Conceptual Behaviour Underpinning the Occurrence of Nonfaecal Matter in Faecal Sludge in Some Urban Communities, Ghana.

Faecal sludge (FS) management is pertinent to the achievement of sustainable development goal 6.2 around the world; yet it is constrained by urbanisation challenges, waste management complexities, and defective attitudes. These deny communities of the plausible supply of resources from FS. This paper assesses the perception underpinning the occurrence of nonfaecal matter in FS in Ghana. Primary data were obtained from 400 respondents in four communities in Brong Ahafo and Greater Accra Regions of Ghana, using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed by using STATA software version 15. Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression were conducted on all independent variables and statistical significance was accepted at p < 0.05. The study identified the following as the most perceived frequently disposed nonfaecal matter into FS: sanitary pads and diapers (38.5%), fabrics/rags (23.2%), toilet rolls (20.8%), razor/shaving sticks (10.3%), and others (7.2%). Gender, state of toilet facility (roof or unroofed), presence of container for collecting other types of waste in the toilet room, and state of container in toilet room either covered or uncovered were the factors found to be significantly associated with the disposal of solid waste (SW) into FS at 95% confidence level. The fear of exposing used sanitary materials for rituals, the use of fabric as an alternative to toilet rolls, and the desire to conceal aborted pregnancies from the public were some of the reasons alluded to the disposal acts. Education and awareness campaigns on proper SW disposal practices, appropriate use of toilet facilities, and the resource potentials of FS were found to be the best way forward to discourage indiscriminate disposal of SW into FS.

Quantitative ecotoxicological impacts of sewage treatment plant effluents on plankton productivity and assimilative capacity of rivers.

Sewage treatment plants are sources of inorganic and organic matter as well as contaminants for the receiving watercourses. We analyzed the ecological consequences of such effluents by following a holistic and synecological ecotoxicological approach based on quantifying extracellular enzyme activities (EEA), primary production and bacterial cell, and biomass production rates. Samples were obtained at three locations at the Rivers Holtemme and Elbe, Germany and Lower Jordan River, Israel and West Bank, as well as from their adjacent sewage treatment plants. Blending river samples with sewage treatment plant effluents mainly resulted in a stimulation of EEAs, which was diminished in blends with 0.2-µm filtered sewage treatment plant effluents. Stimulation for primary production and bacterial cell and biomass production of River Holtemme and Elbe samples was observed, and inhibition of these rates for Lower Jordan River samples probably linked to generally high turbidity. The quantified bacterial biomass versus cell production rates showed almost unbalanced (≫ 1) growth. Very high biomass to cell production ratios were found for sewage and sewage-containing samples, which provides a semi-quantitative indicator function for high quantities of microbial easy utilizable dissolved organic matter as nutrition source. The presented approach enables the simultaneous quantification of inhibitory and stimulating toxic responses as well as supplying ecosystem-based data for policy decision-making, and for direct incorporation in models to derive management and remediation strategies.

Comparative study of different wavelet-based neural network models to predict sewage sludge quantity in wastewater treatment plant.

In this study, artificial neural networks (ANNs) including feed forward back propagation neural network (FFBP-NN) and the radial basis function neural network (RBF-NN) were applied to predict daily sewage sludge quantity in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Daily datasets of sewage sludge have been used to develop the artificial intelligence models. Six mother wavelet (W) functions were employed as a preprocessor in order to increase accuracy level of ANNs. In this way, a 4-day lags were considered as input variables to conduct training and testing stages for the proposed W-ANNs. To compare performance of W-ANNs with traditional ANNs, coefficient of correlation (R), root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (NSE) were considered. In the case of all wavelet functions, it was found that W-FFBP-NN (R = 0.99 and MAE = 5.78) and W-RBF-NN (R = 0.99 and MAE = 6.69) models had superiority to the FFBP-NN (R = 0.9 and MAE = 21.41) and RBF-NN (R = 0.9 and MAE = 20.1) models. Furthermore, the use of DMeyer function to improve ANNs indicated that W-FFBP-NN (RMSE = 7.76 and NSE = 0.98) and W-RBF-NN (RMSE = 9.35 and NSE = 0.98) approaches stood at the highest level of precision in comparison with other mother wavelet functions used to develop the FFBP-NN and RBF-NN approaches. Overall, this study proved that application of various mother wavelet functions into architecture of ANNs led to increasing accuracy of artificial neural networks for estimation of sewage sludge volume in the WWTP.

Prevalence of selected pharmaceuticals in surface water receiving untreated sewage in northwest Pakistan.

This study investigated the occurrence of four non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and four benzodiazepines/anti-depressants (ADs) in municipal wastewater in Mardan city, Pakistan, and in River Kabul and River Indus receiving untreated sewage. Liquid chromatography with a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used for the analysis of paracetamol, diclofenac, ibuprofen, and codeine (NSAIDs) and diazepam, bromazepam, lorazepam, and temazepam (ADs). Except codeine and lorazepam, all the target compounds were observed in sewage and surface water in various concentrations. In sewage, paracetamol was found at the higher end (32.4 µg/L) of the reported ranges in literature for other countries. Results of river samples showed that the target compounds were usually lower in concentration than the respective EC50 values for aquatic organisms. However, the levels for paracetamol and ibuprofen were critical depicting the consequence of untreated disposal. Environmental risk assessment by estimating the risk quotient (RQ) as the ratio of measured environmental concentration and predicted no-effect concentration showed medium to high (RQ > 1 and 0.1 < RQ < 1) risk from paracetamol and ibuprofen to aquatic organisms in River Kabul and Kalpani stream, Pakistan.

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Evidence Gap Map: 2018 update

The evidence map facilitates access to the best available evidence on the effectiveness of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) promotion for households, communities, school and health facilities in low- and middle-income countries. It also highlights where there are gaps in the evidence base. The map includes 320 completed and 47 ongoing impact evaluations, as well as 42 completed systematic reviews and 1 protocol. The 2018 update is based on a comprehensive search for published and unpublished studies and is current up to April 2018. The present map updates the searches for the 3ie map published in 2014, and also updates the scope to incorporate WASH promotional mechanisms and technologies, as well as to include behavioural outcomes systematically and WASH in health facilities. The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) provided funding for the 2018 update. The 2014 map was funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with technical support from the World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group. The map was prepared by Hugh Waddington (3ie), Hannah Chirgwin (3ie), Duae Zehra (3ie consultant), and Sandy Cairncross (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), with additional coding by Raj Popat (3ie consultant), Miriam Berretta (University of East Anglia, UEA), Hastings Chipungu (UEA), and Abubeker Tadesse (UEA). Yashaswini PrasannaKumar (3ie consultant) contributed substantially to the 2014 map.

Diurnal variations of the energy intensity and associated greenhouse gas emissions for activated sludge processes.

A model was developed for a water resources recovery facility (WRRF) activated sludge process (ASP) in Modified Ludzack-Ettinger (MLE) configuration. Amplification of air requirements and its associated energy consumptions were observed as a result of concurrent circadian variations in ASP influent flow and carbonaceous/nitrogenous constituent concentrations. The indirect carbon emissions associated with the ASP aeration were further amplified due to the simultaneous variations in carbon emissions intensity (kgCO2,eq(kWh)-1) and electricity consumption (kWh). The ratio of peak to minimum increased to 3.4 (for flow), 4.2 (for air flow and energy consumption), and 5.2 (for indirect CO2,eq emission), which is indicative of strong amplification. Similarly, the energy costs for ASP aeration were further increased due to the concurrency of peak energy consumptions and power demands with time of use peak electricity rates. A comparison between the results of the equilibrium model and observed data from the benchmark WRRF demonstrated under- and over-aeration attributed to the circadian variation in air requirements and limitations associated with the aeration system specification and design.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 06 in Brazil: the universal access to sanitation as a possible mission.

Sanitation (which includes national public policies for drinking water, sewage services and waste management) is precarious in Brazil and therefore poses a challenge to a range of actors. Poor sanitation impacts public health, education, the environment, and daily life. Globally, it emits increasing greenhouse gases. Universalization of any major public service appears difficult, if not impossible; however, Brazil's program to universalize access to electricity proves the opposite, as will be shown in this paper. By describing the successful implementation of electricity for everyone, we show that planned public efforts, coordinated with private initiatives and local communities, have worked, and the same can be achieved for the sanitation sector. An overview of all sectors that touch on sanitation and emissions is also provided, highlighting the challenges and possibilities for infrastructure projects.

A decision support tool for selecting the optimal sewage sludge treatment.

Sewage sludge contains significant amounts of resources, such as nutrients and organic matter. At the same time, the organic contaminants (OC) found in sewage sludge are of growing concern. Consequently, in many European countries incineration is currently favored over recycling in agriculture. This study presents a Multi-Attribute Value Theory (MAVT)-based decision support tool (DST) for facilitating sludge treatment decisions. Essential decision criteria were recognized and prioritized, i.e., weighted, by experts from water utilities. Since the fate of organic contaminants was in focus, a simple scoring method was developed to take into account their environmental risks. The final DST assigns each sludge treatment method a preference score expressing its superiority compared to alternative methods. The DST was validated by testing it with data from two Finnish municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). The validation results of the first case study preferred sludge pyrolysis (preference score: 0.629) to other alternatives: composting and incineration (score 0.580, and 0.484 respectively). The preference scores were influenced by WWTP dependent factors, i.e., the operating environment and the weighting of the criteria. A lack of data emerged as the main practical limitation. Therefore, not all of the relevant criteria could be included in the value tree. More data are needed on the effects of treatment methods on the availability of nutrients, the quality of organic matter and sludge-borne OCs. Despite these shortcomings, the DST proved useful and adaptable in decision-making. It can also help achieve a more transparent, understandable and comprehensive decision-making process.

Environmental comparison of alternative treatments for sewage sludge: An Italian case study.

A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied to compare different alternatives for sewage sludge treatment: such as land spreading, composting, incineration, landfill and wet oxidation. The LCA system boundaries include mechanical dewatering, the alternative treatment, transport, and final disposal/recovery of residues. Cases of recovered materials produced as outputs from the systems, were resolved by expanding the system boundaries to include avoided primary productions. The impact assessment was calculated using the CML-IA baseline method. Results showed that the incineration of sewage sludge with electricity production and solid residues recovery collects the lowest impact indicator values in the categories human toxicity, fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity, acidification and eutrophication, while it has the highest values for the categories global warming and ozone layer depletion. Land spreading has the lowest values for the categories abiotic depletion, fossil fuel depletion, global warming, ozone layer depletion and photochemical oxidation, while it collects the highest values for terrestrial ecotoxicity and eutrophication. Wet oxidation has just one of the best indicators (terrestrial ecotoxicity) and three of the worst ones (abiotic depletion, human toxicity and fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity). Composting process shows intermediate results. Landfill has the worst performances in global warming, photochemical oxidation and acidification. Results indicate that if the aim is to reduce the effect of the common practice of sludge land spreading on human and ecosystem toxicity, on acidification and on eutrophication, incineration with energy recovery would clearly improve the environmental performance of those indicators, but an increase in resource depletion and global warming is unavoidable. However, these conclusions are strictly linked to the effective recovery of solid residues from incineration, as the results are shown to be very sensitive with respect to this assumption. Similarly, the quality of the wet oxidation process residues plays an important role in defining the impact of this treatment.

Sludge quantification at water treatment plant and its management scenario.

Large volume of sludge is generated at the water treatment plants during the purification of surface water for potable supplies. Handling and disposal of sludge require careful attention from civic bodies, plant operators, and environmentalists. Quantification of the sludge produced at the treatment plants is important to develop suitable management strategies for its economical and environment friendly disposal. Present study deals with the quantification of sludge using empirical relation between turbidity, suspended solids, and coagulant dosing. Seasonal variation has significant effect on the raw water quality received at the water treatment plants so forth sludge generation also varies. Yearly production of the sludge in a water treatment plant at Ghaziabad, India, is estimated to be 29,700 ton. Sustainable disposal of such a quantity of sludge is a challenging task under stringent environmental legislation. Several beneficial reuses of sludge in civil engineering and constructional work have been identified globally such as raw material in manufacturing cement, bricks, and artificial aggregates, as cementitious material, and sand substitute in preparing concrete and mortar. About 54 to 60% sand, 24 to 28% silt, and 16% clay constitute the sludge generated at the water treatment plant under investigation. Characteristics of the sludge are found suitable for its potential utilization as locally available construction material for safe disposal. An overview of the sustainable management scenario involving beneficial reuses of the sludge has also been presented.

Direitos humanos e vulnerabilidade social: o acesso à água e ao esgotamento sanitário de pessoas em situação de rua

A Assembleia Geral da Organização das Nações Unidas e o Conselho de Direitos Humanos reconheceram, em julho de 2010, o acesso à água e ao esgotamento sanitário como um direito humano fundamental, uma vez que estes recursos são fundamentais para a saúde, dignidade e prosperidade. Relatório da Organização Mundial de Saúde e da Unicef, publicado em 2015, estima que em todo o mundo 663 milhões de pessoas não têm acesso a soluções melhoradas de água potável e 2,4 bilhões de pessoas não têm acesso a soluções melhoradas de esgotamento sanitário sendo as populações vulneráveis as mais afetadas. A vulnerabilidade deve ser entendida sobre a ótica de múltiplos condicionantes, não sendo, portanto, algo inerente a grupos específicos. Ela se relaciona a fatores individuais contextuais e programáticos sendo, portanto, determinada por condições e circunstâncias que podem ser modificadas através de políticas públicas proativas, preventivas e protetoras

Neste sentido, este trabalho, com abordagem qualitativa, visa analisar, na perspectiva dos direitos humanos, as condições de acesso à água e esgotamento sanitário da população em situação de rua do município de Belo Horizonte. Para isso, foram realizadas observações sistemáticas não-participativas, entrevistas individuais e em grupo, com roteiro semiestruturado, com pessoas em situação de rua. As entrevistas foram gravadas e depois transcritas para análise utilizando a técnica de análise de conteúdo. Observou-se sistemática violação do direito humano à água e ao esgotamento sanitário afetando, principalmente, as mulheres, que perdem a privacidade e, em alguns casos, chegam a sofrer violência. Os resultados do estudo podem contribuir para a orientação da definição de políticas públicas capazes de reduzir as iniquidades no acesso a estes recursos, minimizando, assim, os problemas de saúde destas populações e a violação dos seus direitos

[Leptospirosis space-time distribution and risk factors in Belém, Pará, Brazil]. / Distribuição espaço-temporal da leptospirose e fatores de risco em Belém, Pará, Brasil.

The occurrence of leptospirosis has defied epidemiology even when using different analysis technologies at local geographical levels. This cross-sectional and descriptive study sought to identify spatial correlations between social and environmental risk factors and leptospirosis in Belém in the State of Pará from 2007 to 2013. Epidemiological data were obtained from the Information System for Notifiable Diseases of the Pará State Department of Public Health and the environmental, demographic and cartographical data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Men aged 20 to 39 of unknown profession and mixed ethnicity were the most affected. Laboratory diagnosis (82%) and hospital care (67.22%) confirmed satisfactory access to the Unified Health System. Numerical Kriging indicated the highest concentrations of the disease in the Guamá and Jurunas neighborhoods in lower lying areas near canals. The Buffer technique showed higher concentrations of the disease in areas with no domestic solid garbage collection service (26%), sewage (22%), piped water (38%), with unpaved roads (20%) and street flooding (65%). The Moran technique revealed a direct spatial correlation between these variables (p = 0.01543). The general trend showed the decrease of the disease.

Biosolids and Sludge Management.

This review section covers journal articles and conference papers related to biosolids and sludge management that were published in 2015. The literature review has been divided into the following sections: • Biosolids regulations and management issues; • Biosolids characteristics, quality and measurement including microconstituents, pathogens, nanoparticles and metals; • Sludge treatment technologies including pretreatment and sludge minimization, conditioning and dewatering, digestion, composting and innovative technologies; • Disposal and reuse including combustion/incineration, agricultural uses and innovative uses; • Odor and air emissions; and • Energy issues.

Adopt or Adapt: Sanitation Technology Choices in Urbanizing Malawi.

This paper presents the results of a mixed-methods study examining adaptation strategies that property owners in low-income, rapidly urbanizing areas in Malawi adopt to address the limitations of pit latrines, the most common method of disposing human excreta. A particular challenge is lack of space for constructing new latrines as population density increases: traditional practice has been to cap full pits and simply move to a new site, but increasing demands on space require new approaches to extend the service life of latrines. In this context, we collected data on sanitation technology choices from January to September 2013 through 48 in-depth interviews and a stated preference survey targeting 1,300 property owners from 27 low-income urban areas. Results showed that property owners with concern about space for replacing pit latrines were 1.8 times more likely to select pit emptying service over the construction of new pit latrines with a slab floor (p = 0.02) but there was no significant association between concern about space for replacing pit latrines and intention to adopt locally promoted, novel sanitation technology known as ecological sanitation (ecosan). Property owners preferred to adapt existing, known technology by constructing replacement pit latrines on old pit latrine locations, reducing the frequency of replacing pit latrines, or via emptying pit latrines when full. This study highlights potential challenges to adoption of wholly new sanitation technologies, even when they present clear advantages to end users. To scale, alternative sanitation technologies for rapidly urbanising cities should offer clear advantages, be affordable, be easy to use when shared among multiple households, and their design should be informed by existing adaptation strategies and local knowledge.

Using Monte Carlo simulation to assess variability and uncertainty of tobacco consumption in a city by sewage epidemiology.

OBJECTIVE: To use Monte Carlo simulation to assess the uncertainty and variability of tobacco consumption through wastewater analysis in a city. METHODS: A total of 11 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) (serving 2.2 million people; approximately 83% of urban population in Dalian) were selected and sampled. By detection and quantification of principal metabolites of nicotine, cotinine (COT) and trans-3'-hydroxycotinine (OH-COT), in raw wastewater, back calculation of tobacco use in the population of WWTPs can be realised. RESULTS: COT and OH-COT were detected in the entire set of samples with an average concentration of 2.33 ± 0.30 and 2.76 ± 0.91 µg/L, respectively. The mass load of absorbed NIC during the sampling period ranged from 0.25 to 4.22 mg/day/capita with an average of 1.92 mg/day/capita. Using these data, we estimated that smokers in the sampling area consumed an average of 14.6 cigarettes per day for active smoker. Uncertainty and variability analysis by Monte Carlo simulation were used to refine this estimate: the procedure concluded that smokers in Dalian smoked between 10 and 27 cigarettes per day. This estimate showed good agreement with estimates from epidemiological research. CONCLUSIONS: Sewage-based epidemiology may be a useful additional tool for the large-scale monitoring of patterns of tobacco use. Probabilistic methods can be used to strengthen the reliability of estimated use generated from wastewater analysis.

Linking sewage pollution and water quality to spatial patterns of Porites lobata growth anomalies in Puako, Hawaii.

Sewage pollution threatens the health of coastal populations and ecosystems, including coral reefs. We investigated spatial patterns of sewage pollution in Puako, Hawaii using enterococci concentrations and δ(15)N Ulva fasciata macroalgal bioassays to assess relationships with the coral disease Porites lobata growth anomalies (PGAs). PGA severity and enterococci concentrations were high, spatially variable, and positively related. Bioassay algal δ(15)N showed low sewage pollution at the reef edge while high values of resident algae indicated sewage pollution nearshore. Neither δ(15)N metric predicted PGA measures, though bioassay δ(15)N was negatively related to coral cover. Furthermore, PGA prevalence was much higher than previously recorded in Hawaii and the greater Indo-Pacific, highlighting Puako as an area of concern. Although further work is needed to resolve the relationship between sewage pollution and coral cover and disease, these results implicate sewage pollution as a contributor to diminished reef health.

[The impact of socio-economic factors and lifestyle on the health of the population in the Voronezh region].

There are presented results of research of the impact of socio-economic factors, environmental factors and lifestyle on the health of the population. Among the socio-economic indices there are analyzed: the health expenditure; per capita income; living wage; the cost of the minimum food basket; the percentage ofpersons with income below the subsistence minimum; the amount of living space per person; the percentage of apartments that do not have running water; the percentage of apartments that do not have sewage systems; the proportion of living space, equipped with central heating; housing area per overall per capita at the end of the year. Also there are considered negative lifestyle factors: the abuse of alcohol and tobacco. The results of the study allow to select factors of the negative character and to identify measures for their elimination for the improvement ofpublic health.

[Hygienic assessment of conditions of the exploitation of facilities of the urban drainage system].

The aim of the study was the hygienic characteristics of the location of sewage pumping stations (SPSs) in the residential area of the city and the assessment of working conditions for the staff. The features of the technological process at the SPSs resulted in the formation of specific working conditions characterized by the presence of a cooling microclimate, noise production, technological vibration, air pollution by microorganisms. The assessment of working conditions has allowed to refer them to the 3 class (harmful working conditions) of the 2 and 3 degree. Preventive measures for SPSs should include the use of equipment for cleaning the air of working zone, having a combined odourremoving and microbicidal action; the automation of the labor process; the installation of additional equipment for filtering air circulating in workplaces and emitting into the atmosphere; provision of sealing equipment with the use of noise insulating materials.

Distribuição espaço-temporal da leptospirose e fatores de risco em Belém, Pará, Brasil / Leptospirosis space-time distribution and risk factors in Belém, Pará, Brazil

Resumo A ocorrência da leptospirose tem desafiado a epidemiologia na utilização de diferentes tecnologias de análises em escalas geográficas locais. Este estudo transversal e descritivo objetivou identificar correlações espaciais de fatores de risco socioambientais com a leptospirose em Belém, Pará, entre 2007 e 2013. Os dados epidemiológicos foram obtidos no Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação, da Secretaria do Estado de Saúde Pública e os ambientais, demográficos e territoriais no Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. Homens, 20 a 39 anos, ocupação indeterminada, etnia parda, foram os mais acometidos. O diagnóstico laboratorial (82%) e o atendimento hospitalar (67,22%) demonstraram acesso satisfatório ao Sistema de Saúde. A Krigagem numérica mostrou a maior concentração da doença nos bairros Guamá e Jurunas, em áreas de menores cotas altimétricas, próximas a canais. A técnica de Buffer apontou maior concentração da doença em áreas de ausência de coleta de resíduos sólidos domiciliares (26%), esgoto (22%), água encanada (38%), e com arruamento não pavimentado (20%) e alagamento de rua (65%). A técnica de Moran demonstrou uma correlação espacial direta entre estas variáveis (p = 0,01543). A tendência geral expressou o decréscimo da doença.

Abstract The occurrence of leptospirosis has defied epidemiology even when using different analysis technologies at local geographical levels. This cross-sectional and descriptive study sought to identify spatial correlations between social and environmental risk factors and leptospirosis in Belém in the State of Pará from 2007 to 2013. Epidemiological data were obtained from the Information System for Notifiable Diseases of the Pará State Department of Public Health and the environmental, demographic and cartographical data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Men aged 20 to 39 of unknown profession and mixed ethnicity were the most affected. Laboratory diagnosis (82%) and hospital care (67.22%) confirmed satisfactory access to the Unified Health System. Numerical Kriging indicated the highest concentrations of the disease in the Guamá and Jurunas neighborhoods in lower lying areas near canals. The Buffer technique showed higher concentrations of the disease in areas with no domestic solid garbage collection service (26%), sewage (22%), piped water (38%), with unpaved roads (20%) and street flooding (65%). The Moran technique revealed a direct spatial correlation between these variables (p = 0.01543). The general trend showed the decrease of the disease.