62 research outputs found
Water quality and its interlinkages with the Sustainable Development Goals
Interlinkages among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) lead to important trade-offs and synergies among the goals and their underlying targets. The aim of this paper is to review the role of water quality as an agent of interlinkages among the SDGs. It was found that there are a small number of explicit interconnections, but many more inferred interlinkages between water quality and various targets. A review of case studies showed that interlinkages operate from the municipal to near global scales, that their importance is likely to increase in developing countries, and that new SDG indicators are needed to monitor them. The analysis identifies many different SDG target areas where a combined effort between the water quality community and other sectors would bring mutual benefits in achieving the water quality and other targets
The european water framework directive facing current challenges: recommendations for a more efficient biological assessment of inland surface waters
High quality water is vital for human life, and ensuring its availability is a basic requirement and a
major societal aim. The Water Framework Directive (WFD; 2000/60/EC) is a key piece of legislation
for the protection and sustainable use of water in the European Union. In this work we briefly review
the WFD directive and the current status of European inland surface waters. Additionally, we
summarize major challenges and threats for the biological assessment of inland surface waters
under climate change effects and invasion by alien species, and highlight the emerging tools
and approaches that might help improve biological assessments, including molecular indices
based on environmental DNA (eDNA), to new data from the Earth Observation programmes, and
data-sharing platforms. Finally, we present recommendations to improve monitoring systems
and assessments in the context of the WFD. Developments in this field may increase the
likelihood of assuring high quality water for societyFRESHING Project funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science
and Technology (FCT) and COMPETE (PTDC/AAG-MAA/
2261/2014 – POCI-01-0145-FEDER-356 016824). AFF,
AGR, and JPR were supported by FRESHING. FMSM was
supported by FCT grant SFRH/BD/104703/2014. MJF was
supported by the strategic project UID/MAR/04292/2013
granted to MAR
Virtual Water Flows in the EU27: A Consumption-based Approach
The use of water resources has traditionally been studied by accounting for the volume of water removed from sources for specific uses. This approach focuses on surface and groundwater only and it ignores that international trade of products with substantial amounts of embodied water can have an impact on domestic water resources. Using current economic and environmental data, we conduct a consumption-based assessment of virtual water flows in the European Union (EU27). We find that the total water footprint (WF) of 2,280 cubic meters (m3) per capita for the EU27 mostly consists of green water use (precipitation stored as soil moisture), which is omitted in the conventional water accounting. Blue water (surface and groundwater.) and gray water use (the volume of freshwater needed to dilute pollutants to meet the applicable water quality standards), which are targeted by current EU water policies, only make up 32% of the total WF. We also find that Europeans imported 585 cubic kilometers (km3) (109 m3) of virtual water, or around 28% of global virtual water trade flows, in 2009. Within Europe, Germany is a key net importer of water through the trade of products in agriculture, the food industry, the chemical sector, and electricity generation. Countries in Southern and Eastern Europe have specialized in water-intensive agriculture and are key exporters of virtual water despite experiencing physical scarcity of water. Our results suggest that there is a need to reconsider water policy in the EU to address water transfers occurring through trade and to grasp the interlinkages between green, blue, and gray water—which are likely to become more important in water-scarce parts of Europe, with a changing climate
Biological reconditioning of sodium enriched zeolite by halophytes: case study of dairy farm effluent treatment
The effect of socio-economic characteristics on the use of household water treatment via psychosocial factors: a mediation analysis
Cryptosporidium and Giardia infection and drinking water sources among children in Lege Dini, Ethiopia
Assessing citizen science methods in IWRM for a new science shop: a bibliometric approach
Quantification of the urban water-energy nexus in MĂ©xico City, MĂ©xico, with an assessment of water-system related carbon emissions
- …