Public perceptions of recycled water: a survey of visitors to the London 2012 Olympic Park

The Old Ford Water Recycling Plant, operated by Thames Water, was used to supply non-potable recycled blackwater to some of the venues at the London 2012 Games. In an effort to learn from this experience, Thames Water commissioned a survey of visitors to the Olympic Park during the Games to explore public responses to the water recycling project. Results show a very high level of support for using non-potable recycled blackwater, both in public venues and in homes. Such findings may indicate a growing receptivity towards this technology, and show that Thames Water (and other private water companies) are well placed to encourage and even lead public discussion around the role of water reuse in the future of urban water supplies

Applying the water safety plan to water reuse: towards a conceptual risk management framework

The Water Safety Plan (WSP) is receiving increasing attention as a recommended risk management approach for water reuse through a range of research programmes, guidelines and standards. Numerous conceptual modifications of the approach – including the Sanitation Safety Plan, the Water Cycle Safety Plan, and even a dedicated Water Reuse Safety Plan – have been put forward for this purpose. However, these approaches have yet to encapsulate the full spectrum of possible water reuse applications, and evidence of their application to reuse remains limited. Through reviewing the existing evidence base, this paper investigates the potential for adapting the WSP into an approach for water reuse. The findings highlight a need for the management of risk to reflect on, and facilitate the inclusion of, broader contexts and objectives for water reuse schemes. We conclude that this could be addressed through a more integrated approach to risk management, encapsulated within an overarching risk management framework (adapted from the WHO's Framework for safe drinking water) and operationalised through the Water Reuse Safety Plan (WRSP). We also propose that the WRSP should be based on modifications to the existing WSP approach, including an increased emphasis on supporting communication and engagement, and improvements in decision support mechanisms to better account for uncertainty, risk interactions and risk prioritisation

Hydrologic data for urban studies in the Austin, Texas, metropolitan area, 1981

This technical report includes maps of ground-water data-collection sites, rainfall for specific storms, storm rainfall-runoff for the 1981 water year, monthly water-level measurements of observation wells, water quality data, peak discharge, and daily rainfall summaries for specific gages.Waller Creek Working Grou

How Governance Regimes Shape the Implementation of Water Reuse Schemes

The governance dimensions of water reuse scheme development and operation, such as policies and regulatory frameworks, and public involvement and stakeholder collaboration, can serve to both facilitate and constrain wider adoption of water reuse practices. This paper explores the significance and underlying structure of the key governance challenges facing the water reuse sector in Europe. It presents empirical evidence from interviews and focus group sessions conducted at four water reuse schemes: an indirect potable reuse scheme at Torreele (Belgium), the urban reuse of treated municipal wastewater at the London Olympic Park (United Kingdom) and at Sabadell (Spain), and the reuse of agro-industrial effluent for irrigation at Capitanata (Italy). The findings underscore the importance of clarity in policy arrangements around water reuse, as well as of the financial competitiveness of reuse projects compared to alternative water supply options. Operators of water reuse schemes expressed a preference for water quality standards, which focus on appropriateness for use rather than over-emphasise the waters’ origin so that unnecessary treatment and costs can be avoided. Positive public support was widely acknowledged as an important factor in the success or failure of water reuse schemes. We conclude that constructive institutional relationships underpin many of the challenges faced by reuse scheme operators and that greater emphasis should be given to building confidence and gaining trust in water service providers through early identification of how governance regimes shape the viability of new scheme

Unpacking organizational capacity in the context of the Water Framework Directive

Effective implementation of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) is dependent on Member States’ national water institutions and organizations, often designated as ‘competent authorities’. Although substantial research relating to the Directive itself has been carried out, less is known about the extent to which competent authorities have the organizational capacity to deliver it. The literature notes that conceptual understanding of capacity has been hampered by lack of definitional clarity making both its management and assessment challenging. From a combination of extensive literature review, empirical data collection and thematic analysis, we develop an in-depth holistic conceptual framework for the assessment of competent authorities’ organizational capacity in the context of WFD delivery. The core thematic components of this framework encourage analysts to consider the ways in which legal authority, information and knowledge, skills, resources and leadership shape a competent authority’s ability to deliver WFD objectives. Malta is the case study used to test the application of this method. Focus is drawn on the implementation of three main WFD provisions: Articles 8, 9 and 14. The proposed conceptual framework for unpacking organizational capacity provides insights that are helpful to policy-makers for the future planning of WFD delivery as it highlights the challenges experienced by competent authorities as well as opportunities to invest in and enhance their capacity

Informing public attitudes to non-potable water reuse – The impact of message framing

Water reuse is of increasing relevance for water-stressed regions but is often considered a contentious option. Research has shown that providing the public with information about reuse options can impact positively on its acceptability, although such impacts can be confined to specific groups. In this context, there is growing interest in understanding the impact of different forms and mechanisms of communication with the public around reuse. This contribution has investigated the use of video animations to communicate the safety of non-potable recycled water schemes. The aim of this study was to evaluate how different ways of framing messages about the safety of recycled water might impact on public attitudes. Participants were recruited in London (n = 689), UK, and randomly allocated to test and control groups, with the former being exposed to one of four video animations that used different frames to convey messages about recycled water safety. Surveys collected pre- and post-video message responses for dependent variables including the general acceptance of diverse non-potable recycled water uses, risk perceptions and trust. The findings complement existing knowledge on the impacts of different types of messaging on public attitudes to reuse schemes with important evidence for the positive impact of water safety communications framed in terms of compliance with water quality requirements. Contrarily, a positive attitudinal impact was not evident for safety message framed in terms of the selection of water treatment technology to remove contaminants nor in terms of non-potable water risks relative to other every-day risks. The results are of value to water resource planners looking to develop communication resources, as part of more comprehensive public engagement strategies, for improving perceptions of water reuse. Importantly, the findings help isolate the effects of specific message frames, and inform the debate on whether an increased understanding of risk positively or negatively influences willingness to support water reuse schemes

Public views on drought mitigation: Evidence from the comments sections of on-line news sources

During the spring of 2012 much of the south-east of England was under water use restrictions, as a result of two consecutive dry winters. The drought highlighted the region's vulnerability to this natural hazard and emphasized the issues associated with water shortages and the need for drought mitigation measures. Using qualitative content analysis of online news articles (n = 14) and their associated comments from readers (n = 1298) we explore both public preferences for drought mitigation options and the underpinning reasoning used to justify such preferences. Findings suggest that supply side interventions attract more intense commentary and divide opinion to a greater extent than demand side strategies and that dialogue around mitigation options is characterised by a pronounced concern for the relative social justice of choices. The study also generates important lessons about the structured use of on-line public opinion sources and we offer conclusions about how these might best be utilised in the future

Public responses to water reuse - Understanding the evidence

Over the years, much research has attempted to unpack what drives public responses to water reuse, using a variety of approaches. A large amount of this work was captured by an initial review that covered research undertaken up to the early 2000s (Hartley, 2006). This paper showcases post-millennium evidence and thinking around public responses to water reuse, and highlights the novel insights and shifts in emphasis that have occurred in the field. Our analysis is structured around four broad, and highly interrelated, strands of thinking: 1) work focused on identifying the range of factors that influence public reactions to the concept of water reuse, and broadly looking for associations between different factors; 2) more specific approaches rooted in the socio-psychological modelling techniques; 3) work with a particular focus on understanding the influences of trust, risk perceptions and affective (emotional) reactions; and 4) work utilising social constructivist perspectives and socio-technical systems theory to frame responses to water reuse. Some of the most significant advancements in thinking in this field stem from the increasingly sophisticated understanding of the ‘yuck factor’ and the role of such pre-cognitive affective reactions. These are deeply entrenched within individuals, but are also linked with wider societal processes and social representations. Work in this area suggests that responses to reuse are situated within an overall process of technological ‘legitimation’. These emerging insights should help stimulate some novel thinking around approaches to public engagement for water reuse

Preventing childhood malaria in Africa by protecting adults from mosquitoes with insecticide-treated nets

Malaria prevention in Africa merits particular attention as the world strives toward a better life for the poorest. Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) represent a practical means to prevent malaria in Africa, so scaling up coverage to at least 80% of young children and pregnant women by 2010 is integral to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Targeting individual protection to vulnerable groups is an accepted priority, but community-level impacts of broader population coverage are largely ignored even though they may be just as important. We therefore estimated coverage thresholds for entire populations at which individual- and community-level protection are equivalent, representing rational targets for ITN coverage beyond vulnerable groups

LC-MS proteomics analysis of the iInsulin/IGF-1-deficient Caenorhabditis elegans daf-2(e1370) mutant reveals extensive restructuring of intermediary metabolism

The insulin/IGF-1 receptor is a major known determinant of dauer formation, stress resistance, longevity, and metabolism in Caenorhabditis elegans. In the past, whole-genome transcript profiling was used extensively to study differential gene expression in response to reduced insulin/IGF-1 signaling, including the expression levels of metabolism-associated genes. Taking advantage of the recent developments in quantitative liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based proteomics, we profiled the proteomic changes that occur in response to activation of the DAF-16 transcription factor in the germline-less glp-4(bn2);daf-2(e1370) receptor mutant. Strikingly, the daf-2 profile suggests extensive reorganization of intermediary metabolism, characterized by the upregulation of many core intermediary metabolic pathways. These include glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, glycogenesis, pentose phosphate cycle, citric acid cycle, glyoxylate shunt, fatty acid beta-oxidation, one-carbon metabolism, propionate and tyrosine catabolism, and complexes I, II, III, and V of the electron transport chain. Interestingly, we found simultaneous activation of reciprocally regulated metabolic pathways, which is indicative of spatiotemporal coordination of energy metabolism and/or extensive post-translational regulation of these enzymes. This restructuring of daf-2 metabolism is reminiscent to that of hypometabolic dauers, allowing the efficient and economical utilization of internal nutrient reserves and possibly also shunting metabolites through alternative energy-generating pathways to sustain longevity