variations of rainfall and ET (r=0.63) resulted in greater than 50% of concurrent cases of meteorological and hydrological drought in three meteorological stations. At one out of three locations increases in the mean and standard deviation of the annual time series of the ratio of precipitation to ET were detected around 1998/99 and 1969/70 respectively, The time lag between the variations of rainfall with river flow variations ranged from 0 to 1. Zero to one month time lag was estimated from the cross-correlation analysis between rainfall totals and river discharge, while no time lag was observed between the former variable and ET.

Chahardouly basin is located in the western part of Iran and is characterized by semi-arid climatic conditions and scarcity in water resources. The main aquifer systems are developed within alluvial deposits. The availability of groundwater is rather erratic owing to the occurrence of hard rock formation and a saline zone in some parts of the area. The aquifer systems of the area show signs of depletion, which have taken place in recent years due to a decline in water levels. Groundwater samples collected from shallow and deep wells were analysed to examine the quality characteristics of groundwater. The major ion chemistry of groundwater is dominated by Ca 2C and HCO 3 , while higher values of total dissolved solids (TDS) in groundwater are associated with high concentrations of all major ions. An increase in salinity is recorded in the downgradient part of the basin. The occurrence of saline groundwater, as witnessed by the high electrical conductivity (EC), may be attributed to the long residence time of water and the dissolution of minerals, as well as evaporation of rainfall and irrigation return flow. Based on SAR values and sodium content (%Na), salinity appears to be responsible for the poor groundwater quality, rendering most of the samples not suitable for irrigation use.

L’essentiel des ressources en eau de la Côte d’Ivoire est contenu dans les aquifères formés par le socle fracturé. Il importe donc de mieux connaître ces aquifères fracturés car leur importance hydrogéologique est considérable. C’est dans cette perspective que s’inscrit la présente étude qui couvre la « Région des Montagnes » de l’Ouest de la Côte d’Ivoire. Le principal objectif de cette étude est une meilleure caractérisation des aquifères fracturés : quantification de l’organisation des réseaux de fractures. L’analyse de la fracturation a été conduite sur deux types de cartes : cartes extraites des photographies aériennes et des images satellites. Elle s’est appuyée sur les méthodes d’analyse géostatistiques. Les résultats montrent que les variogrammes de la fracturation globale sont structurés. Ils sont caractérisés par une portée, un plateau et un effet de pépite. Les variogrammes des familles de fractures indiquent aussi une structuration mais les familles NESW et NW-SE de la carte1 présentent un pur effet pépite. L’effet de pépite est dû à l’action combinée des erreurs de mesure et une microrégionalisation. Ces résultats indiquent que la fracturation se comporte comme une variable régionalisée. La structuration des variogrammes est meilleure sur la carte 2 (images satellites) que sur la carte 1 (photographies aériennes). La cartographie de la fracturation par les images satellites apporte des informations plus détaillées que celle par photographies aériennes.

Mot-clés : Fracturation, photographies aériennes, images satellitaires, géostatistique, variogramme, Man-Danané (Côte d’Ivoire)

The aim of this paper is to identify and map the risk of flooding areas in the semi-mountainous region of Côte d’Ivoire. This work is based on the integration within a GIS of data interpreted from Landsat TM imagery, image based on a digital elevation model (DEM), and hydroclimatic data. The processing steps, using remote sensing and GIS softwares, include : 1) DEM building with contour level extracted from topographic map, 2) determination of morphometric variables using DEM, 3) processing of Landsat TM imagery and thematic mapping, and 4) integration of the different layers deduced from satellite data, DEM and its derived data, complementary data and spatial analysis within a GIS. The main flooding risk factors are : rainfall, land cover, rivers network, slopes, lithologic and structural domains. Multicriteria spatial analysis into a GIS allowed mapping the hazards and the vulnerable areas. The integration of these layers allowed mapping the flooding risk of this study area of Côte d’Ivoire. The resulting map shows four clusters varying from low to very high flooding risk. The risk of mean and high flooding is about 65 % of the whole study area and concern alluvial area of southern, and toward the principle rivers : Sassandra (in the western) and Bafing (in the northern). The large extension of vulnerable flooding areas imposes us to take it into account to predict flooding risk and to manage natural resources in the Man region (western of Côte d’Ivoire).

Keywords : Remote Sensing ; GIS ; DEM . hazard ; flooding risk ; Côte d’Ivoire.

Using ASTER images from Terra and a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with its generated morphometric variables allowed the morphostructural mapping of the Toura range (Western Côte d’Ivoire). ASTER imagery enhancement procedures included principal components analysis, band ratios, data merging and spatial and directional filtering methods, which produced lithological and structural information that were combined with the morphometric analysis of the DEM. The characterization of the geological environment with VNIR and SWIR bands allowed the discrimination of the charnockitic rocks that intruded the gray gneisses, thanks to a change in tone and texture (body irregularities), along the contact area. For the morphostructural feature mapping, the SWIR ASTER bands particularly showed their capability for lineament extraction. The fracture network, identified and confirmed by earlier studies and field surveys, is distributed in the N 00-20°, N 60-80° and N 110°-120° directions. These intersect in several areas and form particular morphostructures that have trigonal and polygonal shapes. In the Eastern part, near the Sassandra major shear zone, the east-west faults are deviated by 60° to the south taking a 140-160° orientation. The joint use of ASTER images and the DEM as well as 3D representation improved the knowledge of the Toura range structural context, by completing faults inventory, especially in the north, where very few fractures were mapped in previous work.

Key-words : ASTER, DEM, mophostructural mapping, fracturing, Toura range, Côte d’Ivoire

Ce travail vise à simuler les écoulements dans les réservoirs fracturés du socle Archéen de Touba (Nord- Ouest de la Côte d’Ivoire). L’interprétation d’images satellitaires Landsat-TM est couplée aux investigations géologiques pour établir la carte de fracturation. Les caractéristiques géométriques du réseau de fractures, ainsi que l’analyse des lois d’échelles ont permis de construire le modèle de réseaux pertinents. La distribution en loi puissance des longueurs de fractures (distribution des ouvertures étant considérée uniforme) induit des écoulements fortement chenalisés suivant les axes de fracturation majeure. La perméabilité équivalente du réseau est comparée aux données hydrodynamiques existantes pour une validation du modèle géométrique ainsi que des paramètres hydrauliques. La concordance partielle entre les cheminements de l’eau et les forages à débits moyens et forts est un résultat prometteur dans la prospection des ressources en eau souterraine

Trivalent chromium is the dominant form in the environment (soil, in many fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, grains) whilst hexavalent chromium is soluble in water and it can migrate in the direction of the groundwater, under highly oxidizing conditions and pH values over 7.
Since September 2007, the University of Athens has started sampling groundwater and surface water and from several sites of the Asopos valley, whereindustrial activities are well known during the last 30 years, in order to investigate the
Cr6+level in drinking water. Concentrations over the maximum level of total Cr in drinking water (50 ppb, according to the EC Regulation) were found in the urban water supply of Oropos (up to 80 ppb Cr6+), Oinofyta (up to 53 ppb) and Nea Ekali (62 ppb Cr6+). High concentrations of Cr6+, ranging from 5 to 33 Cr6+, were also found in the water of the town of Thiva. With the exception of the As, the Pb, Ni, Cu, Cd, Hg, Sb contents in 28 groundwater samples, that are representative of all water types, analyzed for Cr- Cr6+, were lower than permeable limits. High As content (up to 34 ppb As) were detected in central water system of Dilesi.
The contamination of groundwater by Cr6+ that was found in the majority of water drillings in the Asopos valley is related to the widespread industrial activity and the usage of hexavalent chromium in various processes. In order to reduce the concentration of total chromium below the EC maximum contaminant level (50 ppb) and the proposed level for Cr6+ by other countries, remediation strategies should focus on the reduction of Cr6+ to the insoluble trivalent forms, that are relatively stable and non-toxic.
Recently, a removal process of hexavalent chromium, using scrap iron filings, has been proposed: Cr6+ + Fe0 → Cr3+ + Fe3+ Trivalent chromium and total iron can be removed from the aqueous solution by precipitation with alkaline solutions. This is a low-cost method for the reduction of Cr6+. Hexavalent chromium in groundwater of the Asopos valley is related to the anthropogenic activities in that region (from the discharges of Cr-bearing wastes), rather than ultramafic ophiolitic rocks, as is exemplified by a strong positive correlation between Cr6+ and Mg (r = 0.88) only in the latter.
According to the literature and our experimental work, the Cr6+ in the above measured concentrations, can be removed from drinking water by using an activated carbon filter.
Our preliminary results may indicate that all Water Protection Agencies, in addition to those elements listed currently, must require information about the hexavelent chromium as well, in particular in the bottled water. Also, monitoring may help local
municipalities in the Asopos valley to determine where certain contaminants occur and whether the contaminants need to be regulated.

KEYWORDS: Region of Attika, Region of Sterea Hellas, industrial pollution.

Πρόκειται για την πρώτη ερευνητική εργασία που παρουσιάστηκε σε διεθνές επιστημονικό συνέδριο σχετικά με το πρόβλημα της ρύπανσης με εξασθενές χρώμιο στην περιοχή του Ασωπού ποταμου.
Έγινε γεωχημική μελέτη της ρύπανσης του υδροφόρου ορίζοντα στην περιοχή του Ασωπού ποταμού από βιομηχανικά απόβλητα με  εξασθενές χρώμιο και άλλα τοξικά μέταλλα. Τα πειράματά μας έδειξαν ότι το εξασθενές χρώμιο μπορεί να απομακρυνθεί από το πόσιμο νερό με χρήση φίλτρου με ενεργό άνθρακα.

Tobias Danielmeier [tobias.danielmeier@design.otago.ac.nz], Master of Arts [in Architecture], promoviert am Department of Design Studies an der University of Otago, Dunedin, Neuseeland als Stipendiat der Hochschule. Er beschäftigt sich mit der Rolle von Identität bei der architektonischen Gestaltung von Weingütern. All Photos by Tobias Danielmeier The Peregrine Winery, Gibbston Valley, Otago, combines the wine cellar experience with event architecture.

A space time count process model is explained and applied to annual North Atlantic hurricane activity. The model uses the best-track data set of historical hurricane positions and intensities, together with climate variables, to determine local space time coefficients of a right-truncated Poisson process.

The truncated Poisson space time autoregressive (TPSTAR) model is motivated by first examining a time-series model for the entire domain. Then a Poisson generalized linear model is considered that uses grid boxes within the domain and adds offset factors for latitude and longitude. A natural extension is then made that includes instantaneous local and autoregressive coupling between the grids. A final version of the model is found by backward selection of the predictors based on values of Bayesian and Akiake information criteria. The final model has five nearest neighbours and statistically significant couplings. Hindcasts are performed on the hurricane seasons from 1994 to 1997.

Results show that, on average, model forecast probabilities are larger in regions in which hurricanes occurred. Quantitative skill assessment indicates some useful skill above climatology currently the default leading candidate. The TPSTAR model could be a valuable guidance product when issuing seasonal hurricane forecasts.

Automated collection of environmental data may be accomplished with wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In this paper, a general discussion of WSNs is given for the gathering of data for educational research. WSNs enhance the scope of a researcher to include multiple streams of data: environmental, cyberdata, video, and RFID. A brief overview of the technology prepares the exploration of a setting used for outdoor learning.

This paper elaborates on the chemical composition of wastewater at
selected Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) in Jordan. These plants have
immense potential of providing reused treated water for irrigation. Samples
from treated effluents analysed to study the efficiency of the impact of treated
water on irrigation. The results revealed the effluents from WWTPs could be
used for irrigation with special consideration of the possible acceleration of soil
deterioration, while those of other WWTPs could be used with less concern for
selected crops. The study also shows that no other toxic ions, such as lead,
nickel, chromium and boron, were detected.
Keywords: wastewater management; water resources management; water
reuse; environmental management resources; irrigation; wastewater treatment
plants; agriculture in arid and semiarid areas.

This study aims to apply the ultrasound technique in the
field of clean technology to protect environment. The principle
of ultrasound was conducted here to study the effect of applying
high frequency of ultrasound waves. Four kinds of water
namely; Seawater from Aqaba gulf, Red Sea, brackish from
Maan desert southern part of Jordan, hot spring from northern
part of Jordan and tap water (Amman City) were selected to
study the effect of ultrasound on its physical properties. High
ultrasound frequency device with 1.7 MHz was applied to
study the effect of ultrasound waves. All conducted experiments
were fixed at room temperature. The effect of liquid volume
while applying a constant ultrasound waves on the water properties
were investigated here. Exposing time of ultrasound
waves was fixed at 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 h. The experimental
results showed that ultrasonic wave irradiation for different
samples of water at different period of time has its significant
impacts on physical and chemical properties of water such as
pH, total dissolved solids and consequently the conductivity.
Key Words: High frequency ultrasound, Total dissolved
solids, Water desalination, Water treatment, Environmental
protection, Physical properties.

In this paper the fly ash, which is the finest residue of the lignite combustion entrapped by electrostatic filters at the electrical power stations, is examined, in order to determine the possibility of its usage in the production of concrete. It is implemented by testing concrete models in actual scale. Mineralogical, petrographical and chemical analyses of the fly ash as well as of the produced concrete are presented. The concrete that was produced by cement, sand, water, aggregates and fly ash (in various percentages) showed micro-cracks in its structure, due to the reduced interconnection of the fly ash with the aggregates. Nevertheless, the fly ash may act as adhesive material, as well as the material that fills the cracks of the concrete. Tests of the strength on models made by this concrete have shown comparable results in strength with reference concrete produced without ash. It is concluded that the mixing of fly ash in concrete does not affect its strength and sometimes it fills the cracks of the concrete mass.

Μελέτη της δυνατότητας χρήσης ιπτάμενης τέφρας στο σκυρόδεμα.

Paper in the Ash Library (http://www.flyash.info/) in the web http://www.flyash.info/2005/15kou.pdf .

The aim of the present paper is to review a novel modular constructional element for the building and construction industries that was patented by Coventry University. Modular elements have been used in the past in the construction of structures in order to speed construction and cut on time and cost. The modular element, the subject of this study, comprises hexagonal elements made of steel or other appropriate material, assembled together to form a constructional assembly of honeycomb form secured by fixings that clamp together the sides of adjacent elements. Concrete, or other appropriate material, is disposed within the elements providing a composite type of action. Reinforcement is also present in the form of bars or tubes, providing extra strength to the assembled element. The novel type of modular construction has potential applications in the building, construction, substructure and highways sectors. It could be used as a permanent or temporary structure for roofs and walls. It may also be used for concrete pavements, tunnelling, and retaining wall structures.

For this research focus on a study of the strength of concrete with ceramic waste as coarse aggregate and quarry dust as fine aggregate. The source of ceramic waste and quarry dust from the industrial in Malaysia. Nowadays, in ceramics industries production goes as waste, which is not recycling presently. In this study an attempt has been made to find the suitability of the ceramic industrial wastes and quarry dust as a possible substitution for conventional crushed stone coarse and fine aggregate. Experiment will carry out to determine the strength of concrete with ceramic waste coarse aggregate and quarry dust fine aggregate to compare them with the conventional concrete made (with crushed stone coarse aggregate and sand fine aggregate). The properties of the aggregate will also be compared.

Replacement ink is available in aftermarkets defined by the products compatible with particular inkjet printers. Aftermarket theory establishes that consumers can be harmed by high prices in these aftermarkets, even if there is some degree of competition in the printer market. Survey evidence shows that consumers have little knowledge of replacement ink prices when they purchase printers. As a result, they become locked in to particular aftermarkets. Only competition in those aftermarkets can discipline price-competition in the printer market is not effective to restrain aftermarket ink prices. Consequently, printer makers have unambiguous incentives to exclude rivals from the replacement ink aftermarkets. Methods for exclusion include the assertion of questionable design patents and the modification of products without corresponding consumer benefits. At present, printer makers enjoy high market shares in their own aftermarkets and they do not compete in each others' aftermarkets.

In this paper, we consider economies in which agents are privately informed about their skills, which evolve stochastically over time. We require agents'preferences to be weakly separable between the lifetime paths of consumption and labor. However, we allow for intertemporal nonseparabilities in preferences like habit formation. We show that such nonseparabilities imply that optimal asset income taxes are necessarily retrospective in nature. We show that under weak conditions, it is possible to implement a socially optimal allocation using a social security system in which taxes on wealth are linear, and taxes/transfers are history-dependent only at retirement. The average asset income tax in this system is zero.

Each tree is unique because of the physical environment it experiences over the course of its life. Environmental factors shape a tree within the bounds of its genotype. Only by modeling the environmental influences can we create realistic models of trees. To this end, we constructed a structural simulation that calculates the mass of each branch of the tree to emulate the mechanisms the tree uses to balance its weight, and that estimates the photosynthesis return of the leaves to simulate phototropism. Our effort is motivated by a desire to construct a predictive tool that can be used by both those in computer graphics and forest management, with applications in image synthesis, dendrochronology, mensuration and the simulation of forest succession.

Much of the responsibility for reporting on surface water quality in South Africa rests with the Institute for Water Quality Studies (IWQS) of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, geographic information systems (GIS) provide a means to summarize large amounts of spatially and temporally distributed data in an intelligible form. GIS developments at IWQS have progressed along two paths, application-specific tools and a general "data mining" system for querying water quality data. Applicationspecific tools include utilities for cataloguing monitoring stations, checking monitoring frequency and mapping the water quality in village boreholes. The general system, "WaterMarque", is a menu-driven front end to a suite of GIS macros and C programs. "WaterMarque" allows the water quality expert to select monitoring stations interactively and analyse the chemical data. The results are reported symbolically on a map, as box and whisker plots, rose diagrams, ionic diagrams, star symbols, time series graphs or icons.

The problem of pollution caused by heavy metals such as: Pb, Zn, Cu and Cd is very important,
because they may adversely affect soil ecology, agricultural production and water quality.
Contaminated soils and waters often present an unacceptable risk to human and ecological health
and must be remediate. These heavy metals are found in objects commonly used as paint, batteries
gasoline, industrial activities, agricultural and urban activities.
The most important problem is their bio-availability and consequently their immobilization. The
existing remediation technologies are considered expensive and often ineffective. Development of in situ
treatment technologies or effective volume reduction technologies, will provide a significant cost saving.
The aim is to isolate contaminants, to minimize further movements and reduce their solubility, as the
more mobile is the metal and the more risk associated with it.
In situ immobilization seems the suitable one, it means to transform these heavy metals in more
stable and less soluble compounds. In particular, phosphates show these characteristics and apatite has the
most suitable characteristics of immobilization for these heavy metals. The immobilization is through the
dissolution of apatite and precipitation of pyromorphite. Hydroxyapatite, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, as the
possibility to immobilize bivalent ions like: Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, Cr and Ni and so on (Suzuki et al., 1981,
1984; Peld et al., 2004; Corami et al., 2005). The immobilization mechanisms are many such as: ion
exchange, precipitation of a complex ion-phosphate, dissolution and precipitation of a new mineral, in
fact it is hard to discriminate among each mechanism.

The transportation sector is one of the largest sectors contributing to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, the gases which cause anthropogenic climate change. The aviation and maritime shipping sectors are growing segments of transportation GHG emissions, yet mitigation strategies have largely avoided these sectors. There is a need for clearly defined strategies which can reduce GHG emissions of maritime and aviation operations and for an understanding of the potential magnitude and barriers to reduction. This research presents a framework for GHG emission reduction strategies and evaluates their reduction potential for maritime and aviation operations.