Demand for electrical power is increasing everyday. Along with the increase in power demand, the characteristics of the loads are also changing. From being high power consuming, simple, robust loads, today loads are more efficient, but at the same time more sensitive. The performance and life of these highly sensitive loads depend a lot on the quality of power supplied to them. <p>Power quality is any deviation of the voltage or current waveform from its normal sinusoidal waveshape. These disturbances include, but are not limited to, sag, undervoltage, interruption, swell, overvoltage, transients, harmonics, voltage flicker and any other distortions to the sinusoidal waveform. Occurrence of one or more of such disturbances is called a power quality event. Automatic classification of these disturbances is important for quick determination of the causes and to characterize possible impacts of the disturbances.<p>Modern microprocessor based protective relays have numerous integrated functions that allow them to provide information on power quality events. It is proposed to utilize the existing numerical relays to analyze the quality of power at any point in the power system. The numerical relays can be programmed to capture the oscillographic waveform or any disturbance on the analogue signal or change of state of the digital signals and store it in the form of Common Format For Transient Data Exchange (COMTRADE) format. These records are then transferred to a central monitoring workstation for off-line analysis. <p>This thesis describes a technique to automate the classification and analysis of the power quality events using relay recorded data. The technique uses voltage duration and magnitude (as specified in the IEEE Std. 1159 - 1995, IEEE Recommended Practice for Monitoring Electric Power Quality) of three phases to detect and classify the events. The classified results are then presented in a user-friendly graphical form. Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is used to estimate the fundamental frequency and harmonic components in power systems. The graphical user interface of the power quality analysis tool is developed using Microsoft Visual C++ IDE and the algorithms are programmed in C++. <p>The proposed technique was tested using data obtained by simulating different power system disturbances as well as on the data recorded by relays. The algorithms were able to classify the power quality events accurately. In the future, this facility will: enhance the real time monitoring of power quality and provide statistical analysis of available power quality data. From the utility viewpoint, it would allow them to monitor power quality in a cost effective manner and assist in preventive and predictive maintenance besides helping them to fix differential tariff based on the quality of the delivered power. It may also turn out to be a smart tool for them to penalize the consumer polluting the power quality.

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Among the most ubiquitous and persistent air quality problems facing urban areas are high concentrations of gas phase oxidants and fine particulate matter. Ozone and particulate matter concentrations in urban areas are significantly influenced by other factors in addition to local emissions, such as regional transport spanning distances as large as 1000 kilometers. Despite the importance of regional transport in meeting air quality standards, to date most analyses of regional transport have focused only on short duration episodes, or semi-quantitative assessments. The development and evaluation of seasonal, quantitative assessments of regional pollutant transport, based on modeling calculations and observational data is the topic of this dissertation. The observational data available through the Texas Air Quality Studies in 2000 and 2006 provide a unique opportunity to develop, evaluate, and improve methods for characterizing regional air pollutant transport. Measurements collected during these studies are used as the primary observational basis for characterizing regional ozone transport and to evaluate the performance of photochemical models. Results suggest that measurements (from aircraft and surface monitors) and the photochemical model provide consistent estimates of the magnitude of ozone transport. On this basis, photochemical modeling is used to determine potential impacts of regional ozone transport in Texas, under varying meteorological and photochemical conditions, as well as to characterize the dominant chemical and physical processes within urban plumes. While qualitative studies and limited quantitative analyses have been performed to assess regional ozone transport, this work includes the first detailed quantitative characterization of the importance of ozone transport over the course of an entire ozone season using both photochemical modeling and ambient data. Results demonstrate that urban plumes in Texas are capable of transporting significant amounts of ozone over distances spanning hundreds of kilometers. Furthermore, on a seasonal basis, there are a number of days characterized by high contributions from inter-city transport coinciding with high total ozone concentrations, suggesting that the role of inter-city transport will remain significant for many areas to demonstrate attainment of the NAAQS for ozone. Results also indicate that reductions in the impacts of inter-city transport are possible by decreases in emissions from source regions. / text

Passive sampling, as opposed to the conventional spot or bottle water sampling technique, has shown to be reliable and efficient in monitoring the toxicologically relevant, freely dissolved (e.g. bioavaialable) concentrations of a wide range of organic contaminants in water. At the same time, partitioning controlled delivery (passive dosing; PD) techniques promise to overcome many of the challenges associated with toxicity testing of hydrophobic substances that may bias the interpretation of toxicity data. The present study investigated the feasibility of coupling silicone rubber passive sampling devices (SR-PSDs) with bioassay techniques for both chemical and ecotoxicological assessment of complex mixtures of organic contaminants in the aquatic environment. SR-PSDs were deployed in water at various locations within the Ythan catchment (north east, Scotland, UK), Forth estuary and the Firth of Forth (east coast of central Scotland, UK) for 7 to 9 weeks. Following retrieval, extracts from the SR-PSDs were analysed for dissolved concentrations of a variety of organic contaminants including PAHs and PCBs using GC-MS and GC-ECD respectively and were screened for a wide range of pesticides using GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS. The extracts were further evaluated for acute cytotoxicity (i.e. neutral red uptake assay) and EROD induction potential using rainbow trout liver cell line (Oncorhynchus mykiss; RTL-W1) and for phytotoxicity and developmental toxicity potential using algal growth inhibition test (with a marine phytoplankton, Diacronema lutheri) and fish embryo toxicity test (with embryos from zebrafish Danio rerio) respectively. Overall, the individual and total dissolved concentrations of PAHs (ΣPAH40; parent and branched) and PCBs (ΣPCB32; ortho and mono-ortho) measured in water from the Ythan, Forth estuary and Firth of Forth were relatively low compared with other studies using PSDs. A number and level of pesticides, including insecticides, herbicides and fungicides of varying hydrophobicity (log KOWs ~2.25 to ~5.31) were detected in the silicone rubber (SR) extracts from the Ythan catchment, the Forth estuary and the Firth of Forth, suggesting input mainly from agricultural run-off and possibly from direct discharges. No statistically significant (p<0.05) acute cytotoxicity was observed following 48 h exposure of RTL-W1 cells to SR extracts from the Ythan catchment. But, on a sublethal level, for every site, statistically significant EROD activity was observed to some degree following 72 h exposure. In addition, developmental and algal toxicities on embryos of D. rerio and D. lutheri respectively, were measured in all the deployed samples compared with the procedural controls (undeployed samples). Interestingly, extracts of SR-PSDs from the Forth estuary and the Firth of Forth exhibited growth inhibitions on D. lutheri that were similar to those of extracts from the Ythan, even though, fewer numbers of pesticides were detected in the Forth estuary and Firth of Forth than the Ythan. This suggests that pesticides were not solely responsible for the observed effects in the Ythan catchment. To further improve data from toxicity testing of hydrophobic substances, the study identified the use of SR O-rings as a suitable passive dosing format in in vitro toxicity tests and was partially validated through their use in dosing RTL-W1 cells with two individual PAHs and subsequently determining cytotoxicity and EROD-activity.

Globally a major health concern according to the World health organization (WHO, 2011) is gastro-intestinal infections caused by fecally contaminated water. The access to drinking water has increased due to international efforts, however the long-term sustainability and safety of the water accessed have gained criticism, and many water sources have proven to be both contaminated (UN, 2016) and badly managed (WHO, 2016a).  This thesis aims to design a monitoring program for small-scale water treatment in order to make the water supply sustainable in terms of providing safe water in a long-term perspective. A case-study was conducted for three treatment systems under constructed in rural Ecuador. The monitoring program design was based on a literature review and conducting a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA). QMRA is a tool for estimating microbial risks, by using quantitative data on microbial contamination and estimating health risks. Data for the QMRA was gathered from literature and in field, and the reference pathogens used in the QMRA were E.coli O157:H7, Rotavirus and Giardia. In order to estimate infection risk from drinking water consumption for the community a QMRA-model called MRA, developed by Abrahamsson et al. (2009) was used.  Observations of the catchment areas and measurement of water quality regarding aspects other than microbial contamination indicated that the main risk was microbial contamination from fecal contaminations in the catchment area. The results from the QMRA indicated that the treatment using chlorination reduces E.coli O157:H7 under the acceptable risk level of 1/1000 infections per person and year, while the systems using biosand filters (BSF) are more effective in reducing rotavirus and Giardia. If the BSF are combined with chlorination the annual probability of infection caused by consumption of the treated water per year and person was 0.42/1000 for E.coli O157:H7, 570/1000 for Rotavirus and 25/1000 for Giardia.  The resulting monitoring program was divided into two parts: one part aimed to prevent contamination and one part designed to measure pH, temperature, conductivity, turbidity on a weekly basis and microbial indicator tests using a presence/absence method monthly. Additional testing is to be done in case of events of such character that the water quality could be effected, for example an extreme weather event.  It was concluded that the designed monitoring program could help improve the water quality in a long-term perspective, but it is dependent on the possibilities to get the necessary support, especially in the implementation phase. Recommended further studies includes collection of more site-specific data to make the QMRA results more representative, and evaluation of the monitoring program design by implementing it and optimizing it in the communities. / Runt om i världen skapar en otillräcklig tillgång på rent vatten och sanitet mycket lidande. Enlig världshälsoorganisationen WHO (2011) är ett av de ledande världshälsoproblem mag- och tarminfektioner som orsakats av vattenburna fekala patogener. Trots att antalet människor med tillgång till en dricksvattenkälla har ökat till följd av internationella ansträngningar, är hållbarheten och säkerheten för vattenkvalitén problematisk. Många dricksvattenkällor har visat sig vara både förorenade (UN, 2016) och undermåligt skötta (WHO, 2016a). Målet med denna studie är att ta fram ett vattenkvalitetsövervakningsprogram för tre småskaliga vattenreningsverk, för att dessa ska producera säkert vatten i ett långsiktigt perspektiv.  En fallstudie utfördes i byar på landsbygden i Ecuador där systemen planerats. Metoden för att ta fram ett kvalitetsövervakningsprogram var litteraturstudie och mikrobiell riskanalys. Den mikrobiella riskanalysen genomfördes med en metod som kallas Kvantitativ Mikrobiell Risk Analys (QMRA). I QMRA kan hälsorisker från mikrobiell kontamination estimeras med kvantitativdata på mikrobiell förorening. Data för att genomföra QMRA samlades från litteraturen och fältbesök. För att estimera hälsorisker i byarna i fallstudien användes en QMRA-modell som heter MRA framtaget av Abrahamsson et.al. (2009).  Observationer i fält och data på ingående vatten tydde på att de största riskerna för vattenkvalitén var fekal kontamination från djur och människor. Resultaten från QMRA:n visade att reningsverket med klorering reducerade E.coli O157:H7 till en nivå under den accepterade risknivå, satt till 1/1000 infekterade per år och person. Reningsverken med biosandfilter (BSF) var mer effektiva i reduktionen av rotavirus och Giardia. Då klor kombinerades med BSF i modellen blev den årliga infektionsnivån per person 570/1000 för Rotavirus och 25/1000 för Giardia.  Vattenkvalitetsövervakningsprogrammet delades in två delar: en kontaminationsförebyggande och en för att mäta pH, temperatur, konduktivitet och turbiditet veckovis, samt mikrobiella indikatortest med en metod som noterar förekomst av bakteriekolonier (presence/absence metod) månadsvis. Extra tester ska även göras vid sådan händelse som kan komma att påverka vattenkvalitén avsevärt, exempelvis en kraftig storm.  Slutsatsen är att det framtagna vattenkvalitetsövervakningsprogrammet kan göra att vatten-källan blir mer säker och hållbar i ett långsiktigt perspektiv, men att framgången är beroende av att rätt hjälp finns tillhanda speciellt i implementeringsfasen. Fortsatta studier behövs för att göra resultaten från QMRA:n mer representativa, exempelvis genom att samla mer områdesspecifikdata. Vidare skulle det vara intressant att implementera kvalitetsövervakningsprogrammet för att utvärdera och optimera det.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais / O Aquífero Bauru é considerado a unidade hidrogeológica mais importante de Araguari, Minas Gerais. A água deste aquífero é intensamente explorada devido ao baixo custo de captação, que está relacionado ao fato de ser um aquífero freático, pouco profundo e local, submetido a uma abundante recarga. No entanto, essas características o torna potencialmente vulnerável aos agentes poluidores. Este trabalho teve como objetivo oferecer um panorama geral sobre a qualidade da água bruta do aquífero Bauru, na zona urbana de Araguari, identificando possíveis fontes de poluição. As amostras de água foram coletadas em poços da concessionária de abastecimento público. Os critérios para seleção dos poços foram: distribuição espacial, operacionalidade, estrutura e zonas de risco. As amostras foram coletadas a montante do ponto de aplicação do desinfetante, garantindo os aspectos qualitativos da água bruta. Foram amostrados 68 poços, correspondendo a 80 % do poços em operação. Foram realizadas 2 campanhas de campo, sendo a primeira em novembro de 2012 e a segunda em dezembro de 2014. A amostras foram submetidas a ensaios de pH, nitrato, nitrito, fósforo, DQO, DBO5, cor aparente, turbidez, sólidos totais, sólidos dissolvidos totais, sólidos suspensos totais, sólidos voláteis totais e fixos totais. Os resultados das etapas de campo e laboratoriais permitiram o mapeamento dos parâmetros de qualidade e a identificação das áreas críticas em termos de poluição. Os resultados indicaram que vazamentos de esgoto sanitário, em áreas que apresentam elevados índices de vulnerabilidade, podem ser a causa da presença nitrato e sólidos voláteis em alguns poços analisados. Apesar disso, a água bruta do Aquífero Bauru ainda apresenta boa qualidade com propriedades físico- químicas e bacteriológicas adequadas a diversos usos. Apesar das concentrações encontradas ainda serem inferiores aos limites estabelecidos pela legislação vigente, fica evidente a importância do monitoramento contínuo da qualidade da água subterrânea extraída para o abastecimento urbano. / The Bauru Aquifer is considered the most important hydrogeological unit of the city of Araguari, Minas Gerais. The water from this aquifer is exploited due to low cost, which is related to the fact of being a shallow and local subjected to an abundant recharging. However, these characteristics makes it potentially vulnerable to pollutants. This work aimed to provide an overview of the quality of raw water from the aquifer Bauru underlying the urban area of Araguari, identifying possible sources of pollution. Water samples were collected in wells of public water utility. The criteria for selection of the wells were: spatial distribution, operation, structure and risk areas. The samples were collected upstream of disinfectant application point, ensuring the qualitative aspects of raw water. 68 wells were sampled corresponding to 80% of the wells in operation. Were held two field campaigns, the first in November 2012 and the second in December 2014. The samples were subjected to pH tests, nitrate, nitrite, phosphorus, COD, BOD, apparent color, turbidity, total solids, solids total dissolved, total suspended solids, total volatile solids and total fixed. The results of field and laboratory steps allowed the mapping of quality parameters and the identification of critical areas in terms of pollution. The results indicated that wastewater leaks in areas that have high levels of vulnerability may be the cause of nitrate and volatile solids present in some wells examined. Nevertheless, the raw water from the aquifer Bauru still has good quality with physical-chemical and bacteriological appropriate to different uses. Although the concentrations found are still below the limits established by law, it is clear the importance of continuous monitoring of groundwater quality extracted for urban supply. / Dissertação (Mestrado)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-17T14:53:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alex_Oliveira_Barradas_Filho.pdf: 1833807 bytes, checksum: f4a31a4d5e0c90f7f20cbb33ab6b1176 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-12-19 / FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA E AO DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTIFICO E TECNOLÓGICO DO MARANHÃO / The commercialization of petroleum derivates, natural gas and biofuel is an activity that needs constant monitoring and tracking. The ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuel) is responsible for ensuring the products quality generated by the oil industry. However, to act effectively, ANP has established an agreement authorizing LAPQAP / UFMA (Laboratory of Analysis and Research in Analytical Chemistry of Petroleum from UFMA) to be ANP representative in the State of Maranhão. It is proposed in this work to semiautomate part of the Fuels Sample Collection process, aiming to simplify the tasks currently performed by the laboratory analysts and increase the number of stations surveyed, in order to decrease the incidence of irregularities present in fuels comertialized in Maranhão. For this, it was developed a prototype called S-Rota responsible of drawing lines between the starting point, UFMA, and the gasoline, using concepts related to Graph Theory, Traveling Salesman Problem, Ant Colony and WebSIG. / A comercialização de derivados de petróleo, gás natural e biocombustível é uma atividade que necessita, constantemente, de fiscalização e monitoramento. A ANP (Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustível) é responsável em garantir a qualidade dos produtos gerados pela indústria do petróleo. No entanto, para atuar com eficiência, a ANP estabeleceu um convênio que autoriza ao LAPQAP / UFMA (Laboratório de Análise e Pesquisa em Química Analítica do Petróleo da UFMA) representá-la no Estado do Maranhão. Propõe-se, neste trabalho, semiautomatizar parte do processo de Coleta das Amostras de Combustíveis almejando simplificar as tarefas, atualmente, executadas pelos analistas do laboratório e ampliar a quantidade de postos vistoriados visando diminuir o índice de irregularidades presentes nos combustíveis comercializados no Maranhão. Para tanto, se desenvolveu um protótipo denominado S-Rota responsável em elaborar circuitos entre o ponto de partida, a UFMA, e os postos de combustíveis revendedores que aborda conceitos relacionados à Teoria dos Grafos, Problema do Caixeiro Viajante, Colônias de Formigas e WebSIG.

L’objectif de cette étude était d’obtenir un capteur à bas coût, fonctionnant à température ambiante, et permettant d’obtenir une information sur la concentration d’ammoniac d’une atmosphère, sans tenir compte de l’humidité. Cela implique une très faible sensibilité à l’humidité et une faible synergie entre l’eau et l’ammoniac.Au terme d’une étude sur la mise en forme de films hybrides hydrophiles, par un procédé « propre » dans l’eau, un capteur a été développé, par un assemblage en couche par couche de polyélectrolytes hydrophiles, la polyaniline et la phtalocyanine tétrasulfonée de cuivre : PANI/TsPcCu. Ce capteur présente une limite de détection d’ammoniac inférieure au ppm et une très faible sensibilité à l’eau, permettant de détecter l’ammoniac sans informations sur l’humidité de l’air.De nouveaux dispositifs, basés sur un mode de transduction breveté, ont été étudiés : les heterojonctions MSDIs (Molecular Semiconductor-Doped Insulator). Ces dispositifs sont formés de deux couches superposées, une sous-couche isolante de type n, F16PcCu ou le PTCDA, et une couche supérieure semi-conductrice de type p, Pc2Lu. L’importance de la jonction entre les deux matériaux, mais aussi de la jonction entre les électrodes et la sous-couche, a été démontrée à l’aide de mesures d’impédances. Les propriétés capteurs des dispositifs MSDI ont été étudiées par exposition à l’ammoniac sur une large gamme d’humidité. Ils présentent une très faible sensibilité à l’eau et permettent de détecter des concentrations d’ammoniac inférieures au ppm. Suite au développement d’un banc de mesures spécifique permettant l’affinage de fromages, celui-ci a pu être suivi par des mesures capteur avec un résistor de PcCo et par GC-MS. Ces mesures ont mis en évidence l’intérêt de tels capteurs pour suivre l’évolution de la maturation des fromages. / The aim of this study was to obtain a low cost sensor, working at room temperature, capable to obtain an information about the ammonia concentration without any information about the humidity. These characteristics imply a very low sensitivity to humidity and a low cross sensitivity between humidity and ammonia.After a study on material processing of hydrophilic films using water as solvent, a sensors has been developed by using layer by layer assembly of polyelectrolytes, such as polyaniline and the tetrasulfonated copper phthalocyanine: PANI/TsCuPc. This sensor is able to detect sub ppm ammonia concentration, with a very low cross sensitivity between ammonia and water which allow ammonia sensing without any information about the humidity.New devices based on a patented transduction method were studied: the MSDIs heterojunctions (Molecular Semiconductor-Doped Insulator). This kind of device is prepared with two different layers, a sub layer of an n-type insulator, F16CuPc or PTCDA, and an upper layer of a p-type semiconductor, LuPc2. The importance of the junction between both materials and between the sub layer and the electrodes were studied by using ammonia exposure on a large humidity range. They exhibit a very low sensitivity to humidity and allow sub ppm ammonia sensing whatever the humidity is.A specific workbench has been developed and tested in the laboratory, to follow cheese ripening by using CoPc gas sensors and gas chromatography. These measurements showed readiness to the use of the kind of gas sensors for the follow up of dairy products.

With the introduction of universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) the need for quality early hearing intervention (EHI) services became critical. Screening is but the avenue to EHI services. Without appropriate intervention infants with hearing loss are at risk for language delay which might subsequently adversely influence academic success and vocational choices later on in life. The numerous socio-economic, cultural and healthcare barriers associated with developing countries such as South Africa, do not negate or diminish the need for optimal outcomes for infants with hearing loss through quality EHI services. The principle of quality EHI services, aligned with international standards, is endorsed by the HPCSA (2003: 2). In order to assure quality in EHI, service evaluation is critical. The necessary first step when evaluating service provision is to measure current service delivery. The main aim of this study was to determine whether South African audiologists provide EHI and support services aligned with international professional best practice to infants following the diagnosis of hearing loss. The first part of this study reviews the evidence available in EHI. The guidelines derived from the international evidence were stated as benchmarks against which South African EHI services were measured. These benchmarks were categorised using the so-called six M variation categories. These categories are: Man, machine (equipment), method (systemaric procedures), measurements, material (amplification devices) and Mother Nature. During the empirical research a descriptive design was followed comprising of questionnaire surveys to audiologists in different working sectors rendering EHI services to infants with hearing loss. The questionnaire survey explored the nature and scope of the EHI services offered to infants with hearing loss with regard to all the components (categorised in the six M categories) of the EHI programme of 40 South African audiologists. The results of this study indicate that respondents often do not use evidence-based measurements or methods during EHI services. Results suggest that undergraduate training in areas regarding the selection and fitting of amplification to infants with hearing loss is often inadequate (>20 respondents indicated that they are not trained). Evidence-based measurements are not typically performed when fitting amplification to infants (29 respondents do not perform probe-microphone or elctroacoustic measurements). Many respondents indicated that they do not have the necessary equipment to do these measurements. EHI services often (50% of respondents) do not provide A/R directly, but refer to other team members. From the results there seems to be significant delays in the rendering of EHI services to infants with hearing loss. Financial constraints of the family of the infants, accessibility problems, as well as a lack of infant support from their families often influence the EHI programmes of respondents. The implications of this study were discussed. Recommendations include the development of South African guidelines, aligned with international guidelines but taking into account the challenges posed by the unique South African context. Other recommendations include: Centres of excellence, relevant continuing education programmes and the evaluation of undergraduate training programmes. / Dissertation (M (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / M (Communication Pathology) / unrestricted

Water quality monitoring (WQM) is crucial for managing and protecting riverine ecosystems. There has been a plethora of methods to select the monitoring sites, water quality parameters (WQPs), and monitoring frequencies; however, no standard method or strategy has been accepted for the river systems. Water managers have faced difficulties in adopting appropriate WQM network design methods to their local boundary conditions, monitoring objectives, monitoring costs, and legal regulations. With the elevated cost and time consumption of monitoring, approaches to evaluate and redesign the monitoring networks based on monitoring goal achievements are crucial for water managers. Hence, the overall aim of this thesis is to develop and employ a reliable yet straightforward approach to optimise and quantify the effectiveness of the WQM network in rivers. The objectives are to (i) identify the commonly used methods and the boundary conditions to apply these methods in assessing and designing of WQM networks in rivers; (ii) optimise river WQM network design based on compliance criteria; (iii) optimise river WQM network design based on the trade-offs between information provided by the monitoring network versus the monitoring expenses. A systematic review of the commonly used design methods and their resulting monitoring setups in Chapter 2 shows that multivariate statistical analysis (MVA) is a promising tool to contract the number of monitoring sites and water quality parameters. Most of the reported studies often overlook small streams and trace pollutants such as heavy metals and organic microcontaminants in the analysis. Data availability and expertise’s judgments seem to affect the selection of design methods rather than river size and the extent of the monitoring networks. The commonly found statistical methods are applied to the case study of the Freiberger Mulde (FM) river basin in eastern Germany to optimise its current monitoring network. Chapter 3 dedicates to redesign the monitoring network for compliance monitoring purposes. In Chapter 3, 82 non-biological parameters are initially screened and analysed for their violations to the environmental quality standards. The subsequent result suggests that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and phosphorus have been the abundant stressors that caused more than 50% of the streams in the FM river basin failing to achieve good status. The proposed approach using hierarchical cluster analysis and weighted violation factor from 22 relevant WQPs allows a reduction of 42 monitoring sites from the current 158 sites. The Mann-Kendall trend test recommends an increase in monitoring frequency of the priority substances by 12 times per annual, and a decrease in the number of sampling events for metals and general physicochemical parameters by quarterly. Overall, the results suggest that the authorities of the Saxony region should develop proper management measures targeting heavy metals and organic micropollutants to be able to achieve good WQ status by 2027 at the latest. In Chapter 4, regularly monitoring parameters with less than 15% of censored data are analysed. A combination of principal component analysis and Pearson’s correlation analysis allows the identification of 14 critical parameters that are responsible for explaining 75.1% of data variability in the FM river basin. Weathering processes, historical mining, wastewater discharges, and seasonality have been the leading causes of water quality variability. Both sampling locations and periods are observed, with the resulting mineral contents vary between locations, and the organic and oxygen content differs depending on the time period that was monitored. The monitoring costs are estimated for one monitoring event and based on laboratory, transportation, and sampling costs. The results show that under the current monitoring-intense conditions, preserving monitoring variables rather than sites seems to be more economical than the opposite practice. The current study provides and employs two statistical approaches to optimise the WQM network for the FM river basin in eastern Germany. The proposed methods can be of interests to other river basins where the historical data are available, and the monitoring costs become a constraint. The presented research also raises some concerns for future research regarding the applications of statistical methods to optimise WQM networks, which are presented in Chapter 5.