Low-cost household water treatment: A techno-behavioural intervention for local sustainable development in Afghanistan

Access to safe drinking water is a critical global challenge, in remote rural areas and urban centres alike. A pressing concern within this challenge lies in the sustainability of groundwater and the livelihoods reliant on it. However, a comprehensive study of such a complex issue as water insecurity requires a multidisciplinary approach that can synthesize perspectives from the natural and social sciences. With the overarching aim of studying and developing means to rectify water insecurity in low-income settings, this thesis pursues such an approach and contributes insights to the broader global dialogue through the case of the conflict-affected urban context of Kabul – where groundwater and livelihood challenges are driven especially by the contamination and rapid depletion of the local aquifers. The multidisciplinary study begins with a geo-hydrology perspective that explores the sources of groundwater and the factors contributing to groundwater contamination. Additionally, it explores the potential of using clay disc filters for household water treatment from an earth sciences perspective. Complementing these natural science perspectives, the research also incorporates the COM-B framework, which draws from psychology and behavioural science. By leveraging anthropological techniques with a firm grounding in development research, the thesis further adopts a bottom-up approach to inform survey research. Translating this multidisciplinary approach into the empirical research underlying this thesis, firstly, the groundwater recharge sources and groundwater dynamics in aquifers of Kabul city were explored relying on the analysis of the stable isotopic composition (δ18O and δ2H) of groundwater and surface water from the Upper Kabul River and Logar River. The results showed that precipitation was the primary source of recharge in the Central Kabul sub-basin, while mixed recharge from the river, precipitation, and irrigation return flow governed recharge in the Logar sub-basin. In the Paghman and Lower Kabul, and Upper Kabul sub-basins, increased rainfall input was also observed. The contribution of river water to groundwater recharge decreased from an average of over 60% in 2007 to less than 50% in 2020. Also, substantial groundwater level depletion was documented in the Central Kabul sub-basin and western parts of the city. In addition to examining recharge sources and rates, the bacteriological and chemical characteristics of Kabul’s groundwater were analyzed. In Kabul, 4.1 million people rely on groundwater, making it critical to understand its contamination trends in the face of rapid development and social changes. The results showed an increase in E. coli and NO3-, indicating anthropogenic impacts on shallow groundwater quality. The Water Quality Index revealed that less than 35% of shallow groundwater samples had good quality. To address these issues, the implementation of point-of-use water purification was proposed as a temporary solution for reducing the occurrence of waterborne diseases. Moreover, a qualitative study, based on 68 semi-structured interviews, explored the factors limiting access to clean drinking water in two peri-urban areas in Kabul. These factors included dysfunctional water supply networks, water price inequalities, uneven development, and aid prioritization. In addition, the stressors and dynamic access to water such as droughts, contamination, and electricity disruption were documented. Further, this research examined the nature and underlying factors of inter-household water-sharing practices. Water availability, the costs to the donor, the frequency of requests for water, the period over which they operate, and religious beliefs were all found to play key roles in determining water-sharing practices. The added influence of droughts in limiting water-sharing practices further highlighted the dynamics in performing the behaviour. Furthermore, this research explored the factors that influence household water treatment practices, relied on a comprehensive behaviour change model (i.e., COM-B model). The results of the study showed that reflective and automatic motivation, as well as physical opportunity, had a statistically significant association with the performance of household water treatment behaviour. The findings suggest that socioeconomic, psychosocial, and contextual factors are all important in understanding and promoting household water treatment practices, and should be taken into account to develop interventions that are tailored to the specific needs and obstacles of different communities. Lastly, the potential of using clay disc filters, frequently termed ceramic water filters, made from locally-sourced clay samples, was explored for removing bacteria from water. The clay discs were produced by mixing clay and sorted sawdust in a ratio of 1:2, and the filtration rate was 1 litre per hour. Clay disc filters have the potential to be a low-cost and locally-sourced solution for improving water quality in Afghanistan, but further research and development is needed to optimize their production, particularly by leveraging the skills of local potters in Kabul. Overall, the synergistic combination of disciplinary techniques was thus capable of shedding light on the complex interplay between water resources, technology, and human behaviour (i.e., household water treatment) and provided a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and solutions surrounding access to safe drinking water

An aesthetic for sustainable interactions in product-service systems?

Copyright @ 2012 Greenleaf PublishingEco-efficient Product-Service System (PSS) innovations represent a promising approach to sustainability. However the application of this concept is still very limited because its implementation and diffusion is hindered by several barriers (cultural, corporate and regulative ones). The paper investigates the barriers that affect the attractiveness and acceptation of eco-efficient PSS alternatives, and opens the debate on the aesthetic of eco-efficient PSS, and the way in which aesthetic could enhance some specific inner qualities of this kinds of innovations. Integrating insights from semiotics, the paper outlines some first research hypothesis on how the aesthetic elements of an eco-efficient PSS could facilitate user attraction, acceptation and satisfaction

Environmental Sustainability of Current Waste Management Practices

Environmentally sustainable and economic waste management is of significant importance to various fields, including the healthcare, mining, industrial, metal-processing, municipal and commercial sectors. This book provides a global perspective and covers a wide range of state-of-the-art topics on waste management, recycling, material and energy recovery, industrial waste, etc. Information in the form of in-depth reviews and research articles will be a valuable resource for academics, professionals and regional as well as international organizations

Outdoor Insulation and Gas Insulated Switchgears

This book focuses on theoretical and practical developments in the performance of high-voltage transmission line against atmospheric pollution and icing. Modifications using suitable fillers are also pinpointed to improve silicone rubber insulation materials. Very fast transient overvoltage (VFTO) mitigation techniques, along with some suggestions for reliable partial discharge measurements under DC voltage stresses inside gas-insulated switchgears, are addressed. The application of an inductor-based filter for the protective performance of surge arresters against indirect lightning strikes is also discussed

Benchmarking tertiary water treatments for the removal of micropollutants and pathogens based on operational and sustainability criteria

In a context of increasing water scarcity, it is essential to ensure an integrated watershed management, savings in the consumption of water as a finite resource and improve the performance of wastewater treatment plants to guarantee the quality of treated effluents. Therefore, advanced technologies for tertiary wastewater treatment have been widely studied in recent decades. These treatments have been reviewed over the years mainly providing comparisons from a technical perspective. However, there is a lack of a holistic evaluation considering environmental and economic aspects together with the aforementioned technical aspects. In this review, treatment alternatives for micropollutant and pathogen abatement have been identified based on technologies implemented on a large scale (ozonation, ultraviolet treatment, adsorption on activated carbon or membrane filtration) as well as those treatments in the process of implementation, such as electrochemical, Fenton-based or photocatalytic techniques. Thus, a systematic bibliographic search was performed considering works applying pilot and full-scale equipment, leaving lab-scale results out of the analysis. The description of each process allowed the identification of the technical feasibility, operating costs and associated environmental impacts, providing a comparative assessment that will help decision-making in the development and application of the different technologies. The benchmarking results reveal that the selected treatment should be chosen based on the source and specific pollutants present in the wastewater, as there is no single solution for the treatment of micropollutants and pathogens. In addition, recommendations are presented for the publication of reliable process-related data to facilitate comparison between different technologies and treatment scenarios.This research was supported by HP-NANOBIO (PID2019-111163RB-I00) and SPOTLIGHT (PDC2021-121540-I00) projects, granted by Spanish Ministry of Science and InnovationS

Enhancing Future Skills and Entrepreneurship

This open access book presents the proceedings of the 3rd Indo-German Conference on Sustainability in Engineering held at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India, on September 16–17, 2019. Intended to foster the synergies between research and education, the conference is one of the joint activities of the BITS Pilani and TU Braunschweig conducted under the auspices of Indo-German Center for Sustainable Manufacturing, established in 2009. The book is divided into three sections: engineering, education and entrepreneurship, covering a range of topics, such as renewable energy forecasting, design & simulation, Industry 4.0, and soft & intelligent sensors for energy efficiency. It also includes case studies on lean and green manufacturing, and life cycle analysis of ceramic products, as well as papers on teaching/learning methods based on the use of learning factories to improve students’problem-solving and personal skills. Moreover, the book discusses high-tech ideas to help the large number of unemployed engineering graduates looking for jobs become tech entrepreneurs. Given its broad scope, it will appeal to academics and industry professionals alike

Product-Service development for circular economy and sustainability course

ABSTRACT: This book is an output of the ERASMUS+ KATCH_e project. KATCH_e stands for “Knowledge Alliance on Product-Service Development towards Circular Economy and Sustainability in Higher Education”. This was a 3-year project (2017-2019), aiming to address the challenge of reinforcing skills and competences in Higher Education and within the business community, in the field of product-service development for the circular economy and sustainability, with a particular focus on the construction and furniture sectors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio