SOURCES OF POLLUTION AS A HAZARD FOR RIVER ENVIRONMENT IN CASE OF FLOOD

In the case of flood the main damages on the environment may occur as a consequence of accidents at sources of pollution. The issue of pollution sources is a key area of environmental protection. While pollution from point sources can be disposed by suitable technology, for diffuse pollution are essential proposals of preventive measures, that creating conditions to prevent contamination. The paper presents results of evaluation the sources of pollution in Hornad river basin in the eastern Slovakia in flooded area. Environmental risk assessment methods can be particularly useful in evaluating whether uses are threatened when a stressor of concern is not expressed as a numeric criterion in water quality standards. The risk assessment framework can add value to watershed-based management

Domestic Wastewater Treatment: A Comparison between an Integrated Hybrid UASB-IFAS System and a Conventional UASB-AS System

The current study presents a detailed evaluation and comparison between two integrated anaerobic–aerobic systems for biological wastewater treatment under equal conditions in all aspects (wastewater characteristics, climatic conditions, reactor sizing, and even the measurement methods). The two examined systems are (i) a hybrid upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (hybrid UASB) coupled with integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) and (ii) a conventional UASB coupled with activated sludge (AS). The present comparative study aims to evaluate and assess the effect of adding carrier-filling media on the performance of the classical integrated UASB-AS. The two parallel pilot-scale systems, hybrid UASB-IFAS and UASB-AS, were installed and operated at a wastewater treatment plant. Three sets of experiments were conducted to examine the influence of the hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the consequent organic and hydraulic loads, temperature, and recirculation rate of the proposed systems. The main results showed that the two investigated systems had a comparably high efficiency for the removal of organic matters and ammonia. Moreover, a paired sample t-test indicated there was a statistically significant effect of the filling media, and the performance of the hybrid UASB-IFAS increased significantly compared with that of the UASB-AS system. An additional benefit of the filling media on the hybrid system was its high stability when changing the organic and hydraulic loads. The optimum HRT was 6 h, with a total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) percentage removal of approximately 95% in both examined systems. Treatment of sewage under high and low temperatures indicated that increasing the temperature improved the efficiency of the overall process for both systems significantly

Magnetic Properties of Fe@Pt Nanoparticles with Core/Shell Morphology

We have investigated the magnetic properties of iron nanoparticles coated by platinum shell prepared by chemical procedure. Magnetic measurements using SQUID magnetometer confirm the behaviour typical for a superparamagnetic system. From the M(H) loop at 300 K the magnetic moment of each particle $m_{P}$ ≈ $250 μ_{B}$ was calculated. The magnetic relaxation study by the in-phase χ' and out-of-phase χ" ac susceptibilities in frequency range 0.1-1000 Hz suggests the existence of two magnetic layers with different magnetic spin's dynamics and strong dipolar interactions between nanoparticles. The observed magnetic behaviour is caused by the blocking process of interacting superparamagnetic particles with magnetic iron core, diamagnetic platinum shell and spin-glass like behaviour magnetic interlayer between them

Towards an Adaptation of Efficient Passive Design for Thermal Comfort Buildings

This paper discusses the effect of various climatic conditions that pertain to passive design measurements and their relationships with building configurations to improve indoor thermal comfort based on the different climate zones in Egypt to support Egypt’s sustainability agenda 2030. We find the most appropriate design settings that can increase the indoor thermal comfort, such as building orientation and shape. These settings can be modeled using DesignBuilder software combined with Egyptian meteorological data. This software is used accompanied by computational fluid dynamics to numerically assess the outcomes of different changes, by simulating indoor climate condition factors such as wind speed and temperature. Natural ventilation simulations were performed for four different shapes to create comprehensive dataset scenarios covering a general range of shapes and orientations. Seven scenarios were optimized to put forward a series of building bioclimatic design approaches for the different characteristic regions. The results indicated that the temperature decreased by about 3.2%, and the air velocity increased within the study domain by 200% in the best and the worst cases, respectively, of the four different shapes. The results of the study gave evidence that the configuration of buildings, direction, and wind speed are very important factors for defining the natural ventilation within these domains to support the green building concept and the sustainable design for a better lifestyle

Dynamic Analysis of Meteorological Parameters in Koice Climatic Station in Slovakia

Evaporation and precipitation are often considered the most important processes in the water cycle. Recent studies have turned to chaotic analysis and short-term prediction for analyzing and forecasting the time series of such phenomena. However, even with chaos theory, the accurate forecasting of pan evaporation is not a straightforward business, as it involves a number of variables whose changes directly and/or indirectly affect the scale and amount of pan evaporation. In this study, the use of the false nearest neighbour method for the chaotic analysis of pan evaporation and related metrological parameters is discussed. A literature review is presented on chaos theory and its applications in modelling physical systems. Also, a review of the literature on multivariate analysis and the presence of chaos in meteorology are presented. A detailed procedure for finding the presence of chaos in a time series using false nearest neighbour (FNN) is discussed. The possible lag time to be considered in the FNN analysis is estimated using the autocorrelation function (ACF) and average mutual information (AMI) apart from the time-step of the measurement. Thus, FNN is studied with three different lag times of the time series. Six meteorological parameters: average temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, sunshine hours, dew point temperature, and pan evaporation are measured at the observation station Kosice in Slovakia for a period of 20 years. Thus, the available time series are analysed using ACF, AMI, and FNN methods, and the results obtained are analysed in the study. Nonlinear behaviour is seen in all of the observed parameters. Pan evaporation, average temperature, and dew point temperature are found to exhibit clear chaotic behaviour, while relative humidity, sunshine hours, and wind speed show stochastic behaviour

Optimization-Based Proposed Solution for Water Shortage Problems: A Case Study in the Ismailia Canal, East Nile Delta, Egypt

Water conflicts in transboundary watersheds are significantly exacerbated by insufficient freshwater sources and high water demands. Due to its increasing population and various development projects, as well as current and potential water shortages, Egypt is one of the most populated and impacted countries in Africa and the Middle East in terms of water scarcity. With good future planning, modeling will help to solve water scarcity problems in the Ismailia canal, which is one of the most significant branches of the Nile River. Many previous studies of the Nile river basin depended on quality modeling and hydro-economic models which had policy or system control constraints. To overcome this deficit position and number, the East Nile Delta area was investigated using LINDO (linear interactive, and discrete optimizer) software; a mathematical model with physical constraints (mass balances); and ArcGIS software for canals and water demands from the agriculture sector, which is expected to face a water shortage. Using the total capital (Ismailia canal, groundwater, and water reuse) and total demand for water from different industries, the software measures the shortage area and redistributes the water according to demand node preferences (irrigation, domestic, and industrial water demands). At the irrigation network’s end, a water deficit of 789.81 MCM/year was estimated at Al-Salhiya, Ismailia, El Qantara West, Fayed, and Port Said. The model was then run through three scenarios: (1) the Ismailia Canal Lining’s effect, (2) surface water’s impact, and (3) groundwater’s impact. Water scarcity was proportional to lining four sections at a length of 61.0 km, which is considered to be optimal—based on the simulation which predicts that the Ismailia canal head flow will rise by 15%, according to scenarios—and the most effective way to reduce water scarcity in the face of climate change and limited resources as a result of the increasing population and built-in industrial projects in Egypt

Evaluation and Mitigation of Flash Flood Risks in Arid Regions: A Case Study of Wadi Sudr in Egypt

Flash floods threaten the lives of people and properties in different regions around the world, especially in arid and semi-arid regions due to infrequent flood events. The current study aims to assess the geomorphological parameters of Wadi Sudr, South Sinai in Egypt to evaluate flash flood risks and provide adequate mitigation methods. This study presents an integrated method that combines geographic information system (GIS) and watershed modeling system (WMS) with HEC-HMS to visualize and assess flood events in the study area. Different morphologic parameters of the watershed were determined, including linear, areal, and relief parameters. GIS was used to analyze the satellite images and determine the characteristics of the valley to get the extension and number of stream orders in the valley, then WMS was used to estimate rainstorms and basin characteristics, as well as estimate the amount of rain that causes flooding. HEC-HMS program was used for hydrological demonstration and precipitation overflow estimation. The morphometric analysis provided a quantitative portrayal of the Wadi Sudr watershed. Wadi Sudr has 4029 streams connected with seventh order of streams spread over an area of 547.45 km2. Based on the results of morphologic and hydraulic parameters of the watershed, two locations of protection dams were suggested. A comparison between the two locations was made to select the best location based on some criteria, including storage capacity, water depth behind the dam, width and shape of the valley, and the area covered by water stored in the reservoir. The comparison between the two locations showed that the first location is more appropriate for dam construction based on the examined criteria. The valley shape in the first location is more regular than in the second. The first location provided higher storage capacity and water depth in front of the dam than the second. The area covered by water and the width of the valley is less than the second. The stability of the dam at the first site could be higher and the cost of construction could cost be less than the second due to these reasons. A comparison was made using the weighted linear combination (WLC) method, which consists of 13 criteria to determine the suitability index (SI) in order to select the best location from the proposed locations. SI proved that the first location is better than the second. The designed dam in the selected site could be cost-efficient to protect the study area from flood risks and harvesting water that can be used in different purposes. This methodology can be applied in different areas for mitigating flash flood risks