A robust methodology for developing an operational systems view of mine water interactions

The Minerals Council of Australia’s (MCA) Water Accounting Framework (WAF) is an industry lead initiative to enable cross company communication and comparisons of water management performance. The WAF consists of two models, the Input-Output Model that represents water interactions between an operation and its surrounding environment and the Operational Model that represents water interactions within an operation. Recently, MCA member companies have agreed to use the Input-Output Model to report on their external water interactions in Australian operations, with some adopting it globally. The next step will be to adopt the Operational Model. This will expand the functionality of the WAF from corporate reporting to allowing widespread identification of inefficiencies and to connect internal and external interactions. Implementing the WAF, particularly the Operational Model, is non-trivial. It can be particularly difficult for operations that are unfamiliar with the WAF definitions and methodology, lack information pertaining to flow volumes or contain unusual configurations. Therefore, there is a need to help industry with its implementation. This work presents a step-by-step guide to producing the Operational Model. It begins by describing a methodology for implementing the Operational Model by describing the identification of pertinent objects (stores, tasks and treatments), quantification of flows, aggregation of objects and production of reports. It then discusses how the Operational Model can represent a series of challenging scenarios and how it can be connected with Input-Output Model to improve water management.

Non-separability and substitutability among water pollutants : evidence from India

The design and implementation of environmental policy often involve more than one pollutant, and must consider pollution as a byproduct of the production of marketable output. In this paper, we test the implicit assumption in the empirical literature that (1) production of marketable output, pollution and abatement are separable, and (2) different pollutants can be abated separately. Using unique plant-level data in India, we reject the null hypotheses of separability between marketable output and pollutants, and between different pollutants. Firms must incur abatement costs for reducing pollution levels. In addition, complement and substitute relationships between water pollutants are demonstrated with statistical significance.

Service quality and performance measurement : evidence from the Indian Water Sector

The conventional measures of benchmarking focus mainly on the water produced or water delivered, and ignore the service quality, and as a result the 'low-cost and low-quality' utilities are rated as efficient units. Benchmarking must credit utilities for improvements in service delivery. This study measures the performance of 20 urban water utilities using data from an Asian Development Bank survey of Indian water utilities in 2005. It applies data envelopment analysis to measure the performance of utilities. The results reveal that incorporation of a quality dimension into the analysis significantly increases the average performance of utilities. The difference between conventional quantity-based measures and quality-adjusted estimates implies that there are significant opportunity costs of maintaining the quality of services in water delivery.

Abundance and prevalence of Aedes aegypti immatures and relationships with household water storage in rural areas in southern Viet Nam

Since 2000, the Government of Viet Nam has committed to provide rural communities with increased access to safe water through a variety of household water supply schemes (wells, ferrocement tanks and jars) and piped water schemes. One possible, unintended consequence of these schemes is the concomitant increase in water containers that may serve as habitats for dengue mosquito immatures, principally Aedes aegypti. To assess these possible impacts we undertook detailed household surveys of Ae. aegypti immatures, water storage containers and various socioeconomic factors in three rural communes in southern Viet Nam. Positive relationships between the numbers of household water storage containers and the prevalence and abundance of Ae. aegypti immatures were found. Overall, water storage containers accounted for 92–97% and 93–96% of the standing crops of III/IV instars and pupae, respectively. Interestingly, households with higher socioeconomic levels had significantly higher numbers of water storage containers and therefore greater risk of Ae. aegypti infestation. Even after provision of piped water to houses, householders continued to store water in containers and there was no observed decrease in water storage container abundance in these houses, compared to those that relied entirely on stored water. These findings highlight the householders’ concerns about the limited availability of water and their strong behavoural patterns associated with storage of water. We conclude that household water storage container availability is a major risk factor for infestation with Ae. aegypti immatures, and that recent investment in rural water supply infrastructure are unlikely to mitigate this risk, at least in the short term.

Proximal femoral morphology in regions of hard and soft water

This study compared proximal femoral morphology in patients living in soft and hard water regions. The proximal femoral morphology of two groups of 70 patients living in hard and soft water regions with a mean age of 72.3 (range 50 to 87 years) were measured using an antero-posterior radiograph of the non-operated hip with magnification adjusted. The medullary canal diameter at the level of the lesser trochanter (LT) was significantly wider in patients living in the hard water region (mean width 1.9 mm wider; p= 0.003). No statistical significant difference was found in the medullary canal width at 10 cm below the level of LT, Dorr index, or Canal Bone Ratio (CBR). In conclusion, the proximal femoral morphology does differ in patients living in soft and hard water areas. These results may have an important clinical bearing in patients undergoing total hip replacement surgery. Further research is needed to determine whether implant survivorship is affected in patients living in hard and soft water regions.

An integrated modeling and risk analysis tool for mine water interactions

Poor mine water management can lead to corporate, environmental and social risks. These risks become more pronounced as mining operations move into areas of water scarcity and/or increase climatic variability while also managing increased demand, lower ore grades and increased strip ratios. Therefore, it is vital that mine sites better understand these risks in order to implement management practices to address them. Systems models provide an effective approach to understand complex networks, particularly across multiple scales. Previous work has represented mine water interactions using systems model on a mine site scale. Here, we expand on that work by present an integrated tool that uses a systems modeling approach to represent mine water interactions on a site and regional scale and then analyses the risks associated with events stemming from those interactions. A case study is presented to represent three indicative corporate, environmental and social risks associated with a mine site that exists in a water scarce region. The tool is generic and flexible, and can be used in many scenarios to provide significant potential utility to the mining industry.

Assessment of Geogenic Contaminants in Water Co-Produced with Coal Seam Gas Extraction in Queensland, Australia : Implications for Human Health Risk

Organic compounds in Australian coal seam gas produced water (CSG water) are poorly understood despite their environmental contamination potential. In this study, the presence of some organic substances is identified from government-held CSG water-quality data from the Bowen and Surat Basins, Queensland. These records revealed the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 27% of samples of CSG water from the Walloon Coal Measures at concentrations <1 µg/L, and it is likely these compounds leached from in situ coals. PAHs identified from wells include naphthalene, phenanthrene, chrysene and dibenz[a,h]anthracene. In addition, the likelihood of coal-derived organic compounds leaching to groundwater is assessed by undertaking toxicity leaching experiments using coal rank and water chemistry as variables. These tests suggest higher molecular weight PAHs (including benzo[a]pyrene) leach from higher rank coals, whereas lower molecular weight PAHs leach at greater concentrations from lower rank coal. Some of the identified organic compounds have carcinogenic or health risk potential, but they are unlikely to be acutely toxic at the observed concentrations which are almost negligible (largely due to the hydrophobicity of such compounds). Hence, this study will be useful to practitioners assessing CSG water related environmental and health risk.

Ultrathin hematite films deposited layer-by-layer on TiO2 underlayer for efficient water splitting under visible light

Ultrathin hematite (α-Fe2O3) film deposited on a TiO2 underlayer as a photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting was described. The TiO2 underlayer was coated on conductive fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass by spin coating. The hematite films were formed layer-by-layer by repeating the separated two-phase hydrolysis-solvothermal reaction of iron(III) acetylacetonate and aqueous ammonia. A photocurrent density of 0.683 mA cm−2 at +1.5 V vs. RHE (reversible hydrogen electrode) was obtained under visible light (>420 nm, 100 mW cm−2) illumination. The TiO2 underlayer plays an important role in the formation of hematite film, acting as an intermediary to alleviate the dead layer effect and as a support of large surface areas to coat greater amounts of Fe2O3. The as-prepared photoanodes are notably stable and highly efficient for photoelectrochemical water splitting under visible light. This study provides a facile synthesis process for the controlled production of highly active ultrathin hematite film and a simple route for photocurrent enhancement using several photoanodes in tandem.

Users’ perception of using web search engines and their impact on the perceived intention to reuse the systems

In today’s world of information-driven society, many studies are exploring usefulness and ease of use of the technology. The research into personalizing next-generation user interface is also ever increasing. A better understanding of factors that influence users’ perception of web search engine performance would contribute in achieving this. This study measures and examines how users’ perceived level of prior knowledge and experience influence their perceived level of satisfaction of using the web search engines, and how their perceived level of satisfaction affects their perceived intention to reuse the system. 50 participants from an Australian university participated in the current study, where they performed three search tasks and completed survey questionnaires. A research model was constructed to test the proposed hypotheses. Correlation and regression analyses results indicated a significant correlation between (1) users’ prior level of experience and their perceived level of satisfaction in using the web search engines, and (2) their perceived level of satisfaction in using the systems and their perceived intention to reuse the systems. A theoretical model is proposed to illustrate the causal relationships. The implications and limitations of the study are also discussed.

Experimental and numerical study of polymeric foam efficacy in portable water filled barriers

Portable, water filled road safety barriers are used to provide protection and reduce the potential hazard due to errant vehicles in areas where the road conditions change frequently (e.g. near road work sites). As part of an effort to reduce excessive working widths typical of these systems, a study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of introducing polymeric foam filled panels into the design. Surrogate impact tests of a design typical of such as barrier system were conducted utilising a pneumatically powered horizontal impact testing machine up to impact energies of 7.40 kJ. Results of these tests are utilised to examine the barrier behaviour, in addition to being used to validate a couple FE/SPH model of the barrier system. Once validated, the FE/SPH model it utilised as the basis for a parametric study into the efficacy and effects of the inclusion of polymeric foam filled panels on the performance of portable water filled road safety barriers. It was found that extruded polystyrene foam functioned well, with a greater thickness of the foam panel significantly reducing the impacting body velocity as the barrier began to translate.

Pipeline renewal decision support : a case study using LinEAR in a water pipeline network

This paper presents a case study for the application of a Linear Engineering Asset Renewal decision support software tool (LinEAR) at a water distribution network in Australia. This case study examines how the LinEAR can assist water utilities to minimise their total pipeline management cost, to make a long-term budget based on mathematically predicted expenditure, and to present calculated evidence for supporting their expenditure requirements. The outcomes from the study on pipeline renewal decision support demonstrate that LinEAR can help water utilities to improve the decision process and save renewal costs over a long-term by providing an optimum renewal schedules. This software can help organisation to accumulate technical knowledge and prediction future impact of the decision using what-if analysis.

Modelling the water, energy and economic nexus

The mining industry faces three long term strategic risks in relation to its water and energy use: 1) securing enough water and energy to meet increased production; 2) reducing water use, energy consumption and emissions due to social, environmental and economic pressures; and 3) understanding the links between water and energy, so that an improvement in one area does not create an adverse effect in another. This project helps the industry analyse these risks by creating a hierarchical systems model (HSM) that represents the water and energy interactions on a sub-site, site and regional scales; which is coupled with a flexible risk framework. The HSM consists of: components that represent sources of water and energy; activities that use water and energy and off-site destinations of water and produced emissions. It can also represent more complex components on a site, with inbuilt examples including tailings dams and water treatment plants. The HSM also allows multiple sites and other infrastructure to be connected together to explore regional water and energy interactions. By representing water and energy as a single interconnected system the HSM can explore tradeoffs and synergies. For example, on a synthetic case study, which represents a typical site, simulations suggested that while a synergy in terms of water use and energy use could be made when chemical additives were used to enhance dust suppression, there were trade-offs when either thickened tailings or dry processing were used. On a regional scale, the HSM was used to simulate various scenarios, including: mines only withdrawing water when needed; achieving economics-of-scale through use of a single centralised treatment plant rather than smaller decentralised treatment plants; and capturing of fugitive emissions for energy generation. The HSM also includes an integrated risk framework for interpreting model output, so that onsite and off-site impacts of various water and energy management strategies can be compared in a managerial context. The case studies in this report explored company, social and environmental risks for scenarios of regional water scarcity, unregulated saline discharge, and the use of plantation forestry to offset carbon emissions. The HSM was able to represent the non-linear causal relationship at the regional scale, such as the forestry scheme offsetting a small percentage of carbon emissions but causing severe regional water shortages. The HSM software developed in this project will be released as an open source tool to allow industry personnel to easily and inexpensively quantify and explore the links between water use, energy use, and carbon emissions. The tool can be easily adapted to represent specific sites or regions. Case studies conducted in this project highlighted the potential complexity of these links between water, energy, and carbon emissions, as well as the significance of the cumulative effects of these links over time. A deeper understanding of these links is vital for the mining industry in order to progress to more sustainable operations, and the HSM provides an accessible, robust framework for investigating these links.

Performance of new-generation portable water-filled road safety barriers under vehicular impact

Portable water-filled barriers (PWFB) are roadside structures used to enhance safety at roadside work-zones. Ideally, a PWFB system is expected to protect persons and objects behind it and redirect the errant vehicle. The performance criteria of a road safety barrier system are (i) redirection of the vehicle after impact and (ii) lateral deflection within allowable limits. Since its inception, the PWFB has received criticism due to its underperformance compared to the heavier portable concrete barrier. A new generation composite high energy absorbing road safety barrier was recently developed by the authors.