This PhD thesis reports on the potential application of an electronic nose to analysing the quality of potable water. The enrichment of water by toxic cyanobacteria is fast becoming a severe problem in the quality of water and a common source of environmental odour pollution. Thus, of particular interest is the classification and early warning of toxic cyanobacteria in water. This research reports upon the first attempt to identify electronically cyanobacteria in water. The measurement system comprises a Cellfacts instrument and a Warwick e-nose specially constructed for the testing of the cyanobacteria in water. The Warwick e- nose employed an array of six commercial odour sensors and was set-up to monitor not only the different strains, but also the growth phases, of cyanobacteria. A series of experiments was carried out to analyse the nature of two closely related strains of cyanobacteria, Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806 which produces a toxin and PCC 7941 that does not. Several pre-processing techniques were explored in order to remove the noise factor associated with running the electronic nose in ambient air, and the normalised fractional difference method was found to give the best PCA plot. Three supervised neural networks, MLP, LVQ and Fuzzy ARTMAP, were used and compared for the classification of both two strains and four different growth phases of cyanobacteria (lag, growth, stationary and late stationary). The optimal MLP network was found to classify correctly 97.1 % of unknown non-toxic and 100 % of unknown toxic cyanobacteria. The optimal LVQ and Fuzzy ARTMAP algorithms were able to classify 100% of both strains of cyanobacteria. The accuracy of MLP, LVQ and Fuzzy ARTMAP algorithms with 4 different growth phases of toxic cyanobacteria was 92.3 %, 95.1 % and 92.3 %, respectively. A hybrid e-nose system based on 6 MOS, 6 CP, 2 temperature sensors, 1 humidity sensor and 2 flow sensors was finally developed. Using the hybrid system, data were gathered on six different cyanobacteria cultures for the classification of growth phase. The hybrid resistive nose showed high resolving power to discriminate six growth stages as well as three growth phases. Even though time did not permit many series of the continuous monitoring, because of the relatively long life span (30-40 days) of cyanobacteria, improved results indicate the use of a hybrid nose. The HP 4440 chemical sensor was also used for the discrimination of six different cyanobacteria samples and the comparison with the electronic nose. The hybrid resistive nose based on 6 MOS and 6 CP showed a better resolving power to discriminate six growth stages as well as three growth phases than the HP 4440 chemical sensor. Although the mass analyser detects individual volatile chemicals accurately, it proves no indication of whether the volatile is an odour. The results demonstrate that it is possible to apply the e-nose system for monitoring the quality of potable water. It would be expected that the hybrid e-nose could be applicable to a large number of applications in health and safety with a greater flexibility.

This thesis examines water conservation in the upper valley of the Huai River in Anhui Province, close to the border between north and south China, during the Republic of China (ROC) era (1912-1949). Two main flood relief and water conservation projects are studied in detail. In order to gain a deeper and broader understanding of water conservation policies and practices in China during that period, additional comparative studies were undertaken of two water conservation projects in the lower areas of the Yangtze River in south and northwest China. The main question addressed in the thesis is: What are the key factors affecting the conservation and management of water in China during the ROC era? A further aim of the thesis is to reveal the inter-relationships between water conservation and ROC government policies, and the influence of grass roots actors and international powers in that period. This thesis includes a review of the literature on environmental history, in particular the history of water conservation. For the empirical investigation, a multi-disciplinary, mixed method was adopted, combining the study of historical documents and fieldwork in a series of detailed case studies. Firstly, this study investigates the relief work project in the upper area of the Huai River. The work and the lives of peasant labourers in a water conservation project, including their cooperation and conflicts with upper class engineers and officials are considered in order to provide a vivid and thorough exploration of the worksite. Secondly, the thesis describes and analyses the relationships between various groups (including engineers, the gentry, residents and officials of the Anfengtang Pond community), through a series of stories that highlight their activities, roles and priorities within water conservation and management initiatives. Thirdly, the thesis considers the history of the Lotus Polder and the story of the Jinghui Channel. Fourth, it explores the relationship between international politics and water conservation in the ROC to explain how modern culture and industry penetrated an old water conservation community. The interplay and influence of a wide variety of factors that affected water conservation in the ROC era, such as land policies, economic situation, national finance, wars, traditions and western factors, are addressed and analysed in this thesis.

Legislation will be introduced within the UK by 2004 as a result of a European drive to reduce waste levels arising from the disposal of end of life vehicles (ELVs). With the emergence of the European Directive (2000) on ELV disposal, targets for reduction of waste from ELVs have been set. These targets signify that a major change in non-metallic material recycling and in particular polymer recycling is necessary to meet the legislation. Increasing numbers of vehicle components are made from plastic, replacing metals due to enhanced properties such as light weight, formability and material properties (e.g. corrosion resistance, insulation properties, energy absorption etc.). Ultimately this means that more spent plastic material will require disposal, whilst legislation will limit the amount that can enter landfill sites. Therefore alternatives to landfill for plastic waste need to be found. Ideally plastic waste would be reprocessed and a resulting market found. However, the UK polymer recycling infrastructure cannot cope with high quantities of spent plastics, and there is no organisation that is capable of developing the processes that will be necessary to meet legislation. The author has investigated the current state of plastics recycling in the UK with emphasis on technical and business issues. Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) has been used for the first time in this field to develop the theme and create a series of recommendations that could improve the current situation. An innovative approach using Hoshin Kanri to develop the SSM recommendations resulted in the creation of a framework for deployment that the author named ‘the Polymer Recycling Hub’. The Hub could help all parties affected by the impending legislation to create a polymer recycling infrastructure capable of recycling high levels of spent plastic arising from ELVs. Interest in the Polymer Recycling Hub is growing and the author has the backing of many industrial organisations for its implementation.

Waste management of UK shopping centres must contend with operational performance, variable levels of landlord or corporate financial support, escalating costs of recycling programs and disposal charges for landfill. Recurrent critics challenge the economic prudence and environmental benefit of recycling, which has made it a central component in their businesses. This means that facilities management (FM) plays an imperative role to ensure that shopping centres manage the environmental aspect of their solid waste streams in a comprehensive, cost-effective and responsible manner. Considering the importance of FM success in business, this research introduces the relevance of Critical Success Factors (CSFs) in shopping centre recycling operations research that combined both recycling and critical success factors theory and research. This thesis explicated the FM position inherent in the shopping centre business operation and offers an improved understanding of the environmental aspect of solid waste recycling focused on the UK shopping centre population. By introducing a recycling implementation success framework, the study also demonstrates the use of the appropriate management skills of the current recycling variables have an impact for the success of shopping centre recycling. As previous research relating to this subject has largely been based on case studies, hence the main aim of this research is to investigate the critical factors related to the implementation success of solid waste recycling between the UK shopping centres. An empirical investigation through mixed-methods research was selected as the appropriate research technique. The assessment of practices using the recycling implementation success (performance) framework was carried out through series of interviews and a macro level survey as key methods for generation of research data. Based on this framework, the research concentrates on the cause-effect relationship between critical factors and self-reported of recycling implementation success. Correlation analysis reveals the extent of the critical success factors implemented by these organisations. Further analysis demonstrates the differences between the critical factors which have the effect on over recycling implementation success. In essence, adhering to the various levels of implementation presented will ensure that shopping centre organisations can derive the maximum benefit from recycling initiatives and that the decision-making process as well as the actions regarded as critical are taken into consideration. Finally, this research provides recommendations from both a theoretical and practical point of view.

This thesis describes the present situation of the Al-Hasa oasis, which is critically dependent on a single over-used water resource. Evidence is presented to show that water usage is inefficient, and that real improvements are possible, but only if the local farmers are provided with the means of determining the soil moisture levels of their fields. Simple tensiometers and soil moisture cells are considered for this purpose and both would be effective. Soil moisture cells are likely to be the better choice, but more work is needed to evaluate their response to saline soil moisture conditions. The thesis shows that the widely used pressure plate (for laboratory evaluations) is less accurate than is the simpler filter paper system. Such laboratory determinations will be needed to ensure that the chosen field instruments are as accurate as is wanted. An interesting, and still incompletely understood, phenomenon is that the soil grain sizes do affect the accuracy of results from the chosen field instruments. More work is planned on this subject. A crucial factor also affecting the long term security of the oasis is to improve near surface drainage and evidence is presented that details the adverse effects of the present inadequate drainage system. In view of the vast financial investment already made into the drainage of the oasis, improvements that allow a better drainage of each individual field are seen as sensible. Evaluations of more modern soil moisture measuring equipment (transducer and psychrometer systems) reveal that these are inappropriate for use at Al-Hasa. The emphasis of the thesis is on the positive contribution to water use efficiency that can be achieved by the individual farmer. If the thesis conclusions are accepted then the continued prosperity of Al-Hasa can be assured at a very small cost.

This project concerns the use of an electromagnetic sensor for the detection of leaks/cracks in water pipes. As old metal pipes corrode they start to become brittle, resulting in the potential for cracks to appear in the pipes. In addition corrosion can build up resulting in a restricted flow of water in the pipe. Using an electromagnetic (EM) wave sensor to monitor the signal reflected from the pipes in real time, provides the necessary information to determine where a leak in the pipe has occurred. Analysis of the reflected signal can provide the operator with information about the condition and position of a leak within the pipe. This is the first time research has been carried using EM waves for leak detection in water pipelines. This project involves the design and construction of an EM sensor operating at frequencies in the range of 240MHz to 560MHz, and at a power of OdBm. The sensor is launched into the water pipeline through any existing hydrant and is moved along the pipeline to check for leaks. The simulation software High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) was used to model the pipe section as a circular waveguide cavity, and also for antenna simulation. The monopole and loop antenna were designed to determine the best antenna for this project. The printed circuit board (PCB) design package Eagle was used to provide the surface mount layout for the sensor, and the PCB board was fabricated by using a computer numerical control (CNC) routing machine. Finally the graphical interface package LabVIEW was used to control the frequency sweep for the sensor and to capture the data from the sensor. Based on the findings of this project, the EM wave sensor could be used to determine a leak up to a 0.9 correlation limit using low cost RF electronic devices.

Estudos sobre o estado da arte da Educação Ambiental – EA na área da Engenharia Sanitária são importantes e necessários para indicar tendências e lacunas na produção desse conhecimento. Essa pesquisa busca descrever o estado da arte da EA como objeto de estudo nas dissertações dos Programas de Pós-Graduação Stricto Sensu Mestrado Profissional na área da Engenharia Sanitária no Brasil, período de 1999 a 2014. Foi realizada busca no site dos oito Programas de Mestrado Profissional, totalizando 474 dissertações. Utilizando-se a ferramenta abrir pesquisa reader nos documentos abertos em formato pdf, identificaram-se seis dissertações que apresentaram a EA como objeto de estudos. Nesses trabalhos a expressão exata educação ambiental e/ou EA foi contemplada nas principais estruturas do texto: palavras-chave, objetivos, referencial teórico, metodologia, discussões/resultados, conclusões/recomendações e referências. Constatou-se que a produção está concentrada em duas universidades na região Sudeste (Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro e Instituto Federal Fluminense) e que os eixos temáticos em EA apresentados nessas dissertações foram gestão ambiental, resíduos sólidos e recursos hídricos. Conclui-se que há escassez de estudos sobre a temática nas demais regiões do Brasil e salienta-se a importância do desenvolvimento de estudos direcionados aos demais eixos temáticos da EA, tratados pela Engenharia Sanitária: efluentes sanitários e industriais, eficiência energética, águas superficiais e subterrâneas, usos e ocupação do solo, saúde pública, poluição atmosférica, saneamento, biodiversidade, formação de pessoas, entre outros. A investigação permitiu assinalar que a tendência dos atuais estudos produzidos converge para a Educação Ambiental Não Formal, voltada para grupos específicos e/ou comunidades. Recomenda-se aos Programas de Mestrado Profissional a inserção da EA como linha de pesquisa, disciplina específica ou como tema integrador, conforme prevê a legislação. / Submitted by Ana Guimarães Pereira (agpereir@ucs.br) on 2016-10-20T11:50:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Marli Borsoi Pereira.pdf: 2068742 bytes, checksum: 3a5c0546400873fe262117b65fc2e5a8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-20T11:50:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Marli Borsoi Pereira.pdf: 2068742 bytes, checksum: 3a5c0546400873fe262117b65fc2e5a8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-10-20 / Studies on the state-of-the-art Environmental Education – EE in the field of sanitary engineering are important and necessary to indicate trends and gaps in the production of this knowledge. This research seeks to describe state-of-the-art EE as an object of study in dissertations of Graduate Programs Stricto Sensu Master Professional in the Field of Sanitary Engineering in Brazil, from 1999 to 2014. A search was carried out on the site of the eight Professional Master's Programs, totaling 474 dissertations. Using the tool open reader research in open documents in PDF format, they identified six dissertations presented EE as an object of study. In these papers the exact expression environmental education and/or EE was used in the main text structures: keywords, objectives, theoretical framework, methodology, discussions/findings, conclusions/recommendations and references. It was found that the production is concentrated at the two universities in the Southeast (Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro and Instituto Federal Fluminense) and the themes in EE presented in these dissertations were environmental management, solid waste and water resources. It has been concluded that there are few studies on the subject in other regions of Brazil and the importance of developing studies directed to other EE themes treated by the Sanitary Engineering has been pointed out. Such themes are: sanitary and industrial effluents, energy efficiency, groundwater, use and occupation of land, public health, air pollution, sewage, biodiversity, people training, among others. The investigation has pointed out that the trend of current produced studies converge for Environmental Non-Formal Education, aimed at specific groups and / or communities. It is recommended that Professional Masters Programs include EE as a research line, specific discipline or as an integrating theme, as provided by the legislation.

Orientador: Eduardo Luiz de Oliveira / Banca: Luís Fernando Rossi Léo / Banca: Gustavo Henrique Ribeiro da Silva / Resumo: Esta dissertação de mestrado consistiu em elaborar e construir uma Estação de Tratamento de Esgoto (ETE) que utilizasse o sistema de Alagados Construídos (wetlands) para tratar o esgoto gerado no Departamento de Educação Física e da Moradia Estudantil, ambos ligados a Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" - UNESP de Bauru. Para isso foi criado um sistema híbrido de fluxo subsuperficial horizontal seguido por outro de fluxo vertical, com recirculação. O projeto foi desenvolvido no campo da universidade para atender 91 habitantes equivalentes. Nesse trabalho, foram explorados as etapas construtivas da ETE e realizado análises físico-químicos e biológicos dos alagados construídos de fluxo vertical na fase de maturação do sistema. A elaboração deste estudo é uma ferramenta importante para o desenvolvimento do sistema de alagados construídos no Brasil, uma vez que, possibilita o conhecimento das técnicas de construção, manutenção e gastos para implantação de um sistema desse tipo / Abstract: The realization of this research project is to develop and build a sewage treatment plant using the system of Constructed Wetlands to treat sewage generated in the Department of Physical Education and Student Housing, both linked to Universidade Estadual Paulista "Julio de Mesquita Filho" - UNESP in Bauru. For it was created a hybrid system of horizontal subsurface flow followed by another vertical flow, with recirculation. The project was developed at the university campus to meet 91 equivalent inhabitants. In this work were explored constructive steps ETE and testing of physico-chemical and biological of vertical flow constructed wetlands in the maturation phase of the system. The preparation of this study is an important tool for the development of constructed wetlands system in Brazil, since it enables the knowledge of construction techniques, maintenance and expenses fopr deploying such a system / Mestre

Estudos sobre o estado da arte da Educação Ambiental – EA na área da Engenharia Sanitária são importantes e necessários para indicar tendências e lacunas na produção desse conhecimento. Essa pesquisa busca descrever o estado da arte da EA como objeto de estudo nas dissertações dos Programas de Pós-Graduação Stricto Sensu Mestrado Profissional na área da Engenharia Sanitária no Brasil, período de 1999 a 2014. Foi realizada busca no site dos oito Programas de Mestrado Profissional, totalizando 474 dissertações. Utilizando-se a ferramenta abrir pesquisa reader nos documentos abertos em formato pdf, identificaram-se seis dissertações que apresentaram a EA como objeto de estudos. Nesses trabalhos a expressão exata educação ambiental e/ou EA foi contemplada nas principais estruturas do texto: palavras-chave, objetivos, referencial teórico, metodologia, discussões/resultados, conclusões/recomendações e referências. Constatou-se que a produção está concentrada em duas universidades na região Sudeste (Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro e Instituto Federal Fluminense) e que os eixos temáticos em EA apresentados nessas dissertações foram gestão ambiental, resíduos sólidos e recursos hídricos. Conclui-se que há escassez de estudos sobre a temática nas demais regiões do Brasil e salienta-se a importância do desenvolvimento de estudos direcionados aos demais eixos temáticos da EA, tratados pela Engenharia Sanitária: efluentes sanitários e industriais, eficiência energética, águas superficiais e subterrâneas, usos e ocupação do solo, saúde pública, poluição atmosférica, saneamento, biodiversidade, formação de pessoas, entre outros. A investigação permitiu assinalar que a tendência dos atuais estudos produzidos converge para a Educação Ambiental Não Formal, voltada para grupos específicos e/ou comunidades. Recomenda-se aos Programas de Mestrado Profissional a inserção da EA como linha de pesquisa, disciplina específica ou como tema integrador, conforme prevê a legislação. / Studies on the state-of-the-art Environmental Education – EE in the field of sanitary engineering are important and necessary to indicate trends and gaps in the production of this knowledge. This research seeks to describe state-of-the-art EE as an object of study in dissertations of Graduate Programs Stricto Sensu Master Professional in the Field of Sanitary Engineering in Brazil, from 1999 to 2014. A search was carried out on the site of the eight Professional Master's Programs, totaling 474 dissertations. Using the tool open reader research in open documents in PDF format, they identified six dissertations presented EE as an object of study. In these papers the exact expression environmental education and/or EE was used in the main text structures: keywords, objectives, theoretical framework, methodology, discussions/findings, conclusions/recommendations and references. It was found that the production is concentrated at the two universities in the Southeast (Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro and Instituto Federal Fluminense) and the themes in EE presented in these dissertations were environmental management, solid waste and water resources. It has been concluded that there are few studies on the subject in other regions of Brazil and the importance of developing studies directed to other EE themes treated by the Sanitary Engineering has been pointed out. Such themes are: sanitary and industrial effluents, energy efficiency, groundwater, use and occupation of land, public health, air pollution, sewage, biodiversity, people training, among others. The investigation has pointed out that the trend of current produced studies converge for Environmental Non-Formal Education, aimed at specific groups and / or communities. It is recommended that Professional Masters Programs include EE as a research line, specific discipline or as an integrating theme, as provided by the legislation.

The possibility of utilisation of microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation as a potential remedial technology for sequestering divalent metallic contaminants in subsurface environment was explored. Contamination by heavy metals and radionuclides is a significant environmental problem. Incorporating metals in calcium carbonate minerals is a mechanism that may offer long-term removal of metallic cations. Stimulating native ureolytic bacteria by supplying required nutrient and chemicals to create alkaline conditions suitable for calcium carbonate precipitation may accelerate biomineralisation processes in polluted soil. This study reports the ability of a bacterium in soils, Sporosarcina pasteurii, to remediate range of heavy metal and radionuclide (by using non-radioactive proxies) concentrations in aqueous solutions and particulate media by inducing urea hydrolysis and calcium carbonate precipitation. However, bacterial activity is limited by heavy metals toxicity and availability, hence, initially the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of metals to bacterial activity was estimated, without the presence of a metal precipitation mechanism (only metals ions and nutrient broth). Metals inhibited bacteria in the following order Cd >Zn >Cu >Pb >Sr. The bacterial cells showed an improved growth and metal toxicity resistance in presence of urea containing medium over their presence in urea-free medium. Cd, Pb and Sr were fully removed, whilst Zn and Cu were partially removed by this technique. Removal of heavy metals was strongly correlated with full removal of calcium and high pH increase then white precipitate was produced, suggesting that urea hydrolysis by bacterial cells did play a role. Finally, it was explored the effects of ground conditions (transport and availability of heavy metals, preferential flow and heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity) on biomineralisation process in porous media in different sand fractions (fine, medium and coarse). High removal rates were achieved in porous media especially for cadmium and strontium. It is resulted that the heterogeneity of hydraulic conductivity plays a main role in distributing bacterial activity and subsequent precipitation processes in porous media. XRF, XRD, SEM and EDX spectrum tests for sand samples showed the presence of calcite and aragonite in precipitation crystals. The gained results demonstrate that microbially induce calcium carbonate technique is a means of sequestration of soluble heavy metals via co-precipitation with calcium carbonate precipitation that can be useful for divalent heavy metal and radionuclides bioremediation.