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The administration of Jiuzhaigou National Park in Sichuan Province, China, is in the process of considering a range of upgrades to their sanitation and wastewater treatment systems. Their case history involves an ongoing series of engineering design flaws and management failures. The administration of the Park identified sustainability, environment...
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... translates as the ''valley of nine villages'' for the nine Tibetan villages originally located within Jiuzhaigou National Park (hereafter referred to as the Park). The Park is located at the transition of the Tibetan Plateau, Qiang Pla- teau and Sichuan Basin in the northern region of Sichuan Province, China (location in Fig. 1, statistics in Table 1). The Park is characterized by mountainous and karst topog- raphy and a series of crystal clear, blue-green lakes, pools, and waterfalls resulting from carbonate calcified dikes. To protect this unique natural environment, visitors have access to the Park through a tourist shuttle bus system and are restricted to ...
Citations
... Since its conception, it has been extensively studied, analyzed, and refined. Several authors worldwide have applied the AHP method to propose the most suitable sites for WWTPs (Anagnostopoulos andVavatsikos 2007, 2012;Gaulke et al. 2009;Asante and Barimah 2012;Dursun 2018;Akhoundi and Nazif 2018;Taghilou et al. 2019;Nigusse et al. 2020;Ho et al. 2021;Trianni et al. 2021;Addis 2021;Dewalkar and Shastri 2022). ...
... These units represent 16% of the total area. Arenosols (10%) consists of sandy soils, which are characterized by high permeability (FAO 2006). Leptosols (10%) are shallow mineral soils whose development is influenced by the terrain's topography and physiography. ...
... Fluvisols can be found on alluvial plains, river fans, and valleys. Due to their coarse texture, they have a high permeability, which results in an insufficient ability to store water and nutrients (FAO 2006;Rodrigo-Comino et al. 2021). Therefore, Fluvisols and Arenosols were classified as being of very low suitability due to the high rate of infiltration. ...
Environmental projects need decision-making that integrates environmental, socio-political, and economic factors. Finding a suitable location for a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) can be a complex and challenging task for the government department, as it requires consideration of numerous geographic factors and their interactions. Located in North-Central Algeria, the city of Laghouat is vulnerable to natural hazards such as unpredictable floods of M'zi wadi that pose a threat to life and property in the surrounding urban and rural areas, as well as to the current WWTP. It is worth mentioning that prior studies related to WWTP concerns and possible solutions at the local or regional level have not been carried out. The purpose of the work reported in this paper was to select an alternative WWTP site in the urban areas of Laghouat City by using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and geographic information systems (GIS). Various alternative sites for a WWTP are presented and evaluated; the results of the analysis reveal that 2.12%, 68.25%, 29.36%, and 0.27% of the total area are of high, moderate, low, and very low suitability, respectively, for siting a WWTP, respectively. The southeast part of the study area, which has a low elevation and flat gradients, has the most appropriate candidate sites. Three possible sites were identified: site A is the most advantageous; it would be a very good site for maximizing the WWTP’s performance and effectiveness, and there is the possibility of using treated wastewater for nearby agriculture. The final suitability map can assist local government agencies and departments in making sustainable decisions in the planning phases of engineering projects.
... After this time, tourists were restricted to visiting during daytime hours. In 2001, all pit toilets in tourist locations were removed, and replaced with toilets equipped with plastic bags to collect all waste, which is taken out of Jiuzhaigou for treatment (Gaulke et al. 2010). In addition, all hotels and private restaurants inside Jiuzhaigou were closed in 2003 and 2004 (Gu et al. 2013). ...
Over the past century, lake degradation has increased around the world. Jiuzhaigou World Natural Heritage Site in southwestern China has been experiencing water nutrient enrichment, accelerated swamping, and algal biomass increases. These problems are likely associated with enhanced local anthropogenic activities over the past decades. In this study, radioactivities of 137Cs and 210Pb, diatoms, and nutrient accumulation rates in a lake sediment core from Tiger Lake in Jiuzhaigou World Natural Heritage Site were used as proxies to reconstruct a > 100-year record of environmental change to understand the extent and temporal variability of anthropogenic effects on lake water nutrients. Diatom communities reveal four distinct phases, relating to documented local human activities including (a) Primitive agriculture from 1871 to the mid-1930s, (b) Opium cultivation—logging from the mid-1930s to the mid-1970s, (c) Large-scale logging—the beginning of tourism from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, and (d) Tourism development from the early 1990s to 2013. Nutrients in the lake (including total organic carbon, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus) steadily increased from 1871 until the late 1990s, declined from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s, and increased rapidly after the mid-2000s. Our data suggest that (a) Opium cultivation, deforestation, and tourism development led to the increase of lake nutrients and primary productivity, (b) Ecological protection measures taken from 1999 to 2004 effectively controlled water pollution, and (c) Post-2005 intensification of tourism further accelerated water quality deterioration. Additional monitoring and mitigation strategies are needed to further reduce nutrient input. Global studies suggest that while water quality of lakes in protected area is better than that of other lakes, care is still required to ensure that tourism activities do not inadvertently increase lake water nutrients.
... The epicenter was about 39 kilometers (24 miles) from the city of Jiuzhaigou. Jiuzhaigou is a famous scenic spot in China (5), which is visited by about 3.6 million tourists annually (6). The Jiuzhaigou earthquake caused major landslides, building collapses, traffic destruction, communication failure, and destructed numerous medical units (Figure 2), which significantly increased the difficulty of the medical rescue. ...
The purpose of this study was to analyze the injury characteristics of patients and therapeutic strategies for patients injured in the last three big earthquakes in China, so as to provide a reference for the improvement of emergency plans for earthquakes. The analysis was based on the data provided by the Mianyang Central Hospital (MCH) from May 12th, 2008 to September 26th, 2017. Microsoft EXCEL software was used for data input, and SPSS was used for statistical analysis. A total of 1,390 earthquake-related patients were hospitalized in MCH. Most patients were admitted to the hospital within the first 2 weeks after the earthquake. The main causes for seismic injuries involved hit/strike by objects or building collapse /burying. Extremity fractures accounted for most injuries, especially 3 days after an earthquake. But soft tissue injuries cannot be neglected. Most earthquake patients were mainly treated by means of surgery and the majority were related to orthopedics. We found that different areas, population, and religions needed a tailored approach to the rescue effort. Therefore, the earthquake magnitude scale has a significant influence on mechanisms, types and severity of the injury of patients injured in earthquakes, as well as their timely transfer, management, and prognosis. Traumatic injuries are very common and thereby various surgical procedures especially orthopedic and neurosurgery are the domain of treatment modalities. Disaster preparedness and combined surgical team effort need to be focused on to reduce both mortality and morbidity.
... Heavy metals can contaminate fecal sludge during containment, if toilets are also used for disposal of materials other than fecal sludge (e.g. batteries, solvents), or fecal sludge collection and transport if vacuum trucks are also being used for transport of other materials than fecal sludge [13,46,47]. Hence, education on the appropriate use of toilets is important. ...
Biochar is increasingly being applied as a soil amendment in agriculture. Biochar is typically produced from plant biomass and contains relatively low amounts of plant nutrients (e.g., N, P, and K), thus providing limited fertilizer value. Human excreta contains plant nutrients that could be recycled to create sustainable agricultural nutrient cycles. This study investigated the potential of biochar derived from a dry toilet substrate as soil amendment. The substrate consisted of urine, faeces, and wood chips, and was pyrolyzed at 500–650 °C for 10 min. The biochar was analyzed for plant available P, water leachable P and K, carbon stability, pH, electrical conductivity, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, and germination tests with barley and lettuce were conducted to estimate the biochar fertilizer value and potential bio-toxicity. The biochar contained 25.0 ± 1.0 g N/kg dry mass (DM), 33.1 ± 2.1 g P/kg DM and 20.7 ± 0.2 g K/kg DM. 65% DM P was extractable by formic acid solution, 31.7% DM P and 60.5% DM K were water leachable in a ten-day column water-leaching experiment. The biochar complied with European regulations for PAHs, PCBs, dioxins and heavy metal concentrations, except for Zn and Ni. Germination of salt-resistant barley was not affected by biochar doses < 50% DM, while salt-sensitive lettuce germination was inhibited at doses ≥ 2% DM, indicating that the dry toilet substrate biochar induced salt stress. Based on these results, it is recommended that urine separation should be considered for biochar of excreta, which could reduce salt stress while maintaining concentrations of “fixed” or bioavailable nitrogen.
Graphic Abstract
... Karagiannidis and Perkoulidis (2009) apply the elimination and choice of expressing reality (Electre) method for comparing and ranking alternative anaerobic digestion technologies, which can be used in WWTPs. Gaulke et al. (2010) determine the criteria to evaluate the implementation and sustainability of the wastewater treatment system. Hernández-Sancho et al. (2011) use nonradial DEA to calculate the efficiency of WWTPs in Spain, according to their energy consumption amounts. ...
Public and private companies make significant water infrastructure investments to meet increasing water demand. In this context, investments in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), which play an important role in recycling of used water, are also increasing. This study investigates determination of the efficiency scores of WWTPs considering each metropolitan municipality as a decision-making unit (DMU). In this study, a two-step methodology is established to determine efficiency scores of WWTPs. In the first step, the input and output parameters are searched by a literature review for the performance evaluation, and candidate parameters are determined. Then, to determine the most appropriate and related parameters, the importance weights of all candidate inputs and outputs are computed using the extended stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) method. Next, the inputs and outputs are chosen according to their importance weights. In the second step, efficiency scores of WWTPs are calculated using output-oriented data envelopment analysis (DEA) models. Based on the expert opinions, the parameters used as input variables are as follows: Daily Wastewater Amount per Person Discharged in Municipalities, WWTP Capacity, and Number of WWTPs; and the parameters used as output variables are as follows; Amount of Wastewater Treated in WWTPs and Municipal Population Served by WWTPs. The results are presented and discussed by sensitivity analysis. Results show that 14 metropolitan municipalities have total efficiency, 19 metropolitan municipalities have technical efficiency, and 21 metropolitan municipalities have scale efficiency.
... According to the Law on Nature Protection [1] in Poland and the Council Directive 92/43/EEC [2], in the area of national parks and nature reserves, it is forbidden to build or reconstruct any buildings or technical facilities with the exception of facilities and devices that serve to achieve the goals of the given national park or nature reserve. For this reason, it is essential in protected areas to use water supply systems and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) that do not interfere with the environment [3,4] and meet the criteria of sustainable development and nature protection [5][6][7]. ...
The results of research on the efficiency and technological reliability of domestic wastewater purification in two household wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with activated sludge are presented in this paper. The studied facilities were located in the territory of the Roztocze National Park (Poland). The mean wastewater flow rate in the WWTPs was 1.0 and 1.6 m3/day. In 2017–2019, 20 series of analyses were done, and 40 wastewater samples were taken. On the basis of the received results, the efficiency of basic pollutant removal was determined. The technological reliability of the tested facilities was specified using the Weibull method. The average removal efficiencies for the biochemical oxygen demand in 5 days (BOD5) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were 66–83% and 62–65%, respectively. Much lower effects were obtained for total suspended solids (TSS) and amounted to 17–48%, while the efficiency of total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) removal did not exceed 34%. The analyzed systems were characterized by the reliability of TSS, BOD5, and COD removal at the level of 76–96%. However, the reliability of TN and TP elimination was less than 5%. Thus, in the case of biogenic compounds, the analyzed systems did not guarantee that the quality of treated wastewater would meet the requirements of the Polish law during any period of operation. This disqualifies the discussed technological solution in terms of its wide application in protected areas and near lakes, where the requirements for nitrogen and phosphorus removal are high.
... Moreover, the contact with the fecal matter during the defecation process has also been excluded for all examined systems. Furthermore, the cross-contamination of the human urine has been omitted, as storage over 3 months can render urine sanitized and in turn safe for agricultural use [46,47]. Additionally, the risk associated with using compost as soil amendment was excluded. ...
Energy shortage and climate change call for sustainable water and wastewater infrastructure capable of simultaneously recovering energy, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, and protecting public health. Although energy and greenhouse gas emissions of water and wastewater infrastructure are extensively studied, the human health impacts of innovative infrastructure designed under the principles of decentralization and resource recovery are not fully understood. In order to fill this knowledge gap, this study assesses and compares the health impacts of three representative systems by integrating life cycle and microbial risk assessment approaches. This study found that the decentralized system options, such as on-site septic tank and composting or urine diverting toilets, presented much lower life cycle cancer and noncancer impacts than the centralized system. The microbial risks of decentralized systems options were also lower than those of the centralized system. Moreover, life cycle cancer and noncancer impacts contributed to approximately 95% of total health impacts, while microbial risks were associated with the remaining 5%. Additionally, the variability and sensitivity assessment indicated that reducing energy use of wastewater treatment and water distribution is effective in mitigating total health damages of the centralized system, while reducing energy use of water treatment is effective in mitigating total health damages of the decentralized systems.
... This hinders increasing awareness among residents. Gaulke et al. (2010) in the Jiuzhaigou National Park in Sichuan Province, China showed an increase in the number of tourists. While assessing the sanitary conditions, the park's administration considered the solutions conducive to maintaining sustainable development. ...
Natural areas have a high value associated with the existence of a variety of priceless natural resources. It is important to employ sustainable development in these areas by protecting the natural resources. Reasonable waste management is a global need that can significantly contribute to the protection of the environment and to sustainable development simply by accepting pro-environmental behaviour patterns. Waste management in national parks on four continents was restricted by law in some countries, which is also a priority for nature conservation. In North America, individual regions are subject to the regulations on waste management, which correspond to the local needs within national parks. Low environmental awareness of both residents and tourists is conducive to the degradation of the natural environment; this is particularly true in Asia. One of the most significant threats in these protected areas is inappropriate waste management, which is related with the practice of landfilling or combustion of waste. In order to decrease the amount of waste generated, the following solutions should be implemented: the development of education to increase the environmental awareness, and planning solutions in accordance with sustainable development.
... Additionally, exposure to pathogens during the use phase of the examined toilet systems has been excluded from the scope of the given environmental study as it has been assumed to be the same for all systems and, in turn, pose the same risks. Moreover, the cross-contamination of the human urine has been omitted, as storage under specific conditions can render urine sanitized and, in turn, safe for agricultural use (Gaulke et al., 2010;Makaya et al., 2014;Winblad and Simpson-Hébert, 2004). Furthermore, the contact with the faecal matter during the defecation process has also been excluded for all examined systems. ...
In many developing countries, including South Africa, water scarcity has resulted in poor sanitation practices. The majority of the sanitation infrastructures in those regions fail to meet basic hygienic standards. This along with the lack of proper sewage/wastewater infrastructure creates significant environmental and public health concerns. A self-sustained, waterless "Nano Membrane Toilet" (NMT) design was proposed as a result of the "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge" funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. A "cradle-to-grave" life cycle assessment (LCA) approach was adopted to study the use of NMT in comparison with conventional pour flush toilet (PFT) and urine-diverting dry toilet (UDDT). All three scenarios were applied in the context of South Africa. In addition, a Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) was used to reflect the impact of the pathogen risk on human health. LCA study showed that UDDT had the best environmental performance, followed by NMT and PFT systems for all impact categories investigated including human health, resource and ecosystem. This was mainly due to the environmental credits associated with the use of urine and compost as fertilizers. However, with the incorporation of the pathogen impact into the human health impact category, the NMT had a significant better performance than the PFT and UDDT systems, which exhibited an impact category value 4E + 04 and 4E + 03 times higher, respectively. Sensitivity analysis identified that the use of ash as fertilizer, electricity generation and the reduction of NOx emissions were the key areas that influenced significantly the environmental performance of the NMT system.
... Comprised of a series of travertinedammed lakes and waterfalls, connected by springs, streams, and rivers along a 64-km valley, the Reserve is considered as one of the largest karst scenery parks in the world (Pentecost and Zhang, 2000). After a short period of commercial logging during 1960s, the Reserve was designated as a National Nature Preserve in 1978 and then as UNESCO's natural world heritage site as well as UNESCO's Man and Biosphere Conservation site (Gaulke et al., 2010;Gu et al., 2013). Tourism has rapidly increased from <30,000 annual visitors in 1984 to >5 million in 2015. ...
... For instance, tourist trampling significantly increased nutrient export to water via surface runoff (Wang et al., 2006). Increasing tourism also poses challenges in waste management and demands for more infrastructure including roads and trails (Gaulke et al., 2010). Multiple approaches including modeling (Qiao et al., 2015) and field studies Pan et al., 2016) are required to understand the complex interplay of these controlling factors on benthic biota and aquatic ecosystems. ...
