Water quality is a big deal. It's important for our environment and the systems we build. Alkalinity is a key part of water quality. It's been measured in many ways, from old-school titrations to fancy spectrophotometric and electrochemical methods. Each has its pros and cons. But what if there was a simple, cheap way to do it? That's what a new approach is all about...
Imagine a place where the ocean water is so dirty that it makes people sick. This isn't some distant land; it's right here in California, at the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado. Over the past six years, beaches near this base have been shut down multiple times because the water was too contaminated. The U. S. Department of Defense Inspector General found that hundr...
In the quiet town of Avellaneda, Argentina, the Sarandi Canal painted the sleepy street into a dramatic red canvas on a recent Thursday morning. Locals woke up to the foul smell. Some say the canal looked stained, as if "covered in blood". Maria Ducomls, a local resident, said it was shocking to witness a river "all red. " The red canal caused an uproar in Avellan...
Fish populations in England's rivers have been on a rollercoaster ride over the past four decades. Once struggling due to water pollution and changes in land use, these aquatic creatures have shown remarkable improvements. Scientists looked at data from 16, 124 surveys at 1180 sites across England, covering rivers of all types and pressures. They found that the numbe...
You know how When kids get sick with diarrhea, it's often caused by germs like viruses. One big factor for this is how clean their water, toilets, and hands are. A recent study looked at kids under 5 in some of the world's poorest places. They found that longer trips to get water (15 minutes or more) made certain viruses like Norovirus and Astrovirus more likely. Whe...
Hey there, did you know how much human activities and the rocks around rivers can affect water quality? Well, let's dive into a study about this in southern Nigeria. Researchers looked at river water during both the wet and dry seasons to see what's up with the chemistry and quality. They collected 20 water samples, ran some math on them, and found some interesting s...
Hexafluoropropylene oxide trimer acid, or HFPO-TA, is a newer option replacing traditional PFASs. It's tough to break down and can harm living things, hence the search for better ways to tackle it. One method that stands out is using UV light with sulfite and iodide. This mix can break down HFPO-TA under mild conditions. But how does water, with all its stuff, affect...
Imagine you're living in a rapidly growing city in Northwest China. With more people and industries, wastewater treatment becomes a big deal. This is where smart technology steps in. Researchers are using something called a Random Forest Regression model to predict water quality and reduce carbon emissions. They look at different wastewater treatment processes and ho...
Idaho's waters are vital for life and leisure, but many face pollution problems from farming, city runoff, and old mine waste. The Clean Water Act steps in with a tool called Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) to fix this. TMDLs set the limit on pollutants a water body can handle while still being safe for swimming, fishing, drinking, and farming. First, we need to f...
You know how some industries, like pharmaceuticals and plastics, release harmful chemicals called phenols into water? Detecting these pollutants is tricky and usually requires expensive methods and skilled people. Enter the affordable, easy-to-use paper strips! These strips, made from simple filter paper, change color when they come into contact with phenols. Two pro...