Volume 15 - 2013

Renewable water resources in Saudi Arabia are limited with groundwater as the major source for water supply. This study was conducted to assess the quality of groundwater in Almadinah Almunawarah, Saudi Arabia. Water samples were collected from 60 wells in 2010. Physical and chemical parameters were examined. The results of colour, turbidity, odour, pH, and nitrite in all samples were below the local water guideline values. The fluoride concentrations in 8% of the samples were higher than the guideline value. The taste in 87% of the samples was unacceptable. Intolerable levels of both total hardness and TDS were found in most of the samples (~ 83%). Nitrate levels were above the guideline value in 65% of sample. Most of the samples (80–87%) have failed the guidelines for sodium, chloride, and sulphate. On the other hand, none of the samples was found to contain Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Ba, and Pb exceeding the guideline values. However, 5% of the samples have arsenic concentrations over the limit (results 12.0–29.0 µg L-1). Similarly, 5% of the samples have iron concentrations (320–589 µg L-1) in excess of the guideline value. The level of manganese in only one sample (183 µg L-1) was greater than the guideline value and 10% of the samples have magnesium (range 159000–210000 µg L-1) above the limit. Although the water of the investigated wells does not satisfy many of the general drinking water guidelines due to the local environment and climate, most of the samples are in compliance with the guideline values for metals in drinking and irrigation water.

The purpose of this paper is to offer an initial presentation and classification of the methodological approaches used to analyzing energy demand, related CO2 emissions and economic development for countries, regions and subsequently to provide for an extended survey of related articles for the case-study of Greece that identified 48 scientific publications. It was found that all three main existent methodological analytical schemes, namely ‘Top-down’ models, Econometric methods and Decomposition Analysis methods, have been applied to model energy, environmental and macro-economic variables for Greece. Specific application areas included sectoral (industrial, transport, tourism, manufacturing, residential and electricity) energy demand and related CO2 emissions, energy prices and energy taxation. The paper culminates to a comprehensive comparison of employed methods and obtained results for Greece and conclusions.

Water shortage is an environmental problem that requires changes in terms of thinking and everyday practice. Education for a sustainable development should therefore aim at arousing pupils’ awareness on this issue and inducing rational use of water in future citizens. The present study explores the effectiveness of a program designed for preschool children in promoting their awareness of water shortage and the importance of water conservation. A class of seventeen 5-6 year-old children participated in the study. Initially the relevant pre-existing views of the participants were recorded (pre-test). Subsequently, the program was implemented. It consisted of twelve interdisciplinary activities aiming at enhancing children’s awareness of water conservation both at the level of understanding and at the level of values and attitudes. Finally, the development of children’s awareness was tested (post-test). The results of the study indicate that preschool children are capable of tackling with the value of water for life, the issue of its shortage and the importance of its conservation at a primary level. Water conservation is therefore a topic that can introduce young children to the concepts of man-environment interaction and interdependence, and to assist them in developing the ability to participate in finding solutions to environmental problems.

In this study, the effects of seepage flow in the swash zone on beach profile evolution under the wave action are examined numerically. The seepage flow is induced artificially by a porous drain pipe buried beneath swash zone parallel to the coastline. The system includes minimal environmental impact compared with the hard protection methods. A higher order Boussinesq model for breaking and non-breaking waves is extended in the swash zone and is coupled with a porous flow model, in order to take into account the influence of infiltration-exfiltration processes in the sediment transport. This influence is introduced in a simple and well-proven sediment transport formula by using a new modified Shields parameter, which is derived after the modification of the shear stress and the immerged sediment weight. In order to incorporate the suspended sediment transport rate, the depth-integrated transport equation for suspended sediment is solved. Model results are compared with experimental data. The agreement between numerical simulations and experiment is quite satisfactory. It is concluded that the beach drainage method is efficient for shore protection from erosion.