estimation of ecosystem water consumption and the suitable scale of cultivated land in the Karamay region and Muzat River basin based on the optimized SEBAL energy balance model and water resource constraint model.

Food security is closely related to the development of human society, and the root of food production lies in cultivated land, with water conservancy as its lifeline. This study estimates the ecological water consumption of located in the arid region of Northwest China (the Karamay region and Muzat River basin) from 1990 to 2020 based on the optimized Land Surface Energy Balance Algorithm. The verification accuracy of SEBAL energy balance model is greatly improved after optimization. It was showed an increasing trend in the Karamay region and Muzat River basin, increasing at the rates of 2.84 mm/year and 2.86 mm/year respectively. The suitability of cultivated land was evaluated by combining four periods of 30 m spatial resolution land use/land cover data from 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020, as well as the Hydrological Statistical Yearbook and Xinjiang Statistical Yearbook. Through the analysis of spatial optimization for cultivated land, it can be inferred that the primary limiting factors affecting cultivated land suitability in the Karamay region are irrigation guarantee rate (54.03%) and soil salinity (11.98%). Muzat River region are irrigation guarantee rate (32.19%) and soil salinity (18.62%). By comparing the scenarios of setting ecological priority and cultivated land priority, it is concluded that under the conditions of water resource constraints and 50%, 75% and 90% design irrigation assurance rates, Karamay still has cultivated land expansion potential, which can be used as the main preparatory reclamation area. In addition to the traditional agriculture irrigation area, the Muzat River basin still has development potential under the condition of ecological priority and no more than 75% irrigation design assurance rate. The study on the cultivated land suitability under the condition of water resource constraints can provide new ideas for food security.

Seasonal Variations in Household Water Use, Microbiological Water Quality, and Challenges to the Provision of Adequate Drinking Water: A Case of Peri-urban and Informal Settlements of Hosanna Town, Southern Ethiopia.

Several studies have been conducted on household water use and microbial water quality globally. However, studies that considered seasonal variability of household water use and microbial water quality were limited. Therefore, this study investigated the seasonal variability of household water use, microbiological water quality, and challenges to the provision of adequate water in the peri-urban and informal settlements of Hosanna town, Southern Ethiopia. A longitudinal study was conducted on 288 households. The data was gathered using a pretested structured questionnaire, laboratory-analysis, interviews, storage-container inventories, focus group discussions, key-informant interviews, and an observational checklist. The data was analyzed using stepwise-multiple linear regression, bivariate and multivariable logistic regression, thematic-analysis, t-tests, and non-parametric-tests. Households were visited for 7 consecutive days during the dry and rainy seasons to account for changes in daily and seasonal variation of water use. 440 stored water and 12 source samples were analyzed for E. coli presence during dry and rainy seasons. The prevalence of stored water contamination with E. coli was 43.2% and 34.5% during the dry and rainy seasons, respectively. The per capita water consumption was 19.4 and 20.3 l during the dry and rainy seasons, respectively. Piped water on-premises, small family size, volume, and number of water storage containers were significant predictors of per capita water consumption in both seasons. Piped water off-premises, storing water for more than 3 days, uncovered, and wide-mouthed water storage containers were significantly associated with the presence of E. coli in water in both seasons. Seasonal variability of household water use and microbiological water quality was statistically significant, which is a significant public health concern and needs intervention to enhance water quantity and quality to mitigate the risk of waterborne diseases. Findings also suggest seasonal monitoring of the safety of drinking water to ensure that the water is safe and healthy.

Changes in breakfast and water consumption among adolescents in Canada: examining the impact of COVID-19 in worsening inequity.

BACKGROUND: To assess whether changes in breakfast and water consumption during the first full school year after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic varied based on sex/gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status among Canadian adolescents. METHODS: Prospective annual survey data collected pre- (October 2019-March 2020) and post-COVID-19 onset (November 2020-June 2021) the Cannabis, Obesity, Mental health, Physical activity, Alcohol, Smoking, and Sedentary behaviour (COMPASS) study. The sample consisted of 8,128 students; mean (SD) age = 14.2 (1.3) years from a convenience sample of 41 Canadian secondary schools. At both timepoints self-reported breakfast and water consumption were dichotomized as daily or not. Multivariable logistic generalized estimating equations with school clustering were used to estimate differences in maintenance/adoption of daily consumption post-COVID-19 based on demographic factors, while controlling for pre-COVID-19 behaviour. RESULTS: Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals are reported. Females (AOR = 0.71 [0.63, 0.79]) and lower socioeconomic status individuals (AORLowest:Highest=0.41 [0.16, 1.00]) were less likely to maintain/adopt daily breakfast consumption than male and higher socioeconomic status peers in the 2020-2021 school year. Black identifying individuals were less likely than all other racial/ethnic identities to maintain/adopt plain water consumption every day of the week (AOR = 0.33 [0.15, 0.75], p < 0.001). No significant interaction effects were detected. CONCLUSIONS: Results support the hypothesis that changes in nutritional behaviours were not equal across demographic groups. Female, lower socioeconomic status, and Black adolescents reported greater declines in healthy nutritional behaviours. Public health interventions to improve adherence to daily breakfast and water consumption should target these segments of the population. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not a trial.

Dynamic changes in water resources and comprehensive assessment of water resource utilization efficiency in the Aral Sea basin, Central Asia.

The Aral Sea Basin in Central Asia faces significant challenges in improving water utilization and treatment because of frequent transboundary river water disputes and shortages of water resources. However, the traditional water resource utilization efficiency (WRUE) assessment models generally have the defect of over-validating evaluation results. To solve this problem, this study used the Coefficient of Variation method to constrain the self-contained weights in the traditional Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to construct an improved CV-DEA model, and assessed the WRUE of the Aral Sea Basin countries during 2000-2018 and compared the WRUE with that of the countries in the Mekong River Basin and Northeast Asia, then explored the factors influencing water utilization. The conclusions were drawn: since 1960, the runoff from the upper Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers increased significantly, while the runoff from the lower Amu Darya River into the Aral Sea declined. Meanwhile, the water area of the Aral Sea shrank from 2.56 × 104 km2 to 0.70 × 104 km2 in 2000-2018, with the Northern Aral Sea remaining stable while the southern part shrinking sharply. The WRUE of the Aral Sea Basin (0.599, on average) was higher than that of the Mekong River Basin (0.547) and lower than that of Northeast Asia (0.885). Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan had the highest WRUE of 0.819 and 0.685 respectively, and the WRUE in both two countries improved from 2000 to 2018. Tajikistan (0.495) and Turkmenistan (0.402) experienced decreases in WRUEs. The high input redundancy of agricultural water consumption was the main driving force affecting WRUE in the basin.

Technological progress and coupling renewables enable substantial environmental and economic benefits from coal-to-olefins.

China's growing demand for bulk chemicals and concerns regarding energy security are scaling up coal-to-olefins (CTO) production. Three generations of independent dimethyl ether/methanol-to-olefins technologies have been successively launched with greatly improved production efficiencies. However, to date, widespread concerns regarding the intensive environmental impacts and potential economic risks have not been addressed in the context of this industrialization. Here we show that, through the technological progress from the first to the third generation, life cycle energy consumption, water consumption, and carbon emissions can be reduced to 119.5 GJ/t, 27.6 t/t, and 9.1 t CO2-eq/t, respectively, and human health damage, ecosystem quality damage, and resource scarcity impacts can be decreased by 40.5 %, 50.1 %, and 16.4 %, respectively. This is accompanied by an excellent performance in terms of production cost, net present value, and internal return rate at 792.5 USD/t, 173.4 USD/t, and 19.4 %, respectively. Substantial environmental and economic benefits can be gained by coupling renewables in the form of using green hydrogen from solar and wind power to synthesize methanol. Particularly, life cycle carbon emissions and resource scarcity impacts are reduced by 23.4 % and 22.4 %, respectively, exceeding the reduction in technological progress. However, coupling renewables increases the life cycle energy consumption to 154.5 GJ/t, counteracting the benefits of technological progress. Our results highlight the importance of technological progress and coupled renewables for enhancing the sustainability of the CTO industry.

Dynamic analysis of non-revenue water in district metered areas under varying water consumption conditions owing to COVID-19.

Increasing water demands and high water losses have rendered securing safe water challenging in the 21st century. Although non-revenue water (NRW), as a percentage of system input, has been commonly used by water utilities worldwide, in-depth analyses on the influence of water consumption fluctuation on NRW has never been conducted; instead, taking one-year average NRW volume has been recommended. Thus, this study analyzed the influence of water consumption fluctuation on NRW using the data of five district metered areas (DMAs) in Colombo City, Sri Lanka, and also by the network simulation analysis. The results showed that percentage and volumetric NRWs are strongly correlated with water consumption (r = 0.9373 and 0.9121, respectively) and with each other (r = 0.9977) due to pressure changes in water supply networks caused by water consumption fluctuation. Therefore, dynamic analysis of NRW by plotting DMA inflow and NRW against water consumption was conducted using the aforementioned DMA data and long-term (1956-2021) water consumption and NRW data in Tokyo. This method identified two factors influencing NRW: water consumption fluctuation and network leakage changes, and the results were verified; thus, it can be applied to NRW analysis even under the influence of high water consumption fluctuations.

Effect of Climatic Condition, Type of Trough and Water Cleanliness on Drinking Behavior in Dairy Cows.

Increasing ambient temperatures lead to higher water intake and higher risks of microbial growth in cattle troughs. This study aims to analyze drinking water quality and dairy cows' drinking behavior (n = 8081 drinking episodes) on a commercial farm with 135 and 144 lactating cows in two climatic conditions, considering trough type and cleanliness, respectively. Daily video recording was conducted at two trough types (two open troughs, 70 L; two-valve troughs, variable volume of 5-15 L) in the first two hours after feeding (n = 60 days in total) under cold (December 2019-February 2020) and warm ambient temperatures (September 2021). The trough cleaning scheme allowed cows to access either cleaned or uncleaned troughs in each system. Water quality was tested daily and analyzed at the beginning and end of the trials. In warmer ambient temperatures, fewer and-at uncleaned troughs and open troughs-shorter drinking episodes were recorded, with longer but fewer water intake periods, longer drinking breaks, and fewer sips (p < 0.0001). Considering the drinking episodes, respectively, water intake and drinking breaks in number and duration, the number of sips and the number of agonistic behaviors might optimize dairy cow water supply and hygiene management.

Analysis of environmental performance indicators for concrete block manufacturing: embodied energy, CO2 emissions, and water consumption.

Concrete block production significantly contributes to environmental degradation. A thorough understanding of its ecological implications is critical for sustainable development. This study investigates concrete block manufacturing's environmental impact by quantifying embodied energy, CO2 emissions, and water consumption via a comprehensive life cycle assessment. An extended life cycle assessment methodology is utilized to quantify the environmental indicators throughout the concrete block production lifecycle. Primary industry data and secondary research data ensure accuracy and reliability. Findings showed that concrete block manufacturing requires 2.5-4.1 times more embodied energy than equal clinker mass. Cement and aggregate production and transportation account for substantial energy needs. Limestone calcination during cement production causes significant CO2 emissions, 2.3-3.3 times higher than the minimum. Water consumption is concerning during curing and washing. Exploring alternative cementitious materials, optimized processes, and water recycling can reduce embodied energy by up to 75%, CO2 emissions by up to 67%, and water consumption by up to 80%. Concrete block manufacturing necessitates considerable energy and generates significant emissions. Implementing sustainable measures can minimize embodied energy, CO2 emissions, and water consumption, enabling environmentally responsible manufacturing. This research emphasizes adopting sustainability practices to mitigate environmental impact. Policymakers, industry professionals, and researchers can employ these insights to develop effective strategies promoting green manufacturing. The concrete block industry can contribute to a sustainable future through sustainable practices.

Response of soil CO2 emissions and water-carbon use efficiency of winter wheat to different straw returning methods and irrigation scenarios.

BACKGROUND: The shortage of water resources and the increase of greenhouse gas emissions from soil seriously restrict the sustainable development of agriculture. Under the premise of ensuring a stable yield of winter wheat through a reasonable irrigation scenario, identifying a suitable straw returning method will have a positive effect on agricultural carbon sequestration and emission reduction in North China Plain. RESULTS: Straw burying (SR) and straw mulching (SM) were adopted based on traditional tillage under in the winter wheat growing season of 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. Three irrigation scenarios were used for each straw returning method: no irrigation (I0), irrigation 60 mm at jointing stage (I1), and irrigation of 60 mm each at the jointing and heading stages (I2). Soil moisture, soil respiration rate, cumulative soil CO2 emissions, yield, water use efficiency (WUE) and soil CO2 emission efficiency (CEE) were mainly studied. The results showed that, compared to SM, SR improved the utilization of soil water and enhanced soil carbon sequestration. SR reduced soil respiration rate and cumulative soil CO2 emissions in two winter wheat growing seasons, and increased yield by increasing spike numbers. In addition, with an increase in the amount of irrigation, soil CO2 emissions and yield increased. Under SR-I1 treatment, WUE and CEE were the highest. SR-I1 increases crop yields at the same time as reducing soil CO2 emissions. CONCLUSION: The combination of SR and irrigation 60 mm at jointing stage is a suitable straw returning irrigation scenario, which can improve water use and reduce soil CO2 emission in NCP. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Predicting tomato water consumption in a hydroponic greenhouse: contribution of light interception models.

In recent years, hydroponic greenhouse cultivation has gained increasing popularity: the combination of hydroponics' highly efficient use of resources with a controlled environment and an extended growing season provided by greenhouses allows for optimized, year-round plant growth. In this direction, precise and effective irrigation management is critical for achieving optimal crop yield while ensuring an economical use of water resources. This study explores techniques for explaining and predicting daily water consumption by utilizing only easily readily available meteorological data and the progressively growing records of the water consumption dataset. In situations where the dataset is limited in size, the conventional purely data-based approaches that rely on statistically benchmarking time series models tend to be too uncertain. Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore the potential contribution of crop models' main concepts in constructing more robust models, even when plant measurements are not available. Two strategies were developed for this purpose. The first strategy utilized the Greenlab model, employing reference parameter values from previously published papers and re-estimating, for identifiability reasons, only a limited number of parameters. The second strategy adopted key principles from crop growth models to propose a novel modeling approach, which involved deriving a Stochastic Segmentation of input Energy (SSiE) potentially absorbed by the elementary photosynthetically active parts of the plant. Several model versions were proposed and adjusted using the maximum likelihood method. We present a proof-of-concept of our methodology applied to the ekstasis Tomato, with one recorded time series of daily water uptake. This method provides an estimate of the plant's dynamic pattern of light interception, which can then be applied for the prediction of water consumption. The results indicate that the SSiE models could become valuable tools for extracting crop information efficiently from routine greenhouse measurements with further development and testing. This, in turn, could aid in achieving more precise irrigation management.

Representational shifts: increasing motivation for bottled water through simulation-enhancing advertisements.

BACKGROUND: Despite its numerous health benefits, consumers' daily water consumption is below recommend levels while soft drink consumption remains high. Previous research has shown that the degree to which drinks are cognitively represented in terms of consumption and enjoyment (i.e., through simulations of consumption and reward) predicts desire and intake. Here, we examined whether simulation-enhancing advertisements that frame water in terms of consumption and reward change cognitive representations and increase motivation for a fictitious bottled water. METHODS: In three pre-registered online experiments (Nexp1 = 984; Nexp2 = 786; Nexp3 = 907), UK participants viewed three advertisements that either highlighted the rewarding consumption experience of water (e.g., "Refresh all your senses with this smooth, cool water"; simulation-enhancing ads), the health consequences of drinking water (e.g., "This water takes care of your health"; health-focused ads), or control ads. We assessed cognitive representations of the bottled water with a semantic feature production task, and we coded the words used as consumption and reward features or positive long-term health consequences features. We assessed motivation through ratings of the attractiveness of the water (Exp. 1 only), desire to drink it, and willingness to pay for it (WTP). RESULTS: In line with our hypotheses, participants represented the bottled water more in terms of consumption and reward after viewing simulation-enhancing advertisements, and more in terms of positive long-term health consequences after viewing health-focused advertisements. There was no direct effect of advertisement condition on motivation ratings. However, significant indirect effects showed that simulation-enhancing advertisements increased desire and WTP through the proportion of consumption and reward features, whereas health-focused advertisements increased motivation through an increase in the proportion of positive long-term health consequences features. The effects through consumption and reward were stronger. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with research suggesting that the experience of immediate reward from drinking water underlies intake. Public health interventions should emphasize the enjoyment of drinking water, rather than the long-term health benefits.

Assessing the performance of industrial water resource systems in China with total constraints on water consumption and pollution emissions.

To promote sustainable water resource management, the Chinese government has enacted restrictive policies and targets in terms of total water usage, water intensity, and pollution emissions. While data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been extensively adopted in assessing industrial water resource systems, previous studies have not integrated the realistic constraints on total water consumption and total pollution emissions into a unified framework. This paper examines the system as a two-stage process of water use (WU) and water pollution abatement (WPA), where fixed-sum constraints are imposed on both water consumption and pollution emissions. To address such two-stage DMUs with fixed-sum inputs and fixed-sum outputs, we propose a novel two-stage fixed-sum DEA approach and apply it to evaluate the performance of industrial WU-WPA systems for 29 provinces in China from 2014 to 2018. The results are as follows. From the overall efficiency perspective, the industrial WU-WPA system in China is overall efficient, but provincial overall efficiency polarizes with 19 provinces evaluated as overall inefficient. From a time perspective, overall efficiency shows an increasing then decreasing or descending trend nationally and across the 16 provinces; on the national average, WPA efficiency shows an increasing and then decreasing trend, while WU efficiency demonstrates consistent improvement over time and surpasses WPA efficiency after 2016. In terms of the four areas, regional disparities in the overall efficiencies are converging; for both the whole system and the sub-stage, the eastern area performs the best, followed by the western, northeastern, and central areas. Based on the empirical results, suggestions for improving industrial water resource management are given at the national, regional, and provincial perspectives respectively.

Remarkable Spatial Disparity of Life Cycle Inventory for Coal Production in China.

Coal is the primary energy source in China, and its life cycle inventory (LCI) is widely used as background data for life cycle assessment studies. Previous research indicates that the inventory of coal production varies regionally. However, the development of complete regionalized LCIs for coal production is quite limited. Here, we establish the first provincial-level LCIs of local coal production and market for coal in China, based on a database of 6,122 coal mines and developed models. In the inventory results of local coal production, the coefficients of variation (CVs) of nine indicators exceed 0.5, especially SO2 and particulate matter emission factors (CVs > 1). Compared with that, the interprovincial coal trade homogenizes the provincial production inventory of market for coal relatively, despite four indicators with CVs exceeding 0.5. Therefore, the regionalized inventory with remarkable spatial differentiation can provide more accurate fundamental data for future research such as electricity production. Furthermore, CH4 emissions from coal production account for 24% of China's total methane emissions, highlighting its significance in mitigating global warming. Moreover, through the increasing coal trade, the significant and implicit plunder of water resources from the three coal net-exporting provinces, located in water-scarce areas, should be noted.

Assessing environmental profiles: An analysis of water consumption and waste recycling habits.

Individual pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors are determinant for long-term sustainability. We assessed profiles of an exclusive sample of 1351 households in the municipality of Gijón, Spain, in terms of their water consumption and recycling patterns using Latent Class Analysis (LCA). This methodology allows for households to be classified into groups without imposing any ad hoc criteria and provides information on the determinants of belonging to each group. The database includes the water consumption, self-reported environmental attitudes, and socioeconomic characteristics of the households. The results showed four significant household groups, where smaller families located in urban areas containing at least one homemaker and equipped with water efficient devices are more likely to present the best pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors related to water use and recycling habits. Furthermore, we found that providing better information in terms of water billing and the environmental impact of human behavior also fosters environmentally friendly habits.

A study on urban household water consumption behavior under drought conditions.

The increasing frequency of drought events has intensified the risk of water scarcity, posing significant challenges for urban domestic water supply. Reducing urban household water consumption is an important way to alleviate water stress during drought periods. However, due to various factors, it is difficult to determine a water-saving target that is within the residents' capacity. Here, taking Beijing, China as an example, we explored the socio-psychological factors behind urban household water use behaviors under drought conditions, and further quantified the compressible ratio of water quotas for flexible water use behaviors. Therefore, the present study was based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and extended TPB (ETPB) by adding drought risk perception as a variable to the theoretical framework. With the help of questionnaire method and structural equation modeling (SEM), the explanatory power of TPB and ETPB in predicting people's water saving intention and behavior was compared. Meanwhile, mathematical statistical analysis methods were employed to calculate the water quota for elastic water consumption behavior and the compressible proportion of urban residents' elastic water consumption under drought conditions. The results showed that drought risk perception has a significant positive correlation with subject norms and water reduction behavior under drought conditions. Furthermore, ETPB was more effective in analyzing water use intentions and behaviors. The predictive explanatory power of SEM for reducing water use increased from 44% to 50% after adding drought risk perception variable. In terms of quantification of elastic water use behavior, the average total water consumption in summer and winter were 71.3L/(p.d) and 52.9L/(p.d) under drought conditions, while it were 124.3 L/(p.d) and 108.9 L/(p.d) under normal conditions. And the compressible proportions of the total water quota for summer and winter elastic water use were 46.7% and 56.8%, respectively. The calculation results can provide a reference for the government to make emergency water supply decisions against drought.

Impact of fixture purging on water age and excess water usage, considering stochastic water demands.

Higher water ages are linked with water quality decline as chlorine dissipates, temperatures become more favorable for microbial growth, and metals and organic matter leach from the pipes. Water fixtures with automated purging devices can limit water age in premise plumbing systems, but also increase water use. To develop purging strategies that lower age while also minimizing water use, the stochastic nature of water demands must be considered. In this research, a hydraulic plumbing network model, with stochastic demands at fixtures, was used to compare water age and water use for five purging conditions: purging at regular intervals, "smart" purging (considering the time of last use), purging with different volumes of water, purging at different fixtures, and the purging with different levels of home occupancy. Higher purging frequency and volume resulted in lower water ages, but higher water use. Purging greatly reduced the variability in water ages, avoiding extreme ages entirely. Water age was minimized by scheduling the purging around occupancy behavior, such as before the occupants wake up or return from work. Scheduled purging used more water than smart purging. Purging after 12 h of nonuse used only 55% of the additional water required for purging every 12 h. Purging after 24 h of nonuse at the kitchen tap and shower used only 38% of the additional water required for purging every 24 h, while maintaining lower water ages and removing the variability in water ages. While larger purging volumes had a greater impact on water age, there were diminishing returns. Purging has a larger impact on low-occupancy homes because fixtures have less frequent use. Overall, this research provides a methodology to compare purging strategies that minimize both water age and water use. While the numerical results presented here are only valid for the specific layout and usage habits, they provide insights and trends applicable to other cases.

Effects of organic mulching on moisture and temperature of soil in greenhouse production of tomato under unheated greenhouse cultivation in the cold zone of China.

In the cold zone of China, winter is cold and long and has a short duration of sunshine. Unheated earthen-wall solar greenhouses are used for tomato production in winter in this region. This was an experimental investigation of different organic mulching materials (newspaper, bran, and grass) on the soil temperature, soil moisture, tomato yield, fruit quality, and water use efficiency. Organic mulching variously improved soil temperature, soil moisture, water use efficiency, and tomato yield, which is very important for greenhouse winter cultivation in this cold zone. Organic mulching regulated the soil temperature, with daily soil temperature ranges of bran, newspaper, and grass treatments being 1.6, 1.9, and 2.1°C lower than for bare land, respectively. Compared to bare land, newspaper mulching had little effect on soil temperature and fruit quality, but increased soil moisture (14.1%) and water use efficiency (WUE: WUEb, 31.3%; WUEy, 30.6%), and greatly increased yield (81.8%) and biomass (82.7%); bran mulching greatly increased soil temperature, moisture (16%), and WUE (WUEb, 60.1%; WUEy, 44.3%) and increased biomass (30.2%) and yield (17.3%); grass mulching greatly increased soil temperature and moisture (20.9%) and increased biomass (17.9%), yield (11.2%), and WUE (WUEb, 20.5%; WUEy, 13.6%). In addition, organic mulching had a good water retention effect on soil layer above 30 cm. The total soil water consumption during tomato growth was in the following order: newspaper (103 mm) > bare (74 mm) > grass (73 mm) > bran (60 mm). Soil water consumption mainly occurred in the 0- to 10-cm soil layers.

Crop coefficient determination and evapotranspiration estimation of watermelon under water deficit in a cold and arid environment.

To investigate the evapotranspiration and crop coefficient of oasis watermelon under water deficit (WD), mild (60%-70% field capacity, FC)and moderate (50%-60% FC) WD levels were set up at the various growth stages of watermelon, including seedling stage (SS), vine stage (VS), flowering and fruiting stage (FS), expansion stage (ES), and maturity stage (MS), with adequate water supply (70%-80% FC) during the growing season as a control. A two-year (2020-2021) field trial was carried out in the Hexi oasis area of China to explore the effect of WD on watermelon evapotranspiration characteristics and crop coefficient under sub-membrane drip irrigation. The results indicated that the daily reference crop evapotranspiration showed a sawtooth fluctuation which was extremely significantly and positively correlated with temperature, sunshine hours, and wind speed. The water consumption during the entire growing season of watermelon varied from 281-323 mm (2020) and 290-334 mm (2021), among which the phasic evapotranspiration valued the maximum during ES, accounting for 37.85% (2020) and 38.94% (2021) in total, followed in the order of VS, SS, MS, and FS. The evapotranspiration intensity of watermelon increased rapidly from SS to VS, reaching the maximum with 5.82 mm·d-1 at ES, after which it gradually decreased. The crop coefficient at SS, VS, FS, ES, and MS varied from 0.400 to 0.477, from 0.550 to 0.771, from 0.824 to 1.168, from 0.910 to 1.247, and from 0.541 to 0.803, respectively. Any period of WD reduced the crop coefficient and evapotranspiration intensity of watermelon at that stage. And then the relationship between LAI and crop coefficient can be characterized better by an exponential regression, thereby establishing a model for estimating the evapotranspiration of watermelon with a Nash efficiency coefficient of 0.9 or more. Hence, the water demand characteristics of oasis watermelon differ significantly during different growth stages, and reasonable irrigation and water control management measures need to be conducted in conjunction with the water requirements features of each growth stage. Also, this work aims to provide a theoretical basis for the irrigation management of watermelon under sub-membrane drip irrigation in desert oases of cold and arid environments.

Cleaner production auditing for plastic recycling industry in Pakistan: A baseline study.

Recycling plastics is a good alternative to manage the plastic waste generated in Pakistan. Unfortunately, the country lacks efficient system to manage or recycle the plastic waste it generates. Lack of government support, absence of standard operating procedures, negligence towards health and safety of workers, increasing costs of raw materials and poor quality of the recyclates are some of the issues currently faced by plastic recyclers in Pakistan. Considering the need of cleaner production audits in plastic recycling industries, this study was carried out to establish an initial reference benchmark. Production processes in 10 recycling industries were evaluated from cleaner production perspective. The study showed the average water consumption of a recycling industry as high as 3315 L/ton. All the consumed water is wasted in the nearby community sewer while, only 3 recyclers recycled between 70 and 75% of the treated wastewater. In addition, a recycling facility, on an average, consumed 172.5 kWh of power for processing 1 ton of plastic waste. The average temperature was observed to be 36.5 °C and noise levels exceeded the permissible limits. Moreover, the industry is male-dominated, workers are mostly underpaid and have no access to good healthcare facilities. Recyclers lack standardization and have no national guidelines to follow. Guidelines and standardization of recycling process, wastewater treatment, use of renewable energy, water reuse etc, are direly needed for uplifting this sector and reducing its impacts on the environment.

Thirsty? Choose Water! A regional perspective to promoting water consumption in secondary school students.

OBJECTIVE: Adolescents are high consumers of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), which contribute to overweight and obesity - a significant public health issue. Evidence suggests that replacing SSB with water and school-based interventions can reduce consumption. This study examines the acceptability of a previously trialled intervention (Thirsty? Choose Water!) in regional and remote secondary schools. DESIGN: An open-label randomised controlled trial using a two-by-two factorial design tested the outcomes of a behavioural and/or environmental intervention on SSB and water consumption. SETTING: Regional and remote secondary schools (public, catholic and independent) within the boundaries of two regional Local Health Districts within New South Wales. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-four schools participated in the study. The target group was year 7 students (n 1640) - 72 % of eligible students completed baseline data. The study followed students into year 8 (n 1188) - 52 % of eligible students completed post-intervention data. Forty teachers undertook training to deliver the intervention. RESULTS: Interventions showed high levels of acceptability. Students demonstrated changes in knowledge, attitudes and consumption behaviours. Multivariable ordinal logression analysis demonstrated that all interventions increased the odds of students increasing their water consumption (though not statistically significant). Conversely, the combined (OR: 0·75; 95 % CI: 0·59, 0·97) or environmental intervention (OR: 0·68; 95 % CI: 0·51, 0·90) had greater odds of reducing SSB consumption and was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: This study builds on recent Australian evidence regarding the impact of school-based interventions on water and SSB consumption. In this study, despite a minor intervention change, and the impacts of fires, floods and COVID-19 on study implementation, the interventions were highly regarded by the school communities with positive outcomes.