Environmental and economic aspects of water kiosks: case study of a medium-sized italian town

The consumption of bottled water in Italy began in the 1970s. Since then, this usage has grown considerably, also as a result of changes in habits. The environmental impact as a result of the water production chain is very significant; it would be considered, for example, the use of plastic bottles, the consumption of oil in the production of the bottles, the emission of air from the vehicles that transport the bottles, non-recycled plastic packaging, etc.In this study, considering the comparison between two situations, use of bottled water and use of water kiosk (WK), an environmental and economic impact evaluation has been done. The study considered the production of a WK in a town with 9000 inhabitants, which supplies controlled, still and sparkling water, with an organoleptic quality higher than tap water coming from the aqueduct. In particular, taking into consideration the environmental aspects, specific attention was paid both to CO2 emissions and PET bottle waste reduction. The economic impact evaluation was carried out from the consumer's point of view. In order to provide a supply service that was economically sustainable, a calculation was done with the aim of determining a specific fee for the supplied water. Moreover, a comparison has been made between quality parameters achieved with the analysis of water from aqueducts with the limits established in the Italian legislation and the parameters of several Italian water brands.The study has the aim at considering the opportunity to follow a different people's habits, closer to the concept of sustainability, reducing the environmental charge related to the realization, transport and consumption of plastic water bottles without significant reduction of the quality of the service and with convenient and interesting economic implications. In fact the results of the study show that the alternative of WKs is more efficient in economic and environmental terms respect to the use of bottled water

First report of Monoeca in Argentina, with description of two new species (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Two new species of the oil-collecting bee genus Monoeca Lepeletier & Audinet-Serville (Apidae: Tapinotaspidini) are described and figured from females and males captured in north - eastern Argentina. The two new species here described, Monoeca armata Torretta & Roig-Alsina, new species, and M. puchella Torretta & Roig-Alsina, new species, are easily distinguished from each other by the color of the integument, the wings, and the pilosity. Their relationships to al - ready described species of the genus are discussed. Monoeca were the only genus of Tapinostaspi - dini not known to occur in Argentina. The flower records and the study of the pollen scopal loads corroborate the association of these oil-collecting bees with p lants of the family Malpighiaceae.Fil: Torretta, Juan Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente. Cátedra de Botánica Agrícola; ArgentinaFil: Roig Alsina, Arturo Hernan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ; Argentin

Application Of A Decision Support System For The SustainablePlanning Of Rio Pojuca Basin (Bahia, Brazil) Water Resources

The paper presents the structure and the application of a Decision Support System (DSS) to Pojuca River watershed placed in the Northeast Region of Brazil (Bahia State). It is composed of surface-water quality models (total phosphorus, BOD, dissolved oxygen concentration and thermo-tolerant coliform bacteria pollution). A model evaluates the riverine microhabitat applying autochthonous fish species habitat suitability indexes (water depth, velocity, substrate and dissolved oxygen) valuated by local ichthyologists. Surface-water quality and microhabitat models are based on a hydrologic and hydraulic model. Models have been calibrated and validated using discharge and water quality measurements collected during a 1.5-year period of monitoring. Output data are available on a spreadsheet and ready to be spatially analyzed in a GIS software. We show how DSS can help the decision-making process to achieve the sustainable development of the basin, considering population growth, economic activities, climate change, management of sewage and wastewater treatment systems. The DSS is also applied to a challenging scenario: the building of an in series reservoir for supplying the Capital (Salvador) of drinking water. The experience has been characterized also by a large involvement of local specialists, with the aim to emphasize the existing qualifications and to consider local culture

PAHs in wastewater: removal efficiency in a conventional wastewater treatment plant and comparison with model predictions

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) result very hazardous compounds and due to their lipophilicitiy, they can easily cross biological membranes and accumulate inside organisms, causing damages to the genetic material. The scientific interest to this class of chemicals is related to their demonstrated or supposed genotoxicity (first suspects on cancer causing characteristics of B[\u3b1]Py and dB[\u3b1,h]An date back to the thirties). This study try to pick out PAHs presence in wastewater and to estimate their removal efficiency in a conventional wastewater treatment plant (Varese Olona). The PAHs presence in municipal wastewater sewage system and in the WWTP effluent has been determined by specific analytical campaign and afterwards a comparison between observed removal efficiency and FATE model (US-EPA) predictions has been carried out

Numerical approach to modelling pulse mode soil flushing on a Pb-contaminated soil

4noPurpose: Soil flushing can represent a suitable technology in remediation of soils, sediments and sludge contaminated by persistent species (e.g. toxic metal). This paper presents a model specifically developed to evaluate the feasibility of chelating agent-enhanced flushing. The model, here applied to the remediation of real Pb-contaminated soils, was conceived also to simulate an innovative pulse-mode soil flushing technique. Materials and methods: The soil flushing application was firstly carried out through columns laboratory experiments. Columns were filled with a real Pb-contaminated soil (3,000 mg kg−1 of dry soil) and flushing was operated in a pulse mode with different chelating agent dosages (3 and 4.3 mmol kg−1soil). Experimental results were used to calibrate and validate the developed reactive transport model that accounts for transport of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) and EDTA–Pb chelate complexes, Pb residual concentration on soil and the reduction in permeability by soil dissolution. Determination of hydrodynamic and hydrodispersive parameters was carried out through a numerical approach incorporating the use of neural network as interpolating function of breakthrough data obtained by a tracer test. Results and discussion: The EDTA dosage strongly influenced the efficiency in Pb extraction and soil permeability. Cumulative extractions of Pb were found to be 20 and 29 % for the EDTA concentrations of 3 and 4.3 mmol/kg of dry soil, respectively. The soil dissolution caused a significant flow rate decrease, as a consequence of the increase in chelating agent concentration. Therefore the recovery phase duration increased from 738 to 2,080 h. The ability of the model in simulating all the examined phenomena is confirmed by a good fit with experimental results in terms of (a) soil permeability reduction, (b) eluted Pb and (c) residual Pb in the soil. Conclusions: Results highlighted as the model, supported by a preliminary and careful characterization of the soil, can be useful to assess the feasibility of the flushing treatment (avoiding soil clogging) and to address the choice of the operating parameters (flow rate, chelating agent dosage and application method). On the basis of the present research results, a protocol is suggested for in situ soil pulse–flushing application.openLuciano, A.; Viotti, P.; Torretta, V.; Mancini, G.Luciano, A.; Viotti, P.; Torretta, Vincenzo; Mancini, G

A wastewater treatment using a biofilm airlift suspension reactor with biomass attached to supports: a numerical model

presented. When compared with a traditional wastewater treatment plant, a biofilm airlift suspension process has major advantages, such as higher oxygen levels in the bulk fluid and lower space requirements. The limited volumes obtained with this technique generally do not allow to reach the high times of contact required for an efficient removal of nitrogen that normally are characterized by a slower kinetics than carbonaceous compounds. To avoid this problem, supports for attached biomass growth were inserted in the reactor. Both physical and biological aspects were incorporated into the presented model to simulate the removal processes of the substrates. A sensitivity analysis was performed, and the model was validated using experimental results obtained at a lab-scale plant. This model can accurately estimate the removal rate in different boundary conditions providing the details of the water quality profiles through the reactor and in the attached biomass. The model thus represents a valid aid for design purposes and for the management of treatment plants that use these uncommon reactors. The model also provides the required hydraulic retention time for a complete nitrification and the appropriate recirculation ratio. The results have shown the full-scale applicability of this treatment due to its efficiencies coupled to the advantages of its low impact, low space requirement and low sludge production

Upgrade of the Minos+ Experiment Data Acquisition for the High Energy NuMI Beam Run

The Minos+ experiment is an extension of the Minos experiment at a higher energy and more intense neutrino beam, with the data collection having begun in the fall of 2013. The neutrino beam is provided by the Neutrinos from the Main Injector (NuMI) beam-line at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). The detector apparatus consists of two main detectors, one underground at Fermilab and the other in Soudan, Minnesota with the purpose of studying neutrino oscillations at a base line of 735 km. The original data acquisition system has been running for several years collecting data from NuMI, but with the extended run from 2013, parts of the system needed to be replaced due to obsolescence, reliability problems, and data throughput limitations. Specifically, we have replaced the front-end readout controllers, event builder, and data acquisition computing and trigger processing farms with modern, modular and reliable devices with few single points of failure. The new system is based on gigabit Ethernet TCP/IP communication to implement the event building and concatenation of data from many front-end VME readout crates. The simplicity and partitionability of the new system greatly eases the debugging and diagnosing process. The new system improves throughput by about a factor of three compared to the old system, up to 800 megabits per second, and has proven robust and reliable in the current run.Comment: 3 page

Preys and capture sites used by crab spiders (Araneae: Thomisidae and Philodromidae) in a grassland of central Argentina.

La distribución de los depredadores y flores son factores importantes que influyen sobre la elección del sitio de forrajeo por los visitantes florales. Los depredadores como las arañas cangrejo pueden determinar la estructura de las comunidades de visitantes florales y afectar la polinización de las plantas. Los objetivos de este trabajo fueron (a) evaluar el uso por las arañas cangrejo de flores o inflorescencias (en adelante unidades de atracción floral, UAF) como sitios de captura; (b) determinar características que pueden afectar el uso de los sitios de captura; y (c) evaluar la relación entre el tamaño de las arañas y el de sus presas. Recorrimos dos parcelas de una hectárea en el centro de la región Pampeana (Buenos Aires, Argentina) registrando todas las plantas entomófilas en flor y sus visitantes florales. Además, capturamos todas las arañas cangrejo con y sin presa registrando las UAF que utilizaron como sitio de captura. Medimos y evaluamos la relación entre el tamaño de las arañas y de sus presas. Las arañas cangrejo utilizaron como sitios de captura las UAF más abundantes y con mayor riqueza de visitantes florales, independientemente de si eran flores o inflorescencias. Por otro lado, el tamaño de la araña podría determinar el tamaño de su presa. Encontramos una asociación positiva entre ambas variables, aunque este resultado fue variable dependiendo de los órdenes taxonómicos de las presas. Estos resultados sugieren que las arañas cangrejo pueden tener un papel relevante modelando la estructura de las interacciones planta-polinizadores.Distribution of predators and flowers influence on the selection of forage site of flower visitors. Predators, as crab spiders, can determine the structure of communities of flower visitors and influence on plant pollination. The objectives of this study were: (a) to evaluate the use of flowers or inflorescences (hereinafter units floral attraction, UFA) by crab spiders as capture sites; (B) to identify traits that may affect the use of capture sites; and (c) to assess the relationship between the size of the spiders and their prey. We surveyed two plots of one hectare in center of Pampas region (Buenos Aires, Argentina) recording all entomophilous flowering plants and their floral visitors. In addition, we captured all crab spiders with and without preys, recording the UFA they used as capture site. We estimate and evaluate the relationship between the size of the spiders and their prey. Crab spiders used as capture sites the most abundant UFA and with higher richness of floral visitors, regardless of whether they were flowers or inflorescences. On the other hand, the size of the spider could be determining the size of the preys. We found a positive association between the two variables, although this result was variable depending on the taxonomic orders of preys. Those results suggest that crab spiders can have a relevant role as modelers of the structure of plant - pollinator interaction.Fil: Marrero, Hugo Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de Las Zonas Aridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de Las Zonas Aridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de Las Zonas Aridas; ArgentinaFil: Pompozzi, Gabriel Alejandro. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Laboratorio de Zoología de Invertebrados Ii; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Torretta, Juan Pablo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomia. Cátedra de Botanica General; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Reliability of Strategic Environmental Assessment for Territorial Management: General Criticisms and a Proposed Approach in the Presence of Relevant Accident Risk Facilities

The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a procedure with a wide application, that has a very important role in sustainable territorial development. The aim of this work is to make some evaluations after the initial period of application also based on data of a particular complex territory, Lombardy Region (Northern Italy), which is characterized by a very high concentration of population, industrial activities and economic interests. The evaluations reveal some critical aspects that negatively influence the correct application of the SEA in Italy, with consequences on the territorial governance and the determination of expected effects corresponding to specific aims. One of these critical aspects is the need to define specific standards and parameters for carrying out a SEA on the different environmental themes. One of these is the assessment of the anthropic risk, which may initially be approximately identified as the industrial risk during territorial planning and programming. On this matter, we suggest adopting a methodological approach that is found in specific guidelines for anyone that produces the Environmental Report to support the SEA, and for councils that have to produce a Technical Examination Paper of the Relevant Accident Risk, to assess the industrial risk, also when there are companies with a relevant accident risk

Critical analysis of strategies for PM reduction in urban areas

This paper presents an overview of practical strategies that can be adopted for reducing the particulate matter concentration in urban areas. Each strategy is analyzed taking into account the latest results of the scientific literature. A discussion useful for pointing out some problems to be solved for their correct adoptions completes the paper