André Marques Arsénio

Abstract: Background: As human populations become more and more urban, decision-makers at all levels face new challenges related to both the scale of service provision and the increasing complexity of cities and the networks that connect them. These challenges may take on unique aspects in cities with different cultures, political and institutional frameworks, and at different levels of development, but they frequently have in common an origin in the interaction of human and environmental systems and the feedback relationships that govern their dynamic evolution. Accordingly, systems approaches are becoming recognized as critical to understanding and addressing such complex problems, including those related to human health and wellbeing. Management of water resources in and for cities is one area where such approaches hold real promise. Results: This paper seeks to summarize links between water and health in cities and outline four main elements of systems approaches: analytic methods to deal with complexity, interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, and multi-scale thinking. Using case studies from a range of urban socioeconomic and regional contexts (Maputo, Mozambique; Surat and Kolkata, India; and Vienna, Austria). Conclusion: We show how the inclusion of these elements can lead to better research design, more effective policy and better outcomes.

Abstract: Soil deformation is believed to play a crucial role in the onset of failures in the underground infrastructure. This article describes a method to generate a replacement-prioritisation map for underground drinking water pipe networks using ground movement data. A segment of the distribution network of a Dutch drinking water company was selected as the study area. Failure registration data comprising 868 failures registered over 40 months and geographical network data were obtained from the water utility. Ground movement was estimated using radar satellite data. Two types of analyses were performed: cell and pixel based. For the cell-based analysis, asbestos cement (AC) pipes exhibited the highest failure rates. Older AC pipes were also shown to fail more often, whereas failure rates for PVC were the lowest. For the pixel-based analysis, ground movement was demonstrated to play a role in the failure of all materials combined. Therefore, a replacement-prioritisation map for AC was generated which combined g...

Abstract: This paper presents and discusses the significant role played by joints in the failures registered in drinking water distribution networks. The three most important failure mechanisms related are presented and a procedure to detect them through the visual measurement of the gap between pipes inside a joint is proposed. The procedure is proved to be a valuable source of information on joint condition after the assessment of a 600-m DN500 PVC pipe.

Abstract: Ultrasound, closed-circuit television (CCTV) and Panoramo® are capable of inspecting drinking water pipes and joints of any pipe material. The three tools were tested for their accuracy and reproducibility for gap width sizing in double-socket push-fit joints. The tests were performed at laboratory scale (PVC pipes and joints) in the field (asbestos cement pipes and joints) and in three full-scale tests (PVC) inside pipes used to supply drinking water. In the laboratory tests both accuracy and reproducibility were evaluated. In the field and full-scale tests only reproducibility of the tools was tested. CCTV proved to be the most accurate and reproducible for the application. This straightforward approach is considered to be a surrogate measure for joint's condition.

Abstract: In Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, nitrate concentrations above 250 mg L−1 in groundwater have been reported. This happens due to the widespread use of latrines and septic tanks that allow for constant infiltration of its content into the soil and eventually to groundwater sources, a situation that is widespread in the Global South and represents a serious threat for human health and for the environment. This is a reflection of limited access to safe and adequate sanitation services, which the local authorities have set to improve in the forthcoming decades with a recently commissioned city-wide sanitation masterplan serving as a basis for the works. In this article, we aimed at understanding whether the infrastructure projected in the masterplan would lead to a reduction of nitrogen reaching groundwater. Currently, according to our calculations, almost 500 tonnes of nitrogen reach the city’s groundwater sources each year, with the masterplan potentially resulting in a 14% reduction, a small reduction due to its reliance on maintaining and expanding fecal sludge services, without considering investments to improve domestic systems (e.g., construction of contained systems). An alternative, not presented in the Masterplan and put forward by the authors, could be the construction of simplified sewers in two of the city’s most densely populated neighborhoods, with a potential 29% reduction in nitrogen reaching groundwater.

Abstract: Policy Points: Worldwide, more than 70% of all deaths are attributable to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), nearly half of which are premature and apply to individuals of working age. Although such deaths are largely preventable, effective solutions continue to elude the public health community. One reason is the considerable influence of the “commercial determinants of health”: NCDs are the product of a system that includes powerful corporate actors, who are often involved in public health policymaking. This article shows how a complex systems perspective may be used to analyze the commercial determinants of NCDs, and it explains how this can help with (1) conceptualizing the problem of NCDs and (2) developing effective policy interventions. Context The high burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is politically salient and eminently preventable. However, effective solutions largely continue to elude the public health community. Two pressing issues heighten this challenge: the first is the public health community's narrow approach to addressing NCDs, and the second is the involvement of corporate actors in policymaking. While NCDs are often conceptualized in terms of individual‐level risk factors, we argue that they should be reframed as products of a complex system. This article explores the value of a systems approach to understanding NCDs as an emergent property of a complex system, with a focus on commercial actors. Methods Drawing on Donella Meadows's systems thinking framework, this article examines how a systems perspective may be used to analyze the commercial determinants of NCDs and, specifically, how unhealthy commodity industries influence public health policy. Findings Unhealthy commodity industries actively design and shape the NCD policy system, intervene at different levels of the system to gain agency over policy and politics, and legitimize their presence in public health policy decisions. Conclusions It should be possible to apply the principles of systems thinking to other complex public health issues, not just NCDs. Such an approach should be tested and refined for other complex public health challenges.

Abstract: Table of contents: Introduction: Challenges of Sustainable Water Reuse and Choice of Water Reuse Applications, Valentina Lazarova and Takashi Asano Production of Multiquality Recycling Water for Reuse Purposes: Lessons Learned from the 15-Year Experience of the Eduard C. Little Water Recycling Facility (USA), Joe Walters, Gregg Oealker and Rich Nagel Role of Water Reuse for the City of Future (Singapore), Lim Mong Hoo and Harry Seah Integration of water reuse in the management of water resources in the Costa Brava (Spain), Lluis Sala Integration of wastewater reuse, for the sustainable management of water resources in Cyprus (Cyprus), Iacovos Papaiacovou, Athina Papatheodoulou Semi-centralized urban water management as prerequisite for water reuse - results of the demonstration unit DEUS 21 in Knittlingen/ Germany, Marius Mohr and Walter Trosch Water for Life: Diversification and water reuse are key ingredients in Sydney's integrated water plan (Australia), John Anderson Role of water reuse for a megacity suffering from serious water shortage in China-Tianjin, Yu Zhang, Min Yang Irrigation of High Value Food Crops (the WWTP of Nosedo, Milano, Italy), Roberto Mazzini, Luca Pedrazzi and Valentina Lazarova Key of success of water reuse for agricultural irrigation: the case of Noirmoutier (France), Antoine Fazio and Valentina Lazarova The Role of Recycled Water for Agriculture in Thessaloniki (Greece), A. Soupilas and A. Angelakis Irrigation of Food Crops in Australia (Australia), Daryl Stevens and John Anderson The keys for success of water reuse in tourist areas - the case of the Island of Bora Bora, French Polynesia, Valentina Lazarova, Vincent Sturny and Gaston Tong Sang The exciting challenge of water reuse in the regional community of Madrid (Spain), Avelino Martinez Herrero, Jesus Diez de Ulzurrun Mosquera, Gregorio Arias Sanchez and Andres Deza de la Casa Water reuse in Hawaii: City and County of Honolulu (USA), Scott A. Edwards Australia's urban and residential water reuse schemes (Australia), John Anderson Recycling of secondary refinery and naphta cracker effluents employing advanced multi barrier systems - Panipat, India, J. Lahnsteiner, G. Srinivasan, R.D. Mittal, (Indian Oil Corporation) Closing loops - Industrial water management in Germany, Prof. Karl-Heinz Rosenwinkel and Axel Borchmann The role of industrial reuse for the sustainability of water reuse schemes: the example of San Luis Potisi (Mexico), Alberto Rojas, Lucina Equihua, Carlos Arevalo and Fernando Gonzalez High Purity Recycled Water for Refinery Boiler Feedwater, Alice Towey, Jan Lee, Sanjay Reddy and James H. Clark Restoration of River Flow in Mega cities: the example of Tokyo (Japan), Naoyuki Funamizu Water reuse for environmental restoration at the Texoco Lake (Mexico), Blanca Jiminez Creation of a New Recreation Water Environment: the example of Beijing Olympic Park (China), Hong-Ying HU, YingXue SUN (Tsinghua University, China), Josef Lahnsteiner (WABAG), and Yiping GAN (the Beijing Drainage Group, China) Japanese Practices for Greywater recycling in Buildings (Japan), Naoyuki Funamizu In-building Water Recycling in New York City (USA), Yanjin Liu, Eugenio Giraldo, and Mark LeChevallier Semi-decentralized Water Recycling in Mega cities: the example of Tokyo Shinjuku (Japan), Naoyuki Funamizu Orange County Groundwater Replenishment System (California), R. Chalmer, P. Mehul and D. Thompson Lessons Learned from the Torreele Groundwater Recharge (Belgium), Emmanuel Van Houtte The Occoquan Experience - First and Most Mature Planned, Surface Water, Potable Reuse Project in the World (USA), Robert Angelotti The water reuse scheme of Western Corridor (Australia), Troy Walker et al More than 40 years of direct potable reuse experience in Windhoek, (Namibia), J. Lahnsteiner, P. du Pisani, J. Menge, J. Esterhuize.

Abstract: Detection and characterization of delamination damage are of great importance to the assurance of structural safety. This work investigates the potential of a baseline-free structural health monito...

Abstract: The subject of this paper is a failure analysis of water supply failure frequency in one of the cities in Poland. Operating data on the failure rate of water supply pipelines in the city were used. The analysis of water pipes' failures, including pipes diameters, their age, the material they are made from and their function in the water supply subsystem in the city was made. There is a noticeable downward trend in both the number of failures as well as the failure rates of water pipes. The value of failure rate indexes corresponds to national and international trends. The average failure rate for the main pipelines is λ Mavg = 0.98 km − 1 a − 1 , the distribution pipelines λ Ravg = 0.42 km − 1 a − 1 and the water connections — λ Pavg = 0.35 km − 1 a − 1 . The majority of failures (45.62%) happen in the distribution pipelines, representing about 53% of the total length of the pipelines. Detailed analysis of the water network failure should be a main element of the managing system of the urban water networks, particularly in strategic modernization plans.