Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Performance Quantification Of Extensive Green Roof Substrate Blend: Expanded Shale And Biochar, James Sheats

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Urban stormwater management practices often involve the redirection of runoff to local waterbodies. As such, the quality of runoff directly affects the condition of these receiving waters. Green roofs offer many benefits to the urban environment including attractive aesthetics, thermal insulation for buildings and stormwater runoff reduction. Unfortunately, in order to promote the spread of vegetation, fertilization is often practiced that can lead to elevated nutrient concentrations in runoff and, ultimately, nearby streams, rivers and bays. Different amounts of biochar, pyrolyzed biomass, were added to model green roof trays to test for the ability of this charcoal-like substance to prevent …

Transport Of Fecal Pollution Indicators: Impacts From The Land Spreading Of Liquid Manure On Water Quality, Derek Lee Street

Masters Theses

This thesis is a case study to determine if groundwater and/or drainage tiles are important pathways for fecal migration to streams resulting from the application of liquid manure to cropland at a small dairy farm, the Little River Animal and Environmental Unit, near Townsend, TN. Traditional biological indicators, coliforms and E.coli, were used in conjunction with a bovine specific Bacteroides assay to measure fecal microbes. Total nitrates, turbidity, and other chemical parameters for water quality also were used to identify related fecal contamination. This thesis covers three separate manure applications. The first manure application occurred in May 2013, the …

River Health In Puyo, Ecuador The Use Of Macroinvertebrates As Bioindicators Of Water Quality And Alternatives To Chlorine For Whitening Clothes In The Puyo River Watershed, Allison Rowe

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Fresh water is an important resource in Puyo, Ecuador, a city named after the Kichwa word for ‘cloudy’ in reference to its overcast weather. However, the Puyo River watershed is the most contaminated in all of Pastaza Province. The objective of this investigation was first to evaluate the health of the Puyo River using macroinvertebrate analyses and measurements of chlorine concentrations, temperature, pH, turbidity, velocity, and flow rate. The second objective was to learn about practices used to whiten clothes in Puyo and perceptions of water quality in order to understand the magnitude of bleach pollution and the population’s awareness …

Goomig Farmlands Development Baseline Water Quality In The Lower Keep River, D L. Bennett, Richard J. George Dr

Resource management technical reports

In 2008 the Ord Irrigation Expansion Project was approved by the Western Australian Government to develop irrigated agriculture on the Weaber Plain. By mid-2014 construction of almost all of the water supply, drainage, access, monitoring and other infrastructure for the 7400ha Goomig Farmlands development had substantially been completed. An important concern is the effect the Goomig Farmlands development may have on the water quality of the downstream lower Keep River aquatic environment, particularly as it relates to threatened species that inhabit or may inhabit the area. Possible increases in salinity, nutrients, suspended sediment, heavy metals and farm chemicals delivered in …

Water Conservation To Reduce Wet Weather Pollution Loads To The Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, Ny, Suzanne Carol Stempel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Public participation plays an important role in wet weather pollution management. However, the effects of participation programs on local water quality are often difficult to quantify. This project aims to quantify the potential effects of a community based, non-structural, BMP aimed at controlling inputs to combined sewage systems by encouraging residents to reduce their water use during rain events. A household could participate by reducing the amount of water they use for flushing toilets, washing dishes, taking showers, etc. during rain events; thereby reducing stress on the system during the time of highest demand. The Gowanus Canal sewershed in Brooklyn, …

Catchment-Scale Water Quality Monitoring, Control And Management Framework Using Collaborative Wireless Sensor Networks, Huma Zia, Nick Harris, Geoff Merrett

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

Improving water quality is a global concern, with agricultural practices being the major contributors to reduced water quality. The reuse of nutrient-rich drainage water can be a valuable strategy to maximise water resources and gain economic-environmental benefits. Transmitting event information across a catchment, as the event occurs upstream, allows prediction of the outflow dynamics of the expected discharges downstream. Here, we propose a framework architecture which utilises increasingly common local farm-scale networks and other water-quality monitoring networks across a catchment, adding provision for collaborative information sharing. The key part is that individual networks learn their environment, predicting the impact of …

Developing Landsat Based Algorithms To Augment In Situ Monitoring Of Freshwater Lakes And Reservoirs, Eliza Deutsch, Ibrahim Alameddine, Mutasem El-Fadel

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

Many lakes and reservoirs lack adequate water quality monitoring programs. With little information on the state of these systems, managing these resources and their contributing watersheds is a challenge. The use of remote sensing presents an opportunity to better characterize these freshwater systems. The full potential of using the Landsat program to measure optically active water quality parameters, such as chlorophyll-a, suspended sediments and water clarity was explored using the Qaraoun Reservoir in Lebanon as a case study. An in situ monitoring program was developed and synchronized with the overpass of Landsat 7 and the newly launched Landsat 8 satellites …

Enhancing Water Quality Data Service Discovery And Access Using Standard Vocabularies, Jonathan Yu, Bruce A. Simons, Nicholas J. Car, Simon J.D. Cox

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

There is a growing need for consistency across the publishing, discovering, integrating and access to scientific datasets, such as water quality data. Such datasets may have varying formats and service interfaces. The Network Common Data Form (NetCDF) is both a software package and a data format for producing array-oriented scientific data, which is commonly used to exchange data, including water quality data. NetCDF datasets are also published through service interfaces using the THREDDS data server. Alternatively water quality datasets can be encoded with standard XML formats such as WaterML 2.0, which can be published with services such as the Open …

A Harmonized Vocabulary For Water Quality, Simon J.D. Cox, Bruce A. Simons, Jonathan Yu

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

Interoperability of water quality data depends on the use of common models, schemas and vocabularies. However, terms are usually collected during different activities and projects in isolation of one another, resulting in vocabularies that have the same scope being represented with different terms, using different formats and formalisms, and published in various access methods. Significantly, most water quality vocabularies conflate multiple concepts in a single term, e.g. quantity kind, units of measure, substance or taxon, medium and procedure. This bundles information associated with separate elements from the OGC Observations and Measurements (O&M) model into a single slot. We have developed …

Soft Sensing The Potential Amount Of Calcium Carbonate Precipitate In Drinking Water Distribution Infrastructure And Warm Water Household Appliances, Dirk Vries, Joost Van Summeren, Benjamin Van Den Akker, Alex Van Der Helm, Ignaz Worm, Peter Van Thienen

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

A soft sensor is developed to predict the potential amount of precipitation of calcium carbonate (CCPP) in warm water household devices and scaling or corrosive behavior in water distribution networks. With the aid of a water supply network model, it is shown that the soft sensor is able to predict CCPP levels at pre-specified downstream nodes using only measurements at a limited set of upstream nodes. Furthermore, the soft sensor consists of a data assimilation algorithm to provide for best estimates of the CCPP and confidence intervals.

Adaptive, Decentralized, And Real-Time Sampling Strategies For Resource Constrained Hydraulic And Hydrologic Sensor Networks, Brandon Preclaro Wong, Branko Kerkez

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

We discuss the development and performance of a low-power sensor node (hardware, software and algorithms) that autonomously controls the sampling interval of a suite of sensors based on local state estimates and future predictions of water flow. The problem is motivated by the need to accurately reconstruct abrupt state changes in urban watersheds and stormwater systems. Presently, the detection of these events is limited by the temporal resolution of sensor data. It is often infeasible, however, to increase measurement frequency due to energy and sampling constraints. This is particularly true for real-time water quality measurements, where sampling frequency is limited …

Hydrodynamic And Water Quality Surrogate Modeling For Reservoir Operation, Juan Aguilar, Schalk-Jan Van Andel, Micha Werner, Dimitri P. Solomatine

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

A methodology is developed for reservoir release decisions considering forecasted downstream dissolved oxygen local conditions. River water quality management using reservoirs focuses mainly on how to develop a release schedule that may improve downstream conditions based on the seasonal change of the water quality within the reservoir. This improvement, however does not take into account the downstream local water quality state, which in certain cases might be more important, as the pollutant load downstream could be diluted with the upstream available volume released from the reservoir. Field sampling collected data suggest that the dissolved oxygen concentration decay produced by polluted …

Optimal Tank Design And Operation Strategy To Enhance Water Quality In Distribution Systems, Alemtsehay G. Seyoum, Tiku T. Tanyimboh, Calvin Siew

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

Water storage tanks are key components of water distribution networks (WDNs) and are primarily designed and operated to meet demand variations and pressure needs. However, the common practice in the design of WDNs is to incorporate large storage tanks that may possibly create long residence time. Long residence time is a major contributing factor for loss of disinfectant, increased formation of disinfection by products and microbial regrowth. Also, poor choice in tank geometry, location and operation can play a role in deterioration of water quality. Most of the previous approaches on optimisation of WDNs design and operation do not take …

Numerical Study On Climate Variation And Population Growth Impacts On An Australian Subtropical Water Supply Reservoir, Edoardo Bertone, Rodney Stewart, Hong Zhang, Kelvin O'Halloran

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

Proactively managing high manganese (Mn) concentrations in drinking water supply reservoirs can be problematic for treatment plant operators. Typically, Mn monitoring is conducted manually and costly on a regular basis (e.g. weekly) throughout the entire year through water samplings and laboratory analysis. However, in the major water supply reservoir of the sub-tropical Gold Coast City region in Australia (i.e. Hinze Dam), a vertical profiling system (VPS) was installed and enabled a real-time data acquisition of many physical parameters of water. But these VPS parameters are not able to directly collect and analyse Mn concentrations. In the present study, a Decision …

Self-Organizing Maps For Knowledge Discovery From Corporate Databases To Develop Risk Based Prioritization For Stagnation, Stephen Robert Mounce, Rebecca Sharpe, Vanessa Speight, Barrie Holden, Joby Boxall

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

Stagnation or low turnover of water within water distribution systems may result in water quality issues, even for relatively short durations of stagnation / low turnover if other factors such as deteriorated aging pipe infrastructure are present. As leakage management strategies, including the creation of smaller pressure management zones, are implemented increasingly more dead ends are being created within networks and hence potentially there is an increasing risk to water quality due to stagnation / low turnover. This paper presents results of applying data driven tools to the large corporate databases maintained by UK water companies. These databases include multiple …

Alternative Strategies For Optimal Water Quality Sensor Placement In Drinking Water Distribution Networks, Peter Van Thienen

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

The most commonly applied strategies for optimal water quality sensor placement in drinking water distribution systems are aimed at contamination early warning systems. These strategies aim to minimize the number of people affected in case of a deliberate contamination of drinking water in the distribution system, and provide a valuable tool. A number of factors which are usually not taken into account, including the response strategy to the identification of a contamination event, the fallibility of sensors and changes in network configuration (valve manipulation) and operation, may affect the results of these strategies. Since the quickness and effectiveness of a …

Development Of Real-Time Drinking Water Distribution Systems (Dwds) Modeling Technology Using The Epanet Extended Period Simulation (Eps) Modeling Toolkit, Sudhir Kshirsagar, Walter Grayman, Ben Chenevey, Aditi Shetti, Saurabh Gupta, Benjamin Bedinghaus, Steve Mylroie

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

Real-time hydraulic and water quality modeling involves the modification of the EPS network model every few minutes to reflect the SCADA data, and this paper shares how this type of real-time modeling framework, HydroTrek, was built on top of the EPS foundation provided by the EPANET toolkit. The real-life applications of HydroTrek posed some interesting modeling challenges when the hydraulic time-step was reduced to match the SCADA time-step of one to five minutes. For example, a physical pump usually does not instantaneously, but a model pump does. In a sensitive network, that can mean a significant mismatch between the SCADA …

Next Generation Hydro Software, Gennadii Donchyts, Fedor Baart, Arthur Van Dam, Erik De Goede, Joost Icke, Hans Van Putten

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

A few years ago Deltares started a large multidisciplinary project named Next Generation Hydro Software. The main focus of the project is to improve, harmonize and integrate existing hydro software that has been developed throughout the years. Important technological innovations include development of the new computational core D-Flow Flexible Mesh, as well as the user-friendly, open modelling environment Delta Shell. The project involves more than 40 scientists and software engineers. The new integrated system will allow both water managers and modellers to do their work better and faster. The unique characteristic of the project is that it focuses on the …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Regulatory Stormwater Monitoring Protocols On Groundwater Quality In Urbanized Karst Regions, Daniel C. Nedvidek

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Non-point pollution from stormwater runoff is one of the greatest threats to water quality in the United States today, particularly in urban karst settings. In these settings, the use of karst features and injection wells for stormwater management results in virtually untreated water being directed into the karst aquifer. Currently, no policies exist specifically to provide water quality protections to karst environments. This study utilized a combination of karst stormwater quality data, along with survey data collected from MS4 Phase II communities, and an analysis of current federal, local, and state water quality regulations, to assess the need for karst-specific …

Biofiltration Potential Of Ribbed Mussel Populations, Donna Marie Bilkovic, Molly Mitchell

Reports

Our primary study objective was to characterize the ribbed mussel population and estimate their water processing potential along the York River, Virginia.

Water Quality Effects Of Cellulosic Biofuel Crops Grown On Marginal Land, Ruoyu Wang

Ruoyu Wang

Interactions Of Various Bacterial Populations With Chemical And Physical Factors From Seasonal Inputs And Outputs Of Retention Ponds, Felicia A. Krelwitz

All Student Theses

Retention ponds at Governors State University play an important role in collecting and treating storm water runoff before leaving campus and entering Thorn Creek. Many chemical and physical factors influence the diversity of bacterial populations in freshwater ecosystems. The main objective of this study was to compare the interactions of various bacterial populations with chemical and physical factors from seasonal inputs and outputs of Governors State University retention ponds before being discharged into Thorn Creek. The retention ponds studied include the Café Settling pond, Café pond and Beaver pond. Water and sediment were collected from inputs and outputs every other …

Effects Of Land Cover Change On Water Quality In Urban Streams At Two Spatial Scales, Sonia Singh, Heejun Chang

International Journal of Geospatial and Environmental Research

This study examines the relationships between land cover change and water quality change in three urbanizing watersheds in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States: Burnt Bridge Creek, Salmon Creek, and the Tualatin River. All three watersheds have had many of their water quality parameters exceeding Total Maximum Daily Loads as required by their state’s environmental agencies in the past decades. By using the National Land Cover Datasets classified by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for 1992, 2001 and 2006 and water quality data for a period between 1991 and 2010, this paper aims to examine whether changes …

Water And Health In The Nandamojo Watershed Of Costa Rica: Community Perceptions Towards Water, Sanitation, And The Environment, James Mcknight

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the relationships between human health, water, sanitation, and environmental health is a requirement to understanding the challenges that face researchers when it comes to addressing global health relating to water and sanitation. Access to improved water and sanitation is not only a precondition to health, but to all aspects of daily living. Target 7.C of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) addresses worldwide disparities in access to improved water and sanitation by calling for the reduction in "half of the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2015". Over 90% of the population of …

Slides: What We Know (And Don’T Know) About The Effects Of Oil And Gas Development On Water Quality, Joseph N. Ryan

Water and Air Quality Issues in Oil and Gas Development: The Evolving Framework of Regulation and Management (Martz Summer Conference, June 5-6)

Presenter: Prof. Joe Ryan, University of Colorado Boulder, Environmental Engineering, AirWaterGas Sustainability Research Network, www.airwatergas.org

28 slides

Slides: Produced Water – Beneficial Reuse, Cabell Hodge

Water and Air Quality Issues in Oil and Gas Development: The Evolving Framework of Regulation and Management (Martz Summer Conference, June 5-6)

Presenter: Cabell Hodge, Policy, Regulation, and Emerging Markets Manager, Colorado Energy Office

12 slides

Slides: Oil, Gas And Water: Addressing Water Quantity And Quality Concerns, Laura Belanger

Water and Air Quality Issues in Oil and Gas Development: The Evolving Framework of Regulation and Management (Martz Summer Conference, June 5-6)

Presenter: Laura Belanger, P.E., Water Resources Engineer, Western Resource Advocates

14 slides

The Impact Of Internet Gis On Access To Water Quality Information, Joseph H. Hoover

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Empowering citizens to comprehend complex environmental issues affecting their daily lives is essential to sustaining a healthy and informed public. The work of many environmental nongovernmental organizations (ENGOs) and institutions of higher education (IHEs) center around helping their stakeholders become informed of, and in turn, better understand complex environmental problems. However, providing individual stakeholders with knowledge about environmental issues that is easily accessible and understandable represents a recurring challenge in today's society. As a result, a gap continues to exist between that which is known about environmental problems and the public's awareness and understanding of those issues. Arsenic contamination of …

Construction Of An Environmental Quality Index For Public Health Research, Lynne C. Messer, Jyotsna S. Jagai, Kristen M. Rappazzo, Danelle T. Lobdell

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

A more comprehensive estimate of environmental quality would improve our understanding of the relationship between environmental conditions and human health. An environmental quality index (EQI) for all counties in the U.S. was developed.

Methods

The EQI was developed in four parts: domain identification; data source acquisition; variable construction; and data reduction. Five environmental domains (air, water, land, built and sociodemographic) were recognized. Within each domain, data sources were identified; each was temporally (years 2000–2005) and geographically (county) restricted. Variables were constructed for each domain and assessed for missingness, collinearity, and normality. Domain-specific data reduction was accomplished using principal components …

Evaluation Of The Development And Effectiveness Of Copper Total Maximum Daily Loads (Tmdls) To Achieve Marine Water Quality Criteria, Joanna Florer

Master's Projects and Capstones

Elevated concentrations of certain chemicals in surface water are known to be toxic to aquatic organisms (e.g., barnacles, algae, and fish). For a number of these chemicals (e.g., tributyltin [TBT], copper) federal and state water quality standards exist to protect aquatic organisms. As a means to comply with water quality standards, regulatory agencies establish Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) to reduce concentrations of toxic chemicals from entering waterways. A TMDL determines the maximum amount of pollutant loading a water body can sustain and still achieve water quality standards; they are developed to ensure that surface water concentrations meet applicable criteria. …