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Transmission of novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in humans happens either through airway exposure to respiratory droplets from an infected patient or by touching the virus contaminated surface or objects (fomites). Presence of SARS-CoV-2 in human feces and its passage to sewage system is an emerging concern for public health. Pieces of evidence of the occurrence of viral RNA in feces and municipal wastewater (sewage) systems have not only warned reinforcing the treatment facilities but also suggest that these systems can be monitored to get epidemiological data for checking trend of COVID-19 infection in the community. This review summarizes the occurrence and persistence of novel coronavirus in sewage with an emphasis on the possible water environment contamination. Monitoring of novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) via sewage-based epidemiology could deliver promising information regarding rate of infection providing a valid and complementary tool for tracking and diagnosing COVID-19 across communities. Tracking the sewage systems could act as an early warning tool for alerting the public health authorities for necessary actions. Given the impracticality of testing every citizen with limited diagnostic resources, it is imperative that sewage-based epidemiology can be tested as an early warning system. The need for the development of robust sampling strategies and subsequent detection methodologies and challenges for developing countries are also discussed. Graphical abstract

Vulnerability to hazards not only relies on the extent of natural hazards but also depends on the social and economic conditions of the communities. Therefore, this study intends to construct a household-level social vulnerability at the microscale in the nine wards of Chalna Municipality (CM), Dacope upazila, in southwest coastal Bangladesh by employing the social vulnerability index (SoVI). We surveyed 30 households from each ward to collect data on 33 vulnerability indicators. Of these, seven indicators were extracted by principal component analysis (PCA), which explained 96.34% of the total variance. The PCA results indicate that high population density, poor economic condition, the presence of vulnerable groups, unstable income generating sources, unplanned urban and poor infrastructure, lack of services, and lack of adequate sewage systems are the key drivers of social vulnerability of the CM. The SoVI score was generated using seven PCA outcomes for the respective wards. Results revealed that 44.45% of the areas are medium–high to high (wards 2, 4, 5, and 6) vulnerable. The highest level of social vulnerability was distributed in ward 5, while ward 8 was identified as the least vulnerable. About 33.33% of the CM was found as medium vulnerable areas (wards 1, 7, and 9). Ward 3 was categorized as a low–medium vulnerable area. The findings of the study will provide useful information for decision-makers and disaster managers to develop sustainable disaster management plans for coastal Bangladesh to reduce social vulnerability as well as to decrease the impacts of natural disasters.

Scientific publications and newsfeeds recently focused on flushable wet wipes and their role in sewage system blockages. It is stated that although products are marked as flushable, they do not disintegrate after being disposed of via the toilet. In this work it is shown that wetlaid hydroentangled wet wipes lose their initially good dispersive properties during their storage in wet condition. As a consequence, we are suggesting to add tests after defined times of wet storage when assessing the flushability of wet wipes. Loss of dispersibility is found for both, wet wipes from industrial pilot production and wipes produced on laboratory pilot facilities. We found it quite surprising that the wet wipes’ dispersibility is deteriorating after storage in exactly the same liquid they are dispersed in, i.e. water. This is probably why the effect of wet storage has not been investigated earlier. It is demonstrated that the deteriorating dispersibility of these wipes is linked to the used type of short cellulosic fibres — only wipes containing unbleached softwood pulp as short fibre component were preserving good dispersibility during wet storage. Possible mechanisms that might be responsible are discussed, e.g. long term fiber swelling causing a tightening of the fiber network, or surface interdiffusion.

Storm networks, as with all urban infrastructure elements, are important to life in society. One of the most important problems facing such networks is the clogging of pipes due to sediment inlet into the sewage systems, which can cause flooding during heavy rain. This study aims to improve the efficiency of storm networks by using a new filter. In this study, a model of a network of pipes was built up to simulate rain flow over a street of two lanes. The first lane contained a filter and the second lane contained a manhole. The percentage of sediment passing from the manhole to the filter was calculated and compared in terms of the effects of several variables, such as the intensity of rainfall and the street slope. The results showed that the passing ratio from the filter to manhole was 0.28 at a low rain intensity of 30 mm/hr and 0.13 at a high rain intensity of 58 mm/hr. The passing ratio from filter to manhole was 0.21 and 0.12 for small and big lengths of filter, respectively, while the passing ratio at small and big bed slopes was 26 and 13, respectively.

Nowadays the segment of sewing services is packed with manual universal sewing machines. They need to be upgraded, that is why developing of energy-saving electro drive for sewing machines is actual. To improve energy datum, efficiency and expanding functional set of sewing machines usage of frequency-controlled drive is a solution. In this case frequency inverter is set by functional algorithm reproduced in frames of its logical macromodel. The model of frequency inverter reproduces instantaneous value of output voltage for modelling dynamic processes, whereas the current voltage applied to drive phase is the only thing to be known for confirmatory and steady-state analyses.

Urban wastewater (UWW) management usually entails biological and physicochemical monitoring due to its potential impact on the quality of the receiving environment. A major component of a sewage system is the pipe network leading the water to the treatment plant. Up to now, few studies have been conducted on the diverse phenomena that may affect the characteristics of the water during its transportation. In this study, ecotoxicity and potential antibiotic resistance were used in a global method to assess the change of UWW quality in a sewage system and determine if sewer pipes can act as a bioreactor spread. Three bioassays were conducted to assess the ecotoxicity of the samples and the concentration and relative abundance of two classes of integrons (as a proxy for antibiotic resistance) were measured. The results of the bioassay battery do not show a pattern, despite the fact that differences were noticeable between upstream and downstream samples. Antibiotic resistance appeared to decrease during transport in the pipe as the concentration and relative abundance of integrons decreased during several campaigns. This result should be confirmed in other sewer networks but already provides useful information for the management of urban sewage system.

The outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in China has significantly reduced the country’s pig production capability, whilst also having far-reaching impacts on livestock products supply in the wider food system. Previous studies have quantified the potential long-terms impacts on food prices, however, little information is available regarding the direct short-term impacts on food system changes (livestock products supply and consumption patterns) and water quality protection associated with the outbreak. Here, we used multiple sources of data in relation to consumption patterns and water quality to fill this knowledge gap. Our results indicate that the ASF outbreak has changed the short-term livestock products consumption pattern in China, with increasing reliance on importation of livestock products. A rapid change in pork self-sufficiency rate has also driven a rapid increase in the consumer price index of many cities. Banned swill feeding and reversed environmental regulations in the watercourse intense regions has unintended consequences, especially on water quality. Swill, which is no longer fed, was dumped into water waste streams and lowered the sewage treatment efficiency. The re-establishment of pig production back into watercourse intense regions has led to exceedance of local manure nutrient loading capacity of agricultural land. We suggest (a) a short-term intermediate policy to prohibit discharge of swill to sewage systems, to return their previous efficiency, (b) the development of new technologies for the safe recycling of swills, and (c) the design of a long-term intelligent spatial planning of pig production, slaughter and transportation within China to ensure continued protection of water quality vulnerable zones.

The increase in medicine and drug consumption have resulted in identifying these emerging pollutants in all aquatic compartments, ranging from surface water and groundwater resources to the marine environment. Pharmaceuticals are an indispensable part of life today. A large number of pharmaceuticals are used in a daily basis in the treatment, prevention, cure or diagnosis of diseases or to otherwise enhance people’s physical or mental well-being. This paper focuses on the evaluation of the attitude of citizens in Cyprus regarding the disposal of pharmaceuticals as well as to identify the main reasons why pharmaceutical wastes are produced. The result indicted that in Cyprus, there is lack of data regarding the amount of pharmaceutical wastes that are discarded into household waste and sinks. The survey audit showed that 86.6% of men’s and 83.3% of women’s used pharmacy with or without doctor’s recipe. Social behaviour is considered to be the most significant reason that pharmaceutical are produced. The results indicated that, citizens mainly keep unused medicines and drugs at home in case they are needed again as well as patients use to cut-off or to reduce their treatment in case that on the first 3–6 days they feel better. The survey indicated that the main disposal method of unused or expired medicines and drugs is in household waste followed from the sink and the toilet. Furthermore, the main disposal solution of unused or expired medicines and drugs remain the household bin as well as the sewage system (sink or toilet), while a percentage more than 55% of the participants indicated that they will follow a specific waste management program if existing in place. Moreover, in order to reduce the production of pharmaceutical wastes, specific prevention activities must be considered.

Anthropogenic and dynamic impacts on facilities of underground urban infrastructure increase at intensive development of megacities. The unique long-operating underground structures of sewage system require special protection against anthropogenic influence as their wear degree in difficult soil conditions reaches 70% and more. Therefore, providing structural (mechanical) safety of underground structures of excessive level of danger and responsibility defines sustainable operation and future development of geotechnical infrastructure of the megacity in general. Long-term studying dynamics of changes of technical state of underground sewage structures of the megacity, long operating (for more than 70 years) in soft soils, allowed establishing regularities of influence of intensive anthropogenic and dynamic impacts on this process. For the first time, based on developed continuous models of defective structures potentially dangerous sections have been identified, they are subjected to manifestation of critical failures; ways of their correction are presented. Numerical simulation has defined borders of defectless joint operation of the system “target area – geobulk – underground structure”. Scientific substantiation of boundaries of areas with potentially dangerous sections of underground sewage facilities with account of external anthropogenic and dynamic impacts constitutes the basis for elaborating regulations on safe development of geotechnical infrastructure of the historical area of St. Petersburg. The proposed methods of monitoring and protection of geotechnical infrastructure have been successfully used for many years by St. Petersburg Vodokanal in areas of influence of anthropogenic factors and objects under construction on underground structures, they ensure an optimal combination of sustainable operation and development of geotechnical infrastructures of megacities.

The article presents the development and justification of parameters of the new design of the sewing machine needle mechanism with elastic coupling, which provide an increase in speed modes of operation while reducing operating costs. As well as new scientific results obtained based on theoretical and experimental studies. A new design of the needle mechanism of a sewing machine with an elastic connection is developed and the problem of the dynamics of the needle mechanism with an elastic connection is solved by taking into account the dynamic and mechanical characteristics of the engine, inertial, elastic-dissipative parameters of the mechanism, as well as the resistance force of the sewn materials by the sewing machine. The dependences of the parameter changes in the function on the resistance force of the cross-linked materials are obtained.