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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Evaluating Policy And Climate Impacts On Water Resources Systems Using Coupled Human-Natural Models, Hassaan Furqan Khan Oct 2018

Evaluating Policy And Climate Impacts On Water Resources Systems Using Coupled Human-Natural Models, Hassaan Furqan Khan

Doctoral Dissertations

Extensive human intervention in the terrestrial hydrosphere means that virtually every river basin globally reflects the interaction between human and natural hydrologic processes. Thus, sustainable watershed management needs to not only account for the diverse ways humans benefit from the environment but also incorporate the impact of human actions on the natural system. Informed policy making to address our water challenges requires a comprehensive understanding of these feedbacks and how they might be affected by future changes in climate. This work develops coupled human-natural models for improved surface water and groundwater management in water-scarce regions under future changes in climate. …


Evaluation Of The Erodibility Of Soft Clays And The Influence Of Biopolymers, Pamela Judge Oct 2018

Evaluation Of The Erodibility Of Soft Clays And The Influence Of Biopolymers, Pamela Judge

Doctoral Dissertations

Erosion of silts and clays is less well understood than erosion of sands. Further, current and anticipated climate change impacts along coastlines compel consideration of new approaches to coastal protection measures; seawalls and breakwaters designs now include natural and nature-based measures. The first research topic consists of the Adaptive Gradients Framework which was a theoretically-informed facilitation tool. The framework was intended to aid a collaborative and interdisciplinary decision-making process to encourage inclusion of natural and nature-based measures in coastal protection planning and design. This research is the culmination of a series of workshops and fieldtrips executed by the Sustainable Adaptive …


Origins And Seasonal Variation Of Disinfection Byproduct Precursors, Ran Zhao Mar 2018

Origins And Seasonal Variation Of Disinfection Byproduct Precursors, Ran Zhao

Doctoral Dissertations

Disinfection byproducts (DBPs) are formed from the disinfectant (e.g., chlorine) reacting with components of natural organic matter (NOM) in water drawn from surface water supplies, and are considered as the cause of potential serious human health problems. DBP precursors originate in large reservoirs from at least three types of sources: (1) watershed or allochthonous, (2) algal or autochthonous, and (3) bottom sediments or benthic. The properties of the NOM and the DBP precursor content of that NOM are unique to each source. The first objective of this dissertation was to use temporal and spatial water quality data from a drinking …


Role Of Manganese Oxide In The Formation Of Disinfection Byproducts In Drinking Water Treatment, Arianne A. Bazilio Mar 2018

Role Of Manganese Oxide In The Formation Of Disinfection Byproducts In Drinking Water Treatment, Arianne A. Bazilio

Doctoral Dissertations

This work examined the role of manganese oxide (MnOx) in the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in drinking water treatment. DBPs are of increasing concern as more is being learned about their carcinogenicity and genotoxicity. Studies were performed to determine the impact of MnOx and free chlorine (Cl2), used for dissolved manganese (Mn(II) removal, on the formation of these undesirable byproducts. Batch experiment results showed that the presence of MnOx did not significantly increase the haloacetic acid or trihalomethane concentrations. Rates of DBP formation were also similar in the absence and presence of Mn(II) …