Reuse of waste water: impact on water supply planning / Remploi de l'eau résiduaire: influence sur la planification des systèmes de distribution des eaux

Abstract

As the urban population of the world increases and demand on easily developable water supplies are exceeded, cities have recourse to a range of management alternatives to balance municipal water supply and demand. These alternatives range from doing nothing to modifying either the supply or the demand variable in the supply-demand relationship. The reuse or recycling of urban waste water in many circumstances may be an economically attractive and effective management strategy for extending existing supplies of developed water, for providing additional water where no developable supplies exist and for meeting water quality effluent discharge standards. The relationship among municipal, industrial and agricultural water use and the treatment links which may be required to modify the quality of a municipal waste effluent for either recycling or reuse purposes is described. A procedure is described for analysing water reuse alternatives within a framework of regional water supply and waste water disposal planning and management.     

Physically-based distributed soil erosion and sediment yield model (DREAM) for simulating individual storm events

Abstract

A relatively simple process-oriented, physically-based distributed (PBD) hydrological model, the distributed runoff and erosion assessment model (DREAM), is described, and a validation study conducted in the semi-forested watershed of Pathri Rao, in the Garhwal Himalayas, India, is reported. DREAM takes account of watershed heterogeneity as reflected by land use, soil type, topography and rainfall, measured in the field or estimated through remote sensing, and generates estimates of runoff and sediment yield in spatial and temporal domains. The model is based on simultaneous solution of flow dynamics, based on kinematic wave theory, followed by solution of soil erosion dynamics. As the storm rainfall proceeds, the process of overland flow generation is dependent on the interception storage and infiltration rates. The components of the soil erosion model have been modified to provide better prediction of sediment flow rates and sediment yields. The validation study conducted to test the performance of the model in simulating soil erosion and sediment yield during different storm events monitored in the study watershed showed that the model outputs are satisfactory. Details of a sensitivity analysis, model calibration and the statistical evaluation of the results obtained are also presented and discussed. It is noteworthy that the distributed nature of the model combined with the use of geographical information system (GIS) techniques permits the computation and representation of the spatial distribution of sediment yield for simulated storm events, and a map of the spatial distribution of sediment yield for a simulated storm event is presented to highlight this capability.

Citation Ramsankaran, R., Kothyari, U.C., Ghosh, S.K., Malcherek, A., and Murugesan, K., 2013. Physically-based distributed soil erosion and sediment yield model (DREAM) for simulating individual storm events. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (4), 872–891.     

Suitability of MUSLT for storm sediment yield prediction in Chehelgazi watershed,Iran

Abstract

The Chehelgazi watershed of Gheshlagh Dam in western Iran was selected to check the capability of the MUSLT (Theoretical Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation) model for estimating sediment yield during storms. The efficiency of MUSLT for sediment yield prediction was assessed using observed sediment data recorded for 11 storm events between October 2006 and April 2007. The results showed that MUSLT overestimated sediment yield with a high coefficient of determination (R² = 0.636 and p < 0.05), and it was then calibrated by examining regression models. The developed calibrated model (C-MUSLT) performed well, with a coefficient of determination of 0.739 (p < 0.05) and relative estimation and verification errors of 49.36 and 25.18%, respectively. The results of comparison between observed and estimated values, obtained by applying the calibrated model, confirmed that the difference was significant with a t value of 1.453 (p?=?0.05).

Citation Sadeghi, S.H.R., Gholami, L., and Khaledi Darvishan, A.V., 2013. Suitability of MUSLT for storm sediment yield prediction in Chehelgazi watershed, Iran. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (4), 892–897.     

Impacts of projected climate change on sediment yield and dredging costs

Changes in climate may significantly affect how sediment moves through watersheds into harbours and channels that are dredged for navigation or flood control. Here, we applied a hydrologic model driven by a large suite of climate change scenarios to simulate both historical and future sediment yield and transport in two large, adjacent watersheds in the Great Lakes region. Using historical dredging expenditure data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, we then developed a pair of statistical models that link sediment discharge from each river to dredging costs at the watershed outlet. Although both watersheds show similar slight decreases in streamflow and sediment yield in the near‐term, by Mid‐Century, they diverge substantially. Dredging costs are projected to change in opposite directions for the two watersheds; we estimate that future dredging costs will decline in the St. Joseph River by 8–16% by Mid‐Century but increase by 1–6% in the Maumee River. Our results show that the impacts of climate change on sediment yield and dredging may vary significantly by watershed even within a region and that agricultural practices will play a large role in determining future streamflow and sediment loads. We also show that there are large variations in responses across climate projections that cause significant uncertainty in sediment and dredging projections.     

Kinematical analysis of 3D passive earth pressure with nonlinear yield criterion

Conventional methods for calculation of passive earth pressure were mainly based on the assumptions of the linear Mohr‐Coulomb yield condition and plane strain failure mechanism. However, both theoretical and experimental studies have shown that such assumptions are not satisfied in some geotechnical projects. Herein, a novel method incorporating a kinematically admissible 3‐dimensional (3D) rotational failure mechanism and the nonlinear power‐law yield criterion is proposed to compute the passive earth pressure acting on the inclined retaining walls. Instead of using the nonlinear yield criterion directly, a straight line tangential to the nonlinear yield curve is employed to represent the strength of soils, and therefore, the nonlinear problem is transformed into the traditional linear problem. The 3D failure mechanism is generated through rotating a circle defined by 2 log‐spirals, and a plane strain block is inserted into the mechanism to consider the retaining walls with different widths. Earthquake effects are taken into account by using quasi‐static representation, and the horizontal seismic coefficient concept is adopted for the estimation of passive earth pressure under seismic conditions. An analytical expression about the 3D passive earth pressure is educed by means of the upper bound theorem of limit analysis. Numerical results for different practical parameters are obtained from an optimization scheme where the minimum of passive earth pressure is sought. Compared with available 2‐dimensional and 3D solutions, the proposed method is validated. A parametric study is conducted to investigate the effects of different parameters on the 3D static and seismic passive earth pressure.     

Forests and water in South America

South America is experiencing rapid change in forest cover, of both native and planted forest. Forest cover loss is primarily attributable to fire, logging, and conversion of native forest to agriculture, pasture, and forest plantations, and types of change vary within and among the many diverse types of forests in South America. Major changes in forest cover and growing policy concerns underscore an urgent need for research on sustainable forest management and water ecosystem services in South America. Differences in land ownership and management objectives create trade‐offs between wood production and water ecosystem services from forests. Work is needed to quantify how forest change and management affect ecosystem services, such as wood production versus water provision. Current scientific understanding of forest management effects on water ecosystem services in South America has important limitations, including a scarcity of long‐term records and few long‐term integrated watershed studies. Industry, government, universities, and local communities should collaborate on integrated applied studies of forests and water. Data archiving and publically available data are required. The creation of national networks and a multi‐country South America network to identify and implement common water research protocols, share results, and explore their implications would promote common and well‐supported policies. Hydrologists working in South America are well placed to tackle the challenges and opportunities for collaborative research that will maintain the intrinsic values and water ecosystem services provided by South America's forests.     

Hydrological modelling using proxies for gauged precipitation and temperature

Precipitation and temperature time series suffer from many problems, such as short time, inadequate spatial coverage, missing data, and biases from various causes, which are particularly critical in remote areas such as Northern Canada. The development of alternative datasets for using as proxies for inadequate/missing weather data represents a key research area. In this paper, the performance of 6 alternative datasets is evaluated for hydrological modelling over 12 watersheds located across Canada and the contiguous United States. The datasets can be classified into 3 distinct categories: (a) interpolated gridded data, (b) reanalysis data, and (c) climate model outputs. Hydrological simulations were carried out using a lumped conceptual hydrological model calibrated using standard weather data and compared against results using a calibration specific to each alternative dataset. Prior to the hydrological simulations, the alternative datasets were all evaluated with respect to their ability to reproduce gridded daily precipitation and temperature characteristics over North America. The results show that both the reanalysis data and climate model data adequately represent the spatial pattern of daily precipitation and temperature over North America. The North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) dataset consistently shows the best performance. With respect to hydrological modelling, the observed discharges are accurately represented by both the gridded and NARR datasets, and more so for the NARR data. The National Centers for Environmental Prediction dataset consistently performs worst as it is unable to even capture the seasonal pattern of observed streamflow for 3 out of the 12 watersheds. These results indicate that the NARR dataset could be used as a proxy for gauged precipitation and temperature for hydrological modelling over watersheds where observational datasets are deficient. The results also illustrate the ability of climate model data to be used for performing hydrological modelling when driven by reanalysis data at their boundaries, and especially so for high‐resolution models.     

Effect of combined translation and torsion on undrained uplift capacity of plate anchors: Plastic limit analysis (PLA) solution

Uplift capacity of plate anchors has been the focus of numerous studies, because anchor plates are designed for pull‐out in normal operating conditions. However, the response of plate anchors under 6‐degrees‐of‐freedom loading caused during extreme loading conditions is poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to propose a simple yet sufficiently accurate analytical solution to investigate the behavior of plate anchor under combined in‐plane translation and torsion and to evaluate its effect on the plate uplift bearing capacity. To this end, a modified plastic limit analysis (PLA) approach is introduced and compared with limit equilibrium and simplified upper bound baseline solutions. The proposed method is verified with 3‐dimensional finite element. The variables considered in this study include plate aspect ratio, plate thickness, as well as load direction and eccentricity. Results of analytical solutions indicate the insensitivity of the “shape” of the shear‐torsion yield envelope to plate thickness. This finding facilitates the use of simplified yet reasonable yield envelope for infinitely thin plate obtained from simplified PLA approach for other plate thicknesses. The “size” of the failure envelope (controlled by pure torsional and translational capacity) could be predicted fairly accurately by PLA and limit equilibrium methods. Combination of these analytical methods offers a simple yet reasonably accurate solution to describe shear‐torsion response of anchor plate. The obtained shear‐torsion yield envelope is then fitted in the generalized 6‐degrees‐of‐freedom yield surface which describes the reducing effect of moment, torsion, and planar forces on the uplift capacity of plate.     

应变软化模拟与圆形隧道衬砌分析

在岩土工程中,有许多类岩体呈现应变软化特性。在应变软化过程中,如果多个材料强度参数分析发生变化,就很难给出软化问题的解析解。已有的文献研究表明,在经典的弹塑性理论框架下,模拟岩土介质的应变软化过程依然值得深入研究。利用应变软化材料强度参数随塑性应变增加而弱化的特点,提出了将应变软化过程简化为一系列的脆性应力跌落与塑性流动过程的思想,应变软化行为的模拟转化为一系列脆塑性过程的分析。将这种模拟应变软化过程的思想方法用于求解均匀初始应力场中应变软化介质内的圆形隧道开挖问题,研究了衬砌对减少岩土开挖扰动的作用以及考虑应变软化对衬砌内力的影响。数值结果表明,对于应变软化岩土材料,忽略其强度软化的行为是偏于危险的。     

Surface runoff and soil erosion under eucalyptus and oak canopy

To assess potential differences in stormwater runoff and sediment yield between plots of blue gum eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) and coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), we measured runoff, sediment yield, water repellency and soil moisture at eight paired sites. Eucalyptus has been associated in many studies worldwide with elevated soil water repellency and increased runoff, a likely contributor to soil erosion. To better understand these connections and their relationship to land cover, there is a need for studies employing either rainfall simulators or natural rainfall. Our research employs the latter, and was subject to contrasting hydrologic conditions in the two years of the study. Fieldwork was conducted from October 2006 to February 2008 in the San Francisco Bay Area of central California. During the 2006–2007 winter wet season, runoff was significantly higher under eucalypts than at paired oak sites, and in the early phases of the season was connected with elevated water repellency. However, sediment yield at all sites during the 2006–2007 hydrologic year was below the detection limit of the Gerlach sediment collection traps, possibly due to a limited wet season, and only appeared as suspended sediment captured in overflow buckets. Intensive rainfall events in January 2008 however created substantial runoff of sediment and litter with significantly greater yield at oak sites compared to paired eucalyptus sites. Water repellency likely had little effect on runoff during these events, and the primary cause of greater erosion under oaks is the thinner cover of leaf litter in comparison to eucalyptus. Our study is limited to undisturbed sites with intact litter cover that have not experienced recent wildfires; if disturbed, we would expect a different picture given the propensity for crown fires of eucalypts, enhancement of rainsplash erosion, and the likely greater potential for stream‐connected sediment yield from post‐disturbance soil erosion events.