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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 15055

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Prof. Dr. Martina Zeleňáková

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Faculty of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Košice, Vysokoskolska 4, 042 00 Kosice, Slovakia
Interests: water management; water structures; hydrology; rainwater management; environmental impact assessment; environmental risks
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Dear Colleagues,

The subject of water resource management is a very wide-ranging one, and only some of the more important aspects can be covered in this Special Issue. The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together scientists, researchers, academics, lecturers, and practitioners in the field of water management to share experiences and successes in addressing the sustainable water resource management. Sustainable development of water resource management is based on the principle that water as a natural resource may be utilized only to that extent which ensures future generations have access to sufficient usable supplies of water in the seas, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, and that reserves contained in porous environments below the surface of the land remain preserved in the same quantity and quality. It is devoted to a wide variety of water resource management issues, from water quality to water quantity, considering all impacts of water issues on the environment. This Special Issue presents an international approach to providing the latest developments on both a fundamental basis and the applicability of state-of-the-art knowledge that can be effectively used for solving a variety of large problems in sustainable water resource management and waste water engineering.

Prof. Dr. Martina Zeleňáková
Guest Editor

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Keywords

sustainable development
water engineering
water management
water resources

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 5106 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Numerical Investigation for Riverbank Filtration Sustainability Considering Climatic Changes in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions; Case Study of RBF Site at Embaba, Nile Delta, Egypt

by Ismail Abd-Elaty, Hala M. Ghanayem, Martina Zeleňáková, Peter Mésároš and Osama K. Saleh

Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 1897; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13041897 - 10 Feb 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2453

Abstract

Changes in riverine hydrography and reduced aquifer recharge due to projected climate changes in arid and semi-arid regions are the main issues of water supply, especially in the Nile Delta, Egypt. Continuous degradation results from reduced Nile water flow, poor management of groundwater extraction, and human activities throughout the Nile’s course and drainage channels. Contamination of this water with heavy metals and dissolved organic solids reduces the quality of this water, which increases the price of treatment. River Bank Filtration (RBF) is a water treatment technology used for improving the quality of drinking water taken from polluted rivers where abstraction wells are installed on the banks. This study was applied to the RBF site at Embaba, Nile Delta, Egypt using the numerical code MT3D. The study was simulated and calibrated for the current situation and number of scenarios to investigate the effect of climatic changes on RBF sustainability. Four scenarios were simulated to identify and estimate the RBF portion and the total water travel time from the river to the wells. The first scenario involves a reduction in river stages, the second a decrease in aquifer recharge, the third a combination of the first two scenarios, and the fourth scenario combines scenarios 1, 2, and 3. The results indicate that the RBF portion decreased from 67.42% in the base case to 35.46% and 64.99% with a reduction in river stage by 75% from the base case and a decrease in aquifer recharge from 182.50 (base case) to 50 mm per year, respectively. Moreover, the RBF portion increased to reach 87.75% with a reduction in the General Head Boundary of 75% from the base case, while the combination of the three scenarios decreased the RBF portion to 67.24%. Finally, the water supply systems in arid and semi-arid regions should be extended by installing and operating RBF facilities to manage the negative effects of climatic change through reduction in river stages and aquifer recharge, and increasing abstraction due to overpopulation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Water Resources Management and Waste Water Engineering)

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18 pages, 25995 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Domestic Wastewater Treatment: A Comparison between an Integrated Hybrid UASB-IFAS System and a Conventional UASB-AS System

by Ayman M. Dohdoh, Ibrahim Hendy, Martina Zelenakova and Ahmed Abdo

Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 1853; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13041853 - 08 Feb 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2717

Abstract

The current study presents a detailed evaluation and comparison between two integrated anaerobic–aerobic systems for biological wastewater treatment under equal conditions in all aspects (wastewater characteristics, climatic conditions, reactor sizing, and even the measurement methods). The two examined systems are (i) a hybrid upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (hybrid UASB) coupled with integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) and (ii) a conventional UASB coupled with activated sludge (AS). The present comparative study aims to evaluate and assess the effect of adding carrier-filling media on the performance of the classical integrated UASB-AS. The two parallel pilot-scale systems, hybrid UASB-IFAS and UASB-AS, were installed and operated at a wastewater treatment plant. Three sets of experiments were conducted to examine the influence of the hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the consequent organic and hydraulic loads, temperature, and recirculation rate of the proposed systems. The main results showed that the two investigated systems had a comparably high efficiency for the removal of organic matters and ammonia. Moreover, a paired sample t-test indicated there was a statistically significant effect of the filling media, and the performance of the hybrid UASB-IFAS increased significantly compared with that of the UASB-AS system. An additional benefit of the filling media on the hybrid system was its high stability when changing the organic and hydraulic loads. The optimum HRT was 6 h, with a total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) percentage removal of approximately 95% in both examined systems. Treatment of sewage under high and low temperatures indicated that increasing the temperature improved the efficiency of the overall process for both systems significantly. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Water Resources Management and Waste Water Engineering)

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20 pages, 5063 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Soil Water Erosion Vulnerability and Suitability under Different Irrigation Systems Using Parametric Approach and GIS, Ismailia, Egypt

by Mohamed Abu-Hashim, Ahmed Sayed, Martina Zelenakova, Zuzana Vranayová and Mohamed Khalil

Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1057; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13031057 - 20 Jan 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2840

Abstract

Preserving the sustainable agriculture concept requires identifying the plant response to the water regime and rationing the water for irrigation. This research compares different irrigation designs coupled with a parametric evaluation system on soil water erosion and soil suitability to assess the sites vulnerable to soil erosion based on a soil water erosion model (ImpelERO) in an area of 150.0 hectares, Ismailia Governorate, Egypt. Land suitability maps are prepared using the Geographic Information System (GIS), and the soil properties are analyzed and evaluated for the different surface, sprinkler, and drip irrigation methods. The results show that the sprinkler and drip irrigation strategies are more practical irrigation methods and additional environment friendly than surface irrigation for enhancing land productivity. Moreover, the principle acumen for creating use of the surface irrigation on this space is for lowering the soil salinity. Land capability index for surface irrigation ranges from 20.5 to 72.2% (permanently not suitable N2 to moderately suitable S2); and the max capability index (Ci) for drip irrigation was 81.3% (highly suitable-S1), while the mean capability index (Ci) was 42.87% (Currently not suitable-NI). The land suitability of the study area using sprinkler irrigation was ranked as highly suitable (S1), moderately suitable (S2), marginally suitable (S3), and currently not suitable (N1). Thus, the obtained data indicated that applying drip irrigation (trickle irrigation) was the most efficient system compared to the sprinkle and surface irrigation systems. To identify the soil, water erosion vulnerability, and soil optimal management strategies for the agricultural parcel in that region, the ImpelERO model (soil erosion vulnerability/impact/management) was applied. Erosion risk classes ranged from V2 (small) to V3 (moderate), that that region categorized as small-sensitive to water erosion by alfalfa, to moderate-sensitive to water erosion by olive. The results of soil losses varied from 7.1 to 37.9 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ with an average of 17.7 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. Thus, guarantee efficient water use and soil suitability for food production in the future will require the use of an efficient irrigation system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Water Resources Management and Waste Water Engineering)

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16 pages, 1749 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of a Surrogate Model for a Groundwater Numerical Simulation Model for Determination of the Annual Control Index of the Groundwater Table in China

by Xiaowei Wang, Jingli Shao, Yali Cui and Qiulan Zhang

Sustainability 2020, 12(14), 5752; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12145752 - 17 Jul 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1698

Abstract

The Chinese government hopes to implement groundwater table control to realize the sustainable utilization of groundwater resources based on controlling the current groundwater exploitation amount. In this study, a method to determine the control index of the groundwater table is proposed. In the method, the reasonable relationship between the groundwater table and groundwater exploitation amount is ensured using the groundwater numerical simulation model. The operability of the index determination is improved using a surrogate numerical model, and the annual hydrological dynamic is simplified to three scenarios of dry, flat, and wet. To verify this method, the Minqin Basin in Northwest China was chosen as a typical study area. It is assumed that the control index of groundwater exploitation in 2020 is 85,000 × 10³m³. Then, the preset annual water table index is calculated as [−0.70, 0.62, 1.13, −1.25, 1.36, 3.09] m [−0.77, 0.53, 1.05, −1.33, 1.27, 2.96] m, and [−0.83, 0.46, 0.99, −1.40, 1.20, 2.85] m for the chosen six monitoring wells, varying over the years with wet, flat, and dry scenarios. This method can ensure high precision, operability, and dynamic management when determining the control index of the groundwater table and satisfy the demand of managers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Water Resources Management and Waste Water Engineering)

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17 pages, 4291 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Soil Physicochemical Properties, Metal Deposition, and Ultrastructural Midgut Changes in Ground Beetles, Calosoma chlorostictum, under Agricultural Pollution

by Enas E. Nasr, Zeinab Z. Khater, Martina Zelenakova, Zuzana Vranayova and Mohamed Abu-Hashim

Sustainability 2020, 12(12), 4805; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12124805 - 12 Jun 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2226

Abstract

Unsustainable agricultural practices that minimize soil organic matter can promote the removal of heavy metal pollutants into the food chain. Such polluted soils can release contaminants into the groundwater, which leads to accumulation in plant tissue that is transferred to animals, birds, insects, and humans. Biomonitors of soil pollution with heavy metals can be identified by the ground beetles Calosoma chlorostictum (Coleoptera: Carabidae) as bioindicators of soil quality and its yield sustainability. The experiment was performed on two sites in Zagazig City (30.62° N, 31.44° E), Egypt. The physicochemical parameters indicated that soil moisture and organic matter had the highest differences in the polluted agricultural soil compared to the reference soil. However, there were no significant differences in chloride content. The atomic absorption analysis exhibited the highest concentration recorded for arsenic (As) and the lowest for selenium (Se) in the polluted soil and the insect’s midgut. Meanwhile, the differences between heavy metal concentrations in the total soil and midgut of C. chlorostictum from current sites indicated that the highest differences were in aluminum (Al) and mercury (Hg), while arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) were the lowest. Furthermore, the correlation between heavy metal concentrations in the soil and insect midgut was highest in As, while the lowest correlation was noticed in Al. We used transmission electron microscopy (TEM) that showed a more considerable disturbance in the C. chlorostictum midgut epithelial layer collected from the agricultural area than in the insects collected from the reference area. Evident ultrastructural alterations showed a rupture and distortion of microvilli, destruction of the columnar and regenerative cells, large separation between epithelial cells, and stretching of the cellular axis, as a result of which the lumen became very narrow. Moreover, a lot of vacuoles with little enzyme secretion were observed in the columnar epithelial cells. In addition, other manifestations due to pollution with heavy metals such as a pyknotic nucleus with abnormal chromatin, cytoplasmic vacuolization, disruptions, and vacuolation of mitochondria were detected, as well as the appearance of electron-dense vesicles, a lot of lysosomes, large myelin figures, and dilation of the rough endoplasmic reticulum on account of soil contamination. Potential counteractive health influence in such applications could be avoided if the soil was adequately treated. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Water Resources Management and Waste Water Engineering)

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13 pages, 2063 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Temporal Variation in Long-Term Cultivation on Organic Carbon Sequestration in Calcareous Soils: Nile Delta, Egypt

by Manal Alnaimy, Martina Zelenakova, Zuzana Vranayova and Mohamed Abu-Hashim

Sustainability 2020, 12(11), 4514; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12114514 - 02 Jun 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2049

Abstract

Soil carbon sequestration is a riskier long-term strategy for climate mitigation than direct emissions reduction, but it plays a main role in closing carbon emission gaps. Effects of long-term cultivation on soil carbon sequestration were studied at the western edge of the Nile Delta near Alexandria, Egypt. Seven agricultural fields of different ages (0–50 years in use) were selected and compared with the surrounding desert (virgin soil) and desert shrub-land. Samples were taken at three horizons, 0–30, 30–60, and 60–90 cm, and tested for differences in physical and chemical properties. The results of long-term cultivation reveal that the European Commission (EC) value was 11.77 dS/m in virgin soil, while the EC values decreased to 5.82, 4.23, 3.74, 2.40, and 2.26 dS/m after 5, 10, 20, 30, and 50 years of cultivation, respectively. The calcareous rock fraction smaller than 50 μm in size revealed another phenomenon, where active calcium carbonate content increased with cultivation practices from 1.15% (virgin soil) to 5.42%, 6.47%, 8.38%, and 10.13% after 5, 10, 20, and 30 years of cultivation, respectively, while shrub-land also showed a low amount of active CaCO₃ with 1.38%. In fifty years of cultivation, soil bulk density decreased significantly from 1.67 to 1.11 g/cm³, and it decreased to 1.65, 1.44, 1.40, and 1.25 g/cm³ after 5, 10, 20, and 30 years, respectively. These results reveal that the increase in soil carbon stock in the upper 90 cm amounted to 41.02 t C/ha after five years of cultivation, compared to virgin soil with 13.47 t C/ha. Soil carbon levels increased steeply during the five years of cultivation, with an average rate of 8.20 t C/ha per year in the upper 90 cm. After the first five years of cultivation, the carbon sequestration rate slowed, reaching 4.68, 3.77, 2.58, and 1.93 t C/ha per year after 10, 20, 30, and 50 years, respectively, resulting in sequestration-potential values of 46.78, 75.63, 77.43, and 96.45 t C/ha. These results indicate that potential soil carbon sequestration resembles a logarithmic curve until the equilibrium state between carbon application and decomposition by microorganisms is reached. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Water Resources Management and Waste Water Engineering)

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