Journal Description
Water
Water
is a peer-reviewed, open access journal on water science and technology, including the ecology and management of water resources, and is published semimonthly online by MDPI. Water collaborates with the International Conference on Flood Management (ICFM) and Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). In addition, the American Institute of Hydrology (AIH), The Polish Limnological Society (PLS) and Japanese Society of Physical Hydrology (JSPH) are affiliated with Water and their members receive a discount on the article processing charges.
- Open Access— free for readers, with article processing charges (APC) paid by authors or their institutions.
- High Visibility: indexed within Scopus, SCIE (Web of Science), Ei Compendex, GEOBASE, GeoRef, PubAg, AGRIS, CAPlus / SciFinder, Inspec, and other databases.
- Journal Rank: JCR - Q2 (Water Resources) / CiteScore - Q1 (Water Science and Technology)
- Rapid Publication: manuscripts are peer-reviewed and a first decision is provided to authors approximately 16.5 days after submission; acceptance to publication is undertaken in 2.9 days (median values for papers published in this journal in the second half of 2023).
- Recognition of Reviewers: reviewers who provide timely, thorough peer-review reports receive vouchers entitling them to a discount on the APC of their next publication in any MDPI journal, in appreciation of the work done.
- Companion journals for Water include: GeoHazards and Hydrobiology.
Impact Factor:
3.4 (2022);
5-Year Impact Factor:
3.5 (2022)
Latest Articles
Spatial and Temporal Distribution Characteristics and Potential Sources of Microplastic Pollution in China’s Freshwater Environments
Water 2024, 16(9), 1270; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091270 (registering DOI) - 29 Apr 2024
Abstract
Microplastic pollution is a research hotspot around the world. This study investigated the characteristics of microplastic pollution in the freshwater environments of 21 major cities across China. Through indoor and outdoor experimental analysis, we have identified the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of
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Microplastic pollution is a research hotspot around the world. This study investigated the characteristics of microplastic pollution in the freshwater environments of 21 major cities across China. Through indoor and outdoor experimental analysis, we have identified the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of microplastic pollution in China’s freshwater environments. Our findings indicate that the average concentration of microplastics in China’s freshwater environments is 3502.6 n/m3. The majority of these microplastics are fibrous (42.5%), predominantly smaller than 3 mm (28.1%), and mostly colored (64.7%). The primary chemical components of these microplastics are polyethylene (PE, 33.6%), polyvinyl chloride (PVC, 21.5%), polypropylene (PP, 16.8%), and polystyrene (PS, 15.6%). The abundance of microplastics in China’s freshwater environments generally tends to increase from west to east and from south to north, with the lowest concentration found in Xining, Qinghai (1737.5 n/m3), and the highest in Jiamusi, Heilongjiang (5650.0 n/m3). The distribution characteristics of microplastics are directly related to land use types, primarily concentrated in areas of intense human activity, including agricultural, transport, and urban land. Seasonal changes affect the abundance of microplastics, peaking in summer, followed by spring and autumn, mainly due to variations in rainfall, showing a positive correlation.
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(This article belongs to the Topic Microplastics Pollution)
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Constituents of Coliform Species Contained in the Permeate of Microfiltration Membranes in Wastewater Treatment
by
Shuai Zhou, Taro Urase and Saki Goto
Water 2024, 16(9), 1269; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091269 (registering DOI) - 28 Apr 2024
Abstract
MBRs (Membrane bioreactors) have been increasingly employed for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment in the last decades for their small footprint and excellent effluent quality. However, microorganisms are often detected in the permeates of microfiltration (MF) membranes even with small pore sizes. Coliform
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MBRs (Membrane bioreactors) have been increasingly employed for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment in the last decades for their small footprint and excellent effluent quality. However, microorganisms are often detected in the permeates of microfiltration (MF) membranes even with small pore sizes. Coliform bacteria are known for indicating the potential presence of pathogenic bacteria that cause infectious disease such as bacteremia, respiratory tract infections, and urinary tract infections. Thus, the retention of coliform bacteria by membrane processes is important when the membrane process is utilized in water reclamation. In this study, a microbial community of coliform bacteria in the permeates of MF membranes with different pore sizes (0.2, 0.4, and 0.8 µm) was identified. The results showed that the dominant coliform bacteria changed from Enterobacter spp. and Citrobacter spp. in the activated sludge to Enterobacter spp. and Klebsiella spp. in the permeate of MF membranes, while some pieces of membranes showed complete retention. The bacterial regrowth on the surface of the piping system on the permeate side could be a significant factor contributing to the frequent and exclusive detection of Enterobacter spp. and Klebsiella spp. in the case of membranes with small pore size (0.2 and 0.4 µm) after a long continuous filtration time. To indicate the public health-related risk of treated wastewater by MF, Escherichia coli may not be a suitable indicator species because E. coli is relatively retentive in MF compared to other coliforms.
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(This article belongs to the Topic Membrane Separation Technology Research)
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Open AccessArticle
Spatial Distribution and Seasonal Variation of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in an Urban River in Northeast China
by
Qingshan Xiao, Xin Wang, Chongxin Xu, Wei Chen, Qianchi Huang and Xin Wang
Water 2024, 16(9), 1268; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091268 (registering DOI) - 28 Apr 2024
Abstract
As the largest freshwater river flowing through Harbin, the Songhua River is a standby water source. It is very important to know the species and distribution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) in the river. In this study, five antibiotics were selected to screen and
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As the largest freshwater river flowing through Harbin, the Songhua River is a standby water source. It is very important to know the species and distribution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) in the river. In this study, five antibiotics were selected to screen and identify ARB in spring and autumn. The results showed that the concentration of cefotaxime-resistant bacteria was the highest, and the maximum concentration at S6 in spring was up to 1.40 × 104 CFU/mL. In spring and autumn, bacteria resistant to three antibiotics were screened at S1 of the Songhua River, and bacteria resistant to five antibiotics were screened at S6. No multiple antibiotic-resistant bacteria (MARB) were screened in the other four sites in autumn, while MARB were screened in the other three samples except S2 in spring. In all sample areas in spring and autumn, the probability of screening MARB at S1 and S6 was the highest, reaching 100%. The identification results of 16S rDNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products of ARB showed that a total of 51 ARB strains from 15 bacterial genera were screened in the Songhua River, of which 20 ARB strains were from Pseudomonas. Among the 15 bacterial genera, bacteria from 8 bacterial genera have pathogenicity. The results of this study revealed the concentration, spatial distribution, and seasonal variation of culturable ARB in the Songhua River, providing data support for the remediation of antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) pollution in the river.
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(This article belongs to the Topic Climate Change and Human Impact on Freshwater Water Resources: Rivers and Lakes)
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Open AccessArticle
Prediction of Inland Excess Water Inundations Using Machine Learning Algorithms
by
Balázs Kajári, Zalán Tobak, Norbert Túri, Csaba Bozán and Boudewijn Van Leeuwen
Water 2024, 16(9), 1267; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091267 (registering DOI) - 28 Apr 2024
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Regularly, large parts of the agricultural areas of the Great Hungarian Plain are inundated due to excessive rainfall and insufficient evaporation and infiltration. Climate change is expected to lead to increasingly extreme weather conditions, which may even increase the frequency and extent of
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Regularly, large parts of the agricultural areas of the Great Hungarian Plain are inundated due to excessive rainfall and insufficient evaporation and infiltration. Climate change is expected to lead to increasingly extreme weather conditions, which may even increase the frequency and extent of these inundations. Shallow “floods”, also defined as inland excess water, are phenomena that occur due to a complex set of interrelated factors. Our research presents a workflow based on active and passive satellite data from Sentinel-1 and -2, combined with a large auxiliary data set to detect and predict these floods. The workflow uses convolutional neural networks to classify water bodies based on Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellite data. The inundation data were complimented with meteorological, soil, land use, and GIS data to form 24 features that were used to train an XGBoost model and a deep neural network to predict future inundations, with a daily interval. The best prediction was reached with the XGBoost model, with an overall accuracy of 86%, a Kappa value of 0.71, and an F1 score of 0.86. The SHAP explainable AI method showed that the most important input features were the amount of water detected in the satellite imagery during the week before the forecast and during the period two weeks earlier, the number of water pixels in the surroundings on the day before the forecast, and the potential evapotranspiration on the day of the forecast. The resulting inland excess water inundation time series can be used for operational action, planning, and prevention.
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Open AccessArticle
Unraveling the Coupled Dynamics between DOM Transformation and Arsenic Mobilization in Aquifer Systems during Microbial Sulfate Reduction: Evidence from Sediment Incubation Experiment
by
Xingguo Du, Hui Li, Yue Jiang, Jianfei Yuan and Tianliang Zheng
Water 2024, 16(9), 1266; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091266 (registering DOI) - 28 Apr 2024
Abstract
Geogenic arsenic (As)-rich groundwater poses a significant environmental challenge worldwide, yet our understanding of the interplay between dissolved organic matter (DOM) transformation and arsenic mobilization during microbial sulfate reduction remains limited. This study involved microcosm experiments using As-rich aquifer sediments from the Singe
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Geogenic arsenic (As)-rich groundwater poses a significant environmental challenge worldwide, yet our understanding of the interplay between dissolved organic matter (DOM) transformation and arsenic mobilization during microbial sulfate reduction remains limited. This study involved microcosm experiments using As-rich aquifer sediments from the Singe Tsangpo River basin (STR) and Jianghan Plain (JHP), respectively. The findings revealed that microbial sulfate reduction remarkably increased arsenic mobilization in both STR and JHP sediments compared to that in unamended sediments. Moreover, the mobilization of As during microbial sulfate reduction coincided with increases in the fluorescence intensity of two humic-like substances, C2 and C3 (R = 0.87/0.87 and R = 0.73/0.66 in the STR and JHP sediments, respectively; p < 0.05), suggesting competitive desorption between DOM and As during incubation. Moreover, the transformations in the DOM molecular characteristics showed significant increases in CHOS molecular and low-O/C-value molecular intensities corresponding to the enhancement of microbial sulfate reduction and the possible occurrence of methanogenesis processes, which suggests a substantial bioproduction contribution to DOM components that is conducive to As mobilization during the microbial sulfate reduction. The present results thus provide new insights into the co-evolution between As mobilization and DOM transformations in alluvial aquifer systems under strong microbial sulfate reduction conditions.
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(This article belongs to the Section Water Quality and Contamination)
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Analysis of the Evolution of Water Quality in Tanks According to the Connections and Operation Mode: Application to the Most Suitable Design
by
Marta Hervás, Fernando Martínez-Alzamora and Pilar Conejos
Water 2024, 16(9), 1265; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091265 (registering DOI) - 28 Apr 2024
Abstract
The analysis and simulation of water quality in distribution networks is a complex issue of great concern today. The analysis of the evolution of water age as a simple indicator of water quality in the network is of great interest in both the
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The analysis and simulation of water quality in distribution networks is a complex issue of great concern today. The analysis of the evolution of water age as a simple indicator of water quality in the network is of great interest in both the design and operation phases. Understanding the factors that have the strongest influence on water quality is key to developing adequate strategies aimed at preserving it. This paper first analyses the factors with the biggest influence on the tank’s water age to support the selection of the most appropriate configuration from the point of view of water quality during design phases. Then, the main considerations when modelling tanks following the different mixing models considered in Epanet are presented. Also, real tank behaviour is characterised through field measurements and Epanet simulations in order to determine the best-fitting mixing model.
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(This article belongs to the Section Water Quality and Contamination)
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Open AccessArticle
Long-Term Changes in Water and Ion Flows of the Pechora River, the Longest Full-Water European Arctic River
by
Aleksandr G. Georgiadi, Alesya O. Danilenko and Pavel Y. Groisman
Water 2024, 16(9), 1264; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091264 (registering DOI) - 28 Apr 2024
Abstract
Long-term series of annual and seasonal water flow and major ions in the Pechora River were analyzed. Long-term phases of increased and decreased water flow were identified, ranging in duration from 11 to 49 years, and the major characteristics of these phases were
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Long-term series of annual and seasonal water flow and major ions in the Pechora River were analyzed. Long-term phases of increased and decreased water flow were identified, ranging in duration from 11 to 49 years, and the major characteristics of these phases were determined. Changes in the sequence and boundaries of contrast phases in the annual and snowmelt spring–summer flood runoff were found to coincide. The difference between the mean seasonal water runoff during the phases of increased and decreased flow varied from 12 to 41%. The ion flow values of contrast phases typically differed by 9 to 36%, which is less than for water flow. This is due to the inverse dependence between ion concentrations and water discharge. Such peculiar negative feedback stabilizes the rates of chemical denudation in the river catchments to some extent and, thus, the discharge of major ions into seas, even during significant variations in water.
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(This article belongs to the Section Hydrology)
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Open AccessArticle
Assessment of Groundwater Quality Using the Pollution Index of Groundwater (PIG), Nitrate Pollution Index (NPI), Water Quality Index (WQI), Multivariate Statistical Analysis (MSA), and GIS Approaches: A Case Study of the Mnasra Region, Gharb Plain, Morocco
by
Hatim Sanad, Latifa Mouhir, Abdelmjid Zouahri, Rachid Moussadek, Hamza El Azhari, Hasna Yachou, Ahmed Ghanimi, Majda Oueld Lhaj and Houria Dakak
Water 2024, 16(9), 1263; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091263 (registering DOI) - 28 Apr 2024
Abstract
Groundwater, an invaluable resource crucial for irrigation and drinking purposes, significantly impacts human health and societal advancement. This study aims to evaluate the groundwater quality in the Mnasra region of the Gharb Plain, employing a comprehensive analysis of thirty samples collected from various
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Groundwater, an invaluable resource crucial for irrigation and drinking purposes, significantly impacts human health and societal advancement. This study aims to evaluate the groundwater quality in the Mnasra region of the Gharb Plain, employing a comprehensive analysis of thirty samples collected from various locations, based on thirty-three physicochemical parameters. Utilizing tools like the Pollution Index of Groundwater (PIG), Nitrate Pollution Index (NPI), Water Quality Index (WQI), Irrigation Water Quality Index (IWQI), as well as Multivariate Statistical Approaches (MSA), and the Geographic Information System (GIS), this research identifies the sources of groundwater pollution. The results revealed Ca2+ dominance among cations and Cl− as the primary anion. The Piper and Gibbs diagrams illustrated the prevalent Ca2+-Cl− water type and the significance of water–rock interactions, respectively. The PIG values indicated that 86.66% of samples exhibited “Insignificant pollution”. NPI showed notable nitrate pollution (1.48 to 7.06), with 83.33% of samples rated “Good” for drinking based on the WQI. The IWQI revealed that 80% of samples were classified as “Excellent” and 16.66% as “Good”. Spatial analysis identified the eastern and southern sections as highly contaminated due to agricultural activities. These findings provide valuable insights for decision-makers to manage groundwater resources and promote sustainable water management in the Gharb region.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Quality Assessment and Modelling)
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Multi-Dimensional Collaborative Optimization Model for Agricultural Water Rights Based on Water Price Reform under Changing Environment
by
Linlin Song, Hongshu Wang and Liang Ding
Water 2024, 16(9), 1262; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091262 (registering DOI) - 28 Apr 2024
Abstract
Agricultural water rights trading has become an effective means to solve the shortage of agricultural water. However, in the context of uncertainty, the key elements of the water rights trading system and their interactions remain unclear. Therefore, this study constructs a multi-dimensional collaborative
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Agricultural water rights trading has become an effective means to solve the shortage of agricultural water. However, in the context of uncertainty, the key elements of the water rights trading system and their interactions remain unclear. Therefore, this study constructs a multi-dimensional collaborative optimization model for agricultural water rights based on water price reform under a changing environment. The model quantitatively characterizes the synergistic effects of resource, economic, social, environmental, and ecological objectives on initial water rights allocation and trading. At the same time, the model uses a system dynamics model and intuitionistic fuzzy number to reflect the impact of a changing environment and uncertainty of the management system on water rights allocation and trading. The results show that through water rights trading, the overall coordinated development of farms has been improved, and the economic benefits and water resources utilization efficiency have been improved.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydro-Economic Models for Sustainable Water Resources Management)
Open AccessArticle
Determining the Relevance of Commonly Used Hydraulic Parameters for Representing the Water Erosive Force in Rock Mass Erosion within Dam Spillways
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Aboubacar Sidiki Koulibaly, Ali Saeidi, Alain Rouleau and Marco Quirion
Water 2024, 16(9), 1261; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091261 (registering DOI) - 28 Apr 2024
Abstract
Spillways are essential control structures in hydroelectric dams for evacuating excess water during periods of high-water flow. These structures are generally excavated within a rock mass, without lining, and they take the form of a flow channel or a plunge pool. Rock mass
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Spillways are essential control structures in hydroelectric dams for evacuating excess water during periods of high-water flow. These structures are generally excavated within a rock mass, without lining, and they take the form of a flow channel or a plunge pool. Rock mass erosion is an important issue facing engineers when designing unlined spillways. Methods commonly used to analyze this phenomenon are based on the threshold line concept, i.e., the correlation between rock mass resistance and its destruction against the erosive force of water. Multiple indices have been proposed for both rock mass quality and water energy (or erosive force) to assess rock mass erosion. The selection of appropriate indices is critical when evaluating hydraulic erosion. The erosive force of water is often represented by energy dissipation; however, other parameters, including average flow velocity and shear stress at the bottom of the flow channel, may also be relevant. Thus, a critical question is framed: which index best represents the erosive force of water? Here, we develop an approach to assess the applicability of the various indices used to represent the erosive force of water by relying on erosional events at more than 100 study sites. We determine that the most relevant parameters are linked to water pressure, as pressure head and flow velocity better explain the erosive force of the water than shear stress and water dissipation energy.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolution of Soil and Water Erosion)
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Analyzing the Seasonal Vertical Displacement Fluctuations Using the Global Navigation Satellite System and Hydrological Load: A Case Study of the Western Yunnan Region
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Pengfei Xu, Tao Jiang, Wanqiu Li, Gong Xu, Chuanyin Zhang, Wei Wang, Kunjun Tian and Jiandi Feng
Water 2024, 16(9), 1260; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091260 (registering DOI) - 28 Apr 2024
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The non-tectonic deformation caused by hydrological loads is an important influencing factor in GNSS vertical displacement. Limited by the temporal and spatial resolution of global models and model errors, the hydrological load results calculated by traditional methods are difficult to meet the high
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The non-tectonic deformation caused by hydrological loads is an important influencing factor in GNSS vertical displacement. Limited by the temporal and spatial resolution of global models and model errors, the hydrological load results calculated by traditional methods are difficult to meet the high temporal and spatial resolution requirements of small to medium-scale regions. This paper introduces the idea of the remove–restore method, assimilates regional high-resolution hydrological data, and obtains higher temporal and spatial-resolution hydrological load results. Subsequently, utilizing data from 12 CORS observed in the western Yunnan region between January 2018 and December 2020, the quantitative relationship and variation characteristics between GNSS vertical displacement and hydrological load displacement were analyzed in detail. Furthermore, the annual signals of both were extracted using the SSA method for comparative analysis. After removing the effects of atmospheric load and non-tidal ocean load, the average correlation coefficient between GNSS vertical displacement and hydrological load displacement is 0.84, with an average reduction of WRMS (%) reaching 37.17%. The average correlation coefficient of the annual signals between GNSS vertical displacement and hydrological load deformation is 0.94, with an average reduction of WRMS (%) reaching 46.5%, indicating that the contribution of hydrological load to the GNSS non-tectonic vertical displacement annual signal is close to 50%. The research results provide scientific support and important references for studying surface tectonic deformation by removing non-tectonic deformations such as hydrological loads from GNSS vertical displacement. Additionally, it helps to explore the mechanisms of interaction between water storage migration and surface deformation.
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Open AccessArticle
Changes in Surface Water Quality of the El Salvador River in La Joya de los Sachas, Ecuadorian Amazon Region
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Tannia Vargas-Tierras, Mirian Jiménez-Gutiérrez, Sandra Pastrano, Gino Chávez, Vanessa Morales-León, María Morales-León, Fernando Paredes and Wilson Vásquez-Castillo
Water 2024, 16(9), 1259; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091259 (registering DOI) - 28 Apr 2024
Abstract
Water effluent pollution in the Ecuadorian Amazon occurs mainly due to the lack of sewage infrastructure, wastewater treatment plants in urban and rural areas, and agricultural and livestock activities. Consequently, understanding water quality is crucial because of its dynamic nature, influenced by various
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Water effluent pollution in the Ecuadorian Amazon occurs mainly due to the lack of sewage infrastructure, wastewater treatment plants in urban and rural areas, and agricultural and livestock activities. Consequently, understanding water quality is crucial because of its dynamic nature, influenced by various activities along its course. We evaluated and compared the water quality status of the El Salvador River with the current standards of the Ministry of the Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition in Ecuador and with Decree No. 115/2003 on water quality and water pollution management. The water quality index was determined through random sampling at seven locations along the river. The results show good water quality, with contamination indices ranging from 84 to 87. When comparing the results with the standards, all water quality parameters met the standards for recreational purposes. However, considering the river’s uses for agricultural activities, we compared the water with additional standards from legislation outlined by the Environment Ministry and found that the nitrate content exceeded permissible limits due to runoff from the surrounding crops, causing a potential risk to human health. Therefore, incorporating helophyte plants is a promising option that would promote the health of this aquatic ecosystem and others.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment of Water Quality and Pollutant Behavior)
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Burst Diagnosis Multi-Stage Model for Water Distribution Networks Based on Deep Learning Algorithms
by
Sen Peng, Yuxin Wang, Xu Fang and Qing Wu
Water 2024, 16(9), 1258; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091258 (registering DOI) - 28 Apr 2024
Abstract
Pipe bursts in water distribution networks (WDNs) pose significant threats to the safety of distribution networks, driving attention to deep learning-based burst detection and localization. However, the applicability of different pressure features still needs to be compared and verified. A large number of
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Pipe bursts in water distribution networks (WDNs) pose significant threats to the safety of distribution networks, driving attention to deep learning-based burst detection and localization. However, the applicability of different pressure features still needs to be compared and verified. A large number of nodes challenges deep learning with the excessive number of classification categories and low recognition accuracy. To address these problems, this paper extracts different burst pressure features, including pressure value, pressure difference, and pressure fluctuation ratio, and inputs one of these features into a Burst Diagnosis Multi-Stage Model (BDMM) based on three CS-LSTMs (a combination of the Cuckoo Search algorithm and a long short-term memory network). The first model addresses a binary classification problem, outputting labels indicating whether a pipe burst has occurred. The second one solves a multi-classification problem, outputting the label of the burst partition, and the third model also solves a multi-classification problem, outputting the ID of the bursting junction. The model is tested on a real network and outperforms ELM. For basic burst identification tasks using CS-LSTM, differences among the three features are minimal, while pressure difference and pressure fluctuation ratio exhibit superior performance to pressure value when resolving more complex problems like burst junction localization.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green and Low Carbon Development of Water Treatment Technology, 2nd Edition)
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Open AccessArticle
Effects of Three Antibiotics on Nitrogen-Cycling Bacteria in Sediment of Aquaculture Water
by
Zhu Li, Huan He, Jianhe Ding, Zhizhong Zhang, Yifei Leng, Mingjun Liao and Wen Xiong
Water 2024, 16(9), 1256; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091256 (registering DOI) - 28 Apr 2024
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Antibiotics are commonly used to prevent and control aquaculture diseases. However, long-term overuse of antibiotics not only leaves residues but also leads to changes in the nitrogen cycle in water, which threatens the survival of aquaculture organisms. The current results showed that sulfamethoxazole
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Antibiotics are commonly used to prevent and control aquaculture diseases. However, long-term overuse of antibiotics not only leaves residues but also leads to changes in the nitrogen cycle in water, which threatens the survival of aquaculture organisms. The current results showed that sulfamethoxazole had no significant effect on the nitrogen cycle process in the actual aquaculture concentration. The inhibitory effect of 1.05 mg/L norfloxacin on ammonia-oxidizing bacteria was significantly greater than that on ammonia-oxidizing archaea, and the gene abundance of AOB amoA on the 14th day increased by 2.48 times compared with the 7th day. Under the influence of 3.9 mg/L oxytetracycline, the gene abundance of AOB amoA decreased significantly, while the number of AOA amoA genes increased, suggesting that there may be functional redundancy between AOA and AOB. At the genus level in the norfloxacin group, the relative abundance of Sva0485 increased by 14.0% on the 7th day compared with the control group but decreased 12.77% in the addition group. The relative abundance of Firmicutes, another dominant species in the oxytetracycline group, was 25.9%. This study shows that the addition of antibiotics may have a negative effect on the nitrogen-cycling microorganisms in aquaculture water.
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Vine Copula-Based Multivariate Distribution of Rainfall Intensity, Wind Speed, and Wind Direction for Optimizing Qatari Meteorological Stations
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Hassan Qasem, Niels-Erik Joergensen, Ataur Rahman, Husam Abdullah Samman, Sharouq Al Malki and Abdulrahman Saleh Al Ansari
Water 2024, 16(9), 1257; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091257 (registering DOI) - 27 Apr 2024
Abstract
This study employs copula functions to establish the dependency structure of the joint distribution among rainfall intensity, wind speed, and wind direction in Qatar. Based on a Vine Copula, the trivariate distribution between rainfall intensity, wind speed, and wind direction is found to
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This study employs copula functions to establish the dependency structure of the joint distribution among rainfall intensity, wind speed, and wind direction in Qatar. Based on a Vine Copula, the trivariate distribution between rainfall intensity, wind speed, and wind direction is found to exhibit a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.0072 on the observed vs. modeled cumulative probabilities using ranked normalized observations. It is also found that the winter Shamal winds are most pronounced during rainfall. However, a secondary component of easterly winds known as the Kaus winds is also found to exert an important influence. This wind pattern is observable during rainfall at all the selected stations, albeit with minor variations. It is also found that rainfall stations where the rainfall is obstructed in any way from northwest to north and from east to southeast significantly influence the rainfall measurements. Specific rain gauges in Qatar are found to be situated in disrupted surroundings, such as meteorological stations close to passing traffic, where road spray could infiltrate the rain gauge funnel, impacting the accuracy of rainfall measurements. The study results necessitated the relocation of approximately half of these roadside gauges to mitigate wind-induced biases from road spray. An evaluation of operations is recommended for approximately 80 meteorological stations responsible for measuring rainfall in Qatar. The methodology devised in this study holds potential for application to other Middle Eastern countries and regions with similar climates.
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(This article belongs to the Section Water and Climate Change)
Open AccessArticle
Flexural-Gravity Waves in a Channel with a Compressed Ice Cover
by
Evgeniy Batyaev and Tatiana Khabakhpasheva
Water 2024, 16(9), 1255; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091255 (registering DOI) - 27 Apr 2024
Abstract
The characteristics of linear hydroelastic waves propagating in a channel covered with compressed ice are investigated. The channel has a rectangular cross-section and is assumed to be infinite in length. The fluid in the channel is non-viscous and incompressible; its flow is potential.
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The characteristics of linear hydroelastic waves propagating in a channel covered with compressed ice are investigated. The channel has a rectangular cross-section and is assumed to be infinite in length. The fluid in the channel is non-viscous and incompressible; its flow is potential. The ice cover is modelled by an elastic plate of constant thickness frozen to the channel walls. Principal attention is paid to the investigation of the influence of ice compression on the parameters of hydroelastic waves. The problem is solved in a coupled hydroelastic formulation. The profiles of propagating waves in the channel are sought in the form of series on the normal modes of a dry plate. The modes are defined analytically through trigonometric and hyperbolic functions. It is shown that compression in the longitudinal and transverse directions has different effects on the dispersion relations of these hydroelastic waves, their shape and phase, as well as on the critical velocities and strains distribution.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydraulic and Transient Performances of Pumped-Storage Units)
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Open AccessFeature PaperArticle
Definition of Exergetic Efficiency in the Main and Emerging Thermal Desalination Technologies: A Proposal
by
Nenna Arakcheeva El Kori, Ana M. Blanco-Marigorta and Noemi Melián Martel
Water 2024, 16(9), 1254; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091254 (registering DOI) - 27 Apr 2024
Abstract
Increasing attention is being given to reduce the specific energy consumption in desalination processes, which translates into greater use of exergy analysis. An exergetic analysis provides relevant information related to the influence of the efficiency of a single component in the global plant
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Increasing attention is being given to reduce the specific energy consumption in desalination processes, which translates into greater use of exergy analysis. An exergetic analysis provides relevant information related to the influence of the efficiency of a single component in the global plant performance and in the exergy cost of the product. Therefore, an exergy analysis identifies the main improvement potentials in a productive thermodynamic process. Related to desalination technologies, many previous papers deal with the calculation of the parameters involved in the exergy analysis, the exergetic efficiency of different processes, plants, and technologies among them. However, different approaches for formulating the exergetic efficiency have been suggested in the literature, often without sufficient understanding and consistency. In this work, these formulations, applied to the main desalination components and processes, are compared and critically reviewed. Two definitions of exergy efficiency are applied to the desalination components of the three main thermal desalination processes (multieffect distillation–thermal vapour compression, multistage flash distillation, and direct-contact membrane distillation). The results obtained for the exergy efficiency of the MED-TVC, MSF, and DCMD processes for the input–output approach are 21.35%, 17.08%, and 1.28%, respectively, compared to the consumed–produced approach that presented 3.1%, 1.58%, and 0.37%, respectively. The consumed–produced approach seems to better fit the thermodynamic behaviour of thermal desalination systems.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Desalination Technologies for Water Treatment)
Open AccessArticle
Multi-Objective Design of a Horizontal Flow Subsurface Wetland
by
Jhonatan Mendez-Valencia, Carlos Sánchez-López and Eneida Reyes-Pérez
Water 2024, 16(9), 1253; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091253 (registering DOI) - 27 Apr 2024
Abstract
An artificial wetland is used to treat gray, waste, storm or industrial water. This is an engineering system that uses natural functions of vegetation, soil and organisms to provide secondary treatment to gray water. In the physical design of each artificial wetland, there
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An artificial wetland is used to treat gray, waste, storm or industrial water. This is an engineering system that uses natural functions of vegetation, soil and organisms to provide secondary treatment to gray water. In the physical design of each artificial wetland, there are various action factors that must meet certain characteristics so that the level of gray-water pollution is reduced. In this sense, several design methodologies have been developed and reported in the literature, but some are customized designs and often do not meet the required decontamination objectives. This challenge increases as the complexity of the task in its structure also increases. Particularly in this work, a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm is used to optimize the physical design of a horizontal flow subsurface wetland (HFSW) for gray-water treatment. The study aims to achieve two objectives: first, to minimize the physical volume, and second, to maximize the contaminant removal efficiency. The defined objective functions depend on six design variables called hydraulic retention time, width, length, water depth inside the wetland, substrate depth and slope. Three constraint functions are also defined: removal efficiency greater than 95%, physical volume below 500 m and compliance with a length–width ratio is 3:1, varying the population size and number of generations equal to 200, 400, and 600. The set of solutions according to the number of generations as well as the Pareto front corresponds to the best solution that complies with the constraints of the problem of oversizing the HFSW, and the Pareto front shows the interaction between the objectives and their behavior, reflecting the problem’s nature as minimization–maximization.
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(This article belongs to the Section Water Quality and Contamination)
Open AccessArticle
Elevational Patterns of Forest Evapotranspiration and Its Sensitivity to Climatic Variation in Dryland Mountains
by
Hongyu Li, Xiaohuang Liu, Wenbo Zhang, Haoyang Zhu, Xiaofeng Zhao, Jiufen Liu, Xinping Luo, Ran Wang, Honghui Zhao and Chao Wang
Water 2024, 16(9), 1252; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091252 (registering DOI) - 27 Apr 2024
Abstract
Elevational climatic heterogeneity, complex terrains, and varying subsurface properties affect the sensitivity of evapotranspiration (ET) in dryland mountain forests to hydrometeorological changes. However, the elevational distribution of ET sensitivity and its major influencing factors remain poorly understood. This study focused on the mid-altitude
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Elevational climatic heterogeneity, complex terrains, and varying subsurface properties affect the sensitivity of evapotranspiration (ET) in dryland mountain forests to hydrometeorological changes. However, the elevational distribution of ET sensitivity and its major influencing factors remain poorly understood. This study focused on the mid-altitude zone (1000–3500 m) forests in the Chinese Western Tianshan Mountains and assessed ET sensitivity to multiple climate variables, including precipitation (P) and potential evapotranspiration (PET), from 2000 to 2020. To evaluate the multi-year mean and trends in ET sensitivity, multi-source remote sensing data and regional survey data were analyzed using Spearman’s correlation coefficient, the sliding window method, and Kendall’s test. Furthermore, the relative importance of environmental variables (topography, geology, soil, and vegetation) was investigated. P and PET showed no significant trends, while ET exhibited a significant increasing trend (5.81 mm/yr, p < 0.01), particularly at elevations above 2000 m. Most forests (93.5%) showed a positive sensitivity of ET to P, and 70.0% showed a positive sensitivity of ET to PET, mainly at elevations of 1500–2500 m. Additionally, the trend in ET sensitivity to P decreased with an increasing elevation, with 64.5% showing a positive trend. Meanwhile, the trend in ET sensitivity to PET increased with elevation, with 88.1% showing a positive trend. Notably, 53.2% of the forests showed increasing ET sensitivity trends to both P and PET, primarily at elevations of 2000–3000 m with a mean normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of 0.56. Geological factors, particularly the hydrological properties of weathered bedrock, contributed the most (~47%) to mean sensitivity. However, geological and vegetative factors, including the NDVI and root zone water availability, were the main contributors (35% each) to the sensitivity. This study highlights the elevation-dependent sensitivity of dryland mountain forests to hydrothermal changes, with higher-elevation forests (>2000 m) being more sensitive to global warming.
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(This article belongs to the Topic Hydrology and Water Resources Management)
Open AccessArticle
Assessment of Leachate Generated by Sargassum spp. in the Mexican Caribe: Part 1 Spatial Variations
by
Rosa Maria Leal-Bautista, Juan Carlos Rodriguez-Garcia, Gilberto Acosta-González, Rubi Chablé-Villacis, Raul Tapia-Tussell, Jose Epigmenio Bautista-García, Edgar Olguìn-Maciel, Liliana Alzate-Gaviria and Gloria González-López
Water 2024, 16(9), 1251; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091251 (registering DOI) - 27 Apr 2024
Abstract
In this study, we evaluate the degradation by Sargassum spp. as a consortium in 2020 and 2021, and by species during 2021, collected at different distances from a coastline and in land deposits. The year 2021 had the largest leachate volume and the
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In this study, we evaluate the degradation by Sargassum spp. as a consortium in 2020 and 2021, and by species during 2021, collected at different distances from a coastline and in land deposits. The year 2021 had the largest leachate volume and the offshore site with the highest volume (60 mL/day) among five sites of collection. In relation to species’ leachate generation, S. fluitans reached 47.67 mL/day as its peak, which is earlier than S. natans (41.67 mL/day 14 days after S. fluitans). pH shows alkaline behavior and EC reflects the saline condition in the leachate, the consortium and species reaching values of pH 7.5 to 8.3 and 80 to 150 mS/cm of EC; the results do not show significant differences among sites, or between species. Despite a BOD/COD ratio of less than 0.1, the degradation process occurs as evidenced by the presence of leachate. The results confirm the existence of a variability in leachate production and the composition of Sargassum under the influence of factors such as the periodicity, site of collection, and proportions of species. Thus, even though these results emphasize leachate generation, knowing the limitations of leachate generation is crucial information for decision making on Sargassum storage and environmental management.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Ecological Monitoring, Assessment and Protection)
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