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Animal infestations of water distribution systems are a cause of considerable concern for the water industry. The appearance of an animal at a consumer's tap often gives rise to complaints. This study, in Anglian Water, Oundle Division, Northamptonshire, U.K. investigated the ecology of the infesting community and its management. Mains sampling used sequential flushes at the hydrant and a model for animal removal was constructed. Tap sampling collected animals from filters at the tap and an index of emergence (density in a day's consumption) and degree of infestation (based on density and the ability to cause complaints) were devised. Reservoir sampling used a perspex trap to sample the water column and sediments. Methods to determine the environmental and operational characteristics of the system were also devised. Community clustering on the basis of animal density determined five distinct community types. Operational and environmental parameters did not coincide with any of the types, though correlations indicated that highest densities occurred at sites further (in time) from treatment with a low turnover time. Sites fed by slow sand filters were not recolonised by chironomid larvae nor to the degree of other sites by other taxa. No successional sequence was found and it was concluded that animals recolonised on the basis of a 'competitive lottery'. The relationship between density at the tap and in the main was considered and seasonal changes in the degree of infestation between sites confirmed that water from rapid gravity filtration leads to more severe animal problems, particularly during the summer. Benthic animals penetrated treatment in low numbers, but reservoirs near treatment were dominated by limnetic animals. Many died and became an indirect food source for infesting animals, but some survived and colonised pipes. Reservoirs at the extremes of the system were not influenced by these taxa and were 'extensions' of the distribution system.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / Most recent studies and reports indicate that there is a significant risk of conflicts and wars over water sharing in the Middle East because of scarcity. Apart from exaggerating the scarcity of water resources and the likelihood of war, the major flaw of these assessments is that they just identify and do not solve the problem of water scarcity. The idea that water scarcity is the main source of conflict in the region is too narrow. Because water is so essential to life, even hostile coriparians have historically sought to compromise rather go to war over this resource, even as disputes have raged on other issues. Indeed, the historical record is predominantly cooperation rather than conflict when it comes to water sharing. This thesis provides a clear description of why water scarcity has not caused a violent conflict between Turkey, Syria and Iraq in the Euphrates-Tigris River Basin. / Second Lieutenant, Turkish Air Force

"The St. Marks River basin encompasses a large portion of Leon, Jefferson and Wakulla counties in northwest Florida, extending from near the Georgia-Florida border to the Gulf of Mexico. Geology and surface topography of the basin is controlled by sediments of Upper Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, and Quaternary age. In the portion of the basin south of the Cody Scarp, the Middle and Upper Miocene sediments have been eroded and the surface elevations are much lower than the northern upland. The Florida Aquifer is the principal source of ground water for the St. Marks basin. The major producing zone of the aquifer is comprised of limestones of Upper Eocene to Lower Miocene age. Overlying younger sediments serve as confining units throughout the northern half of the basin. Hydrologically, the aquifer is more transmissive near the St. Marks River. Water levels are generally higher in the recharge area in the northern portion of the basin with flow paths generally towards the springs and discharge areas near the Gulf of Mexico. Recharge is predominantly from local rainfall although some ground water is being contributed from the adjacent basin to the north"--Abstract. / Typescript. / "December 1984." / "Submitted to the Department of Geology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: James B. Cowart, Professor Directing Thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-165).

Thesis: M. Eng. in Supply Chain Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Supply Chain Management Program, 2018. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 70-73). / Ongoing humanitarian operations can suffer from the lack of medical item availability. The central problem thus becomes how to ensure the right item in the right place at the right time while maintaining appropriate costs. By means of a case study, this research grouped items by various item characteristics and assigned each group a common operating policy. The results of such item segmentation, and the application of common operating policies, was a theoretical increase over the current rule of thumb, single operating policy by 22% in average expected item availability and a decrease in total costs of 2-8%. Yet, similar results were achieved without segmentation. The major conclusion is that consideration of demand variability as a means to achieve greater item availability is key. The determination of appropriate costs becomes a transparent one for the decision-maker. More generally, this approach facilitates the comparison of various inventory management scenarios and the assumption of informed levels of risk. / by Brent Turner. / M. Eng. in Supply Chain Management

Summary in Chinese. / Thesis (MBA)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: l. 111.

Thesis: M. Eng. in Supply Chain Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Supply Chain Management Program, 2018. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-89). / The number of natural hazards has been increasing over the last 10 years. Understanding the impact of natural hazards on retail networks is crucial to make effective planning against disruptions. We used daily sales and inventory data from a country-wide retail network and natural emergencies historic data to quantify the consequences triggered by these events in product and financial flows. We analyze sales and inventory flow through points of sale and distribution centers. We propose the Resilience Investment Model (RIM) to invest in resilience against the effects of natural hazards. This model takes into account the operational details of the organization. RIM is a two-stage multi-period inventory flow stochastic program. The resilience investments consist in acquiring additional inventory to buffer against disruptions and the use of real options contracts with suppliers to execute when a declared emergency happens. We use a set of risk profiles over the future costs to align the investment with the financials and preferences of the organization. This research shows how the risk profiles of the decision maker shape the location and distribution of backup stock in a retail network. We show that risk averse profiles reduce worst-case cost by 15% while increasing average cost by 2%. We recommend the use of risk profiles with cost targets to quantify the Value at Risk of the network due to natural hazards. / by Jorge García Castillo. / M. Eng. in Supply Chain Management

Thesis: M. Eng. in Supply Chain Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Supply Chain Management Program, 2018. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged student-submitted from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 60-65). / Industrial digitalization concepts such as Industry 4.0 or Smart Manufacturing are currently of great interest in academia and among industrial players. These concepts are expected to boost companies' manufacturing supply chain performance factors such as availability and productivity. For instance, greater availability of assets on the shop floor makes the product flow more predictable and smooth, thus reducing the necessity for high inventory and increasing inventory turnover. Although current studies of industrial digital transformation offer a large variable theoretical construct, they lack quantitative proof of their assumptions. The main goal of this thesis is to introduce a method to quantify the expectation that digital initiatives in heavy industry impact certain manufacturing supply chain performance factors. In particular, the study examines the visualization effect on the unplanned machine downtime, planned maintenance, and machine utilization. The assumption of the decrease in unplanned machine downtime, increase in early-stage planned maintenance, and increase in machine utilization are tested using non-parametric hypotheses test - Wilcoxon Signed Rank test. Measurement of these factors is conducted using data collected from a power generation equipment manufacturer. The showcase factory participates in an overall digitalization Smart Manufacturing program and is in its early stage of implementation. The results indicate a significant increase in machine utilization and planned maintenance. However, unplanned machine downtime was not significantly reduced, although the result shows an approximation toward statistically significant change. The importance of frequent analysis becomes obvious. Future tests are necessary to study the development in later stages of implementation of Visualization. The reduction in downtime could become significant and the planned maintenance should stop increasing and start decreasing over time. The proposed method serves as a step toward academic quantitative analysis of industrial digitalization. / by Paulina Gisbrecht. / M. Eng. in Supply Chain Management