A Survey of Source and Finished Water Supplies for Giardia Cysts and Cryptosporidium

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Biology by Lisa Martin Sexton on December 1, 1994

A Survey of Source and Finished Water Supplies for \u3cem\u3eGiardia\u3c/em\u3e Cysts and \u3cem\u3eCryptosporidium\u3c/em\u3e Oocysts

The occurrence of Giardia lamblia cysts and Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts was determined from source and treated drinking water supplies at selected water treatment facilities in Eastern Kentucky. Giardia and Cryptosporidium are two human protozoan parasites often found in water supplies due to fecal contamination. Characteristic cysts and oocysts were identified from large volume water samples, typically 100 gallons for raw samples and 1,000 gallons for finished water, using an indirect fluorescent antibody specific for Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Source water from four different water treatment facilities utilizing a reservoir, river, and two creeks were assayed. All sites exhibited Giardia lamblia cysts while Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts were detected at all sites except those collected from the reservoir for a 100% and 75% occurrence rate for these two protozoans, respectively. Samples from two of the four (50%) water treatment facilities surveyed yielded Cryptosporidium oocysts in finished water whereas no Giardia cysts were detected utilizing this method. Water quality indicators, including pH, turbidity, and fecal coliform bacteria levels were taken on all raw water samples in an effort to predict Giardia and Cryptosporidium contamination in water sources. Statistical analysis of specified indicators determined that neither pH, turbidity, nor fecal coliform bacteria exhibited significant correlations with detected cysts or oocyst levels. The treatment train of each water treatment facility was surveyed to determine if Giardia and Cryptosporidium levels were influenced by physical/chemical parameters. Of the three filtration methods utilized: 1)direct; 2) slow sand; and 3) rapid sand filtration, none were shown to be significantly different from each other in affecting protozoa levels. Disinfection and purification of raw water sources varied at each facility surveyed. An analysis of chemical additions and chlorine contact times also proved to be insignificant in their affects on detected Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts levels. No oocysts were detected in treated water in plants using a polymer (cat-floc-tl) as a coagulant; however, those that utilized alum as a coagulant, Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in their finished water. Giardia lamblia cysts and Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts were demonstrated to be present in source water utilized by four water treatment plants in Eastern Kentucky. Of the standard water quality indicators often utilized for raw water sources, none were shown to be reliable indicators in alerting water treatment facilities of possible Giardia or Cryptosporidium contamination. Nonetheless, Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in two of four treated drinking water supplies. This study has demonstrated that current filtering and disinfection techniques need to be improved, along with best management practices in the watersheds, to deminish the threat of infection by Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum by drinking treated water, especially in immunosuppressed individuals

Conflict, contradiction and concern: judges’ evaluation of sustainability in architectural awards

This paper explores how judges evaluate sustainability of buildings in RIBA award settings in the UK. A qualitative approach drawing on institutional theory is used to understand the ways judges legitimate particular evaluative views. Aesthetics and Sustainability focused logics are found to guide the evaluative legitimation process. An Aesthetics focused logic is characterised by reliance on expertise, ‘professionalism’ and perceptions of fair practice, whereas a Sustainability focused logic prioritises moral responsibility, scientific evidence and personal experience. Evaluating sustainability was characterised by conflict, concern and contradiction between and within the logics. Evaluation here is seen as a process of constant negotiation between conflicting priorities and managing wider expectations. Different perceptions of what counts in terms of judges’ understandings of legitimacy whether from the profession or wider society were found to provide a way of compliance or commitment to a particular evaluative view of sustainability. Implications of the findings are threefold. First, the analysis shows a way of studying sustainability evaluation in the architectural domain that shifts the literature's dominant focus on technical features to a consideration of the social context, the profession, awards and other evaluative issues including aesthetics. Second, the discussion draws attention to the importance of examining understandings of sustainability evaluation in view of the legitimacy sources judges draw on from the profession, the awards or wider society to justify particular decisions. Finally the study reveals some of the often overlooked difficulties in evaluating sustainability including negotiating conflicts between competing values including aesthetics versus sustainability, challenges in judging scientific evidence and the need for expert legitimation regarding sustainability decisions. The paper concludes with a discussion of the contribution of empirical and theoretical analysis of sustainability evaluation for research in awards as well as the built environment more generally including the study of uncertainty in evaluative design practice

Speeding up the Hybrid-Monte-Carlo algorithm for dynamical fermions

We propose a modification of the Hybrid-Monte-Carlo algorithm that allows for a larger step-size of the integration scheme at constant acceptance rate. The key ingredient is that the pseudo-fermion action is split into two parts. We test our proposal at the example of the two-dimensional lattice Schwinger model with two degenerate flavours of Wilson-fermions.Comment: 8 page

New governance approaches to environmental regulation: an example of the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH)

Environmental policy in the United Kingdom (UK) is witnessing a shift from command-and-control approaches towards more innovation-orientated environmental governance arrangements. These governance approaches are required which create institutions which support actors within a domain for learning not only about policy options, but also about their own interests and preferences. The need for construction actors to understand, engage and influence this process is critical to establishing policies which support innovation that satisfies each constituent’s needs. This capacity is particularly salient in an era where the expanding raft of environmental regulation is ushering in system-wide innovation in the construction sector. In this paper, the Code for Sustainable Homes (the Code) in the UK is used to demonstrate the emergence and operation of these new governance arrangements. The Code sets out a significant innovation challenge for the house-building sector with, for example, a requirement that all new houses must be zero-carbon by 2016. Drawing upon boundary organisation theory, the journey from the Code as a government aspiration, to the Code as a catalyst for the formation of the Zero Carbon Hub, a new institution, is traced and discussed. The case study reveals that the ZCH has demonstrated boundary organisation properties in its ability to be flexible to the needs and constraints of its constituent actors, yet robust enough to maintain and promote a common identity across regulation and industry boundaries

Investment by Chinese construction firms in the UK infrastructure sector: volumes, patterns and trends

The expansion of global construction markets has substantial implications for companies engaged in cross-border transactions and financing. The convergence of the UK and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) infrastructure policy agendas has led to significant investment from Chinese construction companies in the UK infrastructure sector. On the demand side, the UK Government’s National Infrastructure Plan sets out a wide range of investment priorities. The PRC Government’s One Belt, One Road strategy, on the supply side, has prioritized outward foreign investment into Eurasia. The international business literature on foreign market entry with a specific organizational capability perspective is drawn upon to understand the rationale for Chinese construction companies to invest in the UK infrastructure market. Two Chinese construction multinational companies currently engaging in UK infrastructure projects are studied through interpreting secondary sources. Findings indicate that their pursuit of hybrid market entry modes are underpinned by corresponding hybrid capability exploitation and acquisition motivations

Procurers, Providers and Users (PPU): towards a meta-role model for conceptualising product-service in the built environment

The product-service paradigm requires a shift in focus for many engineering disciplines, forcing them to change from providing products to providing products and associated services. Such a shift is likely to present several challenges to the built environment due to its inherent organisational fragmentations and through-life discontinuities. This paper presents a preliminary conceptualisation of the product-service paradigm as seen from a built environment perspective. The proposed PPU model represents the meta-roles and the information flows, considered as key to sustaining the product-service concept within the built environment

Reducing defects through organizational learning within a Housing Association environment

Housing Associations (HAs) contribute circa 20% of the UK’s housing supply. HAs are however under increasing pressure as a result of funding cuts and rent reductions. Due to the increased pressure, a number of processes are currently being reviewed by HAs, especially how they manage and learn from defects. Learning from defects is considered a useful approach to achieving defect reduction within the UK housebuilding industry. This paper contributes to our understanding of how HAs learn from defects by undertaking an initial round table discussion with key HA stakeholders as part of an ongoing collaborative research project with the National House Building Council (NHBC) to better understand how house builders and HAs learn from defects to reduce their prevalence. The initial discussion shows that defect information runs through a number of groups, both internal and external of a HA during both the defects management process and organizational learning (OL) process. Furthermore, HAs are reliant on capturing and recording defect data as the foundation for the OL process. During the OL process defect data analysis is the primary enabler to recognizing a need for a change to organizational routines. When a need for change has been recognized, new options are typically pursued to design out defects via updates to a HAs Employer’s Requirements. Proposed solutions are selected by a review board and committed to organizational routine. After implementing a change, both structured and unstructured feedback is sought to establish the change’s success. The findings from the HA discussion demonstrates that OL can achieve defect reduction within the house building sector in the UK. The paper concludes by outlining a potential ‘learning from defects model’ for the housebuilding industry as well as describing future work

Detecting defects in the UK new-build housing sector: a learning perspective

Rapid growth in the production of new homes in the UK is putting build quality under pressure as evidenced by an increase in the number of defects. Housing associations (HAs) contribute approximately 20% of the UK’s new housing supply. HAs are currently experiencing central government funding cuts and rental revenue reductions. As part of HAs’ quest to ramp up supply despite tight budget conditions, they are reviewing how they learn from defects. Learning from defects is argued as a means of reducing the persistent defect problem within the UK housebuilding industry, yet how HAs learn from defects is under-researched. The aim of this research is to better understand how HAs, in practice, learn from past defects to reduce the prevalence of defects in future new homes. The theoretical lens for this research is organizational learning. The results drawn from 12 HA case studies indicate that effective organizational learning has the potential to reduce defects within the housing sector. The results further identify that HAs are restricting their learning to focus primarily on reducing defects through product and system adaptations. Focusing on product and system adaptations alone suppresses HAs’ abilities to reduce defects in the future