Effects of solution chemistry on arsenic(Ⅴ) removal by low-cost adsorbents

Natural and anthropogenic arsenic （As） contamination of water sources pose serious health concerns, especially for small communities in rural areas. This study assessed the applicability of three industrial byproducts （coal fly ash, lignite, and green waste compost） as the low-cost adsorbents for As（V） removal under various field-relevant conditions （dissolved oxygen, As（V）/Fe ratio, solution pH, and presence of competing species）. The physico-chemical properties of the adsorbents were characterized by XRD, XRF, FT-IR, and NMR analysis. Batch experiments demonstrated that coal fly ash could provide effective As（V） removal （82.1%-95%） because it contained high content of amorphous iron/aluminium hydroxides for As（V） adsorption and dissolvable calcium minerals for calcium arsenate precipitation. However, the addition of lignite and green waste compost was found unfavourable since they hindered the As（V） removal by 10%-42% possibly due to dissolution of organic matter and ternary arsenate-iron-organic matter complexes. On the other hand, higher concentrations of dissolved iron （comparing As（V）/Fe ratios of 1：1 and 1：10） and dissolved oxygen （comparing 0.2 and 6 mg/L） only marginally enhanced the As（V） removal at pH 6 and 8. Thus, addition of dissolved iron, water aeration, or pH adjustment became unnecessary because coal fly ash was able to provide effective As（V） removal under the natural range of geochemical conditions. Moreover, the presence of low levels of background competing （0.8 or 8 mg/L of humic acid, phosphate, and silicate） imposed little influence on As（V） removal, possibly because the high adsorption capacity of coal fly ash was far from exhaustion. These results suggested that coal fly ash was a potentially promising adsorbent that warranted further investigation.     

Application of smart irrigation systems for water conservation in Italian farms

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In many countries, water supplies are limited and must be managed for different uses. Providing additional resources for irrigation can be an...     

Four challenges when conducting bibliometric reviews and how to deal with them

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The evidence base in environmental sciences is increasing steadily. Environmental researchers have been challenged to handle massive volumes of data...     

Convergences and divergences between scientific and Indigenous and Local Knowledge contribute to inform carnivore conservation

There is increasing recognition that diverse knowledge systems can work in mutually enriching ways and that Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK) can enhance biodiversity conservation. However, studies using scientific knowledge and ILK in a complementary manner, and acknowledging convergent and especially divergent insights have remained limited. In this study, we contrasted proxies of abundances and trends of threatened and conflict-prone carnivores (caracal, cheetah, jackal, lion, leopard, spotted hyaena, striped hyaena) derived separately from scientific knowledge and ILK. We conducted camera trapping, track surveys and semi-structured interviews with local pastoralists from northern Kenya. We found convergences highlighting the need for conservation action and divergences suggesting scientific ecological sampling limitations or underlying socio-psychological phenomena. Overall, our study shows that complementing scientific knowledge and ILK as separate sources of information and opening up space for discrepancies can enrich our understanding of the status and trends of carnivores, as well as recognizing human-carnivore relationships.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01443-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

INTERFACING GIS WITH WATER RESOURCE MODELS: A STATE‐OF‐THE‐ART REVIEW1

Two distinctive, independently developed technologies, geographic information systems (GIS) and predictive water resource models, are being interfaced with varying degrees of sophistication in efforts to simultaneously examine spatial and temporal phenomena. Neither technology was initially developed to interact with the other, and as a result, multiple approaches to interface GIS with water resource models exist. Additionally, continued model enhancements and the development of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) have encouraged the development of application “suites” for evaluation and visualization of engineering problems. Currently, disparities in spatial scales, data accessibility, modeling software preferences, and computer resources availability prevent application of a universal interfacing approach. This paper provides a state‐of‐the‐art critical review of current trends in interfacing GIS with predictive water resource models. Emphasis is placed on discussing limitations to efficient interfacing and potential future directions, including recommendations for overcoming many current challenges.     

DISTRIBUTION OF SEDIMENT PHOSPHORUS POOLS AND FLUXES IN RELATION TO ALUM TREATMENT1

ABSTRACT: The distribution of sediment physical characteristics, sediment phosphorus (P) pools, and laboratory‐based rates of P release from the sediments were used to identify regions and dosage for alum treatment in Wind Lake, Wisconsin. Using variations in sediment moisture content, we identified an erosional zone at depths < 1.4 m and an accumulation zone at depths > 2.6 m. Mean concentrations of porewater P, loosely‐bound P, iron‐ and aluminum‐bound P, and mean rates of P release from sediments under anoxic conditions were high in the accumulation zone compared to sediment P characteristics in the erosional zone, indicating focusing of readily mobilized sediment P pools from shallow regions and accumulation to deep regions. We determined that a future alum treatment for control of internal P loading would be most effective at depths > 2.6 in the accumulation zone. The mean rate of anoxic P release from sediments encountered in the accumulation zone (8.3 mg m^‐2 d^‐1) was used in conjunction with a summer anoxic period of 122 d, and a treatment area of 1.6 km² to estimate an internal P load of 1,600 kg to be controlled. Our results suggest that an understanding of the distribution of sediment P pools and P fluxes in lakes provides a strategy for estimating alum dosage and application areas.     

The voluntary approach to externality problems: A survey of the critics

The literature critical of the Coase Theorem is synthesized. One conclusion is that bilateral bargaining in a voluntary, frictionless setting results in optimality only by accident, if at all. This is because of the problem of threats and the problem of small numbers bargaining behavior (it is not marginal). The second conclusion is that the placement of liability in general affects the allocation of resources. The exception is when there are no income effects, no transactions costs, and no nonseparabilities. But the existence of externalities implies transaction costs are high, which in turn implies that liability matters.