Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution - Volume 3, issue 1

Authors: Zachariah, E.J. | Johny, C.J.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, and is expected to contribute nearly 18% of the total global warming during the present half-century. Wetlands are the largest natural source of methane. Kerala has a total of 127,930 ha of wetland area. Measurements show that methane fluxes from Kerala's coastal lakes have decreased during the past decade. This could be due to the reduction in coconut husk retting activity in these lakes. Results …of methane flux measurements from some of the coastal lakes in Kerala and statistics relating to the quantity of husk retted are reported and discussed here. Show more

Keywords: Wetlands, methane emission, greenhouse gases, coconut husk retting

Citation: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 1-5, 2006

Authors: Olise, F.S. | Owoade, O.K. | Olaniyi, H.B.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Receptor models, Principal Component Factor Analysis (PCFA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) were used to determine the number and nature of sources involved in the contamination of vegetables Amaranthus Spinosus (Linn Species) grown on swampy plots in an urban town of Ile-Ife, southwest Nigeria. The data set from the elemental characterization of the vegetable samples, earlier reported, was best described by two sources: motor vehicle and entrained road dust/soil, grouped as a source. These analyses …in addition to the results of enrichment factor and inter-elemental correlation analyses provide information on the source types impacting the receptors- vegetables. The need for legislative intervention in the prohibition of growing food crops especially vegetables in urban centres is recommended. Show more

Citation: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 7-11, 2006

Authors: Chowdhury, Shakhawat | Husain, Tahir

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The rapid growth of population, insufficient recharges of fresh water to the underground aquifers and increased agricultural and landscaping activities have stressed on the natural water systems in the Middle East countries. One of the available freshwater supply sources is the underground water system, which is commonly known as non-renewable water source. A large portion of domestic wastewater is currently discharged into the natural water bodies without primary treatment. Being contaminated by domestic use, …discharged wastewater may cause serious environmental effects to the aquatic biota. Reuse of this water has dual benefit: reduction of fresh water extraction from stressed non-renewable sources and minimization of environmental effects. This study has introduced a fuzzy evaluation of treated wastewater reuse for agricultural and landscaping purposes. Fuzzy hierarchy structure has been developed to conduct this study. Fuzzy triangular membership functions have been employed to capture relevant uncertainties. The analytic hierarchy process has been incorporated to develop priority matrices for different hierarchy level attributes. The uncertainty in developing priority matrices was minimized through incorporating different experts' judgments from relevant field. Finally, a hypothetical case study was performed and future research directions were outlined. Show more

Keywords: Wastewater reuse, uncertainty, priority matrix and analytic hierarchy process

Citation: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 13-19, 2006

Authors: Saha, S.K. | Naznin, Safina | Ahmed, Firoj

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Water intended for human consumption should be both safe and wholesome. It also should be easily accessible, adequate in quantity, free from contamination and readily available throughout the year. In slum areas, so far too many people live without access to safe drinking water and this is a primary determinant of continuing poverty. In the present study, drinking water is an important route for transmission of diarrheal diseases, a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among …children. A household based safe water intervention programme was conducted to determine the microbial quality of water in households and its relationship to source and storage devices. The laboratory analysis indicates that significant amount of E. coli (5–182/ml sample) is present in both of the sources and storage vessels. The type of household storage device and unhygienic behaviour were associated with coliform contamination. It was estimated that 13.32% households are less affected by diarrheal diseases because they use tube well water for their household work and remaining 86.65% are highly affected due to use of contaminated water. The lack of water supply and sanitation is the primary reason for diseases transmitted via faeces which are so common in slum area. The drinking water quality in Nirala slum area is grossly unfit for human consumption, due to contamination of various water sources, traditional storage practices and unhygienic behaviour. So it is cautioned that without ample and safe drinking water, we cannot provide health care to the slum community. Show more

Keywords: Safe water, household, diarrhea, E. coli, slum

Citation: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 21-25, 2006

Authors: Afroz, Rafia | Hassan, Mohd Nasir | Awang, Muhamad | Ibrahim, Akma

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: In Malaysia, as in other parts of the world, air pollution has recently been receiving priority among environmental issues. The ambient atmospheric conditions have been progressively deteriorating due to unprecedented growth in urbanization, number of motor vehicles and continuous industrial development. Monitoring data and studies on ambient air quality show that the ambient air quality of the country is clean in general but some of the air pollutants in several large cities especially in Klang Valley, …the most densely populated area, are increasing with time and are not always at acceptable levels according to the national ambient air quality standards. This research employed contingent valuation method (CVM) to estimate the willingness to pay of the respondents to avoid the illness episodes due to air pollution. To evaluate the impact of additional information on the willingness to pay (WTP) of the respondents, different sub-samples were presented with contingent valuation scenarios offering different levels of information. One sub-sample was given the cause of ill-health episodes and the policy to be implemented to remedy the cause of the ill-health episodes (context version). Another sub-sample was asked to value the avoidance of episodes of ill-health, but was not given any details of the cause of the episodes nor the policy that would be implemented to remedy the cause of ill-health episodes (non-context version). The study has found that the inclusion of additional information in the presentation of scenarios in contingent valuation exercises significantly influenced WTP for the avoidance of ill-health episodes. The average mean value of WTP of the respondents for the context version was higher than that of the non-context version i.e. RM154 for the context version and RM134 for the non-context version. Since, WTP to avoid the ill-health episodes cannot be shown to be independent of the context in which it is valued, the validity of transferring benefits of avoided ill-health episodes from one country to another must be called into question and the results of the study will not allow decision makers to apply the estimated values for the avoidance of ill-health episodes in the consideration of policies with very different context. Show more

Keywords: Air pollution, contingent valuation method, willingness to pay, context version, non-context version

Citation: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 27-38, 2006

Authors: Hasan, G.M. Jahid | Chowdhury, Md. Aktarul Islam

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Municipal solid waste is a serious environmental hazard and social problem in Bangladesh. Currently a gigantic volume of solid waste is generated every day in the district towns of Bangladesh and unfortunately solid waste management is being deteriorated day by day due to the limited resources to handle the increasing rate of generated waste. In order to check the waste management situation a detailed survey in different cities of Bangladesh has been done in this study. …Although a significant amount of municipal waste is collected by community based organizations, conservancy wings of the cities can not dispose more than 50% of the generated wastes. This study reflects the adverse impacts of pollution through solid waste and deteriorating situation of municipal solid waste management in capital city Dhaka, divisional city Sylhet, greater district town Tangail and Rangamati and new district town Gazipur. Show more

Keywords: Solid waste, conservancy wings, recycling, community based organizations, environmental hazards, DCC and other municipalities

Citation: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 39-48, 2006

Authors: Zhang, Qiang | Jiang, Tong | Liu, Chunling

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Changing trends and periodicities of the water level and runoff during past more than 100 years in the Yichang, Hankou and Datong stations are detected with the help of the wavelet analysis, maximum entropy spectrum analysis and Mann-Kendall analysis. The results indicate that the runoff of the Datong station is in upward trend since about 1965; this upward trend is significant at 0.95 confidence level after 1993. The runoff of the Hankou station, however, is in …upward trend since 1920, and reached the 0.95 significant level at 1960. The changing features of the runoff in the Yichang station are different from Hankou and Datong stations. The runoff of the Yichang station is in downward trend after 1960. The changing trends of the water level are similar to those of the runoff. As for the periodicities, the changes of the periodicities of the runoff over time is not significant, while periodicities have the obvious changes over time, that is, the periodicities of the water level are shorter over time. This result suggests that changes of the runoff are mainly the results of the climatic changes, less impacted by the human activities. While the water level changes are results of complex factors, that is to say, the changes of the water level are not only influenced by the climatic changes but also influenced by the human activities. Wavelet analysis results, together with the maximum entropy spectrum analysis, demonstrate that the periodicities of the water level become shorter over time, which means that the occurrence possibility of the higher water level is high over time. Therefore we can say that with the development of human activities, intensifying human interference with the river channel evolution and intensified human exploitation of the land in the Yangtze catchments exert increasing influences on the water level changes. Human activities play the increasingly important role in the water level changes in the Yangtze catchments. Wavelet analysis and Mann-Kendall analysis results indicate that, except the Yichang station, the water level and runoff in the Hankou and Datong stations show upward trend. Furthermore excessive precipitation because of global warming will intensify the flood in the Yangtze catchments. Therefore, in the near future, the Yangtze catchments will encounter greater and more serious flood disasters. This result is expected to draw more attention from the local governments. Show more

Keywords: Wavelet analysis, Mann-Kendall analysis, the Yangtze catchments, water level changes, runoff changes

Citation: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 49-55, 2006

Authors: P., Rekha | Raj, D.S. Suman | Aparna, C. | Bindu, V. Hima | Anjaneyulu, Y.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Land contamination is one of the prominent and widely addressed problems and is gaining importance in many developed and developing countries. It is now widely accepted that contaminated land is a potential threat to human health and over recent years has led to international efforts to remediate many of these sites, either as a response to the risk of adverse health or essential effects caused by contamination or to enable the site to be redeveloped for …use. Traditional methods simply move the contaminant or may create significant risk in handling the hazardous materials involving cost intensive and potential liabilities. Physical and chemical methods can be effective but are technically complex and lack public acceptance. Bioremediation is an option that offers the possibility to destroy or render harmless various contaminants using natural biological activities. It uses relatively cost-effective low technology techniques, which have high public acceptance and can be carried out on-site. In the present study, composting is demonstrated as a full-fledged bioremediation methodology for the stabilization of contaminated lake sediments. Lab scale studies were carried out to examine the various bioprocesses occurring in composting using simulated soils and optimized conditions are established for bioremediation of lake sediments contaminated with organics and heavy metals. In order to enhance microbial activity in composting, neutralization of the contaminated lake sediments was carried out by adding commercially available lime and then, organic and inorganic fertilizers like cowdung, poultry manure, urea, and superphosphate as initial microbial seeding amendments, bulking agents like sawdust and nutrients are provided and the impact of their variation was also studied. Continuous monitoring of process control parameters like pH, moisture content, electrical conductivity, total volatile solids and various forms of nitrogen etc. were carried out. The stability of the compost was evaluated by assessing maturity indices like C/N, C_w (water soluble carbon), CN_w (C_w /N_w ), nitrification index (NH_4 /NO_3^- ), cation exchange capacity (CEC), germination index, humification index, humification ratio, compost mineralization index (ash content/oxidizable carbon), sorption capacity index (CEC/oxidizable carbon). Enzyme activities of agricultural interest like urease, phosphatase, β-glucosidase, dehydrogenase and BAA-hydrolyzing protease, which are involved in the nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon cycles, were also assessed. Total content of macro and micronutrients in the final compost was also determined to assess the fertilizer value. Show more

Citation: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 57-68, 2006

Authors: Esakku, S. | Selvam, A. | Palanivelu, K. | Nagendran, R. | Joseph, Kurian

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The paper discusses the characteristics of leachates from municipal solid waste dumps at Chennai, India. Leachate samples from Perungudi and Kodungaiyur dumping grounds were collected and analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, dissolved organic carbon, ammonia nitrogen, chloride, sulphate, phosphate, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead and zinc. Leachates were slightly alkaline. Total dissolved solids varied from 1391 to 8124 mg/L. …The maximum chemical and biochemical oxygen demands recorded were 1370 and 58 mg/L, respectively. Heavy metals were in microgram levels. Pollution potential indicating parameter ratios BOD/COD and COD/DOC were < 0.1 and < 2, respectively. Results of the study indicated that the leachate quality of these sites were similar to those of aged or stabilized landfills. A comparison of the quality in the two sites showed that the pollution potential of Perungudi leachates was slightly higher than that of Kodungaiyur. Show more

Keywords: Dumpsite, leachate, TDS, BOD, COD, heavy metal

Citation: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 69-76, 2006

Authors: Giri, Rabindra Raj | Ozaki, Hiroaki | Takeuchi, Junichi

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Concerns have been raised on sustainability of conventional linear domestic wastewater treatment system in developing countries where Bangkok is not an exception. This paper aimed to unveil basic facts on characteristics and organic degradation potential of domestic wastewater in Bangkok with simple laboratory experiments and wastewater quality survey of two typical treatment plants considering existing local traditions. The results showed greywater-like qualities of domestic wastewater in Bangkok as a result of continued use of …septic tanks and tradition of using water in defecation instead of toilet paper, and high organic degradation potential in tropical condition. The domestic wastewater characteristics, climatic conditions and existing local traditions in Bangkok can be better utilized by introducing low-cost, closed-loop natural treatment system with source separation instead of continuing the conventional linear system for sustainability. Show more

Keywords: Domestic wastewater, organic strength, organic degradation potential, sustainability, tropical condition

Citation: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 77-82, 2006