Orientador: Ederio Dino Bidoia / Banca: Edson Aparecido Abdul Nour / Banca: Antonio Fernando Monteiro Camargo / Resumo: A questão da qualidade da água é um assunto de grande importância para a sociedade como um todo. Com o aumento da populaçao acontece o aumento da demanda por água limpa, além do aumento da poluição nos corpos d'água. A indústria têxtil representa uma grande fonte poluidora, considerando seu alto gasto de água para os processos de beneficiamento dos tecidos, lançando uma grande quantidade de efluentes. Esses efluentes são ricos em sais e corantes liberados durante o processo de tingimento, que podem causar diversos danos a biota aquática e consequentemente ao ser humano. O presente trabalho visou o estudo de um reator eletrolítico utilizando um anodo 70%TiO2/30%RuO2 para o tratamento de diferentes efluentes têxteis simulados, contendo os corantes têxteis Acid Red 151 e Acid Blue 40. Foram usadas diferentes condições experimentais, como corrente e concentração de eletrólitos. Foram avaliadas variáveis como absorbância, pH, condutividade elétrica e concentração de Cl2 das amostras após o tratamento para avaliação da degradação e calculado também o gasto energético e custo do processo. Também foram realizadas avaliações ecotoxicológicas com Saccharomyces cerevisiae e com microecossistemas simulados conhecidos como colunas de Winogradsky, para avaliação do crescimento do perífiton sob presença dos efluentes com e sem tratamento. Observou-se que o tratamento foi capaz de remover satisfatóriamente a cor do efluente após poucos minutos de tratamento (5 min), e que após tratamentos mais longos (30 min) o efluente se tornou tóxico para S. cerevisiae. Nos testes com colunas de Winogradsky também observou-se que quanto maior o tempo de tratamento maior a interferência no ecossistema, levando à diminuição no número Chlorophyceae e grande aumento no número de Cyanophyceae. Isso... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Water quality is a topic of extreme importance for all the society. With a growing number of people in the world, there is also an increase on the demand for clean water. But on the other hand, there is also an increase in water pollution. Textile industry represents a considerable water polluting source, considering its high demand for water to be used on the manufacture of fabrics. Therefore it produces a large amount of effluents. These effluents are full of salts and dyes, which are used during the dyeing processes and are released to the rivers, and can harm seriously the aquatic biota and even the human being. This research aimed the study of an electrolytic reactor, using a 70%TiO2/30%RuO2 anode for treating different simulated textile effluents containing the textile dyes Acid Red 151 and Acid Blue 40. They were submitted by different experimental conditions, such as current and electrolytes concentration. Also, were measured absorbance, pH, conductivity and Cl2 concentration after the treatment was performed, in order to evaluate the degradation. The energy consumption and treatment estimated cost were calculated too. There were made ecotoxicological tests using Saccharomyces cerevisiae and using microecosystems known as Winogradsky columns, evaluating the growing of periphyton under the presence of effluents with and without treatment. It was observed the treatment was successful in removing the color of each effluent, starting at the first 5 min of treatment, but after longer treatments (30 min) the final effluent was toxic to S. cerevisiae. According to the Winogradsky columns test was noticed that as longer the treatment bigger the interference in the ecosystem, leading to a smaller number of Chlorophyceae and to a high increase on the number of Cyanophyceae. This happens due to the production... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

As a mechanism for collecting and sharing information, information and communications technologies (ICT) hold immense potential for individuals and institutions in low- and middle-income countries. Currently the distribution and adoption of ICTs--particularly mobile devices--has far outpaced the provision of other household services like clean water, sanitation, hygiene, or energy services. At the same time, the development and deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) devices including cellular- and satellite-connected sensors is facilitating more rapid feedback from remote regions where basic services are most limited. When used in conjunction with economic development or public health interventions, these devices and the feedback they provide can inform operation and maintenance activities for field staff and improve the monitoring and evaluation of outcomes for project stakeholders. This dissertation includes three chapters written as journal articles. While each chapter is framed around the work and research efforts being undertaken by the Sustainable Water, Energy, and Environmental Technologies Lab (SweetLab) at Portland State University, the common thread that weaves all three investigations together is the theme of ICT-enabled programmatic feedback. The first chapter introduces the three theoretical lenses that inform these investigations and the ways that ICTs and the data they provide can (1) serve as more appropriate proxies for measuring access to services, (2) reduce information asymmetries between various stakeholders including communities, governments, implementers, and funders, and (3) enable more robust methodologies for measuring outcomes and impacts of interventions within complex adaptive systems. The second chapter presents a critical review of the methodologies and technologies being used to track progress on sanitation and hygiene development goals. Chapter three describes how simple sensors and weight measurements can be combined with complex machine learning algorithms to facilitate more reliable and cost-effective latrine servicing in informal settlements. Chapter four presents the results from an investigation exploring how near-time feedback from sensors installed on motorized boreholes can improve water service delivery and drought resilience in arid regions of Northern Kenya. Finally, chapter five provides a summary of the three manuscripts and discusses the significance of this research for future investigations.

Thesis (M.Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2011 / The legacy of apartheid has left the Democratic South African government with many challenges. Sixteen years of governance have not been enough for the state to close the gap between the rich and the poor. Instead, the gap is widening day by day. The Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) and other government intervention strategies have not done enough to uplift the standard of living of the majority of people in the country. The poor, living in rural areas, remain the most hard-hit and recipients of the bitter fruits of the past. Little or no development has been taking place in their communities. Regardless of the many efforts by the current government, water supply and sanitation in rural areas are a nightmare. The study was conducted in two rural villages in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality (BLM), namely, Clare B and Islington. In some parts of the villages residents have never fetched water in their streets less than one kilometre for close to a year. The results show that villagers are negatively affected by the lack of water in their communities. The economic power of these communities is very low, most of them are living below the poverty line. The results suggest, as elsewhere, that the BLM should install water pipes that will transfer water from the Injaka Dam to all rural areas in the municipality, as the two villages under study are not the only ones experiencing water shortages in the area.

Thesis (MPA.) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / The study is an evaluation of the challenges that the Thulamela Municipality face in the delivery of water and sanitation services. The purpose of the study was to find ways of improving service delivery and addressing backlogs so that sustainable delivery of water and sanitation services can be achieved. A descriptive quantitative method was conducted using a questionnaire, peer-reviewed journals, books and official documentation. The Thulamela Local Municipality is based at Vhembe District in Limpopo Province. The study shows that there is a serious challenge of backlogs in water and sanitation delivery. These will be difficult to overcome due to financial constraint and, lack of human capacity and technical resources. The researcher concluded that the municipality has serious backlogs in service provision which needed to be addressed urgently. She recommends that the municipality should outsource some services, provide efficient and effective resource to ensure that there is sustainable service provision.

Water and sanitation (WatSan) development projects impact both natural systems and societal structures where they are placed. A complex process of development, including inter-governmental policies, aid agencies, personal relationships, and community politics enhance and constrain the efficacy of these projects. This study presents the many ways in which the WatSan development process has unintended and unexpected returns for certain community groups. Using a political ecology framework, I look at power structures, perceived and projected environmental impacts, multiple stakeholders, and individual discourses to critique how the right to water and sanitation is implemented in a specific community context. This project advances anthropological thought by showing a praxis-based study that links theory, on-the-ground, ethnographic experience, policy recommendations, and theoretical injections which relate to a variety of audiences, both within and outside of the academy. The project is conducted in two main field locations--La Paz and Sapecho, Bolivia. I employ a mixed-method approach, including interviews with development professionals and community members, a survey of water and sanitation users, focus groups with particularly impacted groups (e.g. water committees, students, and women), and various mapping techniques (GPS mapping, community-led) to address the space and place within which this project was realized. I give specific focus to sewage collection and wastewater treatment, two elements of the WatSan system that are distinctive in this rural developing-country context. WatSan development is not just infrastructure placement. It is a full process, a relationship. It comprises individual conversations, days of work, salaries, payment schedules, labor, expertise, and ongoing management practices. Individual perceptions of infrastructure efficacy, personal benefit, and best practices (both culturally and technologically) impact the long-term effectiveness of a project. Major tensions arise post-implementation: between community and aid agency, conservation and use, labor and upkeep, and sanitation and potable water. There are multiple influences and positions subsumed in this process. The study's political ecology approach, combined with foci on human rights, critical development, and water and culture, provides critical insights into the relationship between social and resource-based (water infrastructure) change. It looks at the ways in which the benefits and risks of a WatSan system are stratified, gendered, and power-laden. It further looks at the potential positive and negative outcomes of the system--all with an enviro-social focus. I look at how social and ecological relationships are tethered together (mutually constituted), how they are influenced by several levels of governance and policy. The experience of Sapecho shows how changes to WatSan environments can provide new water and sanitation access but in some cases, further engrain and exacerbate social inequalities. Provision of fresh water, sewage collection, and wastewater treatment infrastructure is not value-free--but it is necessary. This work tries to answer one small part of the question of how the right to water and sanitation can be best implemented in real-world situations.

Bibliography: leaves 118-127.

The primary question that the thesis investigates is: what impacts could climate change have on cattle water demand and supply in Khurutshe, Botswana. This thesis is pursued in light of the fact that there is a lack of knowledge on climate change and cattle water demand and supply. Thus, this thesis aims at filling the gap in knowledge on climate change and cattle water resources in Botswana and other semi-arid environments. A cattle water demand and supply model is developed to investigate the primary question of the thesis. The model is driven by rainfall and temperature over time as these variables largely determine cattle water supply and demand, respectively. Climate scenarios for 2050 are constructed using SimCLIM (developed by the International Global Change Institute of the University of Waikato) based on HadCM3 and CSIRO Mk2 General Circulation Models (GCMs). Three Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) are used: A1B, A1FT and A1T. These emission scenarios were selected based on their coverage for possible future Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG). Climate scenarios show that by 2050 the temperature for the Khurutshe area could increase by as much as 3 oC depending on the GCM and SRES emission scenario and that there could be a decline in rainfall of up to 14% per month. CSIRO Mk2 displayed the maximum decline in rainfall while HadCM3 depicted the maximum increase in temperature. The model is implemented in the Khurutshe of the Kgatleng District, Botswana. The results reported are for Masama Ranch and also for the whole of the Khurutshe area. The results show that climate change could lead to an annual increase of more than 20% in cattle water demand by 2050 due to an increase in temperature. In addition, climate change could lead to a decline in the contribution of surface pan water to cattle water supply. Overall, there could be an increase in abstraction of groundwater for cattle by 2050 due to an increase in demand and a decline in forage water content and surface pan water. Observations in semi-arid environments of Africa indicate that farmers encounter problems of declining borehole yields and local depletion in groundwater in summer and drought years when demand peaks. In addition, it has been observed that during drought more cattle are lost as a result of lack of water, particularly for those whose cattle are reliant on surface water. Thus, the results from this study indicate that climate change could enhance this problem. In the thesis I have shown the importance of integrating climate change impacts on water demand and supply when assessing water resources, which has been ignored in the past. Some of the policy options that are discussed are tradable pumping permits for controlling abstraction and allocation issues in the Khurutshe aquifer and, controlling stocking numbers. This is in recognition of the fact that climate change could result in more reliance on groundwater for both cattle farming and urban water supply hence compromising sustainability and allocation issues especially for the Khurutshe aquifer which is earmarked to supply the city of Gaborone and surrounding villages in drought periods.

The primary question that the thesis investigates is: what impacts could climate change have on cattle water demand and supply in Khurutshe, Botswana. This thesis is pursued in light of the fact that there is a lack of knowledge on climate change and cattle water demand and supply. Thus, this thesis aims at filling the gap in knowledge on climate change and cattle water resources in Botswana and other semi-arid environments. A cattle water demand and supply model is developed to investigate the primary question of the thesis. The model is driven by rainfall and temperature over time as these variables largely determine cattle water supply and demand, respectively. Climate scenarios for 2050 are constructed using SimCLIM (developed by the International Global Change Institute of the University of Waikato) based on HadCM3 and CSIRO Mk2 General Circulation Models (GCMs). Three Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) are used: A1B, A1FT and A1T. These emission scenarios were selected based on their coverage for possible future Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG). Climate scenarios show that by 2050 the temperature for the Khurutshe area could increase by as much as 3 oC depending on the GCM and SRES emission scenario and that there could be a decline in rainfall of up to 14% per month. CSIRO Mk2 displayed the maximum decline in rainfall while HadCM3 depicted the maximum increase in temperature. The model is implemented in the Khurutshe of the Kgatleng District, Botswana. The results reported are for Masama Ranch and also for the whole of the Khurutshe area. The results show that climate change could lead to an annual increase of more than 20% in cattle water demand by 2050 due to an increase in temperature. In addition, climate change could lead to a decline in the contribution of surface pan water to cattle water supply. Overall, there could be an increase in abstraction of groundwater for cattle by 2050 due to an increase in demand and a decline in forage water content and surface pan water. Observations in semi-arid environments of Africa indicate that farmers encounter problems of declining borehole yields and local depletion in groundwater in summer and drought years when demand peaks. In addition, it has been observed that during drought more cattle are lost as a result of lack of water, particularly for those whose cattle are reliant on surface water. Thus, the results from this study indicate that climate change could enhance this problem. In the thesis I have shown the importance of integrating climate change impacts on water demand and supply when assessing water resources, which has been ignored in the past. Some of the policy options that are discussed are tradable pumping permits for controlling abstraction and allocation issues in the Khurutshe aquifer and, controlling stocking numbers. This is in recognition of the fact that climate change could result in more reliance on groundwater for both cattle farming and urban water supply hence compromising sustainability and allocation issues especially for the Khurutshe aquifer which is earmarked to supply the city of Gaborone and surrounding villages in drought periods.

Realistic optimisation of the operation and planning of urban water supply headworks systems requires that the issues of complexity and stochastic forcing be addressed. The only reliable way of accomplishing this is to use simulation models in conjunction with the Monte Carlo method which generates multiple hydro-climate replicates. However, such models do not easily interface with traditional optimisation methods. Probabilistic search methods such as the genetic algorithm (GA) and the shuffled complex evolution method (SCE) can be coupled to a generalised simulation model and thus accommodate complexity as well as stochastic inputs. However, optimisation of complex urban water supply systems is computationally intractable if Monte Carlo methods have to be used. This study first compared the GA and the SCE method using a simple case study. Both methods were found to cope well with the piecewise flat objective function surface typical of the headworks optimisation problem. This is because they have the inherent capability of vigorously exploring beyond the domain of a flat region. The SCE method is recommended especially when fast location of a good solution is desired. Nonetheless, the GA was preferred due to its inherent parallelism. Two methods were then explored to improve computational efficiency and turnaround time: parallel computing and replicate compression. The Sydney headworks system was used as a case study to investigate the key aspects of a full-scale headworks optimisation. It was concluded that the speedup was nearly proportional to the number of processors employed. Replicate compression can very significantly reduce the computational turnaround time for Monte Carlo simulation; unfortunately, this conclusion must be tempered by the limitation that the objective function depends on penalties arising from restrictions only. Critical analysis of the GA results suggested the optimised results were sound. The case study demonstrated the feasibility of parallel GA to identify near-optimal solutions for a complex system subject to stochastic forcing. / PhD Doctorate

The utilisation of rainwater tanks and bore wells are very common in many parts of rural Australia and Papua New Guinea. In Australia, on-site collection and storage of potable water for domestic use is carried out by approximately 30.4 percent of the rural population while 90% of the population in Papua New Guinea access water from on-site collection and storage of potable water. Few studies have monitored the quality of such water supplies on a seasonal and event associated basis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbiological and physio-chemical properties of the on-site domestic water supply systems and various factors that may influence characteristics of the water. It aimed to evaluate the relationship of microbiological and physio-chemical characteristics in the water supply systems. 14 rainwater tanks, 4 bore well and 10 reticulated water supply sites in Hawkesbury District, NSW Australia were investigated. Characteristics of the sites physical situation and natural environmental condition were considered to be similar to on-site water supply situations in Papua New Guinea. The results and techniques of the study will be used as a model in Papua New Guinea in the assessment of water quality issues. As the study showed that the quality of water in rainwater tanks was below WHO guideline recommendations on numerous instances, it was proposed that water treatment and maintaining the cleanliness of roof catchments, gutters and tanks should be addressed for domestic use systems. A protocol for sampling, assessment and data interpretation of faecal indicator bacteria populations in domestic catchment supply systems was developed and demonstrated / Master of Science (Hons)