Impact of urbanization on the groundwater regime in a fast growing city in central India

This paper describes the impact of urbanization on the groundwater regime in a fast growing city, Solapur, in central India, giving special emphasis on the management of the present and ultimate demand of water in 2,020 AD. The objective is to apprise the city planners and administrators of the effects of urbanization on the groundwater regime in a fast growing medium-sized city in a developing country where the infrastructure developments are not in conformity with the rapid growth in population. Solapur city with an area of 178.57 km2 receives a recharge of about 24 million m3 of groundwater from various sources annually. Reduction in recharge, as conventionally assumed due to the impact of urbanization, could not, however, be well established. Instead, there was a rise in recharge as water use in the city grew from time to time and more and more water was supplied to satisfy the human needs. Compared to mid-1970s, groundwater levels have increased within the main city area due to increased recharge and decreased groundwater abstraction. However, outside the main city area, there is a general decline in groundwater levels due to increased groundwater utilization for irrigation purposes. Groundwater quality deterioration has been highly localized. Water quality has deteriorated during the last 10 years, especially in dugwells, mainly due to misuse and disuse of these structures and poor circulation of groundwater. However, in case of borewells, comparison of the present water quality with that in mid-1970s and early 1980s does not show any perceptible change. Deeper groundwater tapped by borewells can still be used for drinking purposes with caution.     

Optimizing removal of ibuprofen from water by magnetic nanocomposite using Box–Behnken design

Purpose  

The present research aims to optimize the removal of ibuprofen (IBP), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antipyretic drug from the aqueous solution using a synthesized magnetic carbon–iron nanocomposite, and to investigate the individual and combined effects of the independent process variables.     

Comparison of jatropha and karanja biofuels on their combustion characteristics

Biofuel blends produced from Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) and Karanja (Pongamia pinnata) oil were evaluated for their combustion properties. Two kinds of blends (regular diesel with Jatropha and Karanja oil) were prepared at 20% volume to the diesel and tested as alternative fuels in single cylinder (vertical), water-cooled, direct injection diesel engine at the rated speed of 1500 rpm. The performance of the engine in terms of thermal efficiency at full load for diesel was 30%. For Jatropha and Karanja biodiesel blends, the thermal efficiencies were 29.0% and 28.6%, respectively. The maximum cylinder pressure and ignition delay for biodiesel fuel blends are very close to that of regular diesel. Prolonged combustion was observed for Karanja oil blend in comparison to Jatropha oil blend. The combustion pattern also reveals the slow burning characteristics of vegetable oils and this study indicates that the blended biofuels have combustion characteristics that are similar to regular diesel fuels.     

Phase behaviors,fuel properties,and combustion characteristics of alcohol-vegetable oil-diesel microemulsion fuels

Biofuels are being considered as alternatives to fossil-based fuels due to depletion of petroleum-based reserves and pollutant emission concerns. Vegetable oils and bioalcohols have proven to be viable alternative fuels both with and without engine modification. However, high viscosity and low energy content are long-term operational problems with vegetable oils and bioalcohols, respectively. Therefore, vegetable oil-based microemulsification is being evaluated as a method to reduce the high viscosity of vegetable oils and enhance the miscibility of alcohol and oil phases. Studies have shown that microemulsification with different alcohols lead to varying fuel properties depending on their structure. The overall goal of this study was to formulate microemulsion fuels with single and mixed alcohol systems by determining the effects of water content, alcohol branching structure and carbon chain length on phase behaviors, fuel properties, and emission characteristics. It was found that microemulsion fuels using certain alcohols displayed favorable stability, properties, and emission characteristics. Flames of fuels with linear short-chain-length alcohols had larger near-burner blue regions and lower CO and soot emissions indicating the occurrence of more complete combustion. In addition to alcohol effects, the effect of vegetable oils, surfactants, and additives on emission characteristics were insightful in pursuit of appropriate microemulsion fuels as cleaner burning alternatives to both No.2 diesel and canola biodiesel.     

Estimation of health risks due to copper-based nanoagrochemicals

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study estimated health risks due to two types of copper-based nanoagrochemicals (Cu (OH)2 and CuO nanoparticles (NPs)), during inadvertent...     

Carbon dissipation from surgical cotton production wastewater using macroalgae,microalgae, and activated sludge microbes

Surgical cotton production has drastically been increased in the past few years due to excessive use by medical health professionals especially in countries like India, which is among the top three exporters of cotton worldwide. The effluent generated from surgical cotton industries differ from textile effluents by the conspicuous absence of dyeing chemicals. This wastewater has a high concentration of suspended particles, COD, dissolved ions, organic carbon, and alkaline pH. Several studies have been published on the treatment of textile effluents and the degradation of dyeing chemicals, while the treatment studies on surgical cotton wastewater have been rarely reported in spite of their potential to cause pollution in receiving land/water bodies. Activated sludge microbes have been extensively studied and well documented in the treatment of several industrial effluent but does not match to the production of valuable biomass from algae. The global energy demand has prompted the scientific community to investigate and explore the possibility of using algae for energy production with simultaneous wastewater treatment. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no research articles have been published which compare the effectiveness of activated sludge microorganisms, microalgae, and macroalgae in removing contaminants from real wastewater. To date, there is a knowledge gap in understanding and selecting the right choice of biological system for effective and economical effluent treatment. In an attempt to minimize this gap, carbon removal by microalgae, macroalgae, and activated sludge microbes were investigated on real effluent from surgical cotton industries. It was observed that the strain of Chlorella vulgaris could dissipate 83% of COD from real wastewater, while consortia of macroalgae (consisting predominantly of Ulvaceae and Chaetomorpha) and activated sludge microbes could remove 81% and 69% of the carbon, respectively. The microalgal growth (in terms of wet weight) increased from 0.15 to 0.3 g, whereas the macroalgal wet weight increased from 1.5 to 3 g in over 7 days of batch experiments conducted in triplicates. This indicated the superlative performance of microalgae over activated sludge microbes in carbon dissipation.

     

Designing a community-based insurance scheme to reduce human–wildlife conflict

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Globally, human–wildlife conflict (HWC) is a burning issue, which the conservationists have attempted to address through various conservation...     

Estimating combined health risks of nanomaterials and antibiotics from natural water: a proposed framework

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Nanoparticles (NPs) are one of the major class of emerging contaminants identified in aquatic environment. There is a probability that they can...     

Performance comparison of solar still with inbuilt condenser and agitator over conventional solar still with energy and exergy analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Demand for fresh water increases day by day. Solar desalination is one of the promising technologies to meet this demand in an economical fashion...     

Electrocatalytic conversion of nitrate waste into ammonia: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate waste into ammonia allows both the removal of nitrate contaminants and an alternative production of ammonia compared to...