Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology blog

Last week, we were tremendously excited to announce the publication of our first issue of Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology. This inaugural issue was introduced by David M. Cwiertny, Editor-in-Chief of the journal.

In his editorial ‘To new beginnings and a better alternative’, he stated our strong commitment to grow a footprint in the water and environmental research.

The launch of this journal would not have been possible without an incredibly professional and capable Editorial Board. Therefore, we included a Profile article with mini-biographies so you can meet them and read more about their background.

This issue contained three HOT articles which obtained particularly high scores during peer review.

In the first of them, researchers from the Manchester Metropolitan University discussed the quantification of corrosion inhibitors used in the water industry for steam condensate treatment.

The second article was brought to us by Michael Templeton, who wrote an insightful perspective on achieving sustainable sanitation for all.

And last but not least, the group of Zhiyong Jason Ren presented a research on microbial capacitive desalination and energy production from unconventional natural gas produced water in our third HOT article.

In our office in Cambridge, this special event called for some celebration and we enjoyed an incredible cake with the cover of this first issue.

We hope you enjoy reading Issue 1 as much as we did. We are now relentlessly working on our next ones to keep up the incredible high standards set up in the inaugural issue. Be ready!

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Read our first issue:

01 January 2015, Issue 1,  Page 1 to 122
Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology

As far as technical reports go, the Soggy Lettuce Report (2004) is as delightful a name as any. According to the report: “More money is wasted on food each year [in the United Kingdom] than any other category of goods and services – a whopping ₤424 per person.” But money isn’t the only loss – gone with the wasted soggy lettuce are its embodied energy and water.

The Nexus: Energy, water and food are inextricably intertwined. In a recent forum, Machell et al. discuss the interdependencies between the three (also called the Energy-Food-Water Nexus). “Food production consumes both water and energy in order to grow, harvest, clean and prepare food.” (Machell et al.) Water and energy are interdependent too. Water is indispensable for every phase of energy production. Steam generation for electricity, extraction of fossil fuels, and cultivation of biofuel crops – all of these depend on water. On the other hand, it takes energy to treat and distribute water for human use.

So, letting food go to waste means we are also wasting water. Leaving a faucet running unnecessarily wastes not only water, but also the energy it took to extract, treat and send the water to that faucet. By leaving the lights on or letting an idling car needlessly guzzle fuel (petrol, diesel, and yes, even electricity), we are wasting energy that could have been used to clean water or grow food.

Policy implications: It is important that we develop future policies using the nexus perspective. “…[C]auses that might upset the nexus balance are increasingly requiring global solutions and there is a great need for joined-up activities between stakeholders to mitigate future resource conflicts.” (Machell et al.)

A deeper understanding of this nexus balance will help us change our perceptions and consumption patterns. That soggy lettuce that we throw away has far-reaching environmental implications as well as opportunities for energy recovery [1,2,3]. International trade [4], climate and water policies [5], renewable energy [6,7], and wastewater treatment [8] have interlinked environmental and social impacts [9] that can be identified only through comprehensive nexus analysis. As mentioned in the article, “The complex relationships in the water energy food nexus, require informed production and consumption decisions for the near future that can mitigate negative impacts on risk, security, and the environment.”

The Wire had it right: The interdependencies between energy, water and food cannot be compartmentalized and studied in isolation. Detective Lester Freamon said it best: “All the pieces matter.”

Find out how by reading the full article for free^*:

The water energy food nexus – challenges and emerging solutions
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2015, 1, 15-16
DOI: 10.1039/C4EW90001D

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About the webwriter

Paramjeet Pati is a PhD Candidate at the Virginia Tech Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology (@VTSuN).
You can find more articles by him in the VTSuN blog, where he writes using the name coffeemug.

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*Access is free through a registered RSC account.

Here is a few reminders of the great benefits of publishing with Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology:

– Free colour on all figures

– No page charges and no page limits

– Fast Publication (average of 40 days from receipt to acceptance)

– Wide exposure: free access to all content for the first 2 years after launch*

– Individual promotion of HOT articles

– Papers processed by peers in the field

– High quality content

– Free electronic reprints

– Simple and effective submission process

*ES: Water Research & Technology was launched in 2015. Access is free through a registered RSC Publishing account.

On 5^th October 2014, Drake took a short swim in the lake in Lindon Harbor, Utah. Drake was a black Labrador retriever. Like most dogs, he loved to play in the water. After the swim, Drake started vomiting and became lethargic. Shortly after that, Drake died. “[D]og deaths have emerged as an unfortunate early warning…” An early warning of what?

When blooms aren’t beautiful and nutrients don’t nourish

Recent dog deaths have pointed to one suspect: pond scum – or more specifically – harmful algal blooms. Some algae produce toxins that have been linked to the deaths of cattle, elks, fishes, and even endangered species such as sea otters. These toxins can also bioaccumulate in shellfish and oysters. Eat enough seafood seasoned with these toxins, and you are at risk too.

What’s causing these algal blooms?

Natural waters contain small amounts of nutrients (mostly nitrate and phosphate). Under normal conditions, planktons and algae grow using these nutrients, fish feed on the plankton, and things are in balance.

But excess nutrients in the water can skew the balance in favour of the algae, allowing them to spread unchecked like weeds. Even if they don’t produce toxins the algae block light as they sun themselves on the water surface. These harmful algal blooms alter marine and freshwater habitats, smothering other forms of aquatic life. This map gives an idea of how bad the situation has become.

Why are nutrient concentrations increasing?

Excess nutrients enter the water when rain washes fertilizers from agricultural land into the nearby water bodies. Other major sources of nutrients are industrial and domestic wastewater. In short, the blame falls squarely on us humans – me and you.

Water treatment and nutrient removal

It is our mess and we have to clean it. Researchers have been actively developing more efficient ways for removing nutrients from drinking water and wastewater. In a recent article, Lalley et al. reported a novel method for removing phosphate (a growth-limiting nutrient).

The authors present clever modifications of an absorptive medium (originally developed for removing arsenic from water) using silver and manganese nanoparticles. One of these modifications involves tea extract.

What could the humble tea have to do with this method for phosphate removal? Find out by reading the full article for free*:

Phosphate removal using modified Bayoxide® E33 adsorption media
Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4EW00020J

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About the webwriter

Paramjeet Pati is a PhD Candidate at the Virginia Tech Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology (@VTSuN).
You can find more articles by him in the VTSuN blog, where he writes using the name coffeemug.

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*Access is free through a registered RSC account – click here to register