The WPI : assessment of application in Sava river basin

The success of a country in reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) isevaluated through the use of indicators. Indicators are used to simplify and synthesizeinformation about important issues. When an issue depends of many factors, indicatorsare often aggregated into composite indices. Although not specifically designed for theevaluation of the MDGs, the Water Poverty Index (WPI) combines physical, social,economic and environmental information associated with water scarcity while assessingthe degree to which water unavailability impacts human population (Sullivan and Meigh,2003). Besides the debate about what the term ""water poverty"" represents, there is anongoing debate about the practical application and implementation of such a WaterPoverty Index.This research had two main objectives. The first one was to examine the possibility ofcalculation of WPI for the countries that belong to Sava River Basin. The secondobjective was to investigate and discuss its implementation with decision makers in aproject of expansion of a drinking water treatment plant in Banja Luka, Bosnia andHerzegovina. The former was done through collection and compilation of data fromrelevant sources and calculation of the index. The latter was done through interviewswith decision makers in this particular case. Intensive literature review about waterpoverty, social indicators and MDGs was conducted for both objectives. The final resultsshow that the WPI is primarily poverty and water access dependant. Banja Luka casestudy demonstrated that the use of the WPI as a decision making tool would prove to bedifficult

Thermodynamic and kinetic behavior of hydrogen electrode in a solution of 0.5 M KClO4 in dimethyl sulphoxide

The hydrogen electrode on an interface platinum/dimethyl sulphoxide + 0.5 M KClO4 solution was examined from both the thermodynamic and kinetic aspect, using HCl as a proton source. The equilibrium potential was shown to obey a Nernstian dependence on concentration. The voltammograms recorded using a rotating platinum disc electrode evidenced that the cathodic evolution of hydrogen proceeds under mixed, activationdiffusion control. The diffusion coefficient of the proton was determined to amount to 4.5×10-6 cm2 s-1. In the region of activation control, a Tafel slope of about 0.110 V dec-1 was estimated, which indicates that the Volmer reaction is the rate determining step

Electrochemical behaviour of copper in N,N-dimethylformamide + 0.5 M potassium perchlorate solution

The electrochemical deposition and dissolution of copper in 0.0025 M CuSO4 + N,N-dimethylformamide + 0.5 M KClO4 solution was examined by the rotating disc and potentiodynamic methods. Both platinum and copper were used as working electrodes. A wide polarization range 1 to +2 V vs. SCE, and several temperatures between 25 and 55°C were encompased. The Cu/electrolyte interface was found to be permanently out of equilibrium, as a consequence of the development of a passivating layer. In accordance with the classic theory of a copper electrode in acidified aqueous solutions, the cathodic and anodic Tafel lines of metallic copper define a unique value of the exchange current density, however, their slopes do not correspond to the classic theory

An investigation of the Fe3+- sulphonated pyrogallol system in aqueous solutions

The electrochemical behaviour of the Fe3+-sulphonated pyrogallol (SP) complex was investigated and its composition and stability constants were determinated at pH 2.30. It was found by voltammetric and spectrophotometric measurements that Fe3+ and SP form a complex of the ML2 type, which is relatively stable during the first 30 minutes. The optimal pH value for complex formation is between 2.30 and 2.80. The relative stability constants determined by voltammetric and spectrophotometric measurements are log b2 = 5.08±0.26 and log b2 = 6.31±0.04, respectively