Society Water Technology

This book presents the results of the Interdisciplinary Research Group "Society – Water – Technology" of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. It describes interdisciplinary evaluation criteria for major water engineering projects (MWEPs) and portrays an application to the Lower Jordan Valley (Middle East) and the Fergana Valley (Central Asia). Both areas are characterised by transboundary conflicts, by challenges due to demographic and climate change and by political and societal pressures. Based on the findings, the book provides recommendations for science and political decisions makers as well as for international financing institutions. In addition, it outlines research gaps from an interdisciplinary perspective. In the past, MWEPs have been used as an instrument to cope with the demands of growing populations and to enhance development progress. Experiences with MWEPs have shown that a purely technical approach has not always brought about the desired results. In many cases, MWEPs have even resulted in negative implications for society and environment. Therefore, improved management strategies and enhanced technologies for a sustainable water resource management system are a prerequisite to meet present and future challenges. And, moreover, the continuous evaluation and optimisation of these measures is, likewise, a must.

This book contains the papers presented at a conference co-organized by the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the Wessex Institute of Technology to facilitate trans-disciplinary communication on issues related to the nature of water, and its use and exploitation by society. With adequate water supply becoming a critical issue in more and more area, \there is a great and urgent need to bridge the gap between the broad spectrum of social sciences and humanistic disciplines and the specialists in physical and natural sciences, biology, environmental sciences, and health. Many issues are also trans-national in nature and relate to rights of states and hence it is essential to discuss these at international level to arrive at equitable and binding solutions that will ensure the rights of society to quality water supplies. The book discusses The nature of water; Water as a human right; Water as the source of life; Water in a changing climate; Future water demands and adaptation strategies; Water resources contamination; Surface and sub-surface water resources; Irrigation and desertification; Water, sanitation and health; Transnational water rights; Legislation and controls; Water through the ages; Lessons to be learnt; and Water and disaster management.

Today our societies face great challenges with water, in terms of both quantity and quality, but many of these challenges have already existed in the past. Focusing on Asia, Water Societies and Technologies from the Past and Present seeks to highlight the issues that emerge or re-emerge across different societies and periods, and asks what they can tell us about water sustainability. Incorporating cutting-edge research and pioneering field surveys on past and present water management practices, the interdisciplinary contributors together identify how societies managed water resource challenges and utilised water in ways that allowed them to evolve, persist, or drastically alter their environment. The case studies, from different periods, ancient and modern, and from different regions, including Egypt, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Southwest United States, the Indus Basin, the Yangtze River, the Mesopotamian floodplain, the early Islamic city of Sultan Kala in Turkmenistan, and ancient Korea, offer crucial empirical data to readers interested in comparing the dynamics of water management practices across time and space, and to those who wish to understand water-related issues through conceptual and quantitative models of water use. The case studies also challenge classical theories on water management and social evolution, examine and establish the deep historical roots and ecological foundations of water sustainability issues, and contribute new grounds for innovations in sustainable urban planning and ecological resilience.

The 28 chapters in this collection describe science-based principles and technological advances behind green technologies that can be effective solutions to pressing problems in sustainable water management.

Just as space, territory and society can be socially and politically co-constructed, so can water, and thus the construction of hydraulic infrastructures can be mobilised by politicians to consolidate their grip on power while nurturing their own vision of what the nation is or should become. This book delves into the complex and often hidden connection between water, technological advancement and the nation-state, addressing two major questions. First, the arguments deployed consider how water as a resource can be ideologically constructed, imagined and framed to create and reinforce a national identity, and secondly, how the idea of a nation-state can and is materially co-constituted out of the material infrastructure through which water is harnessed and channelled. The book consists of 13 theoretical and empirical interdisciplinary chapters covering four continents. The case studies cover a diverse range of geographical areas and countries, including China, Cyprus, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Nepal and Thailand, and together illustrate that the meaning and rationale behind water infrastructures goes well beyond the control and regulation of water resources, as it becomes central in the unfolding of power dynamics across time and space.

There is no more fundamental resource than water. The basis of all life, water is fast becoming a key issue in today’s world, as well as a source of conflict. This fascinating book, which sets out many of the ingenious methods by which ancient societies gathered, transported and stored water, is a timely publication as overextraction and profligacy threaten the existence of aquifers and watercourses that have supplied our needs for millennia. It provides an overview of the water technologies developed by a number of ancient civilizations, from those of Mesopotamia and the Indus valley to later societies such as the Mycenaeans, Minoans, Persians, and the ancient Egyptians. Of course, no book on ancient water technologies would be complete without discussing the engineering feats of the Romans and Greeks, yet as well as covering these key civilizations, it also examines how ancient American societies from the Hohokams to the Mayans and Incas husbanded their water supplies. This unusually wide-ranging text could offer today’s parched world some solutions to the impending crisis in our water supply. "This book provides valuable insights into the water technologies developed in ancient civilizations which are the underpinning of modern achievements in water engineering and management practices. It is the best proof that "the past is the key for the future." Andreas N. Angelakis, Hellenic Water Supply and Sewerage Systems Association, Greece "This book makes a fundamental contribution to what will become the most important challenge of our civilization facing the global crisis: the problem of water. Ancient Water Technologies provides a complete panorama of how ancient societies confronted themselves with the management of water. The role of this volume is to provide, for the first time on this issue, an extensive historical and scientific reconstruction and an indication of how traditional knowledge may be employed to ensure a sustainable future for all." Pietro Laureano, UNESCO expert for ecosystems at risk, Director of IPOGEA-Institute of Traditional Knowledge, Italy

People are increasingly aware of the role that water has in shaping society and how it impacts quality of life. This is the first book to provide a holistic perspective on water, capturing the full breadth of the science, technology, policy, history, and future outlook for the most important substance on earth — written at a level accessible to non-experts in each of these areas.Water is shockingly bizarre in its properties and of unsurpassed importance throughout human history, yet so mundane as to often be invisible in our daily lives. In Water Is ..., the two Seths (Darling and Snyder) walk the reader through all of the diverse perspectives on water. The journey begins with an exploration of the mysteries of water's properties on the molecular level, zooming out through its central role at biological and geological scales. Next, the Seths travel through the history of human civilization, highlighting the fundamental part water has played throughout, including the complexities of water policy, privatization, and pricing in today's world. Attention then turns to technology and innovation, emphasizing the daunting challenges dictated by increasing water stress and a changing climate as well as the enticing opportunities to achieve a secure global water future.Water is arguably the single most interdisciplinary topic. Students in business, policy, history, science, and engineering can best position themselves to make an impact by learning about the entire range of diverse, unexpected, and fascinating angles on water.Related Link(s)

This book deals in a concise format with the methods used to develop mathematical models for water and wastewater treatment. It provides a systematic approach to mass balances, transport and transformation processes, kinetics, stoichiometry, reactor hydraulics, residence time distribution, heterogeneous systems, and dynamic behaviour of reactors. In addition it includes an introduction into parameter identification, error analysis, error propagation, process control, time series analysis, stochastic modelling and probabilistic design. Written as a textbook, it contains many solved practical applications.