Saving water for the future: Public awareness of water usage and water quality

Causal relationship between household consumption transition and CO2 emission in China: a dynamic panel model

The mitigation of carbon dioxide (CO2) generated from household consumption, accounting for 52% of China's total greenhouse gas emissions, plays a pivotal role in China's pursuit of reaching a carbon peak by 2030. The study used three waves of nationally representative longitudinal data, energy statistics data, and input-output table to estimate household CO2 emissions (HCEs) in China at the micro-scale. The dynamic relationship between household consumption pattern transition and HCEs per capita was explored by applying maximum likelihood and structural equation modeling (ML-SEM) with panel data. The results indicate that per capita HCE level in a given year appears to be positively associated with HCE level for the same household in the previous year. A U-shaped relationship between consumption pattern transition and HCEs per capita was confirmed, as well as the reinforcement effect of income on the impacts of consumption pattern transition. The increase in consumption propensity, household income, share of wage-income, household asset values, and house space results in higher HCEs per capita. The family size and dependency ratio have a negative relationship with HCEs, whereas households that are female-oriented and more Internet-dependent tend to produce more CO2. Exploring the consumption transition of households is crucial for reducing CO2 emissions at the household level in China.

Process-based modeling for ecosystem service provisioning: Non-linear responses to restoration efforts in a quarry lake under climate change

Healthy freshwater ecosystems can provide vital ecosystem services (ESs), and this capacity may be hampered due to water quality deterioration and climate change. In the currently available ES modeling tools, ecosystem processes are either absent or oversimplified, hindering the evaluation of impacts of restoration measures on ES provisioning. In this study, we propose an ES modeling tool that integrates lake physics, ecology and service provisioning into a holistic modeling framework. We applied this model to a Dutch quarry lake, to evaluate how nine ESs respond to technological-based (phosphorus (P) reduction) and nature-based measures (wetland restoration). As climate change might be affecting the future effectiveness of restoration efforts, we also studied the climate change impacts on the outcome of restoration measures and provisioning of ESs, using climate scenarios for the Netherlands in 2050. Our results indicate that both phosphorus reduction and wetland restoration mitigated eutrophication symptoms, resulting in increased oxygen concentrations and water transparency, and decreased phytoplankton biomass. Delivery of most ESs was improved, including swimming, P retention, and macrophyte habitat, whereas the ES provisioning that required a more productive system was impaired (sport fishing and bird watching). However, our modeling results suggested hampered effectiveness of restoration measures upon exposure to future climate conditions, which may require intensification of restoration efforts in the future to meet restoration targets. Importantly, ESs provisioning showed non-linear responses to increasing intensity of restoration measures, indicating that effectiveness of restoration measures does not necessarily increase proportionally. In conclusion, the ecosystem service modeling framework proposed in this study, provides a holistic evaluation of lake restoration measures on ecosystem services provisioning, and can contribute to development of climate-robust management strategies.

'Asian water towers' are not a sustainable solution to the downstream water crisis

Quantifying climate change- and socioeconomic development-induced changes in the 'water tower' function is a major challenge in high-mountain Asia (HMA), especially when considering the affected downstream areas. This study applies historical monsoon-influenced rainfall patterns and the water stress index to quantify the climate change- and socioeconomic growth-induced changes in the 'Asian water tower' function through the middle of the 21st century by nonparametric empirical quantile mapping and empirical orthogonal function analysis. Water pressures are predicted to intensify in 25.84 ± 7.87 % of 'water tower' downstream watersheds. Enhancements in the 'Asian water tower' function are vulnerable to help stop the deterioration of downstream water pressure while increasing the water sufficiency probability by 7.97 ± 15.52 %. Water withdrawals are projected to explain 55.90 ± 21.77 % of water security in the 'water tower' function-affected watersheds in 2050; thus, this study calls for more effective policies and the development of technologies to reduce the water crisis in downstream HMA.

Making waves: Lessons learned from the COVID-19 anthropause in the Netherlands on urban aquatic ecosystem services provisioning and management

The anomalous past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic have been a test of human response to global crisis management as typical human activities were significantly altered. The COVID-instigated anthropause has illustrated the influence that humans and the biosphere have on each other, especially given the variety of national mobility interventions that have been implemented globally. These local COVID-19-era restrictions influenced human-ecosystem interactions through changes in accessibility of water systems and changes in ecosystem service demand. Four urban aquatic case studies in the Netherlands demonstrated shifts in human demand during the anthropause. For instance, reduced boat traffic in Amsterdam canals led to improved water clarity. In comparison, ongoing service exploitation from increased recreational fishing, use of bathing waters and national parks visitation are heightening concerns about potential ecosystem degradation. We distilled management lessons from both the case studies as well as from recent literature pertaining to ecological intactness and social relevance. Equally important to the lessons themselves, however, is the pace at which informed management practices are established after the pandemic ends, particularly as many communities currently recognize the importance of aquatic ecosystems and are amenable to their protection.

Water Quality Measurement and Modelling Based on Deep Learning Techniques: Case Study for the Parameter of Secchi Disk

The Secchi disk is often used to monitor the transparency of water. However, the results of personal measurement are easily affected by subjective experience and objective environment, and it is time-consuming. With the rapid development of computer technology, using image processing technology is more objective and accurate than personal observation. A transparency measurement algorithm is proposed by combining deep learning, image processing technology, and Secchi disk measurement. The white part of the Secchi disk is cropped by image processing. The classification network based on resnet18 is applied to classify the segmentation results and determine the critical position of the Secchi disk. Then, the semantic segmentation network Deeplabv3+ is used to segment the corresponding water gauge at this position, and subsequently segment the characters on the water gauge. The segmentation results are classified by the classification network based on resnet18. Finally, the transparency value is calculated according to the segmentation and classification results. The results from this algorithm are more accurate and objective than that of personal observation. The experiments show the effectiveness of this algorithm.

Citizen Science Impact on Environmental Monitoring towards SDGs Indicators: The CASE of SIMILE Project

This study presents the ongoing activities of citizen science (CS) monitoring of lake water quality that was developed in the SIMILE project. After presenting the tools and the initiatives that were implemented to gather volunteer contributions, the CS data are analyzed: to understand the main factors driving the contribution provided by citizens, through a proximity analysis using hierarchical clustering; to evaluate their added value and complementary nature in view of the proposed integrated lake monitoring with respect to remote sensing (RS) water quality parameters maps and in situ high-frequency monitoring (HFM) data that were acquired in the framework of SIMILE project, through an intercomparison of temperature data; and to highlight water quality patterns in the lakes under study. It is then discussed how the project outcomes could directly or indirectly contribute to the measurement of specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators highlighting the potential impact of CS activities. The conclusions highlight the complementary nature of CS and the need of supporting activities for a continuous lake water quality monitoring. The possibility for the partner local authorities to maintain the CS monitoring establishing a Citizen Observatory (CO) and the opportunity to extend the SIMILE approach to neighboring lakes and beyond is also discussed.

Monitoring biological water quality by volunteers complements professional assessments

Progressively more community initiatives have been undertaken over last decades to monitor water quality. Biological data collected by volunteers has been used for biodiversity and water quality studies. Despite the many citizen science projects collecting and using macroinvertebrates, the number of scientific peer-reviewed publications that use this data, remains limited. In 2018, a citizen science project on biological water quality assessment was launched in the Netherlands. In this project, volunteers collect macroinvertebrates from a nearby waterbody, identify and count the number of specimens, and register the catch through a web portal to instantaneously receive a water quality score based on their data. Water quality monitoring in the Netherlands is traditionally the field of professionals working at water authorities. Here, we compare the data from the citizen science project with the data gathered by professionals. We evaluate information regarding type and distribution of sampled waterbodies and sampling period, and compare general patterns in both datasets with respect to collected animals and calculated water quality scores. The results show that volunteers and professionals seldomly sample the same waterbody, that there is some overlap in sampling period, and that volunteers more frequently sampled urban waters and smaller waterbodies. The citizen science project is thus yielding data about understudied waters and this spatial and temporal complementarity is useful. The character and thoroughness of the assessments by volunteers and professionals are likely to differentiate. Volunteers collected significantly lower numbers of animals per sample and fewer animals from soft sediments like worms and more mobile individuals from the open water column such as boatsmen and beetles. Due to the lack of simultaneous observations at various locations by volunteers and professionals, a direct comparison of water quality scores is impossible. However, the obtained patterns from both datasets show that the water quality scores between volunteers and professionals are dissimilar for the different water types. To bridge these differences, new tools and processes need to be further developed to increase the value of monitoring biological water quality by volunteers for professionals.

Identifying the driving factors of water consumption from water-energy-food nexus in the Yangtze River Delta region, China

The current water shortage in China is critical. Moreover, the water shortage has become the main bottleneck hindering sustainable economic growth. Against the background of China's dual control target of total water use and intensity, we choose the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region as a research object, which encompasses Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui. Based on the perspective of water-energy-food nexus, we employ the generalized Divisia index method to decompose the change of water use into eight factors, regional economic scale effect, regional energy use scale effect, regional food production effect, regional water technology effect, regional energy technology effect, regional water-energy nexus effect, regional food-energy nexus effect, and regional water technology for food production effect, and analyze the contribution of each driver to identify the key drivers of total water use control. The results showed that the top four influencing factors are GDP, water intensity, energy consumption, and water-energy nexus in the YRD region. Regional economic scale is the first driving factor for increasing water use in the YRD region except for Zhejiang. Water intensity is the primary driving force of water-saving in Zhejiang. Energy consumption is the third driver of increasing water use in Jiangsu and Anhui. The effect of water-energy nexus is the third driving factor that affects the change of water use in Shanghai and Zhejiang. The authorities in the YRD region should vigorously develop water and energy utilization technologies to increase the water intensity and decrease energy consumption. The energy sector should decrease the water use to decrease the water-energy nexus which is also the main driving factor affecting the change of water use.

What factors affect the water saving behaviors of farmers in the Loess Hilly Region of China?

Water shortage has become one of the most serious challenges faced by humans. Thus, improving water use behaviors and saving water are critical. In this paper, based on the extended Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theory, we used the structural equation model and the survey data of 558 households in the Loess Hilly Region to analyze the key factors affecting water saving behaviors of farmers. The domestic water consumption of farmers in Loess Hilly Region is mainly for diet and personal hygiene. The water-saving behaviors of farmers are significantly affected by their willingness, knowledge and age. Personal habits, policy incentives, egocentric values and biospheric values indirectly affect the willingness to save water by acting on personal water-saving norms. Gender and annual household income also have a significant impact on water-saving willingness of farmers. The estimation results of multi-group structural equation model and full-sample structural equation model are generally consistent, and there are significant differences in the influence of gender and water source adjustment variables on water-saving behaviors among different hypothetical paths. Among them, female, cellar water and well water groups have the greater impact on water-saving behaviors. These results provide references for policy makers to formulate effective rural water-saving strategies. Policymakers should strengthen the propagandize of water-saving knowledge and skills, popularize knowledge about water resources and ecological environment changes, encourage farmers to develop good water use habits, and actively promote the subsidy system for water-saving appliances. Then they should establish a supervision and management mechanism of water resources to stimulate farmers to save water, which realize the sustainable use of local water resources.

Enhancing capacity building to climate adaptation and water conservation among Chinese young people

Capacity development has been regarded as one of many measures to empower the abilities of nations to adapt to a changing climate. Promoting public engagement in water conservation, especially among young people since they will be leading decision making in the near future, is one effective strategy for adapting to the changing climate. This research presented a water footprint adaptation (WF) approach which attempted to link climate adaptation and capacity development with saving water strategy. The approach was tested in cooperation with two universities in Shaanxi province aiming to develop a starting point for WF evaluation and develop an improvement response. The results showed that the college students in our samples reduced their direct and indirect water footprints by 27.39% and 6.50%, respectively, in the post-intervention phase. The evaluation of the improvements proved that the WF approach to be efficient, the awareness of the college students on the matter could be increased. Additionally, the findings of the research indicated that the college students became change agent, expressing the desire to act as multipliers and to help the movement and spread of important knowledge about methods for alleviating water stress and about vulnerability to the changing climate. As expected, the awareness of water scarcity and perceptions of climate change had statistically significant effects on the water footprints, which was consistent with our hypothesis. Our approach helped participants develop capacity by revealing the linkage between their local level actions and the various aspects of adaptation to changing climate at the global level. This strategy will provide a comparative basis for water policy makers to adopt appropriate strategies to address matters related to water shortages and finally enhance sustainable adaptation to changing context.

Water usage behaviour: Case study in a southern state in Peninsular Malaysia

Generally, Malaysia’s per capita water consumption is high. Therefore, this study perform a thorough investigation on a water consumption that is related to a middle-class community in Malaysia, which accounts for the highest income group in the country. Specifically, we focused on three major categories, i.e. domestic water-usage activities, water habits of the community, and water-saving efforts that can be easily adopted. The main source of data was collected using structured interview method. The frequency of indoor water usage of more than four times a day was high, which suggested that most people did not control their water consumption, especially for cooking, bathing/showering, toilet usage, and dish washing. Community awareness in terms of water-saving efforts is low, as indicated by the respondents that uses dual-pump cisterns in their toilets and employs rainwater-harvesting system for non-potable use. Low water tariff in the study area may discouraged the residents to practice water-saving measures. The findings from this study are important, particularly in understanding the activities and habits associated with high water usage. Additionally, the relevant stakeholders can use these findings to formulate a pro-active action plan to achieve the water usage of 165 litres/capita/day recommended by the World Health Organization.

Development and implementation of water safety plans for groundwater resources in the southernmost city of West Azerbaijan Province, Iran

The transfer of water from the source to the consumption point is always associated with the possibility of contamination in any of its various components. To resolve this problem, the World Health Organization has considered a water safety plan. The purpose of this study is to implement water safety plan in the water supply system of Bukan city. This study was performed on Bukan's water supply system in 2019-20 using a software to guarantee the quality of the water safety plan and the WHO and IWA guidelines. The software checklists were prepared and after confirming the validity of the translation and its facial and content validity, it was completed based on the records of the Water and Sewerage Company and interviews with experts. Out of a total of 440 points of full-application of the program and 392 points for the reviewed phases, 183.6 points were acquired and 43.7% of WSP-coordinated implementation was observed. The highest percentage of WSP-coordinated implementation (75.2%) was assigned to the validation stage with the highest point, and the support program stage had the lowest percentage of performance (1.1%). Among the major components of the water supply system, the final consumption point received the most attention from the system. Given the lifespan of the introduction and use of WSP in the world, it was expected that better results would be obtained from evaluating the implementation and progress of this approach in Bukan's water supply system. However, the implementation rate of this program in this city compared to other cities in Iran, showed that according to the implementation time (one year), the obtained results are relatively convincing and good and the water supply system has a moderate level of safety.

Effect of Water-Saving Society Policy on Water Consumption in the Cities of China: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis

The increased demand for water resources due to urban population and economic growth has worsened the urban water crisis. In order to address this issue, a policy of "developing a water-saving society" (namely, water-saving society policy) has been implemented in some Chinese cities. This study takes 285 cities at the prefecture level and above as the sample and uses the propensity score matching (PSM) method to analyze the effect of China's urban water-saving society policy on the reduction of water consumption per CNY 10,000 gross domestic product (GDP) from 2005 to 2017. The results show that the water-saving society policy significantly (p < 0.01) reduced water consumption in the study period; however, the effects differed between cities with different water resource endowments, economic development level, and urban scale. Specifically, there was a positive water consumption reduction effect in cities in humid areas, with low economic development, or of large scale, while the effect was limited in cities in arid areas, with high economic development, or of small scale. Therefore, for areas where water resource supply is insufficient, water-saving policy should be designed and implemented suiting local conditions, and it is also necessary to explore more water sources.

One-pot fabrication of reusable hybrid sorbents for quick removal of oils from wastewater

The leaking of harmful organic liquids into water resources has had hazardous impacts on living organisms. Herein, we demonstrated the fabrication of hybrid sorbents using s-PPG and organosilane cross-linker. The final product exhibited high, quick absorption capacity, great reusability and excellent oil separation performance from wastewater. They also selectively absorb different oils from the bottom and surface of water without any capacity change, even in harsh conditions like wavy and sub-zero water environment. Experimental results demonstrated that the obtained sorbents are efficient to successfully remove oil from water surface, even at harsh conditions, and float on the water surface before and after oil sorption without any capacity loss and structural change. Simple preparation by avoiding time consuming multistep process, initiator, solvent, activator free reaction medium, high and selective sorption characteristics and great reusability could make these sorbents a promising candidate for the cleaning of water from harmful organic liquids, by absorbing them.

Short stay, long impact: ecological footprints of sojourners

The study proposes an empirical model (based on stimulus-organism-response as conceptual framework) to analyse sojourners' intention to adopt green practices (i.e., electronic consumption behaviour). Specifically, the proposed model comprises ethical, ecological and economic concerns as stimuli while mapping sojourners' altruistic traits and beliefs in climate change, which further lead to their green behaviour. The study investigates a sample of 1184 sojourners in China. Results highlight that sojourners' perceived concerns (stimuli) are partially mediated by sojourners' altruistic traits and beliefs in climate change while defining their green behaviour. The novel contributions of the current study include determining sojourners' green behaviour, the role of scientific literacy and regulatory policy in green behaviour and generalising and proposing the concept of sojourner leakage (adapted from tourism leakage). The study emphasises that sojourners can be strategic stakeholders by involving them in designing, implementing and communicating green policies and reforms in diverse societies.

Large-Scale Waste Bio-Remediation Using Microalgae Cultivation as a Platform

Municipal and agricultural waste treatment is one of the key elements of reducing environmental impact with direct effects on the economy and society. Algal technology has been tested to enable effective recycling and valorisation of wastewater nutrients including carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. An integrated evaluation and optimisation of the sustainability of an algal bio-refinery, including mass and energy balances, carbon, water and nutrient use and impact analysis, was assessed. A bio-refinery approach of waste remediation using algal cultivation was developed at Swansea University, focusing on nutrient recovery via algal biomass exploitation in pilot facilities. Mass cultivation (up to 1.5 m3) was developed with 99% of nitrogen and phosphorus uptake by microalgal cultures. Nannochloropsis oceanica was used as a biological model and grown on three waste sources. The compounds obtained from the biomass were evaluated for animal feed and as a potential source of energy. The bioremediation through algal biotechnology was examined and compared to alternative nutrient recovery passive and active methods in order to know the most efficient way of excess nutrient management. Conclusions emphasise the high potential of algal biotechnology for waste remediation and nutrients recovery, despite the need for further development and scalable applications of this new technology.