scholarly journals Monitoring and risk assessment for groundwater sources in rural communities of Romania (GROUNDWATERISK)

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oana Teodora Moldovan ◽  
Rannveig Øvrevik Skoglund ◽  
Horia Leonard Banciu ◽  
Alexandra Dinu Cucoș ◽  
Erika Andrea Levei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Molecular Techniques ◽  
The Past ◽  
Physico Chemical ◽  
Groundwater Ecosystems ◽  
Alternative Sources ◽  
Agricultural Areas

In the past 100 years, a decreasing rainfall trend has been recorded on Romanian territory, a trend that continues today. Therefore, realistic estimation of the groundwater resources is crucial, especially for the rural communities lacking the economic power to use alternative sources of drinking water. The groundwater sources used by rural communities in Romania generally originate directly from caves, wells or springs with no proper evaluation of the water quality. Groundwater is exposed to different pollutants, as bats' guano in caves, fertilizers in agricultural areas or livestock (cattle, sheep, goats, etc.) farms on the surface. On the other hand, the water extracted directly from inside the caves is affecting groundwater ecosystems, highly vulnerable to any human impact and neglected by European legislation so far. The project aims to monitor, during two consecutive years, groundwater sources with different degrees of above- and underground pollution, from different regions of Romania. To achieve the goals of the project, a multidisciplinary monitoring strategy that will include measurements of hydrological, physico-chemical and biological (microbiology and aquatic invertebrates’ assessment) parameters alongside the quantification of radon and stable isotopes, rainfall or possible inflows of water. The specific outcomes of this project are: i) to test, develop and validate a new, more rapid and efficient method for monitoring and risk assessment of groundwater sources – and not only – by using molecular techniques, and propose this method to the water agencies in Romania; ii) to propose for Romanian authorities to implement a harmonized coherent methodology to measure radon concentration in water, as a consequence of EURATOM Directive; and iii) to educate local communities that are using groundwater as source for drinking water and raise young people’s awareness on the benefits of ecosystem services provided by the groundwater.

scholarly journals Arsenic and heavy metals contamination, risk assessment and their source in drinking water of the Mardan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1073-1084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nida Gul ◽  
Mohammad Tahir Shah ◽  
Sardar Khan ◽  
Nimat Ullah Khattak ◽  
Said Muhammad
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
World Health ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Chemical Parameters ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Physico Chemical ◽  
Guideline Values

The present study was conducted to investigate the physico-chemical characteristics in drinking water of Mardan District, Pakistan. Furthermore, water quality was evaluated for the risk assessment of arsenic and heavy metals (HMs) and their contamination sources. Representative groundwater samples of shallow and deep sources were collected in the study area. These samples were analyzed for physical parameters, anions, light metals (LMs) and HMs. Results were compared with the drinking water guideline values set by the World Health Organization and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Average concentrations of anions, LMs and HMs were found within the maximum allowable contaminant levels except for bicarbonates, Fe, Cu, and Pb. Results revealed that hazard quotients >1 were observed for shallow groundwater for 10% samples only, suggesting potential health risk from water consumption. Correlation analysis and principal component analysis showed a relationship among various physico-chemical parameters in both shallow and deep groundwater. Statistical analyses suggested the geogenic and anthropogenic sources for possible enhancement of various physico-chemical parameters in the aquifer system of the study area.

Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) to support decisions for water supply in affluent and developing countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 542-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. W. M. H. Smeets
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment ◽  
Microbial Risk Assessment ◽  
Microbial Risk ◽  
The Past ◽  
Relative Risks ◽  
Microbial Risks

Abstract Providing microbially safe water is a main goal of water supply to prevent endemic waterborne disease and outbreaks. Since increasing the level of safety requires resources, it is important to identify most relevant risks and efficient ways to reach health-based targets. Over the past decades, quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) developed into a systematic, science-based approach to assess microbial risks through drinking water supply. In this study we present the QMRA approach and how it can be used to support decisions in both affluent and developing countries. This includes examples from the statutory QMRA in the Netherlands that led to efficient and effective improvements in water supply, not only in treatment, but also in monitoring and operation. In developing countries people often need to use various sources of drinking water. We will demonstrate how QMRA can help to improve insight in the relative risks of these routes and the effect of interventions.

scholarly journals Multi-Toxin Occurrences in Ten French Water Resource Reservoirs

Toxins ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederic Pitois ◽  
Jutta Fastner ◽  
Christelle Pagotto ◽  
Magali Dechesne
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Water Production ◽  
Temperature Peak ◽  
The Past ◽  
Drinking Water Production ◽  
Toxin Class ◽  
Psp Toxins

Cyanobacteria are known to produce a wide array of metabolites, including various classes of toxins. Among these, hepatotoxins (Microcystins), neurotoxins (Anatoxin-A and PSP toxins) or cytotoxins (Cylindrospermopsins) have been subjected to numerous, individual studies during the past twenty years. Reports of toxins co-occurrences, however, remain scarce in the literature. The present work is an inventory of cyanobacteria with a particular focus on Nostocales and their associated toxin classes from 2007 to 2010 in ten lakes used for drinking water production in France. The results show that potential multiple toxin producing species are commonly encountered in cyanobacteria populations. Individual toxin classes were detected in 75% of all samples. Toxin co-occurrences appeared in 40% of samples as two- or three-toxin combinations (with 35% for the microcystins–anatoxin combination), whereas four-toxin class combinations only appeared in 1% of samples. Toxin co-occurrences could be partially correlated to species composition and water temperature. Peak concentrations however could never be observed simultaneously and followed distinct, asymmetrical distribution patterns. As observations are the key for preventive management and risk assessment, these results indicate that water monitoring should search for all four toxin classes simultaneously instead of focusing on the most frequent toxins, i.e., microcystins.

scholarly journals Pesticide leaching in Danish groundwater: identification of vulnerable areas

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 25-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Nygaard ◽  
Vibeke Ernstsen ◽  
Carsten S. Jacobsen ◽  
Ole H. Jacobsen ◽  
René K. Juhler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Potential Risk ◽  
Groundwater Monitoring ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Background Knowledge ◽  
Geological Survey ◽  
The Past ◽  
Agricultural Areas ◽  
Pesticide Leaching

In Denmark the supply of drinking water is based almost solely on groundwater. During the past few decades Danish groundwater monitoring has encountered numerous instances of pollution with pesticides and their metabolites (GEUS 2003a). As a result, some hundreds of abstraction wells out of about 8000 in general water supply have been closed. With this background, there is a particular concern for reducing the leaching of pesticides into the groundwater. In the present study an approach for identification of areas potentially prone to pesticide leaching is described. The potential risk of leaching of pesticides from agricultural areas into groundwater is minimised through a procedure of approval; however, some leaching still occurs (GEUS 2003b). The Danish counties are therefore obliged to identify areas where there is a particular risk of pesticide leaching, and where restrictions in use of pesticides may be introduced to reduce the risk (Miljøstyrelsen 2000). The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences (DJF) have carried out a project, focusing on sandy agricultural areas, that attempts to establish the necessary background knowledge for identifying areas particularly prone to pesticide leaching. The project aims to distinguish vulnerable and less vulnerable areas, both locally and nationwide, in a cost-effective way.

scholarly journals Physico-chemical and microbiological quality of drinking water in rural communities in the Pozarevac

2014 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-24
Author(s):  
Miloš Rajković ◽  
Slađana Milojković ◽  
Teodora Marjanović ◽  
Mališa Antić ◽  
Miomir Nikšić ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Microbiological Quality ◽  
Physico Chemical

scholarly journals Clustering of Parkinson's Disease in Southern Israel

1989 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 402-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.O. Herishanu ◽  
J.R. Goldsmith ◽  
J.M. Abarbanel ◽  
Z. Weinbaum
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Well Water ◽  
Rural Residence ◽  
The Past ◽  
Idiopathic Parkinsonism ◽  
Common Environmental Factor

ABSTRACT:On three adjacent kibbutzim (collective rural communities) in the Negev (Southern Israel) 13 parkinsonian patients were found among a population of 592 persons 40 years or older. The clinical picture was not different from that of patients from other areas with idiopathic parkinsonism. Long term residence in the kibbutzim is characteristic of this population. In the past most of the drinking water has been supplied by wells from a common aquifer. From other patients with Parkinson's disease in the Negev, we estimated the age-specific incidence for the region. The incidence is about five times greater in each of these kibbutzim than in the remainder of the Negev. Although associations with rural residence and well water use have been reported elsewhere, clusters of this sort have not been reported. They strongly suggest that a common environmental factor exists.

scholarly journals Groundwater contamination risk assessment based on advection-dispersion equation

2021 ◽  
Vol 906 (1) ◽  
pp. 012043
Author(s):  
Gelu Madear ◽  
Camelia Madear
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Groundwater Contamination ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Quantitative Risk Assessment ◽  
Contaminated Groundwater ◽  
Site Model ◽  
Advection Dispersion ◽  
Migration Pathways

Abstract The consequences of contaminated groundwater can seriously affect sustainable development; present and future generations being seriously affected by inadequate drinking water quality, loss of water supply, degraded surface water systems, high remediation costs, more expenses for other water supplies, and likely health issues. Therefore, an effective way to protect groundwater resources is by assessing the risk of groundwater contamination. An assessment of groundwater pollution should be performed to determine the level of risk posed by soil and groundwater contamination and establish if remediation strategies are required to protect controlled waters from site-derived contamination. Furthermore, if remediation is deemed necessary, site-specific remedial targets should be derived. A case study is presented, where a Conceptual Site Model was derived based on a “Source-Pathway-Receptor” exposure mechanism using historical information. Primary sources of contamination at the site are residual contamination within the soil and groundwater, and samples were collected from the site and tested in the laboratory; the concentration of water samples was compared to Romanian Drinking Water Standards. The following potential migration pathways have been identified: Leaching from soil and Migration of contaminated groundwater. The Detailed Quantitative Risk Assessment (DQRA) has modelled the leaching of contaminants from the site via infiltration and vertical migration to the groundwater and subsequent lateral groundwater migration, with dilution and attenuation process active, to the compliance point, using Ogata-Banks equation. The results of this assessment indicate that the concentration of contaminants does not represent a significant risk to controlled waters.

scholarly journals Role of mafic and ultramafic rocks in drinking water quality and its potential health risk assessment, Northern Pakistan

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1130-1142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaheen Begum ◽  
Mohammad Tahir Shah ◽  
Said Muhammad ◽  
Sardar Khan
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Health Risk Assessment ◽  
Water Samples ◽  
Ultramafic Rocks ◽  
Chemical Parameters ◽  
Physico Chemical

This study investigates the drinking water (groundwater and surface water) quality and potential risk assessment along mafic and ultramafic rocks in the Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provence, Pakistan. For this purpose, 82 groundwater and 33 surface water samples were collected and analyzed for physico-chemical parameters. Results showed that the majority of the physico-chemical parameters were found to be within the drinking water guidelines set by the World Health Organization. However, major cationic metals such as magnesium (Mg), and trace metals (TM) including iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr) and cobalt (Co) showed exceeded concentrations in 13%, 4%, 2%, 20%, 20% and 55% of water samples, respectively. Health risk assessment revealed that the non-carcinogenic effects or hazard quotient values through the oral ingestion pathway of water consumption for the TM (viz., Fe, Cr and Mn) were found to be greater than 1, could result in chronic risk to the exposed population. Results of statistical analyses revealed that mafic and ultramafic rocks are the main sources of metal contamination in drinking water, especially Ni and Cr. Both Ni and Cr have toxic health effects and therefore this study suggests that contaminated sites should be avoided or treated for drinking and domestic purposes.

History, Heritage and Sustainable Development: A Position Statement on the Scottish Highlands

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
S. Karly Kehoe ◽  
Chris Dalglish
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Position Statement ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Scottish Highlands ◽  
The Past ◽  
Taking Charge ◽  
Rural World ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Crucial Part

Evidence of how history and culture have been or should be harnessed to promote sustainability in remote and rural communities is mounting. To be sustainable, development must come from within, it must serve future generations as well as those in the present and it must attend to the vitality of culture, society, the economy and the environment. Historical research has an important contribution to make to sustainability, especially if undertaken collaboratively, by challenging and transcending the boundaries between disciplines and between the professional researchers, communities and organisations which serve and work with them. The Sustainable Development Goals’ motto is ‘leaving no one behind’, and for the 17 Goals to be met, there must be a dramatic reshaping of the ways in which we interact with each other and with the environment. Enquiry into the past is a crucial part of enabling communities, in all their shapes and sizes, to develop in sustainable ways. This article considers the rural world and posits that historical enquiry has the potential to deliver insights into the world in which we live in ways that allow us to overcome the negative legacies of the past and to inform the planning of more positive and progressive futures. It draws upon the work undertaken with the Landscapes and Lifescapes project, a large partnership exploring the historic links between the Scottish Highlands and the Caribbean, to demonstrate how better understandings of the character and consequences of previous development might inform future development in ways that seek to tackle injustices and change unsustainable ways of living. What we show is how taking charge of and reinterpreting the past is intrinsic to allowing the truth (or truths) of the present situation to be brought to the surface and understood, and of providing a more solid platform for overcoming persistent injustices.

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