Water Pollution Situation and Impacts in Rural China

With the development of national economics, water pollution is becoming a critical problem in rural China. This research presented a brief view of water pollution situation in rural areas of China in terms of water shortage, water-pollutant sources, eutrophication of water bodies and pollution development in temporal scale. Analysis was conducted on the negative effects of water pollution on human health, agricultural plantation and animal husbandry. Subsequently, some suggestions were proposed for wastewater treatment in rural areas.

Health Risk Assessment on Rural Drinking Water Safety —A Case Study in Rain City District of Ya’an City of Sichuan Province

Taking Rain City District of Ya’an for example, this paper based on ComGIS (Component Object Model Geographic Information System) platform takes comprehensive and systematic detection on the exposure dose of chemical carcinogens and non-carcinogens from drinking water sources in this region and discusses health risk assessment of single factor and the whole health risk assessment. As, Hg, Cr, Pb, Cd and fluorides in some drinking water sources of Rain City District are analyzed according to Standards For Drinking Wa-ter Quality (GB5749-2006). A health risk assessment model called USEPA is also applied to drinking water health risk assessment and management countermeasure is proposed. The results show that the greatest health risk for individual person per year is caused by Cr(VI). The health risk of carcinogens is much higher than that of non-carcinogens: the greatest risk value due to non-carcinogen pollutants is caused by fluoride (F), achieving 1.05×10-8/a. The ranking of risk values due to non-carcinogen pollutants by drinking water is Pb>fluoride (F)>Hg, within Pb accounting for 44.77%, fluo-ride (F) accounting for 34.30% and Hg accounting for 20.92%. The average individual carcinogenesis annual risk of Cr(VI) is the greatest, achieving 8.91×10-4/a. The ranking of risk value due to chemical carcinogen by rural drinking water of Ya’an is Cr6+>As>Cd, within Cr6+ accounting for 91.12%, As accounting for 5.89% and Cd accounting for 3.00%. Based on this, the strategy and measures of the health risk management are put forward. This study has worked efficiently in practice. Compared with the same kind of methods which have been found, the paper has the outstanding results for the health risk assessment of the rural drinking water safety.

Human intestinal parasitism,potable water availability and methods of sewage disposal among nomadic Fulanis in Kuraje rural settlement of Zamfara state

Objective:To ascertain the level of intestinal parasites vis-a-vis the quality of housing and water supply,and sanitary conditions among the people of Kuraje village in Zamfara state. Methods:The study was cross sectional in nature.Individual households were selected using systematic random sampling methods and pre-tested questionnaires were administered to all the members of each household.Stool samples were collected and processed using standard laboratory procedures.Housing conditions,sources of water and sanitary conditions of the households were also inspected.Results were analysed using Epi Info 2006 model.Results: The prevalence of intestinal parasites was 67.0%(347/519).72.3%(251/347),17.0%(59/347),and 10.7%(37/347) had one,two and three or more parasites,respectively.The associated factors with intestinal parasites were poor housing and sanitary conditions,lack of potable water and illiteracy.The commonest parasites encountered were hookworm(22.0%),Ascaris lumbricoides (18.5%),and Strongyloides stercoralis(15.6%) while the least common was Enterobius vermicularis (1.6%).Others were Giardia lamblia(5.7%),Hymenolepsis nana(5.0%),Trichuris trichiura(8.8%), Entamoeba histolytica(14.4%) and Schistosoma mansoni(8.4%).Conclusions:The infection rate of intestinal parasites in Kuraje village is high.More efforts should be intensified towards improvement in sanitary and housing standards,supply of potable water and institution of a more comprehensive literacy programme for the people of the community.

Protection Planning for Rural Centralized Drinking Water Source Areas in Chongqing

Protection planning is made for rural centralized drinking water source areas according to current situations of rural drinking water and existing problems of centralized drinking water source areas in Chongqing,and in combination with survey,analysis and evaluation of urban-rural drinking water source areas in whole city.There are engineering measures and non-engineering measures,to guarantee drinking water security of rural residents,improve rural ecological environment,realize sustainable use of water resource,and promote sustainable development of society.Engineering measures include conservation and protection of water resource,ecological restoration,isolation,and comprehensive control of pointsource and area-source pollution.Non-engineering measures include construction of monitoring system for drinking water source area,construction of security information system for rural centralized drinking water source area,and construction of emergency mechanism for water pollution accidents in rural water source areas.

Comparison of Using an Electronic System and Conventional Monitoring Method for Monitoring the Quality of Drinking Water and Defects Discovery in Rural Area Water Distribution Network of Abarkouh, Iran

The used water for human consumption must be free of microorganisms and chemicals that cause risk in the human health. In this study, water quality of 18 rural area of Abarkouh was determined and compared the conventional monitoring method (According to ISIR (Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran), 1053 and 4208) and use of electronic system method (Patent in industrial property general office of Iran, 77815). Free chlorine monitoring and pH test done by health workers in the conventional method and the results will be sent to the Health Network monthly. Sampling for microbiological testing is done monthly based on population (According to ISIR, 4208). On the electronic system, the procedure is also done by health workers, but the result will be sent to the receiver device by using a cell phone. According to the chlorine test results if the free chlorine residual reported zero, microbiological sampling was done by a health expert. Finally, the number of chlorine test and microbiological sampling and the results of these experiments collected in the both methods and recorded in SPSS 22 then were analyzed by using chi-square test and Fisher exact test. The result of microbiological experiments shows that the sampling rate decreased 29% in using of electronic system method in comparison to the conventional monitoring method while the number of microbial defect detection increased 19% in drinking water networks monitoring by electronic system. Using of electronic system monitoring can reduce the rate and cost of microbiological sampling and its experiments and increase accuracy of these tests, in this way it will increase the quality and safety of drinking water in distribution network in small and dispersed rural communities.

Rural Water Supply Management and Sustainability: The Case of Adama Area, Ethiopia

Wise utilization of water resources is becoming very important as world faces water crises. The main objective of this study was to investigate the rural water supply systems with case study in Adama area, in central Ethiopia. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. Four sample water schemes were selected and totally 148 (63 were female) representative households were selected for answering the questionnaires. Key informant interviews and group discussions were also conducted. The study assessed issues such as community participation, water committee empowerment, management and governance of water supply schemes, women participation, functional status of water supply scheme, sanitation and hygiene issues, external support, and monitoring system of water supply schemes. The findings indicated that the community participation in planning and implementation was very good while monitoring mechanism of operation and management as well as community participation on choice of technology was poor. The water schemes were located at reasonable distances i.e. less than 2 km in most cases and the time taken for round trip to fetch water from source was less than or equal to 30 minutes in most cases, however the queuing time was more than an hour. The water supply was inadequate as only about 15% of beneficiaries could get 20 liters of water per day per capita. The water sources were exposed in many cases to human waste, wild life, livestock and uncontrolled flooding. Sanitary practices in the study area were poor as only about 3.4% had ventilated and improved pit latrine and open pit and/or open field defecation were widely practiced.

ComGIS-Based Early Warning System of Rural Drinking Water Safety in Ya’an City of Sichuan, China

According to characteristic index of spatial-temporal variability of rural drinking water safety in Ya’an City of Sichuan, China, such as water quantity, water quality, convenience degree and guaranteed rate, etc., this study elaborated the basic framework, model’s methodology structure in early warning system of rural drinking water safety on the basis of ComGIS and initially designed information collection, search and re-trieval, evaluation and analysis of factors, dynamic prediction and dynamic early-warning and functions of guidance and management in this system. The design of this system provided scientific basis to grasp the state of rural drinking water safety timely, release early warning information and properly take necessary control measures, etc. The evaluation results showed that the overall trend was getting better. It proved that the rising pressure value and response value were main reasons which caused the rising evaluation value of rural drinking water safety.

Water Supply Dilemma in Nigerian Rural Communities: Looking Towards the Sky for an Answer

Access to safe water supply has great influence on the health, economic productivity and quality of life of the people. But meeting this need is one of the major challenges facing the rural communities of Nigeria today. The purpose of this review paper is to determine whether water supply have contributed effectively to health, social, and cultural development of Nigerian rural communities. Over 70% of households in rural communities do not have access to improved water supply. They rely solely on self-water supply (free source) such as rivers, perennial streams, water ponds and unprotected wells which is susceptible to water borne diseases such as typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery, malaria parasites etc. These rural populations are engaged in farming activities with low income level living in small scattered settlements thus, making provision of piped water supply very difficult. Governments’ interventions towards rural water supply have been through the provision of hand-operated boreholes and wells. These sources yield little or no water during the dry season and are prone to frequent breakdown;leading water crisis and shortages. This situation forces households especially the women and children to spend more time walking longer distances during the dry season to trot water for domestic purposes. Given the fact that the publicly operated water supply have not been able to cope with increasing demand, there is a need for a paradigm shift from the public monopoly of water supply to an innovative approach. Rainwater harvesting technology appears to be one of such alternative approaches.

Exploration of Near Water Rural Landscape Planning and Design:Taking Shiping Village,Zhijiang City in Hubei Province as an Example

By centering on the problems in rural environment and ecology in new rural planning of China,this study is to discuss the new rural planning modes through the effective methods on the near water rural landscape planning and design.Based on the studies of the status at home and abroad,borrowing ideas from successful cases,this study intends to apply the landscape ecological design technique to the Shiping Village,Zhijiang City in Hubei Province by depending on the near water geographical position and water resources.Through improving pools,fishponds,rivers,canals and other environments near water and planning and design of landscape,modern ecological new countryside with features of water resource is formed.Through discussion,we find effective ways to improve ecological environment of countryside,protect style and feature of countryside near water,construct people-oriented rural development system of and promote the construction of rural human habitat environment.Such landscape planning model of countryside near water obtains good ecological and environmental effect,and provides references for projects of similar themes.

Predicament and Countermeasures for the Management and Maintenance of Rural Water Conservancy Facilities

The major problem of rural water conservancy facilities during its management and maintenance is in the "been used, under no control" state. And the main reasons of this state are the public belonging property, investment by a single subject, and lack of effective supervision and management mechanism. Since rural water conservancy facilities is used in small scale and has the features of rural "acquaintances community", a balanced long-term interest mechanism for the management and maintenance of rural water conservancy facilities is established for interest-related parties. On short-term view, the most effective measure is to bring the operational status of rural water conservancy facilities into the evaluation indicators of the local government.

Current Situation and Countermeasures of Water Body Pollution in Rural Areas of China

At present, people＇s environmental awareness gradually enhances, and the environmental requirements on production and living continuously improve. Urban sewage discharge management and sewage treatment intensity are increasing in whole country, and urban water environment has certain improvement. But in rural areas, due to relatively weak environmental awareness of residents, not high economic development degree and not perfect infrastructure construction, the issue has not been handled properly. It seriously restricts further development of rural economy, and contradiction between water pollution worsening and farmers eager to raise the level of living environment increasingly aggravating has become key problem restricting China＇s new rural construction. According to status quo of rural water pollution in China, causes and hazards of rural water pollu- tion are analyzed in detail, and several treatment suggestions are put forward.

A Study on the Microbial Quality of Drinking Water in Rural Areas of Mazandaran Province in North of Iran (2011)

Backgrounds: One of the fundamental needs of a community is to have an access to healthy and safe drinking water. The lack of a concentrated accessibility to health facilities and services is among the serious problems facing villagers in the rural areas. The aims of this research was to investigate the drinking water quality of the villages in Babol township suburbs in north of Iran. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, a total of 140 water samples were taken from the water distribution network in16 villages for the low and high-rain seasons in sterile glass bottle. The microbial quality of gathered samples were determined based on standard methods in laboratory. Statistical analysis of the results was performed using a SPSS16 statistical software. Findings: Based on obtained results 13.6% of the samples were contaminated to coliform and 20% to fecal coliform bacteria. The residual chlorine in 12.5% of the samples were between 0.2 to 0.8 mg·L-1 and the PH in total samples were between 6.8 to 7.8. There were no signs of any contamination for 32.86% of the analysed samples which water resources is located to a distance of more than 30 m to the contamination sources. In addition, 43.1% of the samples taken from the water resources with no plumbing system, have had a fecal contamination. Conclusions: Considering the results achieved, the microbial quality of the drinking water of the studied villages classified as “moderate” status. For more water supply there is not sufficient residual chlorine in most cases. Poor sanitation of water supply is most causes of water contamination. It is therefore strongly recommended that sanitation measures are made to protect water resources from the contamination.

Design of Water Disinfection Scheme for Rural Drinking Water Safety Project

As further promotion of the rural drinking water safety project in whole country, small villages in vast countryside have been or will be equipped with safety drinking water project. We analyzed necessity of the rural drinking water disinfection, discussed disinfection method suitable for rural drinking water characteristics, and put forward disinfection schemes for different water supply sources.

Pollution control of urban black-odor water bodies

On the basis of on-the-spot investigation, the causes of urban black-odor water bodies and the problems existing in the treatment are analyzed, and the control techniques and management countermeasures for black-odor water bodies were put forward. The countermeasures include: treating from both the roots and the symptoms and combining multiple technologies; comprehensively managing and improve the monitoring systems; coordinating functions and implementing long-term management; opening information and innovating supervision platform; coordinating advance and promoting the construction of sponge city; diversified financing to form the market-oriented model of water pollution control.

Analysis of Rural Water Pollution Sources of Lushui Reservoir in Hubei Province

Pollution resulting from increased human activities is threatening the drinking water quality in China.Lushui Reservoir was selected as a typical example to represent polluted drinking water sources with rapid social economic development.This study analyzed the pollution load of Lushui Reservoir from rural areas by estimating the chemical oxygen demand(COD),ammonia nitrogen,total nitrogen and total phosphorus contributed by domestic sewage,agricultural activity,livestock breeding and aquaculture activity.Results show that the annual chemical oxygen demand,ammonia nitrogen,total nitrogen and total phosphorus loads in Lushui Reservoir were 180.44,22.99,33.15,and 3.99 t,respectively.The highest contribution to pollution load in all four aspects is domestic sewage,which was 89%,96%,82%,and 79%,respectively.Therefore,policies for sustainable development in the region should be directed primarily towards a reduction of domestic pollution.

New Attempt for Building Rural Water Environment Management System Based on the Investigation and Analysis of Water Environment in Xianxia Town, Yudu County

Water environment is a part of ecological environment, and conservation of water environment has always been a focus of public attention in China, but water environment management in the vast countryside has been stuck in bottleneck. Based on the fi eld investigation in Xianxia Town, Yudu County, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, this paper explored the current situation of local water environment and the management diffi culties, then introduced the holistic view to integrate the linkage of government, market and society, proposed the universality of the individual case, and the new attempt centering on urban-rural integrated water environment management system with public participation mechanism, management subjects' benefit balance and coordination system, marketing operation mechanism and economic incentive mechanism as the extension.

Iodization of Village Water Supply in the Control of Endemic Iodine Deficiency in Rural Sarawak, Malaysia

A simple water iodizing system, which incorporates the Venturi principle in combination with the controlled release mechanism of a silicone-sodium iodide elastomer, for the iodization of rural piped-water supply in the control of endemic iodine deficiency has been developed and its effectiveness evaluated in three Iban longhouse villages in the iodinedeficient district of Lubok Antu, Sarawak. Urines were collected for iodine assays from women aged 15-40 years before and at 6 and 12 months after the connection of the iodinating device; goiter assessment was performed on the women at the start and end of the 1-year study. Water samples were collected for iodine assays at 2-weekly intervals. In all three villages, significant and sustained increases in median urinary iodine excretions,reaching levels recommended for an iodine-suffcient population, were observed; goitre prevalences were reduced in all the villages (by 22.6% to 35.8%). The iodine levels in the water ranged from 34 μg/l to 212 μg/L. In the control village, median urinary iodine excretions remained essentially unchanged but a small increase in goiter prevalence was observed. The iodized water was well received by the villagers and no adverse effects of water iodization were observed. The system functioned unattended throughout the one year period. The cost of providing supplemental iodine via the iodizing device is approximately 60 cents (U.S.) per family per year which is affordable by either the Government or the villagers. It is concluded that the iodizing system offers a new cost-effective strategy for the control of endemic iodine deficiency in Sarawak and may have applications in other areas with similar water sources

Evaluation Model of Rural Drinking Water Project Based on Entropy Weight and Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Method

Based on Measures for Assessment of Rural Drinking Water Standard Raising Action in Zhejiang Province,this study established an evaluation system for rural drinking water project in Zhejiang Province,covering three primary indicators of project construction,project management and project performance,and 18 secondary indicators.It proposed an evaluation model based on entropy weight and fuzzy evaluation method.It solved the problems of the objectivity of the indicator weight and the quantification of the indicators,and can well achieve the coordination and unity of fuzziness and accuracy.Using this model,it evaluated a rural drinking water project in a county and concluded that both accuracy and feasibility of the model are high.

An Integrated Optimal Approach for Solar Powered Rural Water Distribution Systems in the Gambia

In the Gambia and across sub-Saharan Africa, reliable access to clean water and electrical power is constrained. As most rural water supply systems are built, enhanced understanding of efficiencies and optimisation is required. Here, methods of integrating estimations of power outputs from solar photovoltaic arrays into gravity-fed water distribution network modelling are investigated. The effects of powering a rural water distribution system that is replenished with groundwater pumps that use solar power are investigated, along with the effect of this on other network design decisions. The water storage tank and pipework of a rural community with an estimated 2800 people and 28 standpipes from a borehole was selected. EPANET modelling software and genetic algorithms were used to run network optimisation simulations of: water tank location, elevation and volume;pipe diameter and configuration;and optimal system design in terms of cost. Different scenarios were produced, including supply, demand and required water storage curves, which could have practical application for rural water distribution system design. Indicative costs for theoretical water distribution networks will be useful for decision makers and planners.

A Study of a Rudimentary Potable Water System in a Rural Community

A comprehensive study was conducted to evaluate a rural community’s efforts to solve its potable water problem. Residents of St. Margaret village has built a rudimentary water storage facility through their community efforts and run a network of water supply to the households of the village. The study analyzed the water quality of the reservoir for physical, chemical and microbiological parameters by using standard water quality measurements and compared it between the wet and the dry seasons. The results indicate that the temperature and the pH were highest in the month of April. The phosphate level was high during the month of November whereas the dissolved oxygen level was lowest during November. The presence of fecal coliforms and other pathogenic microbes such as Salmonella and Shigella suggested that the water bodies are not safe for human consumption. The survey of the households in the village also revealed that health ailments associated with gastrointestinal tract are common among the people using the water for drinking purpose. The community’s effort in finding solution to their potable water problem has been demonstrated in the design and execution of the rudimentary reservoir in the St. Margaret village. Although majority of the inhabitants of the village have only primary-level education, they were able to carry out a major engineering project.