Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) applied to Mechanical Engineering

[EN] In 2015, the United Nations approved the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, an opportunity for countries and their societies to face the challenge of successfully addressing the transition to a more sustainable future for people and the planet, leaving no one behind. The agenda defines a total of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of universal application to promote economic growth, a commitment to social needs and the protection of the environment. For the successful achievement the ambitious and demanding SDGs, individuals, businesses, governments, and higher education institutions should work collaboratively. This paper aims to contribute to the implementation of the SDGs in the mechanical engineering subjects, and to define appropriate indicators and validation processes to assess their level of fulfillment as established in the 2030 Agenda. As a result, better decisions can be made regarding the efforts that universities - including students, academics and researchers and professional services staff - must invest to incorporate the SDGs into their initiatives, structures, and policies.Llopis-Albert, C.; Rubio, F.; Zeng, S.; Grima-Olmedo, J.; Grima-Olmedo, C. (2022). Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) applied to Mechanical Engineering. Multidisciplinary Journal for Education, Social and Technological Sciences. 9(1):59-70. https://doi.org/10.4995/muse.2022.1726959709

Propuesta metodológica para el análisis y protección de la calidad del agua subterránea de acuerdo con los requerimientos de la Directiva Marco y la Directiva derivada de Aguas Subterráneas

La protección de las aguas subterráneas es una prioridad de la política medioambiental de la UE. Por ello ha establecido un marco de prevención y control de la contaminación, que incluye provisiones para evaluar el estado químico de las aguas y reducir la presencia de contaminantes en ellas. Las herramientas fundamentales para el desarrollo de dichas políticas son la Directiva Marco del Agua y la Directiva Hija de Aguas Subterráneas. Según ellas, las aguas se consideran en buen estado químico si: • la concentración medida o prevista de nitratos no supera los 50 mg/l y la de ingredientes activos de plaguicidas, de sus metabolitos y de los productos de reacción no supera el 0,1 μg/l (0,5 μg/l para el total de los plaguicidas medidos) • la concentración de determinadas sustancias de riesgo es inferior al valor umbral fijado por los Estados miembros; se trata, como mínimo, del amonio, arsénico, cadmio, cloruro, plomo, mercurio, sulfatos, tricloroetileno y tetracloroetileno • la concentración de cualquier otro contaminante se ajusta a la definición de buen estado químico enunciada en el anexo V de la Directiva marco sobre la política de aguas • en caso de superarse el valor correspondiente a una norma de calidad o a un valor umbral, una investigación confirma, entre otros puntos, la falta de riesgo significativo para el medio ambiente. Analizar el comportamiento estadístico de los datos procedentes de la red de seguimiento y control puede resultar considerablemente complejo, debido al sesgo positivo que suelen presentar dichos datos y a su distribución asimétrica, debido a la existencia de valores anómalos y diferentes tipos de suelos y mezclas de contaminantes. Además, la distribución de determinados componentes en el agua subterránea puede presentar concentraciones por debajo del límite de detección o no ser estacionaria debida a la existencia de tendencias lineales o estacionales. En el primer caso es necesario realizar estimaciones de esos valores desconocidos, mediante procedimientos que varían en función del porcentaje de valores por debajo del límite de detección y el número de límites de detección aplicables. En el segundo caso es necesario eliminar las tendencias de forma previa a la realización de contrastes de hipótesis sobre los residuos. Con esta tesis se ha pretendido establecer las bases estadísticas para el análisis riguroso de los datos de las redes de calidad con objeto de realizar la evaluación del estado químico de las masas de agua subterránea para la determinación de tendencias al aumento en la concentración de contaminantes y para la detección de empeoramientos significativos, tanto en los casos que se ha fijado un estándar de calidad por el organismo medioambiental competente como en aquéllos que no ha sido así. Para diseñar una metodología que permita contemplar la variedad de casos existentes, se han analizado los datos de la Red Oficial de Seguimiento y Control del Estado Químico de las Aguas Subterráneas del Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (Magrama). A continuación, y dado que los Planes Hidrológicos de Cuenca son la herramienta básica de las Directivas, se ha seleccionado la Cuenca del Júcar, dada su designación como cuenca piloto en la estrategia de implementación común (CIS) de la Comisión Europea. El objetivo principal de los grupos de trabajo creados para ello se dirigió a implementar la Directiva Derivada de Agua Subterráneas y los elementos de la Directiva Marco del Agua relacionadas, en especial la toma de datos en los puntos de control y la preparación del primer Plan de Gestión de Cuencas Hidrográficas. Dada la extensión de la zona y con objeto de analizar una masa de agua subterránea (definida como la unidad de gestión en las Directivas), se ha seleccionado una zona piloto (Plana de Vinaroz Peñiscola) en la que se han aplicado los procedimientos desarrollados con objeto de determinar el estado químico de dicha masa. Los datos examinados no contienen en general valores de concentración de contaminantes asociados a fuentes puntuales, por lo que para la realización del estudio se han seleccionado valores de concentración de los datos más comunes, es decir, nitratos y cloruros. La estrategia diseñada combina el análisis de tendencias con la elaboración de intervalos de confianza cuando existe un estándar de calidad e intervalos de predicción cuando no existe o se ha superado dicho estándar. De forma análoga se ha procedido en el caso de los valores por debajo del límite de detección, tomando los valores disponibles en la zona piloto de la Plana de Sagunto y simulando diferentes grados de censura con objeto de comparar los resultados obtenidos con los intervalos producidos de los datos reales y verificar de esta forma la eficacia del método. El resultado final es una metodología general que integra los casos existentes y permite definir el estado químico de una masa de agua subterránea, verificar la existencia de impactos significativos en la calidad del agua subterránea y evaluar la efectividad de los planes de medidas adoptados en el marco del Plan Hidrológico de Cuenca. ABSTRACT Groundwater protection is a priority of the EU environmental policy. As a result, it has established a framework for prevention and control of pollution, which includes provisions for assessing the chemical status of waters and reducing the presence of contaminants in it. The measures include: • criteria for assessing the chemical status of groundwater bodies • criteria for identifying significant upward trends and sustained concentrations of contaminants and define starting points for reversal of such trends • preventing and limiting indirect discharges of pollutants as a result of percolation through soil or subsoil. The basic tools for the development of such policies are the Water Framework Directive and Groundwater Daughter Directive. According to them, the groundwater bodies are considered in good status if: • measured or predicted concentration of nitrate does not exceed 50 mg / l and the active ingredients of pesticides, their metabolites and reaction products do not exceed 0.1 mg / l (0.5 mg / l for total of pesticides measured) • the concentration of certain hazardous substances is below the threshold set by the Member States concerned, at least, of ammonium, arsenic, cadmium, chloride, lead, mercury, sulphates, trichloroethylene and tetrachlorethylene • the concentration of other contaminants fits the definition of good chemical status set out in Annex V of the Framework Directive on water policy • If the value corresponding to a quality standard or a threshold value is exceeded, an investigation confirms, among other things, the lack of significant risk to the environment. Analyzing the statistical behaviour of the data from the monitoring networks may be considerably complex due to the positive bias which often presents such information and its asymmetrical distribution, due to the existence of outliers and different soil types and mixtures of pollutants. Furthermore, the distribution of certain components in groundwater may have concentrations below the detection limit or may not be stationary due to the existence of linear or seasonal trends. In the first case it is necessary to estimate these unknown values, through procedures that vary according to the percentage of values below the limit of detection and the number of applicable limits of detection. In the second case removing trends is needed before conducting hypothesis tests on residuals. This PhD thesis has intended to establish the statistical basis for the rigorous analysis of data quality networks in order to conduct the evaluation of the chemical status of groundwater bodies for determining upward and sustained trends in pollutant concentrations and for the detection of significant deterioration in cases in which an environmental standard has been set by the relevant environmental agency and those that have not. Aiming to design a comprehensive methodology to include the whole range of cases, data from the Groundwater Official Monitoring and Control Network of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Magrama) have been analysed. Then, since River Basin Management Plans are the basic tool of the Directives, the Júcar river Basin has been selected. The main reason is its designation as a pilot basin in the common implementation strategy (CIS) of the European Commission. The main objective of the ad hoc working groups is to implement the Daughter Ground Water Directive and elements of the Water Framework Directive related to groundwater, especially the data collection at control stations and the preparation of the first River Basin Management Plan. Given the size of the area and in order to analyze a groundwater body (defined as the management unit in the Directives), Plana de Vinaroz Peñíscola has been selected as pilot area. Procedures developed to determine the chemical status of that body have been then applied. The data examined do not generally contain pollutant concentration values associated with point sources, so for the study concentration values of the most common data, i.e., nitrates and chlorides have been selected. The designed strategy combines trend analysis with the development of confidence intervals when there is a standard of quality and prediction intervals when there is not or the standard has been exceeded. Similarly we have proceeded in the case of values below the detection limit, taking the available values in Plana de Sagunto pilot area and simulating different degrees of censoring in order to compare the results obtained with the intervals achieved from the actual data and verify in this way the effectiveness of the method. The end result is a general methodology that integrates existing cases to define the chemical status of a groundwater body, verify the existence of significant impacts on groundwater quality and evaluate the effectiveness of the action plans adopted in the framework of the River Basin Management Plan

Framework to Assess Natural Chloride Background in Coastal Aquifers Affected by Seawater Intrusion in Eastern Spain

[EN] The protection of groundwater resources in coastal aquifers is an increasingly important issue worldwide. To establish threshold values and remediation objectives, it is essential to know the natural background concentrations of relevant ions in groundwater. The rationale is to define the Natural Background Level (NBL) of chemical species determined by atmospheric and lithological forces. In many coastal aquifers, this evaluation worsens since atmospheric and lithological salinity combines with many other anthropogenic sources of salinity, including exogenous salinity induced by seawater intrusion (SWI). This paper presents a combination of six well-known statistical techniques and a new methodology (i.e., SITE index) in eight GWBs affected by SWI in Eastern Spain. The chloride ion was the selected conservative chemical specie to assess the qualitative status due to the variable SWI affection. The Natural Chloride Background (NCB) obtained from these methodologies at the GWB scale was compared with regional NCB data calculated with the Atmospheric Chloride Mass Balance (CMB) method in Continental Spain. The CMB method provides atmospherically derived NCB data that are not influenced by SWI or anthropogenic activities or lithological forces. This external evaluation can be considered the atmospheric fraction of NCB, which serves as a regional criterion to validate the more detailed statistical methodologies applied at the GWB scale. As a result, a conceptualization of NCB is obtained by means of a range of values between 115 mg L-1 and 261 mg L-1 in the studied coastal GWBs affected by SWI in Eastern Spain.This research was partially funded by the projects GeoE.171.008-TACTIC and Ge-oE.171.008-HOVER from the EU Horizon 2020 R+D program, the project 101086497 from the EU Horizon-CL6-2022-Governance-01 R+D program, and the project SIGLO-PROAN (PID2021-128021OB-I00 and RTI2018-101397-B-I00) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.Grima-Olmedo, J.; Ballesteros-Navarro, B.; Pulido-Velázquez, D.; Renau-Pruñonosa, A.; Javier Alcalá, F.; Llopis-Albert, C.; Jiménez-Gavilán, P.... (2023). Framework to Assess Natural Chloride Background in Coastal Aquifers Affected by Seawater Intrusion in Eastern Spain. Water. 15(15):1-17. https://doi.org/10.3390/w15152728117151

Use of statistical techniques to evaluate the potential environmental impact to the groundwater from the employment of agricultural chemicals: Application to Campo de Cartagena GWB

La Directiva Marco del Agua y la Directiva de Aguas Subterráneas, desarrollada a través del artículo 17 de la primera, establecen una serie de requerimientos a los Estados Miembros con objeto de prevenir y luchar contra la contaminación de las aguas subterráneas. Las redes de observación proporcionan dicha información, verificando si la concentración de una sustancia determinada supera los umbrales ambientales en los puntos de control. Los límites de evaluación representan la máxima concentración admisible en dichos puntos. Cuando se evalúa el impacto potencial en el agua subterránea asociado a las actividades agrícolas, los parámetros relevantes son nitratos y pesticidas. La aplicación de técnicas estadísticas permite obtener concentraciones representativas, que pueden ser comparadas con los estándares ambientales. Con objeto de evaluar los impactos potenciales sobre el medio ambiente en general y el agua subterránea en particular en relación con la utilización rutinaria de productos químicos en la agricultura, se proporciona una visión de conjunto de la aplicación de técnicas estadísticas básicas, incluyendo análisis espacial y temporal. Este último se realiza mediante el análisis exploratorio de datos y ensayos de Mann-Kendall, mientras que el krigeaje es la técnica de referencia en el análisis espacialUnder article 17 of Water Framework Directive and the Groundwater Daughter Directive the Member States are required to provide measures to prevent and control groundwater pollution. Information on the concentration of a substance should be obtained from groundwater monitoring data. Pollution will be prevented if groundwater quality does not exceed a relevant assessment limit at an assessment point. Assessment limits represent the maximum concentration of a substance that should be present at the assessment point. When assessing the potential environmental impact to groundwater associated with agricultural activities, nitrates and pesticides are the relevant parameters.A number of techniques can then be applied to statistically derive a representative concentration for comparison to environmental standards.An insight into the ways in which basic statistical tools can be applied to evaluate potential impacts to the state of the environment, and water in particular, from the routine application of agricultural chemicals is provided. These include temporal and spatial analysis. Temporal evaluation is accomplished by means of exploratory data analysis and Mann Kendall trend test, while spatial analysis is realized by using kriging technique

Geostatistic estimation of soil manganese concentration and its relationship with groundwater of Spain

Metal content in groundwater is a problem intensely studied by different researchers worldwide. High concentrations of these elements are related to geogenic sources besides of anthropogenic activities. In this work, a geostatistical estimation of manganese content in the soils of Spain (peninsula), in order to define the source areas of this element, is displayed. This estimate has been compared to groundwater analysis from the quality monitoring network of Agriculture, Food and Environment Ministry (MAGRAMA) to determine the influence of soil concentration on groundwater bodies, particularly in areas where high levels of concentration are found. For geostatistical estimation over 13,000 soil analyses have been employed, while the groundwater quality database has provided more than 9,900 records since year 2000, when the Water Framework Directive (WFD) came into force. Results show the existence of broad sectors where Manganese concentration in groundwater is over 0.4 ppm, that is likely responsible for adverse health effects. In general, these values are linked to certain human activitiesEl contenido en metales en las aguas subterráneas es un problema muy estudiado por diferentes investigadores en todo el mundo. Concentraciones altas de estos elementos están relacionadas con fuentes geogénicas y con factores antropocéntricos. En este trabajo, se muestra una estimación geoestadística del contenido de manganeso en los suelos de España (península) con objeto de delimitar las zonas fuente de este elemento. Esta estimación ha sido comparada con los análisis de aguas subterráneas procedentes de la red de control de calidad del Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (MAGRAMA) con objeto de determinar la influencia, especialmente de los máximos existentes en los suelos, sobre las masas de aguas subterráneas. Para la estimación geoestadística se han empleado más de 13.000 análisis de suelos, mientras que la base de datos de calidad de las aguas subterráneas presenta más de 9.900 registros a partir del año 2000, cuando entró en vigor la Directiva Marco del Agua (DMA). Los resultados muestran la existencia de amplios sectores donde la concentración de Mn en aguas subterráneas está por encima de 0,4 ppm, que es perjudicial para la salud. En general, estos valores están vinculados a algún tipo de actividad human

Water Policies and Conflict Resolution of Public Participation Decision-Making Processes Using Prioritized Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) Operators

[EN] There is a growing interest in environmental policies about how to implement public participation engagement in the context of water resources management. This paper presents a robust methodology, based on ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operators, to conflict resolution decision-making problems under uncertain environments due to both information and stakeholders' preferences. The methodology allows integrating heterogeneous interests of the general public and stakeholders on account of their different degree of acceptance or preference and level of influence or power regarding the measures and policies to be adopted, and also of their level of involvement (i.e., information supply, consultation and active involvement). These considerations lead to different environmental and socio-economic outcomes, and levels of stakeholders' satisfaction. The methodology establishes a prioritization relationship over the stakeholders. The individual stakeholders' preferences are aggregated through their associated weights, which depend on the satisfaction of the higher priority decision maker. The methodology ranks the optimal management strategies to maximize the stakeholders' satisfaction. It has been successfully applied to a real case study, providing greater fairness, transparency, social equity and consensus among actors. Furthermore, it provides support to environmental policies, such as the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), improving integrated water management while covering a wide range of objectives, management alternatives and stakeholders.Llopis Albert, C.; Merigó-Lindahl, JM.; Liao, H.; Xu, Y.; Grima-Olmedo, J.; Grima-Olmedo, C. (2018). Water Policies and Conflict Resolution of Public Participation Decision-Making Processes Using Prioritized Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) Operators. 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Analysis of the geological control on the spatial distribution of potentially toxic concentrations of As and F- in groundwater on a Pan-European scale

The distribution of the high concentrations of arsenic (As) and fluoride (F-) in groundwater on a Pan-European scale could be explained by the geological European context (lithology and structural faults). To test this hypothesis, seventeen countries and eighteen geological survey organizations (GSOs) have participated in the dataset. The methodology has used the HydroGeoToxicity (HGT) and the Baseline Concentration (BLC) index. The results prove that most of the waters considered in this study are in good conditions for drinking water consumption, in terms of As and/or F- content. A low proportion of the analysed samples present HGT≥ 1 levels (4% and 7% for As and F-, respectively). The spatial distribution of the highest As and/or F- concentrations (via BLC values) has been analysed using GIS tools. The highest values are identified associated with fissured hard rock outcrops (crystalline rocks) or Cenozoic sedimentary zones, where basement fractures seems to have an obvious control on the distribution of maximum concentrations of these elements in groundwaters.This research was co-funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (GeoERA HOVER project) under grant agreement number 731166. D. Voutchkova, B. Hansen, and J. Schullehner were also supported by Innovation Fund Denmark (funding agreement number 8055- 00073B). N. Rman participation was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency, research program P1-0020 Groundwaters and Geochemistry. A. Felter, J. Cabalska and A. Mikołajczyk participation was supported by the Polish Ministry of Education and Science. E. Giménez-Forcada is grateful for the support received from the CIPROM/2021/032 Project. Valencian Government. University of Valencia (Spain)

Evaluación de la influencia del marco geológico en la concentración de As, Pb y Sb en suelos y aguas subterráneas

Existe interés creciente en evaluar los riesgos por exposición a contaminantes del suelo, aire y agua. Este trabajo presenta un estudio sobre patrones espaciales y asociaciones entre As, Pb y Sb. Se ha analizado el territorio peninsular de España, de geología compleja, con dos grandes unidades: la mitad occidental (Dominio Hercínico) y la oriental (Dominio Alpino-Cuencas Terciarias). El punto de partida es el Atlas Geoquímico de España, cofinanciado por el Área Económica Europea (63 elementos analizados en 40.000 muestras de suelos y sedimentos de corriente). Los datos de calidad de aguas subterráneas provienen del Ministerio de Medio Ambiente.Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, EspañaUnidad de Valencia, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, EspañaUnidad de Granada, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, EspañaÁrea de Geología Ambiental y Geomatemáticas, Departamento de Investigación en Recursos Geológicos, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, EspañaPeer reviewe

Análisis de la variabilidad espacial de As, Pb y Sb en suelos de España y su influencia sobre el agua subterránea

Durante los últimos años ha aumentado el interés en evaluar los riesgos para la salud causados por la exposición a contaminantes presentes en el suelo, aire y agua, como metales pesados o contaminantes emergentes. Este trabajo presenta un estudio sobre los patrones espaciales y asociaciones existentes entre los elementos Sb, As y Pb, que pueden ocurrir juntos en diferentes minerales. Todos ellos pueden tener origen tanto natural como antropogénico, por lo que es esencial analizar sus correlaciones y distribución espacial. La elaboración de una tabla de contingencia ha permitido constatar la influencia de la litología sobre la concentración de dichos elementos tanto en suelo como en agua subterránea. Por otra parte, se ha analizado la influencia conjunta del suelo y las características litológicas sobre las aguas subterráneas mediante un Modelo Lineal de Correlación (LMC). El resultado del LMC muestra una clara y única influencia de estas últimas en la composición química de las aguas subterráneas a la escala de trabajo considerada.Departamento Ingeniería Geológica y Minera, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, EspañaInstituto Geológico y Minero de España, Españ

Multiscale analysis of the spatial variability of heavy metals and organic matter in soils and groundwater across Spain

During the last years there has been an increasing interest in assessing health risks caused by exposure to contaminants found in soil, air, and water, like heavy metals or emerging contaminants. This work presents a study on the spatial patterns and interaction effects among relevant heavy metals (Sb, As and Pb) that may occur together in different minerals. Total organic carbon (TOC) have been analyzed too because it is an essential component in the regulatory mechanisms that control the amount of metal in soils. Even more, exposure to these elements is associated with a number of diseases and environmental problems. These metals can have both natural and anthropogenic origins. A key component of any exposure study is a reliable model of the spatial distribution the elements studied. A geostatistical analysis have been performed in order to show that selected metals are auto-correlated and cross-correlated and type and magnitude of such cross-correlation varies depending on the spatial scale under consideration. After identifying general trends, we analyzed the residues left after subtracting the trend from the raw variables. Three scales of variability were identified (compounds or factors) with scales of 5, 35 and 135 km. The first factor (F1) basically identifies anomalies of natural origin but, in some places, of anthropogenics origin as well. The other two are related to geology (F2 and F3) although F3 represents more clearly geochemical background related to large lithological groups. Likewise, mapping of two major structures indicates that significant faults have influence on the distribution of the studied elements. Finally, influence of soil and lithology on groundwater by means of contingency analysis was assessed.Unidad de Granada, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, EspañaInstituto Geológico y Minero de España, EspañaEscuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Minas y Energía, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Españ