Research Abstracts

A brief overview is provided of renewable energy technologies suited to stand alone power generation; in practice this means wind turbines and photovoltaics (PV) as these can be used in diverse locations, and to a lesser extent micro-hydro which is more site specific and bio-energy although this las

The modern plumbing industry in Scotland developed as a result of the poor sanitary conditions of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It continues to develop into the 21st century with an increasing emphasis on accurate technological skills underpinned by well honed practical craft skills. This skill

This paper is to highlight the threatening of climate change on the water shortage problem in North China, a semi-arid and arid area. Observations show that the runoff of the major rivers is decreasing dramatically especially in the lower reaches where water is highly demanded. Most noticeable are t

In this paper, Robert Burgon describes the work of the World Plumbing Council (WPC) in the context of the contribution which the plumbing industry makes to global health. He focuses on ‘‘Health Aspects of Plumbing’’, a joint publication by WPC and the World Health Organisation (WHO) and outlines a c

Groundwater is a vital natural resource for provision of potable water in both the urban and rural environment. Pollution of groundwater may come from urbanization, industrial development, agricultural and mining activities, and also from natural sources. The soil strata have the capacity to attenua

The earthquake of 8 October, 2005, severely affected the existing drinking water-supply and sanitation systems in five districts of Pakistan. Wells and springs reported significant reduction in yield with water sources buried under land slides along with considerable damage of sewerage networks, dra

Recently, wastewater reuse is receiving a great deal of focus and interest among planners and decision makers in the West Bank, Palestine. This interest in wastewater reuse is motivated by the shortage in water resources accessibility due to the unstable political situation in the region. Much of th

Urban slum communities throughout the Indian subcontinent face critical challenges including inadequate access to safe water and environmental degradation, resulting in significant public health impacts. A research collaboration between Queen’s University and the Indian Institute of Technology (Madr

In order to reach the UN Millennium Development Goals for significantly reducing the number of people without access to adequate sanitation, new holistic concepts are needed, focusing on economically feasible closed-loop ecological sanitation systems rather than on expensive end-of-pipe technologies

In the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Region, 120 million people do not have access to safe drinking water, and even more lack access to hygienic sanitary facilities. Better management of water and sanitation would prevent over 30 million cases of water-related disease per year in the regi