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Sustainable management aims at the governance of natural resources to meet the needs of future generations. The limited resources of freshwater in arid regions have led to the development of alternative water management strategies. To meet the future challenges of water scarcity, an attempt has been made in this study to utilize treated greywater obtained by gravity-governed filtration technique and disinfection for domestic usage. The study addresses the possibilities of groundwater recharge with the treated greywater. The method focuses on a gravity-governed flow through a column containing activated carbon, sand and gravel. The greywater used for the treatment contains a mixture of equal proportions of water collected from three different sources such as kitchen sink, shower and washing machine in Fahaheel, Salmiya and Farwaniya areas of Kuwait. The study concluded that for a volume of 1167 cm3 filtration media used, the designed column was 34% effective for first 1100 mL of greywater. Later, the column was regenerated by washing with distilled water and the regenerated column still proved to be effective with a removal efficiency of 26% for next 600 mL of greywater. The quality of the treated greywater was assessed in terms of physical, chemical and microbiological parameters as per the standard methods to check the suitability for domestic purposes. The results obtained were also compared with the groundwater quality of Kuwait group and Dammam aquifers, and it was inferred to be at par with their quality. The TDS of treated greywater has been reduced from 4910 to 1508 mg/L, which is also lower than the TDS in groundwater of both the aquifers, and pH was reduced from 10.29 to 7.94. The present study proved its efficiency equally to other existing methods, and the efficiency of removal for some of the analyzed parameters was measured as 23%, 95%, 52%, 88%, 100% and 100% for pH, color, TDS, turbidity, total coliform and E. coli, respectively. Hence, the study is simple and cost-effective approach that can be adopted for the treatment and reused greywater for domestic and agriculture and also for recharging the aquifers to prevent saltwater intrusion along the coastal aquifers.

Sustainable management of water resources is a daunting challenge, especially with respect to microbes. This study primarily focused on the development of a novel application for the removal of specific bacterial groups in different water types using a green synthetic nano Cur-Zn(II) complex. The results of UV and FT-IR spectroscopic techniques suggested the formation of a chelation complex. Proton NMR showed that the main enolic proton peak with a chemical shift of 16.45 nm identified in curcumin was missed, indicating the contribution of carbonyl oxygen of enol in the formation of the complex. The crystalline nature of the complex and Wurtzite structure of annealed products was inferred from the XRD analysis data. SEM results confirmed the complex’s morphology as spherical and clustered with a rough surface, having an average particle size of 68.2 nm. In addition, the complex was observed to be stable up to 300 °C without any decomposition from STA. Being acidic in nature with a pH of 5.36, the complex penetrates into the cell membrane and inhibit microbial growth. Intrinsically, no studies have been reported for the removal of microbes from water using natural materials embedded with inorganic metals, particularly in nano form. Therefore, the study is the first, innovative, eco-friendly, and economical method to use nano Cur-Zn(II) for removing targeted bacteria in real water samples with 100% efficiency by using optimized amounts (0.025–0.2 g/L) of the complex at a contact time interval between 4 and 24 h. The complex developed is toxic-free and can be applied in situ.

The study aimed to determine groundwater’s suitability for irrigation and cattle rearing in Kuwait. In this regard, groundwater samples were collected from Umm Al Aish (UA) and adjoining Rawdhatain (RA) water wellfields to develop groundwater suitability maps for irrigation purposes using the fuzzy logic technique in ArcGIS. RA was dominated by Na-Cl, Na-Ca, and Ca-SO4 water types, whereas UA was dominated by the Ca-Mg water type. Due to the influence of the temperature and pCO2, the carbonates were inferred to be more susceptible to precipitation in the soil than the sulfates. The ternary plots for both regions revealed that the samples’ suitability ranged from good to unsuitable. Spatial maps of nine significant parameters governing the irrigation suitability of water were mapped and integrated using the fuzzy membership values for both regions. The final suitability map derived by overlaying all the considered parameters indicated that 8% of the RA region was categorized as excellent, while UA showed only 5%. Samples situated in the study areas showed an excellent to very satisfactory range for livestock consumption. Developing a monitoring system along with innovative water resource management systems is essential in maintaining the fertility of the soil and existing groundwater reserves.

The terrestrial components of the hydrological cycle include rainwater, surface water, and groundwater. Carbon (C) isotopes allow hydrologists to pinpoint the age of groundwater, track its flow rate, and identify the sources and processes. This research summarizes previous investigations conducted on the isotopes of groundwater and precipitation. The Scopus database contains works from authors from fifty nations, who have conducted research integrating C isotopes in groundwater and precipitation. The review shows that there have been few C isotope investigations on carbon storage and sequestration, as well as on δ13C of precipitation in arid regions. An integrated e-DNA investigation on the process of C isotope fractionation in diverse environments, as well as research on 13C of precipitation in arid regions before and after dust storms, is required to elucidate the relative contributions of biogenic, geogenic, and anthropogenic sources. However, carbon isotope fingerprints that are unique to individual compounds, such as those of fugitive gases, need sophisticated analytical equipment in order to be investigated, limiting this type of study to nations with robust scientific infrastructures and well-trained manpower. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been instrumental in this effort by providing collaborative research and analytical support, resulting in the development of a network for isotope data generation.

The study aims to determine the impact of global meteorological parameters on SARS-COV-2, including population density and initiation of lockdown in twelve different countries. The daily trend of these parameters and COVID-19 variables from February 15th to April 25th, 2020, were considered. Asian countries show an increasing trend between infection rate and population density. A direct relationship between the time-lapse of the first infected case and the period of suspension of movement controls the transmissivity of COVID-19 in Asian countries. The increase in temperature has led to an increase in COVID-19 spread, while the decrease in humidity is consistent with the trend in daily deaths during the peak of the pandemic in European countries. Countries with 65°F temperature and 5 mm rainfall have a negative impact on COVID-19 spread. Lower oxygen availability in the atmosphere, fine droplets of submicron size together with infectious aerosols, and low wind speed have contributed to the increase in total cases and mortality in Germany and France. The onset of the D614G mutation and subsequent changes to D614 before March, later G614 in mid-March, and S943P, A831V, D839/Y/N/E in April were observed in Asian and European countries. The results of the correlation and factor analysis show that the COVID-19 cases and the climatic factors are significantly correlated with each other. The optimum meteorological conditions for the prevalence of G614 were identified. It was observed that the complex interaction of global meteorological factors and changes in the mutational form of CoV-2 phase I influenced the daily mortality rate along with other comorbid factors. The results of this study could help the public and policymakers to create awareness of the COVID-19 pandemic.