Abstract: Rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems have been developed to compensate for shortage in the water supply worldwide. Such systems are not very common in arid areas, particularly in the Gulf Region, due to the scarcity of rainfall and their reduced efficiency in covering water demand and reducing water consumption rates. In spite of this, RWH systems have the potential to reduce urban flood risks, particularly in densely populated areas. This study aimed to assess the potential use of RWH systems as urban flood mitigation measures in arid areas. Their utility in the retention of stormwater runoff and the reduction of water depth and extent were evaluated. The study was conducted in a residential area in Bahrain that experienced waterlogging after heavy rainfall events. The water demand patterns of housing units were analyzed, and the daily water balance for RWH tanks was evaluated. The effect of the implementation of RWH systems on the flood volume was evaluated with a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model. Flood simulations were conducted in several rainfall scenarios with different probabilities of occurrence. The results showed significant reductions in the flood depth and flood extent, but these effects were highly dependent on the rainfall intensity of the event. RWH systems are effective flood mitigation measures, particularly in urban arid regions short of proper stormwater control infrastructure, and they enhance the resilience of the built environment to urban floods.

Abstract: Since the coming into force of the European Council Directive 51/2013 EURATOM and its transposition into the Spanish legislation, the presence of radioactive substances in drinking waters must be kept under surveillance to ensure that the health protection requirements are met. Driven by this regulatory framework, in an attempt to know the starting point from which to design surveillance plans, the groundwaters intended for human consumption of Castilla y León (Spain) have been radiologically characterised by using both low-level γ-ray and α-particle spectrometry to determine the activity concentration of the natural radionuclides needed to account for the indicative dose estimation. This extensive research has comprised the radiological characterisation of more than 400 drinking water samples from one of the European Union’s largest regions. Furthermore, the gross α and gross β activities have been analysed. Results showed a high geographical variability that can be related to the hydrogeological formations where the groundwaters come from. The uranium isotopes, 234U and 238U, are the main radionuclides present in the analysed drinking waters reaching values up to 2000 mBq/L, in the southwestern and western of Castilla y León, where U-rich minerals are part of the host rock. High 210Pb and 226,228Ra occurrences are found in the low permeability igneous and metasedimentary hydrogeological formations of Salamanca province. From a public health protection point of view, 4.4% of the total drinking water samples from intakes exceeded the Indicative Dose parametric value of 0.1 mSv, which is a not negligible number of samples, being very likely related to granitic and metamorphosed host rock under specific local conditions. This fact highlights the need for research and consideration of special surveillance of the groundwaters from these areas.

Abstract: Study region Wadi Tayyibah is located in south Sinai, Egypt, in a region called Abou Zenima, and it is used to develop this study. Study focus Flash floods tremendously impact many facets of human life due to their destructive consequences and the costs associated with mitigating efforts. This study aims to evaluate the harvesting of Runoff by delineating the watersheds using the Hydrologic Engineering Center-1 (HEC-1) model and ArcGIS software in trying to benefit from it in different ways. All morphometric parameters of the basin were considered, and the risk degree of the different sub-basins was determined. The suitable locations of dams were identified using a Geographical Information System (GIS) using the basin’s morphometric characteristics. New hydrological insights for the region The study proposed a total number of eight dams, including five dams that were recommended for sub-basin (1) and three dams in sub-basin (4), while sub-basins (2) and (3) are not suitable locations to build dams according to the contour map of Wadi Tayyibah. Results indicate that, based on the constructed flash flood hazard maps and the basin’s detailed morphometric characteristics, the best locations of dams are Dam (3) in sub-basin (1) and Dam (7) in sub-basin (4), where the runoff volume reached 3.13 million cubic meters (Mm3) and 5.56 Mm3 for return period 100, respectively. This study is useful for decision-makers and designers for using morphometric parameters and flash flood hazard degree maps to select dam locations. Also, the cost-benefit analysis for using the morphometric parameters is required to be investigated.

Abstract: Study Region: Bandung groundwater basin, Indonesia. Study focus: Groundwater abstraction of various magnitudes, pumped out from numerous depths in a multitude of layers of aquifers, stimulates different changes in hydraulic head distribution, including ones under vertical cross-sections. This generates groundwater flow in the vertical direction, where groundwater flows within its storage from the shallow to the underlying confined aquifers. In the Bandung groundwater basin, previous studies have identified such processes, but quantitative evaluations have never been conducted, with data scarcity mainly standing as one of the major challenges. In this study, we utilize the collated (1) environmental water tracer data, including major ion elements (Na+/K+, Ca2＋, Mg2+, Cl−, SO42−,HCO3−), stable isotope data (2H and δ18O), and groundwater age determination (14C), in conjunction with (2) groundwater flow modeling to quantify the aquifer interaction, driven mainly by the multi-layer groundwater abstraction in the Bandung groundwater basin, and demonstrate their correspondence. In addition, we also use the model to quantify the impact of multi-layer groundwater abstraction on the spatial distribution of the groundwater level changes. New hydrological insights for the region: In response to the limited calibration data availability, we expand the typical model calibration that makes use of the groundwater level observations, with in-situ measurement and a novel qualitative approach using the collated environmental water tracers (EWT) data for the model evaluation. The analysis in the study area using EWT data and quantitative methods of numerical groundwater flow modeling is found to collaborate with each other. Both methods show agreement in their assessment of (1) the groundwater recharge spatial distribution, (2) the regional groundwater flow direction, (3) the groundwater age estimates, and (4) the identification of aquifer interaction. On average, the downwelling to the deeper aquifer is quantified at 0.110 m/year, which stands out as a significant component compared to other groundwater fluxes in the system. We also determine the unconfined aquifer storage volume decrease, calculated from the change in the groundwater table, resulting in an average declining rate of 51 Mm3/year. This number shows that the upper aquifer storage is dwindling at a rate disproportionate to its groundwater abstraction, hugely influenced by losses to the deeper aquifer. The outflow to the deeper aquifer contributes to 60.3% of the total groundwater storage lost, despite representing only 32.3% of the total groundwater abstraction. This study shows the possibility of quantification of aquifer interaction and groundwater level change dynamics driven by multi-layer groundwater abstraction in a multi-layer hydrogeological setting, even in a data-scarce environment. Applying such methods can assist in deriving basin-scale groundwater policies and management strategies under the changing anthropogenic and climatic factors, thereby ensuring sustainable groundwater management.

Abstract: The complex behavior of uranium in recovery is mostly driven by water-rock interactions following lixiviant injection into ore-bearing aquifers. Significant challenges exist in exploring the geochemical processes responsible for uranium release and mobilization. Herein this study provides an illustration of a ten-year field scale CO2 and O2 in-situ leaching (ISL) process at a typical sandstone-hosted uranium deposit in northern China. We also conducte a three-dimensional (3-D) multicomponent reactive transport model to assess the effects of potential chemical reactions on uranium recovery, in particular, to focus on the role of sulfide mineral pyrite (FeS2). Numerical simulations are performed considering three potential ISL reaction pathways to determine the relative contributions to uranium release, and the results indicate that bicarbonate promotes the oxidative dissolution of uranium-bearing minerals and further accelerates the uranium leaching in a neutral geochemical system. Moreover, the presence of FeS2 exerts a strong competitive role in the uranium-bearing mineral dissolution by increasing oxygen consumption, favoring the formation of iron oxyhydroxide, and therefore causing an associated decrease in uranium recovery rates. The simulation model demonstrates that dissolution of carbonate neutralizes acidic water generated from pyrite oxidation and aqueous CO2 dissociation. In addition, the cation concentrations (i.e., Ca and Mg) are increasing in the pregnant solutions, showing that the recycling of lixiviants and kinetic dissolution of carbonate generates a larger number of dissolved Ca and Mg and inevitably triggers the secondary dolomite mineral precipitation. The findings improve our fundamental understanding of the geochemical processes in a long-term uranium ISL system and provide important environmental implications for the optimal design of uranium recovery, remediation, and risk exposure assessment.