Recent urban development in Shanghai, the largest city in China, and its impact on the water environment are examined in this study. The area of built-up surface was obtained from the classification of the Landsat 7 ETM+ images of the year 2000 for Shanghai. The proportion of built-up surface and population density were extracted from buffer zones with radii ranging from 100 to 2000 m, and used...

The Chillán River in Central Chile plays a fundamental role in local society, as a source of irrigation and drinking water, and as a sink for urban wastewater. In order to characterize the spatial and temporal variability of surface water quality in the watershed, a Water Quality Index (WQI) was calculated from nine physicochemical parameters, periodically measured at 18 sampling sites (January...

This paper shows the real situation about management of water and wastewater in Lebanon and focuses on problems related to urban water pollution released in environment. Water and wastewater infrastructures have been rebuilt since 1992. However, wastewater management still remains one of the greatest challenges facing Lebanese people, since water supply projects have been given priority over wa...

Public support is crucial for successful implementation of wastewater reuse projects. This paper analyses the findings of a questionnaire-type survey (256 participants) conducted to determine the attitude of Israeli urban public towards possible urban reuse options. The paper summarises the support/objection to 13 reuse options and the correlation between support and environmental awareness and...

The steady increase of urban population and the possible effects of climate change that may adversely affect the amount of water available in current water supply systems, makes the study of stormwater and rainwater harvesting and wastewater recycling a high priority. The basic proposition is that any system of water supply that can reduce the amount of water drawn from main reservoirs will be ...

Autochthonous hepatitis E virus (HEV) strains have been described infecting populations of industrialized countries, previously considered as non-endemic areas. The HEV strains circulating in one of those areas in south-western Europe (Barcelona, Spain) have been studied by analysing amplicons obtained from HEV genomes identified in wastewater, biosolids and sludge. Six sewage and two biosolid ...

This special issue demonstrates how practical solutions to the development of sustainable cities can be achieved through studying urban metabolism, urban ecology, city carbon and water footprints, the dynamics of city growth, and the interdependency between social actors, institutions, and biophysical system flows. than half the world’s people and about 80% of those in developed nations live in...

This paper describes recent levels of surfactants measured in a coastal lagoon ecosystem highly stressed by human activites: the Orbetello lagoon (Southern Tuscany, Italy, Ramsar Site IT008). Significance of difference among concentrations measured before and after summertime are explored in order to evaluate effects related to tourism exploitation. Among surfactants, methylene blue active anio...

Rapid urbanization and industrialization in Latin America and the Caribbean has aggravated serious wastewater disposal problems in that region. This article describes some of the morepromising methods available for dealing with these problems-including use of submarine oulfalls, reuse of treated sewage efluent, and application of unconventional technology in poverty-stricken urban neighborhoods.