Clean Coastal Waters
Clean Coastal Waters

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2000-08-17

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13: 0309069483

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Environmental problems in coastal ecosystems can sometimes be attributed to excess nutrients flowing from upstream watersheds into estuarine settings. This nutrient over-enrichment can result in toxic algal blooms, shellfish poisoning, coral reef destruction, and other harmful outcomes. All U.S. coasts show signs of nutrient over-enrichment, and scientists predict worsening problems in the years ahead. Clean Coastal Waters explains technical aspects of nutrient over-enrichment and proposes both immediate local action by coastal managers and a longer-term national strategy incorporating policy design, classification of affected sites, law and regulation, coordination, and communication. Highlighting the Gulf of Mexico's "Dead Zone," the Pfiesteria outbreak in a tributary of Chesapeake Bay, and other cases, the book explains how nutrients work in the environment, why nitrogen is important, how enrichment turns into over-enrichment, and why some environments are especially susceptible. Economic as well as ecological impacts are examined. In addressing abatement strategies, the committee discusses the importance of monitoring sites, developing useful models of over-enrichment, and setting water quality goals. The book also reviews voluntary programs, mandatory controls, tax incentives, and other policy options for reducing the flow of nutrients from agricultural operations and other sources.

Riverine Ecosystem Management
Riverine Ecosystem Management

Author: Stefan Schmutz

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-05-08

Total Pages: 562

ISBN-13: 3319732501

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This open access book surveys the frontier of scientific river research and provides examples to guide management towards a sustainable future of riverine ecosystems. Principal structures and functions of the biogeosphere of rivers are explained; key threats are identified, and effective solutions for restoration and mitigation are provided. Rivers are among the most threatened ecosystems of the world. They increasingly suffer from pollution, water abstraction, river channelisation and damming. Fundamental knowledge of ecosystem structure and function is necessary to understand how human acitivities interfere with natural processes and which interventions are feasible to rectify this. Modern water legislation strives for sustainable water resource management and protection of important habitats and species. However, decision makers would benefit from more profound understanding of ecosystem degradation processes and of innovative methodologies and tools for efficient mitigation and restoration. The book provides best-practice examples of sustainable river management from on-site studies, European-wide analyses and case studies from other parts of the world. This book will be of interest to researchers in the field of aquatic ecology, river system functioning, conservation and restoration, to postgraduate students, to institutions involved in water management, and to water related industries.

Watershed Management for Potable Water Supply
Watershed Management for Potable Water Supply

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2000-02-17

Total Pages: 569

ISBN-13: 0309172683

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In 1997, New York City adopted a mammoth watershed agreement to protect its drinking water and avoid filtration of its large upstate surface water supply. Shortly thereafter, the NRC began an analysis of the agreement's scientific validity. The resulting book finds New York City's watershed agreement to be a good template for proactive watershed management that, if properly implemented, will maintain high water quality. However, it cautions that the agreement is not a guarantee of permanent filtration avoidance because of changing regulations, uncertainties regarding pollution sources, advances in treatment technologies, and natural variations in watershed conditions. The book recommends that New York City place its highest priority on pathogenic microorganisms in the watershed and direct its resources toward improving methods for detecting pathogens, understanding pathogen transport and fate, and demonstrating that best management practices will remove pathogens. Other recommendations, which are broadly applicable to surface water supplies across the country, target buffer zones, stormwater management, water quality monitoring, and effluent trading.

Biological Phosphorus Removal
Biological Phosphorus Removal

Author: P. M. J. Janssen

Publisher: IWA Publishing

Published: 2002-05-31

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9781843390121

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Biological phosphorus (bio-P) removal has become a reliable and well-understood process within wastewater treatment, despite being one of the most complex processes in the activated sludge process. Extended fundamental and full-scale research has been carried out into the bio-P process and the state-of-the-art is described in this report. A summarising historical overview gives insight into the establishment of the appropriate microbiological and biochemical basis of the process and the development of bio-P configurations in practice. Aspects of the bio-P process that have a direct influence on the efficiency of phosphorus removal are subjected to an in-depth investigation. This report presents guidelines for design and dimensioning in order to introduce and/or optimise the bio-P process in practice. Twelve bio-P installations are extensively described and the operational results and experiences are related to existing bio-P knowledge and guidelines. Based on a number of parameters, a comparison is made between the described bio-P plants. A steady state model is verified with extensive periods of practical experience of the plants. The bio-P model, which is provided on CD-ROM (available for download here), offers a reliable insight into the bio-P process, coupled with sensitivity analyses regarding wastewater characteristics and process parameters for the anaerobic volume and the P-ortho concentration in the final effluent. The report ends with a systematic approach to the design of the bio-P process, based on the background of the bio-P process itself, much practical experience and the analysis of operational bio-P plants. Also presented is a systematic approach to tackle operational aspects of the bio-P process in order to generate an acceptable low P effluent concentration. This optimisation of the bio-P process operation is supported by a decision diagram. Biological Phosphorus Removal will be an invaluable source of information for all those concerned with wastewater treatment, including plant managers, process designers, consultants and researchers.

Animal Manure
Animal Manure

Author: Heidi M. Waldrip

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2020-05-05

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 0891183701

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The majority of meat, milk, and eggs consumed in the United States are produced in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO). With concentrated animal operations, in turn comes concentrated manure accumulation, which can pose a threat of contamination of air, soil, and water if improperly managed. Animal Manure: Production, Characteristics, Environmental Concerns, and Management navigates these important environmental concerns while detailing opportunities for environmentally and economically beneficial utilization.