Assessing the Efficiency of Continuous Flow Column of Pine Fruit Powder in Removal of Chromium (VI) from Aqueous Solution

The hexavalent chromium is one of the toxic and soluble heavy metals, which is absorbed and stored in human body through the digestive system and skin. Therefore, the aim of this study was to adsorb the hexavalent chromium from aqueous media using continuous flow fixed bed of pine fruit. The adsorbent was prepared in laboratory scale and pulverized by standard ASTM sieve (100 mesh). Stock solution of chromium was prepared using potassium dichromate and the unknown concentration of hexavalent chromium was determined using atomic absorption spectrometry. In order to study the behavior of the sorbent in the fixed-bed column, we used glass column with the length of 25 cm and diameter of 2.5 cm. The effect of initial concentration of chromium and flow rate were examined. Test results showed that the maximum uptake of Cr(VI) obtained was 38.748 mg/g in a flow rate of 12 ml/min and initial concentration of 0.11 mg/l. According to the obtained results, the total amount of chromium absorbed and the adsorption capacity of the column decreased by increasing the concentration of initial chromium concentration. The maximum adsorption of Cr(VI) using the pine fruit powder achieved at flowrate of 4 ml/min and initial concentration of adsorbent of 0.15 mg/l. our findings confirms the capability of pine fruit powder application as an effective and cheap method for the removal of Cr(VI) from polluted effluents

Investigating Effective Strategies on Drinking Water Demand Management in Birjand City

Water is considered a passive defense means. One of the strategies of enemy invasion, especially in the border areas of the country (such as South Khorasan) is to dominate the minimal water resources in the region. Also, the growth in demand and the constant volume of renewable fresh water resources has led to water scarcity which in turn has provided the grounds for the development of science and economics theories on the issue of scarce resources allocation. The purpose of this study was to investigate effective factors on drinking water consumption pattern for scarce resources using experts' opinions and employing Analytical Hierarchy and Topsis Analysis (TOPSIS) techniques. The results showed that the strategies of applying tariffs in accordance with the conditions and costs of producing and distributing, preparing and applying water efficiency labels on all equipment and household appliances, using educational catalogs and advertising warnings to reduce water consumption, installing equipment for water use in schools and educational centers and some mosques, and comprehensive water resources (which we lack in Iran) are the best strategies among drinking water consumption patterns in arid regions. The results of this study indicated that the combination of the Hierarchical Analysis Process model and the Ideal Likelihood Option (TOPSIS) can be used to examine and prioritize the patterns of drinking water consumption

Efficiency Comparison of Fuzzy Regression Models with the Penman-Monteith Method in Estimating of Monthly Reference Evapotranspiration of Neyshabour Plain

In this study, fuzzy linear and fuzzy least-squres regression approach was employed to estimate the monthly reference evapotranspiration of Neyshabour plain. The data used, including maximum temperature (Tmax), minimum temperature (Tmin), mean temperature (Tmean), relative humidity (RH), solar radiation (Rs) and wind speed (U2), were obtained from synaptic meteorological station of Neyshabour. Three different scenarios were designed to estimate the evapotranspiration for either fuzzy linear or fuzzy least-squres regression models. Mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and the coefficient of determination (R2) were used to evaluate the performance fuzzy regression models and its comparison with FAO-56 Penman-Monteith. Results indicated that the fuzzy linear regression model in January and the fuzzy least squares regression model in October had the highest and lowest accuracy with R2 of 0.903 and 0.502, respectively. Among the new proposed models, the fuzzy linear regression under scenario FLR1 (Inputs included Tmax, Tmin, RH and U2) had the highest accuracy, however, in both regression models, despite having lower input parameters (Tmean, RH and Rs), the second scenario, was comparable with other and therefore it can be used in data deficit conditions as an optimal approach in determining ETo for irrigation planning and water resource management

Lysimetric Determination of Cuminum Crop Coefficients during Different Growth Stages in Region of Birjand

Introduction: Water is one of the most important factors limiting agricultural developments in arid and semiarid regions in the world. To avoid and exit from water crisis, a proper agricultural and water resource management is required. One of the important parameters in this regard, is determination of crops’ evapotranspiration. Evapotranspiration, water evaporation from the soil surface and transpiration of vegetation cover have a major trend and a key element in hydrological cycle for management of water resources, particularly in arid and semi-arid. Evapotranspiration is function of the soil, climate, land use, aerodynamic resistance levels and topography of the area. To provide a suitable irrigation schedule and apply an optimal water use management, determination of water requirement and crop coefficients in various growth stages seems necessary. Crop coefficient can be found through dividing the actual evapotranspiration by the potential evapotranspiration. Since the cuminum is commonly used in Birjand and has cultivated in farm and crop coefficients has not been determined , this study aimed to determine the crop coefficients of cuminum using lysimeter water balance in arid and semi-arid climatic conditions. Materials and Methods: In this research, in order to determine cuminum crop coefficients, that is one of the important herbs, a lysimetric experiment was conducted during growth season in faculty of agriculture, Birjand university. This project, was done in lysimeter. For this purpose and due to the size and plant height in three lysimeter (as replications) with a diameter of 20 and a height of 16 cm was used order to the cultivation of Cuminum. In order to drainage at the bottom of each lysimeter was built orifice. For easily of lysimeters drainage, lysimeter floor was poured by small and large sand and lysimeter was filled by soil and animal Fertilizers for better plant growth. Three lysimeters were used; and water requirement of cuminum was calculated using water balance method. To calculate potential evapotranspiration, grass with 12 centimeters height was used as the reference plant. Crop coefficient can be achieved by dividing the actual evapotranspiration to reference evapotranspiration and is not fixed growth period. The cumin plant growth period was divided four stages (initial, development, middle and end). The initial phase of up to 10% on seed germination and plant growth, from 10 percent to flowering development stage, middle stage and final stage of the start of flowering to product reaches to harvest is the end of the middle stage. In each lysimeter average number of 20-15 of seed to increasing germination, were planted on the February 9, 2012. To control weeds, weed was done handing during the growing season. Drainage water is controlled over a period of time measured with weighting method and deep and volume of water was measured. Soil moisture at field capacity using pressure plates was measured. Measuring soil water content and determine irrigation time. Results and Discussion According to the results obtained for the crop coefficient can be concluded that in the initial stages of plant growth that plant size is small, transpiration is low and therefore Kc have low value. In the middle and development stage increases canopy and increased transpiration rate and increases Kc. At the end stage to reducing activity of the leaves (old leaves) reduced transpiration. The average crop coefficient of cumin in the initial phase of growth during the study to 0.65, then with increasing plant growth, leaf area index were increased and crop coefficient increased to 0.92 in development stage. In the middle of this amount is 1.21 and in the end the 0.85 reached. Average crop coefficients for a four-stage is 0.9. Duration of growth stages for cuminum crops in Birjand region is 24 days for initial stage, 40 days for middle stage and 31 days for development and 19 days for end stage of growth stages. Conclusions In this study according to important of drug and economic for cuminum plant and that there isn’t report for crop coefficient cuminum and Birjand region, we cultivate cuminum in arid area of Birjand in 2011 year. The results of lysimeters showed that Duration of plant growth stages and value of crop coefficients in the initial , development, middle and end stages, respectively (24, 40, 31 and 19 days) and (0.65, 0.921.21 and 0.85) respectiely

Selecting the best option proposed to construct water reservoir structures using ANP and AHP methods (Case study: Torghabeh and Shandiz)

Due to the lack of drinking water resources and their importance in the economy of any region, it is vital to locate most suitable place for water storage and water harvesting. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the appropriate places of conservation dams through applying heuristic methods of optimum like AHP and ANP methods in Torghabe and Shandiz located in Khorasan Razavi Province. Selection criteria in this research were five parameters including reservoir volume, reservoir damage, runoff, location, and geology. The research found that eight points in Torghabe and four points in Shandiz have good potential for constructing water reservoir structures. Thus, in Torghabe, a point having higher runoff and reservoir volume compared with the other points was considered as the best place for dam construction. In Shandiz, a point having the highest rating location and geology was proposed as appropriate location for construction. The results showed although ANP method is more advanced than AHP method, both methods have equal value in selecting the best option for constructing the water reservoir

Planning the Optimal Allocation of Water Resources Using EA-MODSIM Simulation-Optimization Model

Optimal exploitation of dams’ reservoirs and provision of dam downstream water demand is of great importance. The use of water resource planning models has been recently very effective. For this purpose, this paper has analyzed and investigated the optimal utilization of Galmandareh River basin water resources using a combination of MODSIM as a simulation model and election algorithm as an optimization model and the development of the EA-MODSIM model. The objective function of the problem was considered as minimizing the sum of squared deviations between the required amount and the amount released from the reservoir. Efficiency, reliability, and vulnerability in reservoir operation were also used to evaluate the proposed model. Results indicated the acceptable performance of the simulation-optimization approach used in the research to solve the problem of planning the optimal allocation of water resources at the basin. Studies showed that in the simulation-optimization approach, the amount of water demand in the basin increased by about 32% compared to the simulation model. The results of the reliability index for industrial, agricultural, and environmental demands at the dam downstream were 86, 87, and 96%, respectively. These results indicated the importance of adopting policies for the optimal exploitation of system reservoirs to increase the water supply and reduce the water resource loss at the level of the basin

Study of Spatial Distribution of Groundwater Quality Using LS-SVM, MLP, and Geostatistical Models

Groundwater quality control is of great importance in (semi-)arid zones due to the water deficit in these regions. Geostatistical models are techniques commonly developed for the interpolation and spatial prediction of groundwater quality parameters. In this study, IDW, Kriging, and CoKriging methods were used in the geostatistical, LS-SVM, and MLP models to predict the spatial distribution of groundwater EC. The models were then compared in terms of their efficiency. For the purposes of this study, data were collected from 120 wells in the Mashhad plain. Variograms were then drawn after normalizing the data for application in the geostatistical models. In the next stage, the lowest RSS value was used for selecting the one model that was suitable for fitting the experimental variogram while cross-validation and RMSE were used to select the best method for interpolation. Comparison of the three models in question was accomplished by using 25% of the observation data and the statistical parameters of RMSE, R2, and MAE were determined. Results showed that the CoKriging method outperformed its Kriging counterpart in the geostatistic model for interpolating groundwater quality. Finally, the most accurate values for the quality parameters (i.e., R2=0.932, RMSE=367.9, MAE=265.78() were obtained with the MLP model

Performance Evaluating of Combination Techniques for Enhancing Water Requirement Estimation of Saffron (Crocus Sativus L.) in Iran

An accurate estimation of the water requirement of saffron, as the most strategic product in the eastern regions of Iran, is inevitable. Considering the field limitations in measuring the water requirement, applying empirical models has always been of interest. However, since each estimation model has unique strengths and weaknesses, relying only on an experimental model cannot obtain a reliable estimate for water requirements. This study intends to evaluate different combined methods' ability to merge the saffron water requirements simulations and obtain an improved output. Six empirical models and four other combination techniques were applied to get some skilful simulations about saffron water requirements in arid regions. Results indicate that the evapotranspiration prediction under the Abtew method (ABM) has more proficiency, such that its RMSE was 0.13 mm. Also, the different comparative tests show that the outputs of combined techniques such as Multi Model Super Ensemble ‘MMSE’ and Modified MMSE ‘M3SE’ outperform others

Effect of Amount of Fertilizer and Calcic, Potasic and Soil Zeolite on Reducing Nitrate Leaching from Soil

Introduction: Nitrogen is an essential element for plant nutrition. Urea is a common fertilizer that used by farmers due to high nitrogen content in its structure. This fertilizer transforms into nitrate in soil. Nitrate is leached below the rooting zoon of agricultural soil. Nitrate leaching is not only a waste of a great cost, but also causes the pollution of water resources. Methemoglobinemia and cancer are well known issues that caused by nitrate leaching. For this purpose, many methods have been proposed to prevent nitrate leaching but due to high cost and low efficiency are not accepted. Using of zeolites is one of the ways that is considered due to its low cost and ability. Zeolite is a mineral material that found in many regions in Iran. Although effect of zeolite on nitrate leaching reduction was studied by many researchers, but there was no study on common three types of Iranian zeolite. Materials and Methods: For this purpose, a study was conducted as factorial layout based on a CRD with 21 treatments and 3 replications (total of 63 pots) at the Agricultural Research Station (with longitude and latitude 59o 21’ E and 32o 78’ N, respectively, and elevation 1941m), University of Birjand during 2013. Treatments consisted of calcic zeolite (Zca), potasic (Zk) and z-mix (Zs) in three levels: 0 (M0), 2 (M2) and 6 (M6) as wt% and three nitrogen levels: zero (F0), 200 (F2) and 400 (F4) (as mg.kg-1 soil). Natural clinoptilolite zeolite (Zca, Zk and Zs) were collected from Semnan province (53o 15’ E, 35o 25’ N) and analyzed for its chemical composition by X-ray diffraction. Pots after saffron harvesting irrigated (in October) and urea treatment added to irrigation water (Iranian farmers called as Zaeech Ab). For prepared sufficient drain from all pots, due to different effect of type and amount of zeolite on soil water content, based on former experiments, leaching fraction was considered as 20%. Sample drain from each pot were transferred toa lab, immediately, and were measured by spectrophotometer. Data related to nitrate leaching were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey’s test. In this study, SAS 9.1.3 software and Microsoft Excel 2013 were used. Results and Discussion: Results showed that type of zeolite, amount of zeolite, amount of nitrogen fertilizer, type of zeolite with amount of zeolite (interaction effect) had significant effect (

Spatial distribution of the daily, monthly, and annual precipitation concentration indices in the Lake Urmia basin, Iran

Investigations of the long-term observations of climate variables, as a practical approach to monitor climate changes, have attracted the interest of many researchers around the world. One of the important variables in this context is precipitation. The investigation of precipitation, one of the most important meteorological factors directly affecting accessibility to water resources, is of special importance. In every region, studies of precipitation on daily, monthly, or annual scales provide important information on the distribution, concentration, and dispersion of precipitation, as well as some conclusions about the associated hydrological problems. In this study, the precipitation concentration was calculated and zoned by means of the precipitation concentration index (PCI) in the basin of Lake Urmia, using monthly and annual rainfall data of 42 selected rain gauge stations, from which 24 stations located in the West Azerbaijan province (in the west of Lake Urmia) and 18 stations located in the East Azerbaijan province (in the east of Lake Urmia) during 1984–2013. The results of the studies of the precipitation concentration index over the basin of Lake Urmia showed that the dominant concentrations of spring, autumn, and winter precipitation were moderate, indicating a moderate distribution for the precipitation of the months in these seasons. In addition, in the period under study, uniform and regular precipitation concentrations (PCI<10) were observed only in winter and in the borders of the basin. In summer, almost the entire surface of the basin (excluding its northeastern part) faced a strongly irregular distribution of precipitation, indicating irregular rainfall in July, August, and September. Most of the basin of Lake Urmia is covered by an irregular distribution of precipitation on an annual scale. By investigating the precipitation distribution in the first and the last 10 years of the statistical period considered and by comparing them, it was revealed that the greatest increase in the precipitation concentration index was in autumn, it rose by approximately 20.55 percent. According to the results, on the basin scale, the concentration index showed that the daily rainfall of the Lake Urmia basin was neither in regular nor in strongly irregular conditions at any of the stations studied. All the stations studied were in fairly regular, moderate concentration and fairly irregular conditions of daily precipitation distribution. The results also showed that the moderate concentration includes most of the daily precipitation distributions throughout the basin