Geochemical Signature of Arsenic-Contaminated Groundwater in Barak Valley (Assam) and Surrounding Areas, Northeastern India

AbstractHigh arsenic (As) concentrations (12-97μg/l) have been detected in the groundwater of the Barak Valley region (Assam), northeastern India. The main source of As is traced to the litho-facies of the Tipam formation

Water footprint study by IIT Hyderabad under HMDA region

The Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT-H) researchers, after having undertaken a study of water footprint in the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), found that agriculture accounts for nearly 70 per cent consumption of ‘physical’ water, in what is known as the ‘Green water footprint’

Farm sector uses 70% water, says IIT Hyderabad research

The Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT-H) researchers, after having undertaken a study of water footprint in the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), found that agriculture accounts for nearly 70 per cent consumption of ‘physical’ water, in what is known as the ‘Green water footprint’

Quantifying the water footprint of an urban agglomeration in developing economy

Sustainable conservation of natural resources has become a primary concern for urban cities, globally as they are centers of consumption and economy. Due to population growth, cities depend more on imports of food, energy, water, and services from all over the globe, and consume more virtual water than direct water, because of their food habits and lifestyle. Most of the imported goods are water intensive and pose challenges in tracing the source of virtual water. The goal of this research is to develop a general framework to assess the water footprint (WF) of a typical city in India using existing databases. A consumer-centric approach has been adopted for assessing WF in Hyderabad Metro Development Area (HMDA). The variation of the WF across economic classes of consumers is also analyzed. The WF is estimated based on four broad categories: 1) food consumption, 2) fossil fuels based energy, 3) electric power, and 4) direct water. Average WF of HMDA region is 1041 m3/cap/year (2852 LPCD), in which 70% (1986 LPCD) of WF was consumed by food, 25% (744 LPCD) by electric power, only 4% (121 LPCD) is from direct water consumption and surprisingly the contribution from fossil fuel WF to total per capita WF of HMDA area is less than 1%

IIT study examines city’s hidden water guzzlers

The Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT-H) researchers, after having undertaken a study of water footprint in the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), found that agriculture accounts for nearly 70 per cent consumption of ‘physical’ water, in what is known as the ‘Green water footprint’

An Influence of Thermally-Induced Micro-Cracking under Cooling Treatments: Mechanical Characteristics of Australian Granite

The aim of this study is to characterise the changes in mechanical properties and to provide a comprehensive micro-structural analysis of Harcourt granite over different pre-heating temperatures under two cooling treatments (1) rapid and (2) slow cooling. A series of uniaxial compression tests was conducted to evaluate the mechanical properties of granite specimens subjected to pre-heating to temperatures ranging from 25–1000◦C under both cooling conditions. An acoustic emission (AE) system was incorporated to identify the fracture propagation stress thresholds. Furthermore, the effect of loading and unloading behaviour on the elastic properties of Harcourt granite was evaluated at two locations prior to failure: (1) crack initiation and (2) crack damage. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses were conducted on heat-treated thin rock slices to observe the crack/fracture patterns and to quantify the extent of micro-cracking during intense heating followed by cooling. The results revealed that the thermal field induced in the Harcourt granite pore structure during heating up to 100◦C followed by cooling causes cracks to close, resulting in increased mechanical characteristics, in particular, material stiffness and strength. Thereafter, a decline in mechanical properties occurs with the increase of pre-heating temperatures from 100◦C to 800◦C. However, the thermal deterioration under rapid cooling is much higher than that under slow cooling, because rapid cooling appears to produce a significant amount of micro-cracking due to the irreversible thermal shock induced. Multiple stages of loading and unloading prior to failure degrade the elastic properties of Harcourt granite due to the damage accumulated through the coalescence of micro-cracks induced during compression loading. However, this degradation is insignificant for pre-heating temperatures over 400◦C, since the specimens are already damaged due to excessive thermal deterioration. Moreover, unloading after crack initiation tends to cause insignificant irreversible strains, whereas significant permanent strains occur during unloading after crack damage, and this appears to increase with the increase of pre-heating temperature over 400

Water and Food Nexus: Role of Socio-Economic Status on Water–Food Nexus in an Urban Agglomeration Hyderabad, India Using Consumption Water Footprint

Cities are complex and evolving systems with various factors playing key roles, e.g., population increase, the migration of population, the availability of resources, and the flexibility of policies. Consumers’ socioeconomic status is also an important aspect that needs to be studied in the context of a self-reliant urban city in its resource consumption. In this regard, the association between water-food and socio-economic attributes was analyzed based on the consumer-centric approach for the Hyderabad Metro Development Authority (HMDA) region, India. In this study, the embedded water content in food consumption was estimated and analyzed for nine food groups and twelve economic classes of the HMDA region. The middle economic classes were found to correspond to ~80% of embedded water content in the HMDA region, followed by the upper and lower economic classes. Except for cereals, per capita, the water consumption of all food groups increased with the spending power of the economic class. The green, blue, and grey consumption water footprints (WFs) suggested that much of the water that is being consumed in the HMDA region is precipitation- driven, followed by surface and groundwater resources. Limited water resources, water resource variability, climate change consequences including future climate projections, uncertainty in data, WF estimates, and region’s future growth imply a detailed study in drafting policies to become a self-reliant region. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland