Subject:
All Disciplines Arts & Humanities Biology & Life Sciences Business & Economics Chemistry & Materials Science Computer Science & Mathematics Engineering Environmental & Earth Sciences Medicine & Pharmacology Physical Sciences Public Health & Healthcare Social Sciences
Sort:
Most Viewed Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Filter:
All Topic Review Biography Peer Reviewed Entry Video Entry
Topic Review
Fouling Prevention in Membranes by Radiation-Induced Graft Copolymerization
The application of membrane processes in various fields has now undergone accelerated developments, despite the presence of some hurdles impacting the process efficiency. Fouling is arguably the main hindrance for a wider implementation of polymeric membranes, particularly in pressure-driven membrane processes, causing higher costs of energy, operation, and maintenance. Radiation induced graft copolymerization (RIGC) is a powerful versatile technique for covalently imparting selected chemical functionalities to membranes’ surfaces, providing a potential solution to fouling problems. 
  • 976
  • 17 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Environmental Nanotechnologies in Wastewater Treatment
Nanotechnologies (NTs) are nowadays well established on both private households and commercial markets. NTs are fully accepted in several sectors such as medicine and pharmacy, or in industry such as chemistry, electricity, food production, military, and other commercial branches due to their unique properties. With regard to the growing demands on environmental resources caused through still growing worldwide population, application of NTs is an extremely important new branch in the environmental sector delivering several advantages. The entry provides a comprehensive overview on current developments in environmental remediation, wastewater treatment, drinking water treatment and agriculture. More in detail, in the section environmental remediation, the application on NTs towards enhanced reductive dechlorination,  removal of heavy metals and remediation of oil spills were reviewed. Developments towards adsorption of heavy metals and persistent substances, advanced photocatalytic degradation of common wastewater pollutants, and improvements in membrane filtration processes were predominantely highlighted. On the one hand, nanotechnologies (NTs) refer to nanostructure techniques, such as nanolithography and nanomanipulation, but also to nanomaterials (NMs) on the other hand. NMs refer commonly to nanoparticles (NPs), nanotubes, nanofilms, and others. The engineered era of NTs combines different application sectors, including biological, biotechnological, chemical, medical, pharmaceutical, food and agriculture, environmental, electronic, material engineering, and other industrial processing technologies, and other branches.
  • 962
  • 01 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Reservoirs
Reservoirs are manmade lakes created by building dams on rivers for various purposes: flood control, electricity generation, irrigation, water supply, aquaculture, environmental services, recreational activities, navigation etc. In freshwater ecosystems, several mechanisms are involved in the natural carbon cycle. They receive carbon from terrestrial ecosystems through drainage, capture the carbon through primary production, bury the carbon in sediments, emit GHG through biomass degradation and respiration, and transport the carbon downstream to the seas or oceans. GHG emissions can be increased by human activities around the ecosystem through sewage and agricultural pollution.
  • 954
  • 03 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Complex Wastewater Matrices
Complex wastewater matrices present a major environmental concern. Besides the biodegradable organics, they may contain a great variety of toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and other xenobiotics. The electrochemically activated persulfate process, an efficient way to generate sulfate radicals, has been widely applied to the degradation of such complex effluents with very good results.
  • 937
  • 20 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring with Chemical Sensors
Water quality is one of the most critical indicators of environmental pollution and it affects all of us. Water contamination can be accidental or intentional and the consequences are drastic unless the appropriate measures are adopted on the spot. 
  • 934
  • 09 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Agricultural Drainage
Practicing agricultural drainage strategies is necessary to manage excess water in poorly drained irrigated farmlands to protect them from induced waterlogging and salinity problems. 
  • 929
  • 16 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Recent Advances in Membrane Distillation Module Configurations
Membrane Distillation (MD) is a membrane-based, temperature-driven water reclamation process. While research emphasis has been largely on membrane design, upscaling of MD has prompted advancements in energy-efficient module design and configurations. Apart from the four conventional configurations, researchers have come up with novel MD membrane module designs and configurations to improve thermal efficiency. While membrane design has been the focus of many studies, development of appropriate system configurations for optimal energy efficiency for each application has received considerable attention, and is a critical aspect in advancing MD configurations. This review assesses advancements in modified and novel MD configurations design with emphasis on the effects of upscaling and pilot scale studies. Improved MD configurations discussed in this review are the material gap MD, conductive gap MD, permeate gap MD, vacuum-enhanced AGMD/DCMD, submerged MD, flashed-feed MD, dead-end MD, and vacuum-enhanced multi-effect MD. All of these modified MD configurations are designed either to reduce the heat loss by mitigating the temperature polarization or to improve the mass transfer and permeate flux. Vacuum-enhanced MD processes and MD process with non-contact feed solution show promise at the lab-scale and must be further investigated. Hollow fiber membrane-based pilot scale modules have not yet been sufficiently explored. In addition, comparison of various configurations is prevented by a lack of standardized testing conditions. We also reflect on recent pilot scale studies, ongoing hurdles in commercialization, niche applications and energy efficiency of the MD process.
  • 928
  • 28 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Water Pollution and Agriculture Pesticide
The agricultural industry uses substantial amounts of water (the highest in the world) mostly for irrigation purposes. Rapid population growth and, consequently, growing demand for food have increased the use of pesticide to have higher yield for crops and other agricultural products. Wastewater generated as a result of excessive use of pesticides/herbicides in agricultural industry is becoming a global issue specifically in developing countries. Over 4,000,000 tons of pesticides are currently used in the world annually and high concentrations above their threshold limits have been detected in water bodies worldwide. The generated wastewater (contaminated with pesticides) has negative impacts on human health, the ecosystem, and the aquatic environment. Biodegradable and biocompatible (including plant-based) pesticides have been introduced as green and safe products to reduce/eliminate the negative impacts of synthetic pesticides.
  • 920
  • 11 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Remediation Solutions for AMDrainage
Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is a toxic wastewater stream formed when oxygenated water comes into contact with exposed mine rock surfaces containing sulphide minerals. The formation of AMD is most prominent in abandoned mines where water accumulates in mine shafts and pits allowing exposure to sulphide minerals. The resulting AMD is typically characterised by a low pH with high concentrations of heavy metals and dissolved sulphate. When left untreated, AMD streams can cause severe environmental degradation, including the contamination of natural water bodies, destroying aquatic life and toxifying natural habitats. AMD remediation methods can be divided into two main categories, active treatment and passive treatment methods. Active treatment methods are characterised by process inputs such as energy, chemicals, labour and automated control, whereas passive remediation technologies require minimal process inputs and are mostly self-sustaining. Passive treatment methods are typically at source constructions comprising of a combination of naturally occurring geochemical, physical and biological processes.
  • 919
  • 04 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Climate Change and Reproductive Biocomplexity in Fishes
The continuing and rapid climate change will have an adverse effect on reproduction by jeopardising successful breeding and survival of fishes impacting on the viability of sustainability in both aquaculture systems and the ocean. 
  • 917
  • 20 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Improving Water Efficiency in a Swimming-Pool Complex
Concomitantly, the possibility of recycling and reusing the water from filter backwashing was evaluated. The pools consumed 25.6% of water, the filter backwashing 24.5%, and the showers 34.7%. Despite the current impossibility of reducing water consumption in pools and filter backwashing, it is feasible to promote more efficient use of water through reducing water consumption by adopting simple water-saving initiatives for showers, taps, and flushing cisterns. These were organized into three distinct scenarios: (a) flushing cistern volume adjustment and the replacement of washbasin and kitchen taps; (b) flushing cistern volume adjustment and shower replacement and (c) flushing cistern volume adjustment, shower, washbasin, and kitchen taps replacement. Under scenarios 1, 2, and 3, the water consumption reduction was 8.0, 13.2, and 20.4%, respectively. The initial investment for scenario 1 was €2290.5, €859.0 for scenario 2 and €3149.5 for scenario 3; the annual water bill reduction was €7115.4, €11,518.1, and €17,655.9, respectively. Therefore, the turnover of the investment was four (scenario 1), one (scenario 2), and three months (scenario 3). The filter washings attained the required standard for irrigation after being subjected to 15 h of sedimentation. 
  • 917
  • 14 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Water Quality and Pollution in Time of COVID-19
Researchers proposes an assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic positive and negative impacts on water bodies on different continents. Regarding the positive impacts, the SARS-CoV-2 monitoring in sewage waters is a useful mechanism in the promptly exposure of community infections and, during the pandemic, many water bodies all over the world had lower pollution levels. The negative impacts are as follows: SARS-CoV-2 presence in untreated sewage water amplifies the risk to human health; there is a lack of adequate elimination processes of plastics, drugs, and biological pollution in wastewater treatment plants; the amount of municipal and medical waste that pollutes water bodies increased; and waste recycling decreased. Urgent preventive measures need to be taken to implement effective solutions for water protection.
  • 912
  • 12 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Point-Based Groundwater Monitoring
The initial type of groundwater investigation started with level measurements with different types of instruments, which is called point-based groundwater monitoring. These methods and instruments include steel tape, electronic measuring tapes, pressure transducers, sounding devices, test drilling, geophysical investigation techniques, piezometers, digital water level recorders, exploratory well drilling, and isotopes, etc.
  • 908
  • 15 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Ecosystem Services of Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment
Constructed wetlands (CWs) are nature-based solutions that utilize natural vegetation, soils, and microbes to treat domestic wastewater and industrial effluents. They are engineered treatment systems that mimic the functions of natural wetlands to capture stormwater, reduce nutrient loads, and create diverse wildlife habitats. As an ecosystem, CWs contribute to human well-being by providing certain ecosystem services that can be classified into four distinct categories, namely: provisioning services, regulating services, supporting services, and cultural services.
  • 906
  • 01 May 2023
Topic Review
Sustainable Water Resources Management in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is one of the most water-scarce nations in the world, with a huge demand-supply gap, and the situation is expected to worsen due to climate change. Conventional surface water resources are limited, while nonrenewable groundwater sources are depleted. To build a more resilient and sustainable water sector, the production of non-conventional water resources, specifically desalinated seawater and treated domestic wastewater, has steadily increased in recent years. As the country lacks perennial water resources, such as rivers or water bodies, it relies mainly on nonrenewable groundwater and desalinated water to meet its daily requirements. Although the government is attempting to regulate the agricultural sector, water consumption in agriculture remains relatively high. It presents an environmental challenge due to its heavy reliance on non-renewable groundwater resources. The anticipated increase in temperature and highly uncertain changes in the rainfall patterns in Saudi Arabia could lead to greater uncertainty when attempting to develop effective water resource management plans.
  • 885
  • 22 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Current Technologies to Remove Organic Micropollutants from Wastewater
Micropollutants are organic and mineral contaminants, including industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and personal hygiene products, that enter the water cycle (ground and surface waters) from human activities. They are found in trace concentrations and do not completely break down, accumulating and posing a risk to the aquatic environment and water resources . Pharmaceutical residues are of environmental concern since they are found in several environmental compartments, including surface, ground and waste waters. However, the effect of pharmaceuticals on ecosystems is still under investigation. To date, the removal of these micropollutants by conventional treatment plants is generally ineffective, in addition to producing a considerable carbon footprint. 
  • 880
  • 27 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Solar Concentration for Wastewaters Remediation
As the effectiveness of conventional wastewater treatment processes is increasingly challenged by the growth of industrial activities, a demand for low-cost and low-impact treatments is emerging. A possible solution is represented by systems coupling solar concentration technology with advanced oxidation processes (AOP).
  • 861
  • 17 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Biological-Based Produced Water Treatment Using Microalgae
Produced water (PW) is the most significant waste stream generated in the oil and gas industries. The generated PW has the potential to be a useful water source rather than waste. While a variety of technologies can be used for the treatment of PW for reuse, biological-based technologies are an effective and sustainable remediation method. Specifically, microalgae, which are a cost-effective and sustainable process that use nutrients to eliminate organic pollutants from PW during the bioremediation process. In these treatment processes, microalgae grow in PW free of charge, eliminate pollutants, and generate clean water that can be recycled and reused. This helps to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere while simultaneously producing biofuels, other useful chemicals, and added-value products. 
  • 850
  • 12 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Bathymetric Chart
A bathymetric chart is a type of isarithmic map that depicts the submerged topography and physiographic features of ocean and sea bottoms. Their primary purpose is to provide detailed depth contours of ocean topography as well as provide the size, shape and distribution of underwater features. Topographic maps display elevation above ground and are complementary to bathymetric charts. Charts use a series of lines and points at equal intervals to showcase depth or elevation. A closed shape with increasingly smaller shapes inside of it can indicate an ocean trench or a seamount, or underwater mountain, depending on whether the depths increase or decrease going inward.Bathymetric surveys and charts are associated with the science of oceanography, particularly marine geology, and underwater engineering or other specialized purposes. thumb|Bathymetric Map of Medicine Lake, CABathymetric data used to produce charts can also be converted to bathymetric profiles which are vertical sections through a feature.thumb|right|Bathymetric chart of Bear Lake
  • 850
  • 03 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Sandy Beach Aquifers
Sandy beach aquifers are complex hydrological and biogeochemical systems where fresh groundwater and seawater mix. The extent of the intertidal mixing zone and the rates of circulating flows within beaches are a primary control on porewater chemistry and microbiology of the intertidal subsurface. Interplay between the hydrological and biogeochemical processes at these land-sea transition zones moderate fluxes of chemicals, particulates, heavy metals, and biota across the aquifer-ocean interface, affecting coastal water quality and nutrient loads to marine ecosystems. Thus, it is important to characterize hydrological and biogeochemical processes in beach aquifers when estimating material fluxes to the ocean. This can be achieved through a suite of cross-disciplinary measurements of beach groundwater flow and chemistry. 
  • 844
  • 08 Apr 2021
  • Page
  • of
  • 11
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Books

>>
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of COVID-19
Encyclopedia of Fungi
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
ScholarVision Creations
Feedback