On-site rainwater harvesting and treatment for drinking water supply: assessment of cost and technical issues

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study assessed the performance of rainwater-harvesting systems installed for selected public utilities in the northern provinces of Vietnam where...     

Drivers of Coastal Shoreline Change: Case Study of Hon Dat Coast,Kien Giang,Vietnam

Coastal shorelines are naturally dynamic, shifting in response to coastal geomorphological processes. Globally, land use change associated with coastal urban development and growing human population pressures is accelerating coastal shoreline change. In southern Vietnam, coastal erosion currently is posing considerable risks to shoreline land use and coastal inhabitants. The aim of this paper is to quantify historical shoreline changes along the Hon Dat coast between 1995 and 2009, and to document the relationships between coastal mangrove composition, width and density, and rates of shoreline change. The generalized linear mixed-effects models were used to quantify the major biophysical and land-use factors influencing shoreline change rates. Most significant drivers of the rates of change are cutting of mangroves, the dominant mangrove genus, changes in adjacent shoreline land use, changes of shoreline land cover, and width of fringing mangroves. We suggest that a possible and inexpensive strategy for robust mangrove shoreline defense is direct mangrove planting to promote mangrove density with the presence of breakwater structures. In the shorter term, construction of coastal barriers such as fence-structured melaleuca poles in combination with mangrove restoration schemes could help retain coastal sediments and increase the elevation of the accretion zone, thereby helping to stabilize eroding fringe shorelines. It also is recommended that implementation of a system of payments for mangrove ecosystem services and the stronger regulation of mangrove cutting and unsustainable land-use change to strengthen the effectiveness of mangrove conservation programs and coastal land-use management.     

Concentrations of Heavy Metals in Muscle with Relation to the Growth of Two Marine Fish Species

Heavy metal concentrations in muscle and their relation to thegrowth of two marine fish species,including tonguefish( Cynoglossus arel) and mullet( Mugil cephalus),were studied. The samples were collected in Bach Dang estuary andconcentrations of heavy metals( As,Cd,Co,Mn,Cu,Zn,Pb,and V) in muscle of the fisheswere determined. The result showed that the accumulated trend of heavy metal is different between fish species. The concentration of As,Zn,Mn,V,Cu,Pb,Co and Cd in tonguefish were 73. 7 ± 30. 6,22. 82 ± 4.87,3. 44 ± 2. 13,1. 61 ± 0. 15,0. 71 ± 0. 13,0. 45 ± 0. 24,0. 03 ± 0. 02 and 0. 02 ± 0. 02 mg·g-1,respectively. Meanwhile the concentration of Zn,As,V,Mn,Cu,Pb,Co and Cd in mullet were 83. 41 ±19. 68,9. 78 ± 1. 92,1. 36 ± 0. 54,1. 29 ± 0. 51,0. 65 ± 0. 12,0. 42 ± 0. 20,0. 06 ± 0. 03 and0. 03 ± 0. 01mg·g-1,respectively. Comparison of metal levels among thesespecies indicated that the concentrations of As and Mn in tonguefish were significantly higher than those in mullet,whereas Zn levels in mullet were found to be higher than that in tonguefish. There is no significant differences of Cd,Co,Cu,Pb and V levels in muscle between two species. Significant inversed relationshipsbetween concentration levels of metals and lengths of tonguefish were found for Mn,Cu and Zn,butnot for As,Cd,Pb,and V. There were no significant relationships between the heavy metal concentrations and the length of mullet. In general,decreasesof the heavy metal concentrations corresponded to the increases of fish body lengths,particularly for As,Co,Cu,Mn and V and the exception for Cd. Terefore reduced risks were associated with consuming biggermullet fish,and increased risks of As and Cd were associated with consuming bigger tonguefish in Bach Dang river mouth.     

Photocatalytic removal of NO and NO2 using titania nanotubes synthesized by hydrothermal method

In this study, the photocatalysts of titania nanotubes(TNTs) were synthesized at different calcination temperatures using commercial Degussa TiO2(P25) as a precursor. The materials were then characterized by BET, SEM, TEM, and XRD analyses. The photocatalytic reactions with NO and NO2 under UV-A irradiation were both performed. The results showed that the photocatalytic reaction rate of NO was much faster than that of NO2, and the conversion of NO2 to nitrate was the rate-limiting step for photocatalytic removal of NOx if the nitrate produced cannot be removed continuously from the photocatalyst surface. For TNTs calcined at different temperatures, a significant enhancement was observed on the total NOx removal efficiency by TNT calcined at 500°C for both NO and NO2 photocatalytic reaction, which could be attributed to its high anatase crystallinity as well as high surface area. These two factors affect primarily on the NO2conversion step in which the high anatase crystallinity could be responsible for the high efficiency at the beginning, while the high surface area could be accounted for retaining this high efficiency from nitric acid poisoning during the test period.     

Helping small businesses implement toxics use reduction techniques: dry cleaners, auto shops, and floor finishers assisted in creating safer and healthier work places

The Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI), Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), and Vietnamese American Initiative for Development (Viet-AID) have worked with small business sectors to reduce their use of toxic chemicals. Three cases, described here, in dry cleaning, auto shops and floor finishing share common approaches for creating successful models of effective dissemination of toxics use reduction in small businesses. These include direct business support, peer-to-peer training and promotion of alternatives, and collaborations with stakeholders to achieve greener businesses. These results were achieved despite predictable barriers of lack of resources, suspicion of safer alternatives, and language and cultural barriers.     

Coupling hydrologic and economic modeling for wetland management multi-optimization in Tram Chim National Park,Vietnam

We developed a comprehensive coupling framework with a multi-objective optimization that bridges a water balance model (WBM) and a wetland service model (WSM) to supporting wetland management. The framework was tested for management in Tram Chim National Park (with four wetland zones) where hydro-economic optimization was needed. The framework used (1) a model coupling process bridging WBM and WSM to create a modular hydro-economic model (MHEM), (2) a multi-objective optimization, and (3) an anneal scheduling for scenario optimization. The framework demonstrated its competency in identifying cause–effect/interaction flows (bridges) between WBM and WSM to design MHEM to simulate optimized scenarios; for the case study, the multi-objective optimization was met for all wetland zones. Results suggested a flexible consideration of management scales for optimization, i.e. hydrologic optimization at a zone level and net benefit optimization at a Park level. Our framework is applicable to supporting complex wetland decisions considering multiple objectives.     

Photochemical smog modeling for assessment of potential impacts of different management strategies on air quality of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Thailand

A photochemical smog model system, the Variable-Grid Urban Airshed Model/Systems Applications International Mesoscale Model (UAM-V/SAIMM), was used to investigate photochemical pollution in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR). The model system was first applied to simulate a historical photochemical smog episode of two days (January 13-14, 1997) using the 1997 anthropogenic emission database available at the Pollution Control Department and an estimated biogenic emission. The output 1-hr ozone (O3) for BMR, however, did not meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggested performance criteria. The simulated minimum and maximum O3 values in the domain were much higher than the observations. Multiple model runs with different precursor emission reduction scenarios showed that the best model performance with the simulated 1-hr O3 meeting all the criteria was obtained when the volatile organic compound (VOC) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emission from mobile source reduced by 50% and carbon monoxide by 20% from the original database. Various combinations of anthropogenic and biogenic emissions in Bangkok and surrounding provinces were simulated to assess the contribution of different sources to O3 pollution in the city. O3 formation in Bangkok was found to be more VOC-sensitive than NOx-sensitive. To attain the Thailand ambient air quality standard for 1-hr O3 of 100 ppb, VOC emission in BMR should be reduced by 50-60%. Management strategies considered in the scenario study consist of Stage I, Stage II vapor control, replacement of two-stroke by four-stroke motorcycles, 100% compressed natural gas bus, 100% natural gas-fired power plants, and replacement of methyltertiarybutylether by ethanol as an additive for gasoline.