J. Lehr – Domestic Municipal and Industrial Water Supply and Waste Disposal

Автор: J. Lehr
Название книги: Domestic Municipal and Industrial Water Supply and Waste Disposal
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Геология и Геодезия
Страницы: 966
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

No one really questions that water is the life blood of
humankind. We all remain amazed that the existence of
water separates our planet from every other we have thus
far viewed in our universe. We can arguably do without
every naturally occurring molecule on the earth except
water. Life was clearly formed within water and exists in
one way or another on water.
Few people in the developed world give this simple fact
of life much thought. We have an abundance of water
for most of our needs, although some agricultural areas,
a few municipalities, and some rural families, at times
are strapped for the full amount of water they desire.
In the developing world, however, in some locations, the
collection and distribution of water is a critical part of
every day life, with many women devoting the major
portion of their day to the provision of water for their
family. In other villages, the construction and protection of
a single well can be the primary focus of community needs.
In general, the actual delivery of water for a myriad of
uses followed by its disposal is taken for granted by all
but the individuals charged with carrying out these often
amazing tasks. In this volume of the Water Encyclopedia,
a collaborative effort of hundreds of people from dozens
of countries, we have tried to cover every conceivable
topic of interest to people in every walk of life, be they
students, researchers, professionals, or just plain folks
with an intellectual curiosity about our elixir of life.
We are concerned in this volume with the actual
delivery of water to the home by the home owner
(subjects include disinfection, corrosion control, nitrates,
gray water, septic tanks, and windmills), from the
municipal supplier (and their challenges, including
distribution, filtration, zebra mussels, reverse osmosis,
cryptosporidium, arsenic, and public confidence), to
industry and its special needs (such as microfiltration,
effluent discharge, reuse, energy, nuclear reactor coolants,
and even golf course irrigation), and of course the
disposal of our used water in a safe and efficient manner
(subjects such as air stripping, bioassays, flotation, sludge,
bioavailability, and wetlands).We hope that no reader can
stump the experts, which means that we have covered
every area of interest. However, we know that this goal is
not currently possible, but in coming years and in coming
editions on paper and on the World Wide Web, we will
more closely approach it. Let us know on our website
where our information may be incomplete, and we will be
sure to follow-up and fill in the gap in the future.
The contributors to this volume have freely offered
their expertise to this project. Some have focused their
information on those in need of complete and often complex
detail of their subject matter. Others have followed a
middle road for a wider audience, and still others believed
that a very simple approach to conveying information on
their subject was best.
The reader may find all approaches on the same subject
matter because the editors frequently sought overlapping
information presented from different points of view. We
are confident that most people will find their needs met.
Through this encyclopedia, which is the most comprehensive
effort ever undertaken on behalf of this most
important subject, we hope that we will collectively make
a contribution that will enhance the distribution and use
of our water supplies in ever safer andmore efficient ways.
Jay Lehr